Business Strategy Analysis of Waitrose - ICON College, HND

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Waitrose's business strategy, including an assessment of its mission, vision, goals, objectives, and core competencies. It examines the factors considered in formulating strategic plans, such as engagement, communication, innovation, project management, and culture. The report evaluates the effectiveness of strategic business plan techniques using SPACE and BCG matrix methods. Furthermore, it analyzes Waitrose's current strategic positioning through organizational and environmental audits, including SWOT, Ansoff matrix, PESTLE, and Porter's Five Forces analyses. The significance of stakeholder analysis in Waitrose's new strategy is assessed, and recommendations are made based on the findings. The appropriateness of alternative strategies related to market entry, growth, or retrenchment is also analyzed, with justification for the selection of a new strategy. Finally, the report assesses the roles and responsibilities of personnel in strategy implementation, analyzes resource requirements, and evaluates the contribution of SMART targets to achieving strategic goals.

Business Strategy

TABLE OF CONTENT
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1..........................................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Assessing the business mission, vision, goals, objective and core competencies of Waitrose...........3
1.2 Analyzing the factors considered in formulating strategic plan of Waitrose.....................................4
1.3 Evaluating the effectiveness of the techniques of strategic business plans of Waitrose...................4
TASK 2..........................................................................................................................................................6
2.1 Analyzing the current strategic positioning of Waitrose by conducting the organizational audit .....6
2.2 Analyzing the environment audit of Waitrose...................................................................................7
2.3 Assessing the significance of stakeholders analysis in new strategy of Waitrose..............................8
2.4 Presenting the new strategy for Waitrose based on organizational audit and stakeholder analysis. 8
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................................9
3.1 Analyzing the appropriateness of alternative of strategy relating to market entry, growth, limited
growth or retrenchment in Waitrose.......................................................................................................9
3.2 Justifying the selection of the new strategy of Waitrose...................................................................9
TASK 4........................................................................................................................................................10
4.1 Assessing the role and responsibility of personnel in charge of implementation of the strategy....10
4.2 Analyzing the estimated resource requirements to implement the new strategy...........................10
4.3 Evaluating the contribution of SMART targets to achievement of strategy implementation..........11
CONCLUSION.............................................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................................12
INTRODUCTION
Business strategy is the term refers to the process in which to plan the operation to
achieve the mission, mission and objectives of the organisations. As the choosen organisation in
the report Waitrose have the big food retailchain which is struggling in their businessbecause of
poor planning. For them new business strategyimplementation from the utilisation of different

resource to achieve the organisation goals. The roles and responsibilities of the in charge manger
is important to executes the new strategy in the Waitrose.
TASK 1
1.1 Assessing the business mission, vision, goals, objective and core competencies of
Waitrose
Waitrose us the super market chain operating in UK and is having around 350 retail food
division across UK with 5.1% market share.
Business mission:
The mission of Waitrose is to provide the best quality of organic food at the retail stores and by
this growing the market share to 6% then 5.1%. And at present it is the 6th largest convenience
store in UK. With having the physical retail store across UK it is also having a wide spread
online market as well.
Business vision:
The vision is the aspiration of the company for future position in the market. The vision of
Waitrose is to be in the top 3 in the retail food market business in the UK as it is the 6th largest at
the current position(Scholes, 2015)
Goals:
The ultimate and overall goal of the Waitrose is to gaining the larger share of market and to sell
the food products at a lower cost than its toughest competitor Tesco. As this is the only food
chain retail store in UK which is having the royal warrant to supply the grocery and wine to the
royal family from 1st January 2011.
Objectives:
The objective of Waitrose is to be in the top three retail store in UK till 2019 as is on the
6thposition at the time.
Core competency:
The main essence of Waitrose which makes it different from the others competition in the market
is: it sells the best quality of organic product in market and was the first retailer food store which
started selling the organic product from 1983.
1.2 Analyzing the factors considered in formulating strategic plan of Waitrose.
Waitrose always develop the strategic plans to create a market position and to gain the profits by
selling the products in the market. While formulating the business strategic plans there are some
main factors which Waitrose need to consider so that the plan works in a very efficient manner.
The factors are as follows:

Engagement- the involvement of all the employees and all the managers are very important in
the strategic planning process (Osterwalder and Pigneur, 2013). The engagement of the
employee will provide the insights of the issues and concerns which can be only understood by
them only.
Communication- if there are no source or good way of communication from top to bottom level
of employee or management then the strategic planning will never be successful in the company.
Whatever then plans are made by the top level management team need to be conveyed to the
lower level and to all the employees.
Innovation- without using the latest technology Waitrose will not be able to survive in the
competition and now all the other retail stores are selling the organic food products (Alsudiri,
Al-Karaghouli and Eldabi, 2013). So to maintain the technology and make innovation a part
of Waitrose’s working is very essential.
Project management- after Waitrose has made the business plan they need to do 2 things which
are to develop the prioritization among the employees so that they are involved in the planning
and to identify the project which require to ensure the success in execution of the strategy.
Culture- these are the attitudes, values, beliefs and behaviors which the organization is having
within the employees (Smith, 2013). The culture of Waitrose is to work with the team and make
the most of the employee to make them more and more productive.
1.3 Evaluating the effectiveness of the techniques of strategic business plans of Waitrose
To evaluate the effectiveness of the techniques of the strategic business plan of Waitrose it is
important to use the two techniques like the SPACE method and the BCG matrix.
SPACE method:
This is the management tool which is used to analyze Waitrose and what type of strategy
should the company undertake. SPACE is known as Strategic Position and ACtion Evaluation
matrix and this focus on strategy formulation especially as related to the competitive position of
Waitrose. SPACE matrix is divided into four parts and each part suggests a different type of
strategy to be used by Waitrose: Aggressive, Conservative, Defensive and Competitive. The
SPACE matrix will tell Waitrose should pursue the aggressive strategy as it is having avery
strong competitive and market position in the food retail business. Waitrose should use the
internal strength which is their organic products to develop the market penetration and market
development strategy(Jocovic,Melovic, Vatin, and Murgul, 2014).
BCG matrix:
This relate to the marketing strategy which is used by Waitrose and is used under the
product life cycle theory. This is also used to evaluate the effectiveness of the techniques of the
strategic business plan of Waitrose. BCG matrix is divided into 4 categories in the portfolio of
the company which are:

Stars:
• They are the high market share in the growing market.
• Stars are the market leaders in business and still need the lot of promotional activities to
be done.
Question marks:
• Their growth is very much in the market but then also having a low market share.
• They are the new products in the market where the buyers are yet to allow them.
Cash Cows:
• They are having very low growth in market but high market share.
• But if they gain the competitive advantages in market then they can earn a high market
share and profit margin.
Dogs:
• Their growth is very low and also having the low market share.
• Dogs should always be avoided by the Waitrose as they are the expensive products which
are not doing very good in market.
TASK 2
2.1 Analyzing the current strategic positioning of Waitrose by conducting the
organizational audit
To analyze the current market strategic positioning of Waitrose the organization need to
do the audit of the company which should include the internal strengths and weakness of the
company(Woodard and Sambamurthy, 2012). It will do the SWOT analyses which are the tool
for identifying the internal and external factors which are impacting the business of the company.
As Waitrose is planning to enter into new market and going to invest in whole Europe after UK.
Strength (Internal)
Waitrose owns its brand and farm.
It is having very high quality organic food and
services as well.
Products range are very wide.
The brand equity is strong and portfolio of
organic product is also very strong.
Weakness (Internal)
The price of the product and services are very
high as compared to others in the same market.
The whole dependency of Waitrose is on its
own label performance.
Opportunity (External)
Waitrose is planning the expansion of its store.
Threads (External)
The new entry of competitor and their growth

Waitrose is also trying to improve its online
shopping experience of its customer.
in the market is the greatest threads.
The customer base is decreasing and customer
confidence.
The decrease in the sale of economic crisis.
Ansoff matrix:
Ansoff matrix is the commonly used strategic direction that Waitrose should follow to
see the potential areas where are the core competencies and generic strategic can be deployed.
Market Penetration: this is use by Waitrose to enhance the core competencies by improving
products and service quality and considering Waitrose success is withdrawal unlikely to
happen(Schrader, Freimann and Seuring, 2012).
Market development: this will involve entering in new markets with the existing products only.
Waitrose is planning to expand its market in North West.
Product development: this will include new products in the existing markets. Waitrose is
making the new stores format home & food and non food good from John Lewis.
Diversification: this is the whole new launch of new products and that too in new market.As
Waitrose is planning to acquire the small grocery store.
2.2 Analyzing the environment audit of Waitrose
To do the environmental audit of the external factors influencing the growth and
development of Waitrose is to be done using PESTLE analysis and Porter’s five force model.
PESTLE analysis
Political
Waitrose is employing many
employees and workers and
should be following
employment law.
The minimum wage which is
set by the government and
Waitrose could not pay less
than this minimum wage.
Economic
The financial crisis of country
will be affecting the payment
and bonus of the employees.
And to cope up with this
Waitrose need to cut down the
wages of the employees(Reich
and Benbasat, 2013)
.
Social
Most people are very busy in
this current society so this
busy life style has increased
the demand for convenient
food and ready meals.
Technological
Online shopping website of
Waitrose is major opportunity.
Technology is enabling more
sophisticated store
management.
Legal
Many rules and legal
regulations have been laid
down by the government of
UK which is helping the
customer to safeguard their
interest.
Environmental
The increasing demand of
organic and healthy food
Waitrose is providing to the
customers as well.
Porter’s five force model:
This is use to define the market as a whole and the competitors of Waitrose so that they can do
the environmental audit of the company.

Threat of new entrants- this threat to Waitrose is quite high as there are many grocery stores
and departmental stores which are operating and also entering in the market to give Waitrose a
tough competition.
Threat of Substitutes- as Waitrose is offering high quality of product to the customers in market
but that too on a relatively high price so threat of substitutes to Waitrose is also very high.
Bargaining power of customer-the customer is made available with the high quality of products
and services so the bargaining power of the customer is decreased to some extent.
Bargaining power of suppliers- there are many stores providing the same product in the market
so the suppliers are also having a high switching power with them.
Industry rivalry- the intensity of competition in the industry of food retailers are very much
high. So there are many rivals entering in to market.
2.3 Assessing the significance of stakeholders analysis in new strategy of Waitrose.
There are many stakeholders of Waitrose in market which are influencing the new
strategy and new market entry of Waitrose so it is important to do the analyze of all the
stakeholders (Elhamma and Zhang, 2013). The stakeholders are those who are interested in the
functioning, profits and products of organizations. The stakeholder of the Waitrose an their
significance to analyze in the new strategy such as follows:
 Partners: These are the most important stakeholders of the organizations as the partners
with the Waitrose for the organizations. As they are the one who are business partners of
the Waitrose who are involved in the working and growth of organization.
 Government: they are the one who are involved in the rules and regulations related to
the food retail industry. The government of UK forms the laws and they influence the
policy of Waitrose and are stakeholder of company.
 Suppliers: they are those who provide raw materials and other food staffs to Waitrose
and also are the stakeholders and they also influence the strategy formulations of
Waitrose. As the company need to keep their interest in mind so that they remain the
stakeholders of company (Hoejmose, Brammer and Millington, 2013)
 Customers:they are the main stakeholders of Waitrose as without them company will not
be able to survive in the industry. They are the main profits earner of the company and
they give the feedback for the goods and services of the company. So Waitrose need to
keep in mind the interest of customers so that they can provide them more profits.
2.4 Presenting the new strategy for Waitrose based on organizational audit and
stakeholder analysis.
Waitrose need to plan for the new strategy which would be based on the organizational
audit and stakeholder analysis as it is planning to introduce its product to new markets like that
of Europe.As it will use PESTLE analysis to identify the market conditions and situation of the

market of Europe. The company will also do the SWOT analysis to identify the strength,
weakness, opportunity and threats of Waitrose so that they can continue doing well in the market
(Pagani, 2013). The new strategy should be formed keeping in mind all its external and internal
forces of market and the organization as well. The new strategy will include all the factors like
SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis, Ansoff matrix, stakeholder’s analysis, SPACE, BCG matrix
and Porter’s five force model.
The organizational audit will include all the factors which are important for the company
to analysis and identifying before starting any strategic planning. Waitrose will include the
economic and political factor of Europe before setting up the store there so that they can deal
with those (Wang and Verma, 2012). The stakeholder analysis must also be included during
the formulation of the new strategy which is very essential as well.
TASK 3
3.1 Analyzing the appropriateness of alternative of strategy relating to market entry,
growth, limited growth or retrenchment in Waitrose.
To get the opportunity to growth the alternative business stragegy are of very importance
as they provide the solution for the challenges and problems. As Waitrose is planning toe get into
the European market with all its products and stores so market entry strategy will be very much
helpful to them. Market entry strategy will help in getting more and more customers so this will
ultimately increase the market share of Waitrose. There are many market entry strategy which
can be adopted by Waitrose like franchising, merger, acquisition and joint venture. To start in a
other country it can be very much helpful as Waitrose will not be knowing the local market in
there. After it has been entered in the market of Europe then surely it will grow there and would
be requiring then substantive growth strategy. Waitrose can practice the vertical and the
horizontal division so as to cut down the prices of the products. As it to sell the organic products
so can acquire the land there and start producing the products by itself only. Then if the company
is diversified its working and operations and started doing well in the market of Europe then will
be requiring the limited growth strategy.
All the existing strategy of Waitrose would be applied and the existing market could be
penetrated as well. Limited growth strategy is usually done if Waitrose is started losing its
market share in Europe, the profitability is becoming low and if the company is suffering from
financial loss. Waitrose can bring new innovative products in the market or adopt the market
development or market penetration. Then at the last retrenchment strategy can be used in
alternative strategy. If the certain products of the Waitrose are not doing well in the market then
retrenchment can be used. Waitrose can adopt the strategy of disinvestment or liquidation and
turnaround strategy. The proper use of retrenchment strategy in Waitrose is to help in managing
the resources, meeting the expectations of the customer and to ensure the efficiency of cost.

3.2 Justifying the selection of the new strategy of Waitrose
Waitrose is doing very well in the market of UK and is also planning to expand its market
share to whole of Europe but this is not the expectations of the company. As the current growth
rate of Waitrose is very good but in can do much better in the market and for this is would be
required to reframe the business decisions so that the strategic plans can be reframed in the most
efficient manner (Bharadwaj, El Pavloun and Venkatraman, and et.al., 2013). As it need to grow
in the market so will select the limited growth strategy and lay the product and market
development strategy.
Both product and market development strategy are used to focus on customer and
competitors. The current issue in the market of financial loss an also be resolved by the help of
limited growth strategy. Then further Waitrose can use the new product line in the market of
Europe. more and more money need to be invested in the improvement of the products and also
in the existing manufacturing quality (Oyedijo, 2012). With the adoption of limited growth
strategy Waitrose can concentrate on the actual business and can be helpful in both the business
size and structure. Thus, the selected strategy of limited growth in European market is very
justified and feasible with the growth and stability point of view.
TASK 4
4.1 Assessing the role and responsibility of personnel in charge of implementation of the
strategy.
In every organisation personal in charge is the important roles and responsibilities to
implement the strategy will help to build the better team in organisation to implement the new
strategy used in the operation. As the proper record of the employees with them to know each
and every task record. Another thing is the communication which is the important for the
personal in charge to communicate with team for suggestion or to solve their problems. As the
personal in charge has to set the various plans to implement new strategy with proper motivation
which will help to boost the team performance of Waitrose. As the food retail chain organisation
which have different strategies to implement by the in charge. The better financial system of the
organisation maintain the records but the approval of the budget will be responsibilities of the in
charge manger(Verbeke, 2013).
As the mange in charge mange have different role which is important to meet the
business objective. As the responsibilities will be more in the hands of the in charge manger will
try to get the idea and solve the conflicts in the organisations. Also compensation of the
employees in the hands of the in charge mange as they have to maintain the records of the daily
employees which are working in the stores (Annabi and McGann, 2013). All the stores data
will be complied at the Waitrose to know the overall position of the employees is depends on the
in charge manger.

4.2 Analyzing the estimated resource requirements to implement the new strategy.
For every organisation the most important aspect is resource requirement to implement
the new strategy. From the resource of the organization they had taken the advantages of the
competitor with their resources which are competences of the organizations. As the organization
have the limited resource which is used in different areas. The new strategy of the organization
will help to save the resource with this the operation of the business will be depends on the
utilisation of resource in a proper manner (Acquaah, 2013). For the different function of
organization it helps to builds the strong connection in between the work. More the organization
will use the better resource for the new strategy it will help to take the advantages of the
competitor. Use of technologies also the requirement for new strategy of Waitrose.
If the organization will focus on the manpower with mixture category at the top level to
the bottom level according to the requirement of the organisation(Galpin and Lee Whittington
2012). But the most important resource for the Waitrose require to implement the as the Human
resource, financial management, better information and technology. Physical resource of the
Waitrose of will help to bring the better strategy. The plans should be based on the consideration
of all these resource which will help the organisation tom change their strategy and they have to
focus on the organisation structure for better strategy can boost the organisation performances
and easy to take advantages of the competitor.
4.3 Evaluating the contribution of SMART targets to achievement of strategy
implementation.
The SMART targets can be used in Waitrose to help the achieve the objective in a
planned manner. The SMART targets are used to ensure that Waitrose is moving into a set
direction only.
Specific- the set target need to be concise and specific as per the market conditions not a mixup
of many target a particular time (Blackburn, Hart and Wainwright, 2013)
Specific- The present target of Waitrose is to be among top three by the end of 2019
Measurable- this implies that the set specified targets must be measurable in terms of numeric
value or in terms of monetary values by calculating the profitability of the company.
Achievable- as all the strategies have been implement in a very effective manner so the targets
could be achieved and then Waitrose will be getting the expected returns from the selected
strategy.
Realistic- this is also very important that the targets which are set must be real in nature so that
can be achieved and measured. So the target set by Waitrose is quite realistic as want to be in top
three till the year end 2019.
Timely- every targets set must be in a definite time and then only it could be achieved so the
time limit is set and could be achieved till the year end of 2019.

CONCLUSION
From the report Businessstrategy of Waitrose it is concluded that each and very
organisation have to form a startgey to make the strong goodwill in the market. As the mission
and vision are the most important aspect to condresd for the business strategy and objectives. To
implement the new strategy it is important to utilise the resource by the incharge.from the
waitron social and technological factors are most important to implement the succfull business
strgrty.

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