Strategic Management Report: Woolsworths Group Analysis and Strategies

This report provides an executive summary and detailed analysis of the strategic management practices of the Woolworths Group. It begins with an introduction to strategic management and its importance in managing external factors for business growth. The report then delves into the business overview of Woolworths, an Australian retail company, followed by an examination of the external factors affecting the company, including political, technological, and social impacts. A SWOT analysis is presented to assess internal and external factors. The report also explores leadership theories, such as democratic and situational leadership, and their application within Woolworths. Furthermore, it discusses Kotter's model of change management, outlining the steps the company can take to improve business performance through change management. The report concludes with recommendations based on the analysis.

STRATEGIC
MANAGEMENT

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The report has been highlighted about strategic management. Woolsworths group has
chosen for better understanding of strategies adopted by taking strategic management in
consideration. The company's aim to focus on business growth by managing external
environment factors. For this aim the company has evaluated their political, technical and social
factors. Also, the report has been discussing about SWOT analysis to identify treat and
opportunities for attaining growth in business. Change management model has also been
developed to attract more customers. Leadership theories has also applied on Woolsworths
limited to gain employees engagement towards business growth.

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
AIM..................................................................................................................................................1
DISCUSSION..................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
RECOMMENDATIONS.................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5
APPENDICES.................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Strategic management is a field which involves in implementing and formulating major
goals and also takes initiatives which is adopted by a business entity (Aithal, & Acharya, (2016).
This process of strategic management is helpful for companies leaders by assessing present
situation of the company and analyzing effectiveness of strategies which are implemented. This
report will aim to focus on management of external environment. For accomplishing this aim the
report will lay emphasis on political, technical and social impacts on Woolworths Group. SWOT
analysis will also be analysed in order to measure internal and external factors that affect
Woolworths Group.
AIM
“The aim of this report is to establish importance of strategic management in order to manage
external environment for business growth.”
DISCUSSION
About Woolsworth Group
Woolsworth is an Australian retail company which is trading in all over Australia and
New Zealand. The Woolsworth group is the second largest company in accordance with revenue.
The company trades in Australia and New Zealand by opening stores in Supermarkets, online
stores, petrol, liquor, general merchandise, finance and Hotels and gambling which is ALH
Group (Sharma, & Gamlath, (2016). The company has divided their business in various sectors
which helps them in attaining profitability and competitiveness due to huge market share.
External factors that affect the company Woolsworths group
Impact of politics on Woolsworths :
The political factors affect Woolsworth a lot. Woolsworth group is dealing in staples and
food retailing in many countries. The company need to deal with political environment of every
country. Therefore, the risk associated with political system is high for company like
Woolsworth. The Woolsworth as dealing with Australia and New Zealand has a lot of political
influence which affects their working. The countries political stability is essential for growth and
proper functioning of business entity. The Woolsworths is carrying out their business in a stable
political environment that is why business is facing less business risk.
Also, the company is gaining political support by a trading cooperation which is
Australia-New Zealand Closer Economic Relations Trade Agreement (ANZCERTA). This
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cooperation provides support to Woolsworths by giving access to operate in single economy
(Sharma, & Gamlath, (2016). The Australia and New Zealand both are secure with political
support which enables the company to trade without interruption.
Impact of technology on Woolsworths :
The company implemented a merchandising system which is based on SAP. This helps
the company Woolsworths to establish efficiency. This innovation is company is done by
replacing CASS system with SAP merchandising system. The SAP implementation is done
within Woolsworths group in order to increase growth in sales. Also, the company enrolled with
a cloud bases success factor of SAP which is mainly focusing to manage human capital and it
serves the biggest payroll implementation in the country Australia. The initiatives like these in
the company like Woolsworths group provides aid for them to become a global leader in the field
of retailing based on multi channels.
In 2008, The company Woolsworths in order to satisfy customers and provide them
efficient services introduced a machine which is self check out which enables the consumer to
weigh, scan, pay their products through credit card, debit card or cash (Berry, & Green, (2016).
The company also introduced a software to monitor their activities related to business.
The software is Service oriented Architecture (SOA). This software helps the company to reduce
costs of their services in no time.
The current innovation in the company is Visa's pay Wave which saves the time of
customers which they usually waste in checking out queues. These innovations help the company
to increase their growth in sales and also the company is giving tough competition to their rivalry
companies. The convenience provided by Woolsworths
Impact of society on Woolsworths :
The Woolsworths is following trend by adopting practices of sustainability and green
lifestyle. By following this trend the company is attaining strong support or not only investors
but also of customers. The customers like to choose products of Woolsworth because of their
green tag which represents sustainability (Deresky, (2017). Also, the entity is addressing all the
needs of consumers. The Woolsworths by their efficient and fast services enables customers to
save their valuable time.
Woolsworths relationship with their suppliers lead to change their culture of business.
The Woolsworths has been on a dominant position in retail industry through which their relations
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with suppliers spoiled. The arrogant behaviour of Woolsworths affects their relationship with
suppliers. They decided to supply poor quality of products to retailers to disturb their market
share as well as supply chain. The company apply strategy of lower pricing after identifying
changes in belief of society by their poor relationship with suppliers. The company began to sell
huge variety of products at low price to create a customer base and to gain support from them.
The company also take initiative and conduct loyalty program in order to follow social
trends. Almost, 900,000 members earned by the company Woolsworths by conducting this
program (King, (2015).
Internal factors which affect functionality of Woolsworths
The internal analysis of factors, Woolsworths company will be done by SWOT Analysis
for attaining core competencies in the market of Australia.
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
 The Woolsworths limited is among one
of the oldest and popular brand of retail
in the country Australia.
 The company owns large number of
supermarket stores and a wide market
share.
 Woolsworths group have great varieties
of products and rendered their services
in huge number.
 Company has expanded their service of
“Click and Collect” which enhance
their capability through online channel.
 Woolsworths group limited shows a
very strong commitment towards
sustainability and environment.
 The corporate social responsibilities
programs are their core strengths.
 The Woolsworths's biggest weakness is
that they have the lowest presence in
international market.
 Woolsworths is continuously loosing
their competitive advantage with their
competition rivalries.
 The company has established their
online presence very late for which they
had lost many opportunities.
OPPORTUNITIES THREATS
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 The company after recession reattain
their actual growth in sector of retail.
 Better promotions by online channels
and advertisement techniques to
increase their sales.
 The opportunity to develop market in
countries of emerging economics.
 The company uses social media tool to
engage more consumer segment.
 The company is facing huge threat by
expansion of Aldi.
 Woolsworths slow growth in online
retail sector in Australia affects their
sales (Angwin, & Meadows, (2015).
LEADERSHIP THEORIES
Leadership plays a great role in the managing the impact of external environment as well
as effective strategic management. Wools' worth company is also focusing on effective
leadership theory so that it becomes easy and effective to reach the desire objectives of the
company. Leadership theory plays an effective role.
Democratic leadership Theory: This is one of the best leadership theory that is suited in
both strategic management and effective change management within Woolsworth is a type of
leadership style in which members of the group take a more participative role in the decision-
making process. Everyone is given the opportunity to participate, ideas are exchanged freely, and
discussion is encouraged. The leaders at Woolsworth are very much attentive towards achieving
the highest growth of the company. In bringing any change democratic leadership theory plays
an effective role(Cameron and Green, 2015).
Situational Leadership Theory- According to this leadership approach leaders of
Woolsworth changes their leadership style according to change in organisational situations.
Leaders of company make decisions only in situations which requires changes. Thus, it helps
company in managing adverse situations. Leaders of firm give training and encourage employees
to handle adverse situation in company so that profits & sales volume of firm gets maximised.
KOTLER'S MODEL OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT
Kotler's model is introduced by “John Kotler” with the purpose of improving
performance of business by managing change in business organisation. According to Kotler if
companies are able to adapt changing situations than it can achieve success as its profitability
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and performance gets enhanced. Woolsworth company also apply this model in its organisation
for managing changes. Because, adaption of changes leads to improvement in business strategies
of company. This model is explained with the helps of 8 different steps which are discussed
below-
Creating Sense of Urgency- In the 1st stage managers of Woolsworth creates awareness
among its employees and its workers that they need to adapt changes. Company is required to
give information to its employees regarding advantages of adaption of change. For Example-
With the increase in use of social media & internet organise also require to give training to
employees so that they can interact with customers and collect reviews from them(Doppelt,
2017).
Developing Guiding Coalition- At this stage company establishes a team which evaluate
all changes that affect sales volume and marketing strategies of company. This team encourage
& motivate employees to manage & adapt changes by implementing a constructive approach.
This team includes employees and managers of different department. For Example if there is a
change in taxation policy and technology than this team evaluate affect of all these factors.
Communicating Vision- Mangers of Woolsworth communicate its vision to all of its
members so that they can perform their activity in accordance with vision and make changes in
their performance. For Example vision of company is to increase its customer base than
employees will interact with customers by giving them detailed information about products &
services(Hayes, 2018).
Communication of the vision : The fourth step in the Kotter's model of the change
management is to communicate the vision. The element of the model states that merely setting
out the vision is not enough for running an organisation, it has to be effectively communicated
throughout the company. It is important to build a support and acceptance system amongst the
employees which can be only be done by making them understand the vision and mission of the
company, that what it desires to achieve and through what course of action(Anderson and
Buckley, 2017).
Removing obstacles : Before an organisation introduce any change in its structure or its
functioning, it is necessary for it to remove the obstacles and hindrances which could potentially
restricts the process of bringing innovation and change at workplace. This could be done by
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having a decision about the change with all the employees which helps in identifying the people
who will resist change. This in turn would help in making cautionary policies against obstacles.
Creating short term wins : It is a well known fact that success is the most impactful
factor of motivating employees at work. Creating short goals and criteria for success, it will be
easier for the workforce to know what they has tp actually do. This step is necessary because
motivated employees are the first in line to support and promote the change in an organisation.
This will make the process of initiating a change more smoother in a corporation.
Consolidating improvements : Most of the projects or changing decisions fail because
organisations fails to consolidate the improvements at the end and the project remains
unfinished(Amanchukwu, Stanley and Ololube, 2015).
Anchoring changes : This is the last step in the change management model which states
that change should be embraced at the core or root of the organisation which would have the
long last effect. This would ultimately help in changing the culture of the company for long.
CONCLUSION
The report was all about strategic management and their implication in the chosen
company which is Woolsworths group limited of Australia. As the company engages their
activities in retail sector they need to formulate various strategies in order to gain growth in their
business. For growth in Woolsworths, this report was covered three important external factors
which is social, political and technical factors. These factors affect the sales and business growth
of the company Woolsworths. Then comes in the report SWOT Analysis to highlighted internal
factors. This analysis is done to gain attention towards opportunities and threats for attaining
business growth. The report then covers model of change management to attract more customers
and to gain competitive advantage. At last the report covers leadership theories to decrease
employee turnover ratio so that they stay focused towards business growth.
RECOMMENDATIONS
 The company Woolsworths should restructure their supply chain within their stores and
make efforts to establish good relationship with suppliers (Hitt, Xu, & Carnes, (2016).
 The Woolsworths should create strong online presence by developing relationships with
online shopping sites and collaborate with them to attract customers.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Aithal, P. S., & Acharya, R. K. (2016). Strategic Management Models & Indian Epics.
International Journal of Management Sciences and Business Research. 5(4). 180-189.
Angwin, D. N., & Meadows, M. (2015). New integration strategies for post-acquisition
management. Long Range Planning. 48(4). 235-251.
Berry, D. F., & Green, S. (2016). Cultural, structural and strategic change in management
buyouts. Springer.
Deresky, H. (2017). International management: Managing across borders and cultures. Pearson
Education India.
Hitt, M. A., Xu, K., & Carnes, C. M. (2016). Resource based theory in operations management
research. Journal of Operations Management. 41. 77-94.
King, K. A. (2015). Global talent management: Introducing a strategic framework and multiple-
actors model. Journal of Global Mobility. 3(3). 273-288.
Sharma, S., & Gamlath, I. (2016). New Ideas in Strategic Thinking and Management: A
Knowledge Tree of New Age Mantras. IBA JoUrNAl of MANAgEMENt & lEADErShIp,
103.
Hayes, J., 2018. The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave.
Doppelt, B., 2017. Leading change toward sustainability: A change-management guide for
business, government and civil society. Routledge.
Cameron, E. and Green, M., 2015. Making sense of change management: A complete guide to
the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.
Hornstein, H.A., 2015. The integration of project management and organizational change
management is now a necessity. International Journal of Project Management. 33(2).
pp.291-298.
Amanchukwu, R.N., Stanley, G.J. and Ololube, N.P., 2015. A review of leadership theories,
principles and styles and their relevance to educational management. Management. 5(1).
pp.6-14.
Anderson, H.J. and Buckley, M.R., 2017. What works for you may not work for (Gen) Me:
Limitations of present leadership theories for the new generation. The Leadership
Quarterly. 28(1). pp.245-260.
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Online
Woolworths Group. 2019. [Online] Available through :
<https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/about-us>.
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APPENDICES
SWOT and PESTLE of WoolWorths group. 2017. <https://www.swotandpestle.com/woolworths-
limited/>.
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