Strategic Analysis of Woolworths: MBA600 Capstone Assessment 1

This assignment presents a strategic analysis of Woolworths, a leading Australian supermarket chain. It begins with an overview of Woolworths' operations, market position, and commitment to Australian farmers. The analysis then delves into the external environment, including the impact of political and economic conditions, and technological changes affecting the retail industry. The internal environment is examined, highlighting Woolworths' strengths, such as its market leadership and skilled workforce, and weaknesses, such as limited global presence. Opportunities for growth, including brand promotion and expansion through franchises, are discussed, along with threats like increased competition and economic downturns. The competitive advantages, such as a strong brand image, supply chain efficiency, and customer-centric approaches like the ban on plastic bags, are emphasized. The assignment concludes with a discussion on Woolworths' future prospects, including market expansion and the risks associated with competition and changing customer demands, ultimately providing insights for strategic decision-making.

Transcript
Slide 1: This assignment tends to discuss the strategic analysis in respect to the strategy
adopted by the Woolworths. The analysis of the external environment that is affecting the
Woolworths is also carried out. The analysis of the internal environmental condition has also
supported in the context of the Woolworths. As company has the effective infrastructure and
highly skilled and talented workforce. All thee aspects tends to provide the positive support
in the growth of the firm. Due to the increasing competition, it is also recommended to the
company for enhancing abilities and skills of the employees by providing relevant training to
them.
Slide 2: Woolworths is an leading supermarket chain of Australia that started its operation in
1924. It is also one such supermarket that is able to make the highest revenue. It specialises in
selling groceries such as vegetables, fruits, meat as well as packaged foods. In Australia, it is
also known as “Fresh Food People.” it has also included several innovative elements in order
to serve the customers in a better way. It believes in working closely with the farmers of
Australia (Methner, Hamann and Nilsson, 2015).
In addition to this, it is also found that the 96 per cent of the fresh fruits and vegetables from
the farmers and growers of Australia. In this way, it helps in making the full contribution
towards the retail industry of Australia. the Scan & Go technology also allows the reward
members in order to scan as well as further pay for the items using app.
Slide 3: In the current business scenario, political condition tends to affect the retail industry.
In Australia, government has also brought the competition policy. Under this policy, it will
eliminate the competition between major players such as Coles and Woolworths. The
changes in economic condition has also affected the performance of Woolworths. In the
recent time, customers are increasingly getting concern toward the environmental product.
due to this, Woolworths is also indulging more in the greener and healthier life style.
Technological changes are also taking place that put the pressure on the firms to adopt unique
technology. By keeping this in mind, Woolworths has also started adopting the greener
refrigerator for storing the perishable products (Knox, 2015). From the diagram also, it can
seen that Woolworths has the high concentration in the Australian retail industry.

Slide 4: There are various environmental factors that affects the working of the retail
industry. Moreover, it is founded that the Woolworths wine business is also getting adversely
putting threats on the environment. due to this, the profitability of company is also getting
affected. For protecting the environment, Woolworth has also used the effective measures
such as it banned the use of plastic bag. Australian government has also made the various
laws for assisting the organisation. due to this, Woolworths has also made the healthy and
safety laws in order to provide the best working environment (Pulker, Trapp, Scott and
Pollard, 2019).
Slide 5: The major strength of the Woolworths is its market leading position in the retail
industry of Australia. it also has best resources in the form of human resources, technological
resources as well as good presence across the retail industry. it has also given the major
emphasis on the operational strategy. Using this strategy, it is able to reduce the wastage of
material. In addition to this, it also skilled and talented workforce that helps in building its
brand image. The major weakness of the Woolworths is that it has less presence across the
globe as compare to its competitors. In addition to this, the growing presence of the online
brands has also restricted the growth of the Woolworths (Arup, Beaton-Wells and Paul-
Taylor, 2017).
Slide 6: Several opportunities are available for the Woolworths in order to grow. The first
opportunity is that it can grow or promote its brand with the help of promotions, and
advertising. It also seek the growth with the help of franchise model and acquisition. Besides
this, it can also open the several new stores in various geographies. This will help it in
boosting its business. in addition to this, it also has various threats. The major threat is the
competition. it is true that competition has increased to a great extent in the recent time. due
to the entrance of various international players, it can get the threat of competition. in
addition to this, economic recession can also hinder the growth strategy of opening several
new stores (Dixon, Hattersley, and Isaacs, 2016).
Slide 7: Woolworths competitive advantage as well as innovation is developed through the
supply chain. It has also significantly given the emphasis on the cost cutting and efficiency in

order to manage the unnecessary and unwanted expenses. Besides this, it has also positioned
its store as the fresh food people. the biggest competitive advantage is that it has created the
differentiated image of the healthy product change and quality at the reasonable price. It has
also done the innovation with several project including the re fresh. In addition to this,
Woolworth has also integrated few of the supplies by ensuring the production of it own input
in order to increase the market power. It has also adopted various new and innovative
technologies in order to bring the competitive advantage. it has also ensured the innovation
by adopting various customer centric approach. The biggest example is that it has banned the
use of plastic bags in its store (Sutton-Brady, Kamvounias and Taylor, 2015). Woolworths is
also able to maintain the highest share in the online retail market.
Slide 8: Due to its strong brand image, it can enter into any new segment and can achieve the
growth. Due to this, it will be able to achieve the more market share. Besides this, it also has
skilled and competent employees that can assist it in gaining the huge market share by
ensuring proper research. It will also help it in bringing out the best results in the future.
Besides this, it has also not done the huge innovation because the demand of customers tends
to change quickly. It might be possible that, it will negatively affect the performance of the
Woolworths in future.
Slide 9: In future, Woolworths also has the opportunity to expand its market base in several
other countries. It is possible due to its strong competitive advantage. in addition to this, It
can also Enter into any new market due to Its well known brand name. It is True that firms
can easily enter into new market when it has strong brand into market. Moreover, It is also
found That the Woolworths has bigger supply chain That can be used by It in expanding its
wings in the new market. Due to this, it will be able to grab the several opportunities lying
in different countries. The major risk that is attached with the Woolworths is the risk of
competitors. Due to its, it can also get negatively impacted.
Slide 11: In the limelight of above discussion, it can be concluded that Woolworths has the
strong brand image in the Australian as well as other country where it operates. Due to this, it
has the opportunity to expand its stores and business unit in the emerging economies. In
addition to this, it can also expand its business unit and promote the brand with the help of

advertising or social media. in the recent time, customers are also increasingly moving
toward the social media. it can therefore expand its more services through the online channel.
In addition to this, it also has the risk of competition in several economies. Several
international players are entering in the market with the new and innovative strategies.