MNG00114 Coles Supermarket Analysis Assignment Sample

• Subject Code : MNG00114
• University : Southern Cross University My Assignment Services is not sponsored or endorsed by this college or university.
• Subject Name : Competitive Strategy

Competitive Strategy

Contents

1)Panned and Strategic Approaches.

2)Corporate Level Strategy.

3)Business-Level Strategy.

4)International Strategy.

5)Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics.

References. 

1) Panned and Strategic Approaches

Coles is one of the biggest supermarket chains in Australia. It uses both a planned and strategic approach for its business strategies. It is because the company has formulated theories after analyzing the consumer market.

Coles business strategy is all about bringing innovative ideas for the future, improving efficiency and changing with the pace of customer's needs. It also outlines how to deliver products to its customers. It uses aggressive marketing and strategic approaches to understand its consumer needs. Coles supermarket is applying consumer behaviour theories to expand its empire in Australia. It also uses the strategic approaches for its competitors to reduce the price of the commodities and how to enhance the customer experience (Bogomolova et al. 2018). It is using Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to achieve its mission. Coles is now focusing on improving its brand loyalty by adopting some strategic approaches like TV advertisement. The company is running its “down down” campaign which states that it has lower prices in comparison to its rivals(Phillipov 2016). It has now changed its old method of attracting consumers by displaying that we provide fresh products. Through strategic planning, the company has started implementing relationship marketing to establish a relation between the customer and the brand.

In addition to this, Coles strategic objective includes expansion of its stores in the market by formulating strategic partnerships with other suppliers and network providers. It also has developed HRM strategies for its employees. The company aims to provide an extensive and positive work culture to its employees so that the organization employee feels belonged (Klikauer 2018). It creates a work culture of adaptability and decisiveness in the organization. It also uses differentiating strategies for conducting business to differentiate its products from the other competitors in the market. The theories applied by the Coles supermarket include Maslow’s hierarchy, consumer behavior theories and so on.

2) Corporate Level Strategy

No, Coles supermarket is not a diversified organization. It has a diverse range of products but it does not deal other than the retail industry. It is a supermarket where consumers can look for grocery products. Through analysis, it was found that Coles aims to become a market leader in the retail industry. It is focusing on identification of services and investing in those services which are found fruitful for the organization. The company has diversified its products so that consumer can get all the essential items in one store instead of visiting another one to fulfill their needs. Coles through research study identified the importance of online presence (Imgrund et al.2018). It now deals in the online market as well as helping the customer to get their products at their doorstep. The company is adopting new techniques to capture the Australian market and give a competitive edge to Walmart and other supermarkets. The company corporate strategy includes low-cost business operations and other similar corporate practices like training of its employees and better treatment of its customers and teams. These corporate practices will help in bringing more opportunities for the organization.

The company currently is under the FMCG sector, to diversify itself it can start keeping apparels along with the grocery products. The idea is to extend the company from a household essential to the fashion industry (Hauser et al. 2019). The objective of this idea is to invest in the retail fashion industry and provide the customer with ample opportunities to select the clothing at the same tie when they purchase household essentials for themselves. Coles supermarket is already a trusted brand in its consumers opening a fashion section with clothing’s will enhance its brand reputation in the national environment. It will also help the company to grow exponentially in both FMCG and textile industry. 

3) Business-Level Strategy

It has become really hard to maintain a firm’s position in the business environment. It is due to this reason Coles determines its relative position by determining its profitability above or below the industries’ average. It is realized that a company that has above average profitability that the company, in the long run, have a sustainable competitive advantage in the market. There are two types of competitive advantages in the firm. These include cost leadership and differentiation. Coles uses Porter's generic competitive strategy to evaluate how they differ from the competitors and what offerings are provided by the company to its valuable consumers in comparison to Walmart(Grimmer 2018). Coles to world market must understand the importance of strategic positioning and create a value proposition in the domain activities. Besides, Coles needs to become the low-cost provider industry. If the prices of the commodities will be high, then the potential customer items would start purchasing items from their competitors. Coles understands the need for uniqueness and thus try to capture the consumer by bringing out something unique in its advertisement which will attract consumers towards it. The company on a timely basis checks its position in the market with this technique and tries to improve in the areas where there is scope.

Coles supermarket competitive advantage is its technology and innovation. It uses both to keep pace with the changing environment (Huang et al. 2016). It has brought contactless payment technology in the market which has gained the attention of business and varied customers in Australia. It has launched a mobile wallet for its customers to give them the convenience of completing payments in whichever method they want. This innovative idea of contactless payment proves that the company is working hard to attract customers towards it.

4) International Strategy

The company does not have its presence in the global market currently. It is limited to Australia but it is trying to expand its territories across the globe. The company has even hired Infor Nexus for its global trade and to enhance international supply chain visibility for the organization. If any organization plans to enter in the international market they must first analyze the country in which they are going to establish their venture through PESTAL analysis. The PESTAL analysis will help Cole supermarket to understand the political, economic, social, technological and legal aspects of the country (Islam 2017). It will help the company to understand the macro-environmental factors of a country which will have a direct impact on the business of the organization. Because external factors can bring opportunities as well as threats for the organization.

PESTAL analysis will also help Coles supermarket to exploit the changes or defend against both national and international competitors in the country. The organization needs to access the potential market of the Coles supermarket. The general rule of this analysis states that more negative forces will make it harder for the organization to conduct the business. In addition to the Yip's globalization driver can also be used to analyze the situation. The four main categories of the drivers include market globalization, cost globalization, government and competitive globalization (Ike 2017). These are some external environmental factors which will help Coles supermarket to find out opportunities and threats. Some internal environmental factors must also be paid attention to. It can be carried out by conducting a SWOT analysis of the company. The company is earning huge profit by capturing the Australian market and currently the economic position of the world is done I such scenario the company should for the right time to enter the market in some other country.

5) Corporate Social Responsibility and Business Ethics

Coles supermarket has effectively implemented CSR strategies in its operations. Coles takes the responsibility to manage the environmental and social impacts seriously. It has made an ambition to make Coles supermarket as a sustainable supermarket in Australia. The company is trying to bring the difference by developing and selling sustainable products in the stores. The company is also investing huge amounts of money in environmental projects to reduce the environmental impact. The company is adopting recycling, waste reduction practices along with sustainable packaging to become more energy-efficient and to reduce the greenhouse emissions from the environment (Shaw and Shaw 2019). In addition to this, the company is also investing in the training programs for suppliers and customers to save the environment from the destruction done by humans.

The company has also made some necessary changes in the logistic system to reduce the air pollution caused. It is implementing new technologies to conserve the environment. Through estimation, it was identified that the new eco-friendly Coles supermarket will consume 30per cent less energy in comparison to the previous supermarket. It is a small initiative by the company towards corporate responsibility. The company is also involving itself in social works like child funding care and hospitals (Pulker2019). Besides, it does not carry out business with the suppliers who are illegally forcing children to work in their factories. Coles supermarket is against child labour practices and ensures that it is not carried out in the organization. It takes the corporate social responsibility seriously and it can be seen in the Coles supermarket financial reports. It is due to the CSR policies of the company, it can attain high profitability in a business environment. It has also helped the company to achieve a good reputation in the market of rising competitors.

References for Competitive Strategy

Bogomolova, S., Loch, A., Lockshin, L. and Buckley, J. 2018. Consumer factors associated with purchasing local versus global value chain foods. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, 33(1), pp.33-46.

Grimmer, L.018. Woolworths is totally pummelling Coles in the supermarket wars: Interview with James Fernyhough.

Hauser, M., Günther, S.A., Flath, C.M. and Thiesse, F. 2019. Towards digital transformation in fashion retailing: a design-oriented is research study of automated checkout systems. Business & Information Systems Engineering, 61(1), pp.51-66.

Huang, K.E., Wu, J.H., Lu, S.Y. and Lin, Y.C. 2016. Innovation and technology creation effects on organizational performance. Journal of Business Research, 69(6), pp.2187-2192.

Ike, L. 2017. International Business: Environments & Operations. Xlibris Corporation.

Imgrund, F., Fischer, M., Janiesch, C. and Winkelmann, A. 2018. Approaching digitalization with business process management. Proceedings of the MKWI, pp.1725-1736.

Islam, M.A. 2017. SWOT Mix and PESTEL Analysis: Effective Tools of Risk Management of Leasing Companies. The Millennium University Journal, 2(1), pp.1-18.

Klikauer, T. 2018. Managing People in Organizations. Macmillan International Higher Education.

Phillipov, M. 2016. ‘Helping Australia Grow’: supermarkets, television cooking shows, and the strategic manufacture of consumer trust. Agriculture and human values, 33(3), pp.587-596.

Pulker, C.E. 2019. A Mixed-Methods Investigation of Australian Supermarkets’ Corporate Social Responsibility Commitments to Public Health: The Case of Supermarket Own Brand Foods (Doctoral dissertation, Curtin University).

Shaw, H.J. and Shaw, J.J. 2019. Corporate Social Responsibility, Social Justice and the Global Food Supply Chain: Towards an Ethical Food Policy for Sustainable Supermarkets. London: Routledge.

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