Limited Time OfferFLAT 20% off & $20 bonus sign up. Order Now
New! Hire Essay Assignment Writer Online and Get Flat 20% Discount!!Order Now
To write this report, you should perform the following tasks:
Strategic Business Unit (SBU) refers to fully autonomous unit of the existing businesses. SBUs are generally small so that they can be flexible; and they are large enough so that effective control can be exercised on them. SBUs help the parent companies in responding various economic changes and market situations on a quick basis. Thus, it can be said that SBUs are the important part of the business organizations (Resumption, 2016). The main objective of this report is to develop a new strategic business unit for one of the major Australian conglomerate, Woolworths. As per the provided situation, Woolworths is considering developing a new SBU that will involve in the import and export of different kinds of goods that is related with the retail business of Woolworths. For this reason, the SBU will provide the facility of storage and transportation of those goods.
Woolworths Limited is one of the major retailer conglomerates of Australian market and it is the second largest retailers in terms of revenues. The company was founded in the year of 1924 and the founders of the company were Percy Christmas, Stanley Chatterton, Cecil Scott Waine, George Creed and Ernest Williams (Woolworths.com.au, 2017). The major business divisions and products of the company are supermarket, petrol, liquor, general merchandise, home improvements, hotels and others. From the below figure, it can be seen that Woolworth is the market leader in terms of market share as the company posses 36.3% of market share worth AUS$ 32.6 billion. In the year 2016, the revenue and operating income of the company were AUS$ 59 billion and AUS$ 1.6 billion respectively. Woolworths has an employee base of 202,000 around. Hence, from the above discussion, it can be seen that Woolworths is a major market leader of Australian retail market; and the business growth of the company ensures the future business scope of the c company (Woolworths.com.au, 2017).
As the new SBU of Woolworths is about the import and export that includes both storage and transportation, the external business environmental factors of Australia will have large impact on the new SBU. Two of the major tools for measuring this impact are PESTEL analysis and Porter’s Five Forces analysis. Both the analysis is shown below:
There are six major factors in PESTEL analysis; they are as below:
Political Factors: Political situation of Australia is a major factor for the new SBU as import and export involve with it. It needs to be mentioned that Australia has a stable political situation that benefits the imports and exports business of the country. The political environment of Australia consists of stable business environment; skilled, well-educated and multi-lingual workforce, strategic time zone and others. All these aspects will support the business operations of the SBU (Joshi et al., 2012).
Economic Factors: Some major economic factors will have large effects on the business operations of the SBU. At present, Australian dollar is the fifth most traded currency all over the world. Foreign investors attracts towards Australia for its high interest rate. In the year 2016, the GDP of Australia was $1204.62 billion that is 1.94% of the world economy. At present, the GDP of Australia is higher than countries like United Kingdom, France and Germany. Thus, it can be seen that Australia has a strong economic condition that is a positive signal for the SBU (atlas.media.mit.edu, 2017).
Social Factors: The population of Australia consists of aborigines and other people like British and Irish descent. At present, as a part of the immigration policy of the country, Australian has brought liberalization in their immigration policy. As a result, the people of Australia has become a multi-cultural and multi-faith society where people have different choice and preferences. The SBU needs to consider these factors (Nix et al., 2013).
Technological Factors: New technologies will help to create new business processes for the SBU. Massive technological advancement of Australia has ensured the reduction in costs, improvements in product quality and innovation for the Australian businesses. Thus, the SBU also needs to take full advantage of the technological advancement of the country. Two of the major Australian organization that support technological innovation in the Australian businesses are the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) and Defense Science and Technology Organization (DSTO) (Hakansson, 2015).
Environmental Factors: The major environmental issue in Australia is weather and climate change. Extreme weather change can affect the business operations of the SBU. For this reason, the Government of Australia has implemented certain acts and regulations to protect the environment like The Environment Protection Act of 1974 and others. It is needed for the SBU to take into consideration these acts and regulations at the time of commencing the business operations (Jahn et al., 2012).
Legal Factors: Australia has a strict legal and legislative environment. Some of the major legislatives that can affect the business operations of the SBU are the introduction of age discrimination, disability discrimination, increase in the level of minimum wages, requirement for recycling and many others. Thus, it is required for the SBU to consider all these aspects at the time of business operations (Hill et al. 2013).
Based on the above discussion, it can be said that the political and economical factors are two of the major success driver of the SBU. The stable political condition of Australia will ensure the hassle free business operations of SBU where the company will be beneficial from the growing economic condition of the country. At the same time, the SBU needs to design their product in such a way so that they can be able to match the taste and preferences of Australian people. The adoption of advanced technologies of Australia will ensure the effective business operations of the SBU. Most importantly, the SBU needs to well complied with the environmental and legislative regulations of Australia. Overall, it can be said that the SBU has a prosperous future, as most of the external factors of Australia will provide advantage to it.
Existing Rivalry (HIGH): It can be seen that the import and export industry of Australia consists of some major players; they are Australian Export Consortia, Australian Institute of Export, Australian Lamb Company, Haltec, Nungar Trading Company, Sanwa Australia, Wellard Group and others (az.ezilon.com, 2017). All these companies import and export various goods like retail products, foods and others. From the above, it can be seen that the new SBU will has to face immense competitions from these players. Thus, this risk is high for the SBU.
Threat of New Entrants (LOW): The establishment of an import and export business with storage and transportation facility demands high investment. The companies need to establish various national and delivery networks and they have entered into high-competitive market. Companies need to incur large costs for the establishment of business units and transportation. In addition, they need to comply with different kinds of regulations and legislatives at the tie of business operation. Thus, this risk is low for the SBU (Porter & Heppelman, 2014).
Bargaining Power of Buyers (HIGH): In the import and export industry of Australia, it can be seen that most of the companies offers almost similar kinds of products to the customers. For this reason, a particular customer can get the same kinds of products from different companies. Apart from this, the customers do not have to bear huge costs at the time of switching the companies. For this reason, the customers have a particular power to control the demand and supply of the industry. Thus, this risk is high (Hui, Klasa, & Yeung, 2012).
Bargaining Power of Suppliers (MEDIUM): The major inputs of import and export industry are labors, equipments, transportations, information system and others. In this particular industry, there is not much requirements for highly skilled labors. However, for the section of transportation, there is a need for skilled drivers. On the other hand, technologically sound employees are needed for different business operations of this industry. Overall, it can be said that this risk is medium for the SBU (Lee, Kim & Park, 2012).
Threat of Substitutes (LOW): In this particular business industry, there is not any space for substitute products. Companies in this particular industry use to import and export different kinds of products and for reason, there is not any restriction about products. Thus, in this regard, this risk is low (Lee, Kim & Park, 2012).
According to the above discussion, it can be seen that there is a presence of excessive rivalry in the import and export industry of Australia and most of the companies use to deal with almost same types of products. On the other hand, due to the huge establishment costs and need to comply with different legislative regulations, it is difficult for the new companies to enter into this market. The buyers in this particular industry have high control over the demand and supply as they can get similar kinds of products from different customers. Thus, it is suggested for the SBU to take into consideration all the above discussed factors.
For the establishment of the new SBU, it is necessary to analyze the internal business environment of Woolworths in order to gain insight about various aspects like resources and competencies of the company. In this situation, SWOT analysis is considered as one of the major tool for internal business environment analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The SWOT analysis of Woolworths is done below:
Strengths | Weaknesses |
· Woolworths is one of the oldest retail companies in Australia and currently holding second place in terms of revenue. This is a major strength of the company. · The large supermarket chain and the highest market share are other major strengths of the company (theaustralian.com.au, 2017). · Large variety and numbers of products help Woolworths to register high amount of revenues and profits. · Woolworths has strong commitment towards the environmental and sustainability issues that helps to increase its market reputation (woolworthsgroup.com.au, 2017). · Effective corporate social responsibility programs can be considered as the strength of Woolworths (woolworthsgroup.com.au, 2017). · Amalgamation with online-based sales channel helps Woolworths in growing. | · It can be seen that Woolworths does not have much presence outside Australia as most of the business operations of this company is Australia based. This is a major weakness for Woolworths for the development of export and import business as this particular business industry wants massive international presence. · As per earlier discussion, excessive competition can be seen in the Australian export and import industry. For this reason, Woolworths is losing competitive edge to its competitors (bigcompetitions.com.au, 2017). · Woolworths has made its entry in the online market lately. For this reason, the company already lost some market share to its competitors. |
Opportunities | Threats |
· In June 2017, 0.4% growth can be seen in the Australian retail market. This will be creating business opportunities for the SBU (abs.gov.au, 2017). · It can be seen that Woolworths use effective promotional strategy in order to retain their customers. This will create business opportunities for Woolworths. · The emerging economy of Australia is creating large business opportunities for Woolworths. · Recently, Woolworths is using social media as a major tool to engage customers. This process will boost the revenue of the company. | · Massive discounting competition can be seen between Woolworth and Coles. This process is creating future threats for Woolworths. · The aggressive expansion of some of the retail companies like Aldi is creating future threats for Woolworths. · Slow growth of the online retail market of Australia is posing future threats for Woolworths. |
Table 1: SWOT Analysis of Woolworths
(Source: As created by Author)
From the above discussion, it can be seen that large market share and huge market growth of Woolworths will provide advantage to the SBU. As Australia is an emerging economy, it will create business opportunities for the SBU. However, the lack of international presence is a weakness for the SBU as import and export demands international presence. Lastly, excessive rivalry is also harmful for the SBU.
From the above discussion, it can be seen that Woolworths is considering to develop a SBU that will involve of the import and export of Woolworths’ retail products with storage and transportation. As a part of external environmental analysis, PESTEL and Porter’s Five Force analysis is done. As per the PESTEL analysis, political and economic factors will be favorable for the development of new SBU. On the other hand, the new SBU will have to comply with the environmental and legislative regulations of the country. After that, according to the analysis of Porter’s Five Forces, it can be seen that the threat of existing rivalry is high in the import and export industry of Australia. For this reason, excessive rivalry can be seen in this industry.
On the other hand, for the presence of many organizations offering same products, the buyers have the power to control the demand and supply of this industry. The new entrants in this industry have to comply with many regulations and the business establishment cost is very high. For this reason, this risk is low. As per the SWOT analysis of Woolworths, it can be seen that highest market share and large sales are major strengths of Woolworths. However, the lack of international presence will have negative impact on the development of SBU of the company. The emerging economy of Australia will provide massive business opportunities to the new company. Aggressive expansion of some of the retail companies in Australia is creating future threats for the SBU of Woolworths.
Based on the above discussion, some recommendations are provided below:
Supermarket weep: Woolies’ share continues to fall and Coles and Aldi split the proceeds. (2017). Roy Morgan. Retrieved 2 September 2017, from http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/7021-woolworths-coles-aldi-iga-supermarket-market-shares-australia-september-2016--201610241542
List of Australian Import and Export Companies - Ezilon Australia. (2017). Az.ezilon.com. Retrieved 2 September 2017, from https://az.ezilon.com/australia/business/trade/import_and_export/index.shtml
OEC - Australia (AUS) Exports, Imports, and Trade Partners. (2017). Atlas.media.mit.edu. Retrieved 2 September 2017, from http://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/aus/#Exports
Resumption, C. (2016). Strategic Business Unit.
Yüksel, ?. (2012). Developing a multi-criteria decision making model for PESTEL analysis. International Journal of Business and Management, 7(24), 52.
Joshi, M., Singh Ubha, D., & Sidhu, J. (2012). Intellectual capital disclosures by Indian and Australian information technology companies: A comparative analysis. Journal of Intellectual Capital, 13(4), 582-598.
Nix, H., Mackey, B., Traill, B., & Woinarski, J. (2013). The nature of Northern Australia: its natural values, ecological processes and future prospects (p. 127). ANU Press.
Hakansson, H. (Ed.). (2015). Industrial Technological Development (Routledge Revivals): A Network Approach. Routledge.
Jahn, T., Aschemann, R., Sadler, B., Partidario, M., & Verheem, R. (2012). Handbook of strategic environmental assessment. Routledge.
Hill, R., Pert, P. I., Davies, J., Walsh, F. J., & Falco-Mammone, F. (2013). Indigenous land management in Australia: extent, scope, diversity, barriers and success factors. Cairns: CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences.
Porter, M. E., & Heppelmann, J. E. (2014). How smart, connected products are transforming competition. Harvard Business Review, 92(11), 64-88.
Hui, K. W., Klasa, S., & Yeung, P. E. (2012). Corporate suppliers and customers and accounting conservatism. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 53(1), 115-135.
Lee, H., Kim, M. S., & Park, Y. (2012). An analytic network process approach to operationalization of five forces model. Applied Mathematical Modelling, 36(4), 1783-1795.
Kohler, C., & Kohler, C. (2017). Giants hit back at Costco. Theaustralian.com.au. Retrieved 2 September 2017, from http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/supermarket-giants-coles-and-woolworths-close-price-gap-on-costco/news-story/36cd86e9288b7a941ade989658a1bb19
Corporate Responsibility - Woolworths Group. (2017). Woolworthsgroup.com.au. Retrieved 2 September 2017, from https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/community-and-responsibility/group-responsibility/corporate-responsibility
Environment and sustainability - Woolworths Group. (2017). Woolworthsgroup.com.au. Retrieved 2 September 2017, from https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/community-and-responsibility/group-responsibility/environment
Woolworths Competitions. (2017). Big Competitions Australia. Retrieved 2 September 2017, from http://www.bigcompetitions.com.au/shop/woolworths-competitions/
8501.0 - Retail Trade, Australia, Jun 2017. (2017). Abs.gov.au. Retrieved 2 September 2017, from http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/mf/8501.0
About Us. (2017). woolworths.com.au. Retrieved 2 September 2017, from http://ww.woolworths.com.au/shop/discover/about-us.
No matter how close the deadline is, you will find quick solutions for your urgent assignments.
All assessments are written by experts based on research and credible sources. It also quality-approved by editors and proofreaders.
Our team consists of writers and PhD scholars with profound knowledge in their subject of study and deliver A+ quality solution.
We offer academic help services for a wide array of subjects.
We care about our students and guarantee the best price in the market to help them avail top academic services that fit any budget.
15,000+ happy customers and counting!