Essay: Case Study On Strategic Management Wesfarmers.

Question:

Case study on Strategic Management Wesfarmers.
 

Strategic management refers to the development and implementation of the plan for conducting the business operations. In order to choose proper plan and strategy for the business operations, a business organization needs to identify the mission and vision at the beginning level. The objectives of the organization should be selected aligned with the mission and vision statement of the business. In this assignment, the strategic management planning of the Wesfarmers has been analyzed (Hill et al. 2014). Description of the business of the company and the details about the industry in which the company is operating has been analyzed in this report. The mission and vision of the company have been identified and specific objectives have been selected for the organization. Based on the mission, vision and objectives of the business organizations some recommendations are given in the report for improving the strategic management plan of the organization.

The organization was established in the year of 1914 with the agricultural merchandise and services to the Western Australia’s rural areas. In the later period, the company started diversifying of the product lines. At the beginning level the organization they were providing just hardware, forest products and home improvement products. The company started the retail business in the year of 2007 (Wesfarmers 2016). The business operations of Wesfarmers are divided into two major segments. One is for the retail business and the other one for the remaining operations. The retail business of the company is further subdivided into four categories. They are Coles (food, fuel and liquor), home improvement and office supplies, clothing and Kmart (discount departmental store and automotive service retailer). The remaining operations are insurance, chemicals, industrial safety equipments (Wisnz.co.nz 2016). The main business of the organization is the retail business (Ciulla 2014). Acquirement of the products of this company by the Coles retail group in 2007 has made Wesfarmers the one of the largest retailers in Australia. Kmart is the departmental store which is operating in New Zealand and Australia. The organization is the largest and leading industrial safety requirements providers in New Zealand (Wesfarmers 2016). 

The retail industry in New Zealand is increasing in a high speed. In the last year, the retail industry of this country faced a positive growth. The economic recovery contributed a great confidence to the customers and the retail business companies. As a result of this scenario, the relationship of the retail companies and the customers became stronger. Although the customers like to buy the local products, but many overseas companies are offering free delivery of their products (Hitt et al. 2012). This is the reason of increasing the market competition for the domestic retailers of the country. Internet retailing is the main reason of the increased market competition in the retail sectors of the whole world as well the market of this country. The common people of the present world have become busier with their working life for hic they don’t have enough time of shopping by going to the shops. This is the main reason of high priority of the internet retail market (Wisnz.co.nz 2016). At the present situation, there is no sign of slowing the popularity of the internet retail market. Wesfarmers and all other business organizations are using the internet technology as their business operating platform. Currently the industry is in high demand and in future it will face a high growth. In order to get the desired level of success in this industry the companies in this industry have to pay proper attention in the area of forecasting about the future market trends and the strategy to achieve the competitive advantages. The product quality and price are the two weapons of the companies for competing with the other companies in the retail sector.

Retail Industry in New Zealand

The company has the aim of best practicing towards the ethical considerations of the business operations. The company wants to deliver satisfactory level of returns to the shareholders. The company has a good reputation in the countries in which it is operating the business operations. They want to improve their reputation in the area of the ethical practices. It has the mission of having the highest ethical standards among the companies which are operating in the retail industry of New Zealand (Wesfarmers, S. 2016). In order to ensure the satisfactory returns to the stakeholders, Wesfarmers has the objective of developing a unique, disciplined and high focused working culture in their organization. The ethical standard of the company is not about only the value of the shareholders (Swayne et al. 2012). The company is also concerned about the value of the customers, employees, suppliers and other community partners. In the area of the ethical practices, the company has the responsibilities of social and environmental development. The company also has the aim of total economic development of the country through their business. It has high level of concern about the development of the aboriginal people of Australia and New Zealand (Wisnz.co.nz. 2016). The company’s mission is to provide the platform for having equal opportunity of people who are working in the workplaces of the organization. 

In order to get succeeded in the missions and vision, the company has to develop a set of specific objectives. In order to provide the right value to the shareholders, the first objective of the company is develop a proper organization culture in their workplaces (Purce 2014). A unique corporate structure has to be developed by the company. The unique culture should be used by all the sections of the company throughout the different countries in which it is operating now. In the corporate work culture of the company, high level of information transparency is required. The employees of the organization has to ensure that the all the business operations are conducting by maintaining all the ethical considerations applicable in the business environment (Storey 2014).

The main objective of the company is to provide the best quality products to the customers. In order to get succeeded in the business, the company needs to focus in the product quality and information delivery to the customers. The customers must get the right information regarding the products (Budhwar and Debrah 2013).

The ethical practices are concerned with the CSR strategies performed by the business organizations. As the company has the vision of having the highest standard of the ethical practices, the management of the company needs to focus in the CSR strategies. The well beings of the employees, customers, society and environment are the important factors of the CSR strategies (Eden and Ackermann 2013). The objective of the company is to provide the best beneficial services to the employees and the consumers. The objective of the company is to develop a strong and sustainable HRM and marketing strategy.

In order to provide the satisfactory working environment to the employees, the company should ensure the work place health and safety requirements for the employees. The employees’ well beings and motivational factors should given high priority for practicing the high ethical standards (Rothaermel 2015).

Ethical Practices

The objective of the company is to work for the sustainable development of the society and the environment associated with the area in which it is operating the business operations. In this context, the objectives are to minimize the carbon emissions, improve the water and energy efficiency (Boyd et al. 2012).  

In order to fulfill the objectives of the company, the management needs to develop a supervisory unit for observing the activities of the employees and the workplace environment. The supervisory unit will also be responsible for the measuring the level of performance of the employees. Depending on the analysis of the report provided by this unit, proper actions need to be taken by the management (Renwick et al. 2013). In case of good performance of the employees, they should be rewarded by the employers.

Team development and transparent working style is highly required for achieving the objectives of the company. Relevant information should be shared with the team members and the related employees for keeping them updated about the work progress and other related information (Vogel and Güttel 2013). In this way the employees of the organizations will be able to share the corporate goal for achieving the objective of the organization.

The leadership style is very important for the effective handling of the human resource of the company. The leaders are the responsible persons for taking the decisions for the business operations. The leadership style should be employee oriented. The leaders should treat the employees in a good way and should give them priority in the decision making system of the company (Rahm and Riha 2012).

The product quality should be certified by the third party. In this context, the company should use the ISO standard for ensuring the product quality. The ISO certified products will be able to attract more customers towards the products and services (Jiang et al. 2012). The company should get the standard certificate from the International Organization of Standardization.

In order to ensure the social development, the company should participate in the social development programs jointly with the local social worker organizations. They should sponsor the games and social or cultural programs. In order to practice the environmental development, the company should use the energy efficient devices or technical equipments in their workplaces (Priem and Carr 2012). In the production strategy, they should ensure the lowest carbon emission. This can be done by using the innovative technical equipments. 

Conclusion:

Strategic management is required for the achievement of the competitive advantage in the age of intense market competition. It is required for smoother operations of the business activities. Wesfarmers is one of the most popular retail business organization and currently operating mainly in Australia and New Zealand. The company is trying to improve the brand image by concentrating in the area of ethical considerations. The mission of the company is to provide the best services to the customers. The company is also concern about the well-beings of the employees. They are also concern about the social and environmental development. In order to meet these requirements for fulfilling the mission and vision of the company, it needs to follow the recommended strategy as described in this report. The company needs to develop a good HRM strategy for the management of the workforce. In the area of the CSR strategy, they have to think about the use of the energy resources and should reduce by the use of the energy efficient technical equipments. The company also needs to focus in the area of leadership style and motivational factors for the employees. 

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