The following report will discuss about the several issues in the Australian supermarkets. It has been studied by the critical experts that the Australian supermarket retail chain has been dominated by the two market players, namely Coles and Woolworths. As a matter of fact it can also be said that around 80 % of the market share of the Australian supermarket industry is being dominated by the two above mentioned companies. The priority of both the organizations has been the customer satisfaction process (Bourne 2016).
This is why the competition is immense among these two companies. Both of them are the giants of the Australian supermarket industry and their aim is to gain the highest growth through their operations. However, the business environment of the supermarket industry in Australia is quite complex indeed as the various new organizations are trying to make their presence to be felt amidst this strong complexity. Coles is considered to be a part of the Wesfarmers i.e. the retail giants within the country.
The different approaches related to the growth of the two companies will be assessed in terms of their market analysis and competition (Bourne 2016). These three approaches are the dynamic capabilities, stakeholder approach and sustainable approach. As the risks are very high, the chances for sustainability of the organizations are not that much. In the midst of these critical conditions, both the companies are trying to put their best efforts to combat these situations as effectively as they can. These various issues will be discussed here in this paper.
The three important approaches that will be discussed here in this section of the report are the dynamic capabilities, stakeholder approach and the sustainable approach. It has been said earlier that the business environment in the organization has been very much complex over the few years, both the organizations will have to find out some ways by which they can provide their customers with the best services and drive their operations department in a smooth manner. Wesfarmers has become a very successful conglomerate over the years and the organization is the owner of the Coles supermarkets. They provide various types of products and services to the customers since the customers have a huge faith on them. The retailing empire had been dominated by Woolworths for the time being and the organization. Both the supermarkets have tried to provide the best facilities to their customers since they would like to tap the growth opportunities in the best ways indeed. This is why the organizations will have to depend on their stakeholders and dynamic capabilities all the more. There might be limitations but the organization will have to overpower them to be the market leaders (Fassin 2012).
The sustainable approach has been much viable since both the companies, Coles and Woolworths are trying to improve their business operations in the best ways. They are very keen on expanding their services. Coles and Woolworths are regarded as one of the top most retail companies all over the world (Eskerod and Huemann 2013). They are much keen on providing their services to all their customers since they would need to satisfy their needs and desires. The upmarket grocery store services for Woolworths have been one of their sustainable services that they want to provide to their customers. They want to increase their revenues that will help them to cater to their corporate social responsibilities as well. They also operate their hotel services and retail supermarket chains all across the world indeed. The liquor outlets of the Woolworths have also been according to the customer preferences that will be very important to gain the sustainability (Eskerod and Huemann 2013).
There are many benefits that could be the assessed during the sustainability of the companies Coles and Woolworths. The food waste percentages could be reduced if the sustainable approaches of the organization could be implemented properly. The ‘go green’ initiatives should be followed for the betterment of the organization and the environment as well. The organizations could cater to the saving of the environment in the best ways. There have been some questions that had been raised about the food quality of the Woolworths. This should be improved on the basis of the needs of the customers (Jones, Wicks and Freeman 2017). The corporate social responsibilities should be performed for the benefits if the communities in the best ways. The environmental sustainability should be their first priority along with the betterment of the facilities to the concerned communities. The potential risks should be overcome by mitigating the several issues. The cost cutting process should be done and the wage deductions of the employees should be avoided for the growth of their employees.
The sustainable plans should be implemented properly by the concerned organizations Coles and Woolworths. There might be some financial problems regarding the implementation process but the organizations must be able to implement them for the best interest of the community (Jones, Wicks and Freeman 2017). The store development process should be implemented so the maximum number of customers can afford their best services all over the country. The companies should take on some campaigns in which they would address the several customers and convince them that their services and products are completely environment friendly and best for the use (Verbeke and Tung 2013). This will be much beneficial for the organization if they provide the best products after catering to the needs of the communities as well. The implementation process issues can be overcome by the customer education process. The customers should know the various good points of the products and services that are provided to the customers (Seuring and Gold 2013). The pros of these services will be enough for the customers to get attracted to the products as per the demographic profiles of the company. These are the ways the company could cope up with the various issues related to the implementation process.
There are some limitations in the process as well. There might be some problems related to the growth of the organizations in the best ways. The GDP of the country might go down and this could negatively impact on the purchasing power of the company’s products. The political issues could also come up in this sustainability approach due to the various policies of the organization. The price ranges of the products are not always within the affordability of the customers (Jacobs, Chase and Lummus 2014).
The stakeholder approach is also a very important aspect for the growth of the company in the best ways since the organization would look to invest in many projects as they depend on the collaboration with their internal and external stakeholders (Baden-Fuller and Haefliger 2013). The turbulence in the modern day business environment has led all the organizations to progress with much consciousness and primary survey of the entire region. The changes should be suggested by the various stakeholders. As they are the top retail giants, they should stress more on strengthening their logistics and supply chain network so they can send their products to their customers properly and quickly as well (Baden-Fuller and Haefliger 2013). The recruitment and selection of the employees should be in a way that they can work according to the organizational objectives. The organizations should make sure the fact of employing more people to cater to their services. The impact of cutting off jobs will bear a huge negative impact on the society and community (Camisón and Villar-López 2014).
There are certain benefits that are related to the stakeholder approach for both Coles and Woolworths. The allocation of the various resources should be done by the internal stakeholders like the higher authority managers by consulting with the employees of the different departments. The first and foremost priority should be given on the benefit of the customers. If more young people are employed in the business this should be much beneficial for the entire community (Camisón and Villar-López 2014). On the other hand, if the logistics and supply chain network is strengthened this should be highly beneficial for the customers. It is because the products and services will be delivered to the customers much faster than expected. These are the good things that might occur in this scenario. The stakeholders should employ the technological advancement processes as well (Kogan et al. 2017). This will also help both the employees and customers, regarded as very important stakeholders for the organizations like Coles and Woolworths.
There might be some obligations while implementing these things. The problems might occur in budget allocation services as the organizations might opt for cost cutting due to the increasing inflation rates all over the world (Solomon et al. 2014). The stakeholders will have to assess the threats of the new entrants into the retail market like the Metcash. Another important matter is the fact that the customers are sometimes not happy with the high prices of the products and services. This is why the new entrants into the market are making their presence felt in the retail supermarket industry. The plans could only be implemented if the organizations provide special offers with the help of their digital media partners as the external stakeholders (Teece 2012). Thus the issues could be sorted out properly as well. The other important stakeholders should look after the fact if the quality control is being done in the proper ways indeed. The marketing department of the organizations should create the proper demographic customer profiles in the best ways (Solomon et al. 2014).
There are certain limitations that could be discussed in this scenario. The local ownership of the Metcash will be a huge problem for the Coles and Woolworths to provide the services to the customers properly. The community resources are not properly initiated and utilized by these retail giants properly (Baker 2014). This becomes a huge problem for them since the new entrants will make more communications with the customers and providing them the services at cheaper prices. Thus the stakeholders are not being able to cope up with the said problems since they look out to the bigger array of customer profiles.
The dynamic capabilities approach is considered to be one of the most important issues for the success of the organizations (Baker 2014). As the retail giants, Coles and Woolworths will have to be much cautious about retaining the dynamic capabilities for the betterment of their services indeed. They will have to manage their difficult-to-trade assets and complementary assets. They will have to make sure that their products or services cannot be imitated at all. The importance of the implementing the technology will make the operations of Coles and Woolworths much volatile indeed (Ferrell and Hartline 2012). Thus both the organizations will be able to gain more profits in this discourse. The products and services should always be provided to the customers right on time with perfect quality since this is the trademark of Woolworths and Coles for a long time. The probable opportunities for the ultimate development should be found out since the organizations should not leave any space for the newcomers as this compromise might prove to be fatal (Wagner and Hollenbeck 2014).
If the companies utilize this approach it will be much beneficial for them. They will be able to get the competitive advantage through the use of certain tools and techniques and analysing the current market situation. The proper analysis on the market demand will have to be done and the competitive advantage could be gained in this way as well. If the new opportunities could be found, the organizations would have to utilize them for the future benefits (Campbell, Coff and Kryscynski 2012). The proper strategy implementations will definitely prove to be much helpful for the organization. The business conducts should be done in a way that the competitors will not be able to cope up with their successful strategies. The organizational effectiveness will be the key to the success of Coles and Woolworths. The technological advancements will provide the opportunities for the concerned organizations to provide the quick services (McGrath 2013).
Some problems might be faced by the both organizations since all the employees are not properly trained to use the technologically improved instruments. It will also be very hard to find the proper skilful employees who will cater to the find the different opportunities indeed. As both the companies hold the 80% of the market share, it will be difficult to find the gaps or instances where the customers are not happy with their services. This is why the organizations must be doing an in-depth analysis on how the problems could be solved and they can gain the superior competitive advantage over the others. Some technological glitches might come into the matter but they will have to fix it for their benefits only (Urbancova 2013).
There are definitely some limitations regarding this issue since the various organizations are trying to enter the retail supermarket industry within Australia. The ongoing inflation will shed the negative impacts from the financial aspects (Gamble, Thompson and Peteraf 2013). They might have some issues while implementing the strategies by which the competitors will not be able to imitate the strategies. As they are always the market leaders they might not go for the new innovative strategies as a part of their dynamic capabilities (Teece 2012). Thus the organizations might face the various limitations in the place in order to become the volatile organizations. The dynamic capabilities will make them move on in the midst of all the troubles.
Conclusion:
As per the above discussion, the conclusion will have to be written in this section of the report. It has been found in the report that the retail giants in supermarket industry are definitely trying to evolve in this complex business environment. As the business environment in the modern times is getting quite competitive, the companies like Coles and Woolworths will haave to find out some new strategies by which they can survive long in their concerned industry. The sustainability for the organizations is a very important thing and that has to be achieved so the companies can increase their market share and cater to their corporate social responsibilities as well. The environment friendly strategies will have to be implemented by the organizations so they can save the environment. On the other hand, the stakeholder approach is really important as well since both the internal and external stakeholders will have to be interested to provide the instruments for their overall improvement. The managers will have to consult with their employees on how to develop their strategies in a manner that their competitors will not be able to imitate them at all. These strategies will be much helpful for them to attain the competitive advantage. The dynamic capabilities for the organization will have to be improved so they can cope up with the several challenges and provide the best outcomes from the end of the customers.
References:
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