As opined by Grant (2016), globalization or internationalization and the widespread use of different types of technologies have positively affected the world of business in the contemporary times. Ansoff et al. (2019) are of the viewpoint that this has enhanced the competition faced by the different business enterprises in the business world because of the number of choices that are available to the customers. Different organizations are thus required to conduct a thorough analysis of the business environment in which they are operational and develop effective strategies so as to take advantages of the opportunities presented by the business market and also to mitigate the threats presented by the same (Morschett, Schramm-Klein & Zentes, 2015).
Wheelen et al. (2017) have articulated that the overall organizational prospects of an organization depend greatly on the kind of strategies that the organization is using for the process of its business operations. However, it is often seen that the organizations take the help of strategies which are not in synchronicity with the key competencies or the capabilities of the organization and also the requirements of the external business environment in which the organizations (Rothaermel, 2015). More importantly, the organizations also fail to take into effective consideration the requirements or the demands of the customers or the changing needs of their business and this can have catastrophic results for the concerned organization. This paper will analyze the manner in which disregard of the requirements of the external business environment can disrupt the business prospects of an organization in the particular context of the organization Wesfarmers and the recent losses faced by it.
Wesfarmers Limited, founded in 1914, is an Australian conglomerate business enterprise with extensive business interests in the retail, chemical, hardware, fertilizers, coal mining, safety products and others (Wesfarmers.com.au, 2019). More importantly, the organization offers a wide range of products or services to the customers starting from groceries, retail products, safety products, fertilizer to insurances and other kinds of financial services (Forbes.com, 2019). Furthermore, the organization although headquartered in Perth is currently operational in Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and other nations of the world (Wesfarmers.com.au, 2019). Moreover, the organization as of 2018 was the largest private recruiter in Australia with more than 220,000 employees from the different regions of the nation (Forbes.com, 2019). In addition to these, the organization with an annual profit of more than $37.7 billion was the largest business enterprise of Australia with the closest rival being Woolworths Limited (Forbes.com, 2019). The acquisition of various Australian companies like Bunnings Warehouse, Coles Supermarket, Liquorland, Vintage Cellars and others in the recent times has contributed much towards the growth of the organization under discussion here in the recent times (Wesfarmers.com.au, 2019). However, in the year 2018 the organization faced a substantial decline in its revenue and in order to cover up for the losses had to take the help of divestment and give up many of its enterprises like Coles Supermarket and others which formed the backbone of the conglomeration under discussion.
The organization Wesfarmers faced a substantial amount of backlash in the year 2018 because of the business practices used by it for the process of its business enterprises. For example, the brick and mortal business model followed by the organization under discussion faced a significant amount of criticism in 2018 in UK for the hardware business that it was conducting in the concerned nation (Abc.net.au, 2019). More importantly, the organization also faced a substantial amount of loss in the second quarter of 2018 and its market share declined by 87pc although the organization has seen a significant amount of profit in the first quarter of the same year (News.com.au, 2019). In this regard, it needs to be said that although the organization reported a gross profit of $212 million for the second quarter of 2018 yet because of the losses that it faced in the business market and the organization also lost a substantial part of the monopoly that it once held in Australian business market (Abc.net.au, 2019). More importantly, the organization faced a 58% decline in its profit margin after paying the bank loans and debts that it had taken for the purpose of the management of its business operations (News.com.au, 2019). In addition to this, Bunnings Warehouse which is considered one of the most profitable companies of organization ended the year with a loss of $1.3 billion and to cover up the loss Wesfarmers had to withdraw the organization from the UK market (Abc.net.au, 2019). Apart from this, Target also ended the year with a loss of $300 million and in order to cover for these financial losses, the organization had to divest Coles Group (News.com.au, 2019).
Hill, Jones and Schilling (2015) argue that one of the most basic demands of business enterprises is a stable political environment wherein they can conduct their business operations in an adequate manner. The nation of Australia is a “federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy” and follows the principle of representative democracy (Australia.gov.au, 2019). As opined by Saebi, Lien and Foss (2017), one of the most essential aspects of Australia is the fact that the nation not only has a stable government but at the same time is free from various kinds of political struggles and turmoil. In addition to this, it is seen that the national government takes active initiatives for the growth of trade and commerce and for this effective import, export, business policies have been formulated (Kirchoff, Tate & Mollenkopf, 2016). Furthermore, the active trade relations that the nation has with the other Commonwealth nations and the free trade policy followed by it has helped in the growth of trade and commerce in the nation in an adequate manner (Lloret, 2016). It is pertinent to note that these aspects of the political system of Australia has facilitated the business of the Wesfarmers and also enabled it to gain success in the nation. However, in the recent times it is seen that the national government has launched various kinds of mandates like the fair trade policies, consumer protection stipulations and others which had adversely affected the business of Wesfarmers and is probably one of the major reasons for the huge losses incurred by the organization (Prajogo, 2016). More importantly, although the national government of the nation actively supports the supply chain system of the organization and helps in the procurement of the raw materials yet it is seen that the stringent procurement norms given by the government in the recent times had adversely affected the business of the organization (Vrontis et al., 2017). The organization had to face stringent stipulations regarding the procurement of raw materials from other nation because of the documentation, transportation, import and other formalities that are involved in the process.
The nation of Australia has the largest “mixed-market economy” among all the nations of the world with an impressive GDP of $1.69 trillion as of 2017 (Australia.gov.au, 2019). In addition to this, the nation of Australia stands at the 2nd position in terms of the amount of wealth held by the individual people of the nation and is next only to Switzerland (Australia.gov.au, 2019). Furthermore, the national government in order to promote private trade and commerce offers various kinds of business loans and other kinds of subsidiaries to the business enterprises (Wang et al., 2015). More importantly, mention also needs to be of the lenient import, export, tax and other kinds of tariffs that the business enterprises had to pay to the national government for conducting trade in the nation. As of 2017, the nation has a labor force of 12.7 million which ensures the fact that the different business enterprises of the nation have access to the desired number of workers so as to get the work of their organization completed (Australia.gov.au, 2019). However, at the same time it needs to be said that high inflation rate of the nation is one of the major problems for the organization under discussion here. This means that the prices of the raw materials that are needed by the organization keeps on fluctuating and affects the production cost of the organization in an adverse manner. Furthermore, this not only enhances the cost that the organization is required to spend on its supply system but at the same time renders it untrustworthy as well because of which the manufacturing department of the organization is facing problems (Martinez-Conesa, Soto-Acosta & Carayannis, 2017). In addition to this, the nation is still reeling from the adverse effects of the financial crisis that the world faced in 2007-2008 and this perhaps accounts for the fluctuations in the annual profit earned by the organization (Vrontis et al., 2017).
Frynas and Mellahi (2015) are of the viewpoint that the social factors which affect the business operations of an organization in a particular business environment are the demographics of the customers, namely, their age, gender, financial status and other attributes. As opined by Chang (2016), the buying behavior of the customers in the recent times has changed in a significant manner because of the number of choices that are available to them. The net result of this is that the customers often opt for the services or goods offered by an organization which not only has a positive brand image but at the same time reveals detailed information regarding the corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and the supply chain network that it is using (Wang et al., 2015). In this regard, it needs to be said that the organization under discussion keeping this behavior of the customers into perspective discloses detailed information regarding CSR practices and also the supply chain network used by it over their online website. In addition to this, taking into effective consideration the tendency of the modern customers to opt for the e-commerce mode of business, Wesfarmers had started to offer e-commerce services to the customers as well.
According to Chang (2016), the success or the failure of an organization depends significantly on the extent to which it is being able to integrate the latest technologies within the framework of its business operations. Wesfarmers actively takes the help of the technological advancements of Australia and also the other Commonwealth nations with which it had active trade relations. For example, it is seen that the organization is taking the help of the technology of automation to enhance the effectiveness of its supply chain system which in turn had improved the delivery system used by the organization (Hanson et al., 2016). More importantly, the organization realizing the opportunities offered by the construct of digital marketing is actively using to not only promote as well as market the products or services offered by it but at the same time to reach out to a much larger customer base as well. Along with these initiatives, the organization is also gradually embracing the omni-channel business model to offer both e-commerce and brick and mortar services to the customers and also to cater to the needs of the diverse customer groups (Hsu, Tan & Mohamad Zailani, 2016).
The different organizations of Australia are required to follow the corporate legislations of the nation for the process of their business operations. Some of the most important ones in this regard are the ones related to taxation, management policies, employee legislations, Corporations Act 2001, the mandates of Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and others (Australia.gov.au, 2019). In this regard, it needs to be said to address these stipulations or regulations of the nation, the organization under discussion here has formulated its own version of corporate governance so to manage the diverse affairs of its organization in an effective manner. More importantly, it is seen that these legislations of the nation had a profound impact on the supply chain system used by the organization since the raw materials used by the organization are subjected to vigorous security, quality and other kinds of checks so as to ensure that the organization is following all the mandates of the nation related to procurement of goods or services (Foss & Saebi, 2017). In addition to these, the supply chain used by the organization is also subjected to various kinds of transport and other kinds of regulations of the national government of Australia.
Australia is a signatory member of the Paris Agreement of 2016 which stated that in order to combat the adverse effects of environmental pollution the different organizations are required to reduce the amount of pollutants released by them by more than 2.1% (Australia.gov.au, 2019). The organization Wesfarmers has taken up environmental pollution as one of its key CSR issues and thus is currently taking the help of recyclable materials for packing and other similar kind of practices (Wesfarmers.com.au, 2019). More importantly, the organization in order to mitigate the damage that it is causing to the environment on the score of its business operations is taking the help of Green Supply Chain Management (Schaltegger & Wagner, 2017). This system is being more rigorously used by the organization for its coal mining, petroleum, hardware and similar kinds of businesses.
Jenkins and Williamson (2015) are of the viewpoint that the construct of industry environment analysis is important because of the fact that it reveals insightful details regarding the business completion that an organization is facing in the business environment and also industry trends. Porter’s Five Forces model is one of the most widely used models for analyzing the level of business competition that an organization faces within a particular business environment (Wong, Wong & Boon-Itt, 2015).
The organization Wesfarmers faces a very low level of threat from the new entrants in the business market of Australia. Various reasons can be attributed to this, namely, the business market of Australia had already been monopolized by the organizations like Woolworths, Wesfarmers, Coles and others, the huge amount of investment that is needed to establish a business venture in Australia, the low investment returns and others (Banerjee, 2017). In addition to this, the free trade policy followed by the national government and also active patronage given by it to the major business enterprises of the nation are other reasons which contribute to the same (Epstein, 2018).
Wesfarmers faces a high level of threat from the various substitutes which are operational in the business market of Australia like Woolworths, Amazon, Aldi and others. This can be explained on the basis of the fact these organizations offer almost similar kinds of products or services like the ones offered by Wesfarmers. In order to overcome this problem, the organization is currently trying to follow the cost leadership strategy through which it intends to offer the best quality products or services to the customers and that too at the lowest price possible (Sroufe & Joseph, 2017).
Leonidou et al. (2015) are of the viewpoint that if the bargaining power of the suppliers is more than this is likely to adversely affect the business prospects of an organization. However, within the framework of the retail industry it is seen that the bargaining power of the suppliers is considerable because of the fact that a handful of organizations had monopolized the business market and also the entity of brand name or image is a factor which affects the same (Waddock & Bodwell, 2017). In this regard, it needs to be said that the organization under discussion here in order to reduce the bargaining power of the supplier has not only evolved its supplier system but at the same time takes the help of multi-supply chains.
As opined by Grant (2016), the number of choices that are available to the customers in the retail industry is very high because of the large number of companies which offer similar kinds of products and that too within the same price range. Furthermore, the cost of switching over from organization to another is very low and this accounts for the high bargaining power of the buyers (Pérez?López, Moreno?Romero & Barkemeyer, 2015). Wesfarmers in order to overcome this problem is taking the help of product differentiation strategy through which it intends to offers superior quality of products to the customers which are different from the ones that its rivals are offering (Ansoff et al., 2019).
There is a fierce competition in the retail industry of Australia and the majority of the market share is being held by a handful of organizations like Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, Asda and others (Saebi, Lien & Foss, 2017). More importantly, the innovative business models and strategies followed by these organizations had reduced the gross revenue generated by the organization Wesfarmers and this is perhaps one of the major reasons for the huge losses incurred by the organization in 2017.
The unprecedented growth attained by the organization Wesfarmers can be explained on the basis of the fact that the management team of the concerned organization was being able to take into effective consideration not only the requirements of the business environment in which the organization is operational but at the same time the demands of the customers as well (Morschett, Schramm-Klein & Zentes, 2015). More importantly, the organization realizing the boom experienced by Amazon has embraced the e-commerce mode of business and also offers unique shopping experience to the customers (Rothaermel, 2015). Furthermore, the effective utilization of different strategies like cost leadership and product differentiation has at the same time contributed in a substantial manner towards the financial growth of the organization over the years and also enabled it to gain monopoly in the business market of Australia. However, the factors which contributed to the decline of the organization are listed below-
Wesfarmers has become the victim of its own extensive growth and this is perhaps one of the major reasons for the problem of mismanagement that the organization that the organization is currently facing. The organization in order to monopolize the business market of Australia acquired a large number of companies like Coles, Target, Bunnings Warehouse and others in a bid to eliminate competition (Abc.net.au, 2019). However, over the years it had failed to effectively manage the business affairs of these organizations in an effective manner and this is perhaps one of the major reasons why these business ventures of the organizations are incurring such a high amount of loss. For example, Bunnings Warehouse had to exit from UK business market, Target registered a loss of more than $300 million in 2018 and Coles also met with a similar fate (News.com.au, 2019). Thus, it can be said that because of the extensive growth that the organization had it failed to give individual focus to each of these organizations and this resulted in the failure of these ventures.
Ansoff et al. (2019) have argued the fact that the success or the failure of an organization depends substantially on its ability to embrace the recent technologies and also stay in synchronicity with the demands of the people. It is true that the organization Wesfarmers currently offers e-commerce services to the customers however it failed to capitalize on this business model at the right moment. In this regard, it needs to be said that the organization under discussion here started the use of e-commerce business model when the Australian retail business market had already been captured by the other organizations like Amazon, Aldi, Woolworths and others which started the use of this model long before Wesfarmers (News.com.au, 2019). Thus, it can be said that the failure to effectively utilize the innovative technology of e-commerce at the right moment is another factor which is gradually leading the organization to its downfall.
As opined by Hill, Jones and Schilling (2015), one of the most important aspects of the Australian retail business market is the fierce competition which dominates it. As already mentioned the Australian retail business market is being dominated by organizations like Woolworths, Aldi, Asda and others which are not only offering better quality products to the customers but at the same time are taking the help of effective business strategies like omni-channel business strategy, digital marketing and others. In contrast, it is seen that the organization Wesfarmers still relies on the use of traditional form of marketing and promotion, uses brick and mortar model of business which are no longer in synchronicity with the demands of the business environment (Abc.net.au, 2019).
The organization Wesfarmers in the recent times has lost a large number of its loyal customers to its competitors and this is another factor which has contributed to the downfall of the organization. In this regard, it needs to be said that the competitors of Wesfarmers are regularly organizing discounted sales, offering free gift cards to the customers, using digital marketing to attract new customers and other similar measures to attract new customers and also to retain the existing one (Wheelen et al., 2017). However, when an analysis of Wesfarmers is undertaken it becomes evident that no similar measures were being undertaken by the organization to attract new customers or to retain the existing ones. Thus, many of the loyal customers who had once helped the organization to gain monopoly in Australian retail market switched over to its rival and this contributed in a significant manner towards the decline of the organization.
Kirchoff, Tate and Mollenkopf (2016) are of the viewpoint that during the formulation of different kinds of business strategies the organizations need to take into effective consideration the key capabilities and also the resources of the organization. In this regard, it needs to be said that the primary resources of the organization Wesfarmers can be categorized into two sections, namely, the tangible resources and the in-tangible resources (Saebi, Lien & Foss, 2017). The tangible resources are the ones which can be measured and is being reflected by the annual reports of the organization (Lloret, 2016). On the other hand, the in-tangible resources are the ones which cannot be measured and thereby are not only reflected in the annual reports of the organization like the entity of brand image and others (Prajogo, 2016). Some of the key resources of the organization Wesfarmers are listed below-
The organization Wesfarmers despite the 58% loss in the sales and revenue that it suffered in the second quarter of the year 2018 was able to make an overall profit of 2.9% which is lower than the percentage of profit made by it in the previous years (Wesfarmers.com.au, 2019). However, despite the losses incurred by the organization it still has a market value of $34.7 billion which makes it the largest business enterprise of Australia (Wesfarmers.com.au, 2019). This can be explained on the basis of the fact that although the organization had incurred losses on the score of the companies, namely, Coles, Target, Bunnings Warehouse and others it was able to derive a substantial amount of profit because of the diversification strategy followed by it (Forbes.com, 2019). In this regard, it needs to be said that the organization has companies in almost all the industries and thus even if incurs loss in one particular industry the profit generated by the other ones compensates for the losses. In addition to this, it is seen that the organization offers various kinds of gift cards and loyalty cards to the customers, which they can use only at the Wesfarmers sponsored companies and this has ensured a steady flow of revenue within the organization.
The organization actively uses the technological advancements of the nation not for the enhancement of the quality of products or services offered by it to the customers but at the same time within the framework of its business operations as well. In this regard, mention needs to be made of the technology of automation used by the organization for the improvement of its supply system (Forbes.com, 2019). More importantly, in order to reduce its manufacturing cost and thereby the operation cost the organization is taking the help of the latest state-of-the-art machineries (Vrontis et al., 2017). Furthermore, in the recent times it is also seen that the organization has embraced the digital marketing technology and e-commerce technology to further enhance the prospects of its business (Frynas & Mellahi, 2015).
Wesfarmers follows the hierarchical organizational structure which ensures a steady flow of information from the lower departments of the organization to the higher authorities of the same (Wang et al., 2015). More importantly, this structure followed by the organization becomes especially important in the context of the international business centers of the organization wherein effective communication between the higher management team and the lower departments of the organization is of more importance (Chang, 2016). Furthermore, this organizational structure followed by the organization enables it to effectively utilize the resources as well as capabilities of the organization which in turn has helped it to gain competitive advantage.
Wesfarmers is the largest private recruiter in the nation of Australia and offers employment to more than 220,000 people of the nation (Wesfarmers.com.au, 2019). More importantly, it is seen that the organization offers specialized training (on-job training, advanced training and others) to these individuals so as to enable the met the requirements of the organization (Foss & Saebi, 2017). Hanson et al. (2016) are of the viewpoint that the overall organizational performance of an organization depends on the individual performances of the different workers of the organization. This is the result of this fact that the organization takes the help of the help of the total quality management (TQM) strategy to enhance the performances of the different employees. As opined by Banerjee (2017), the effective use of the TQM strategy helps the organizations to maximize the performance level of the individual employees of the organization and thereby enhance the overall productivity of the organization. Thus, it can be said that this extensive focus on the aspect of employee performance has enabled the organization to not only gain competitive advantage but at the same time a substantial amount of success in Australia.
The organization actively takes the help of its websites to offer information to the customers regarding the new products or services offered by it. In the recent times it is seen that it is has diversified the product or service range offered by it so as to meet the requirements of the different customers and also to offer them quality services (Schaltegger & Wagner, 2017). In this regard, mention needs to be made of the healthy and organic food products offered by its subsidiaries like Coles, Target and others. Furthermore, to enhance the brand awareness of the customers it actively takes the help of the construct of value proposition to convey the value or the benefits that the customers are likely to derive through the use of their products or services. The key value proposition of the organization are listed below-
The organization for the pricing of the products or services offered by it to the customers follows the strategy of cost leadership so as to offer the best quality products or services at the lowest possible prices (Wong, Wong & Boon-Itt, 2015). It is pertinent to note that because of the setback that it had faced in UK and other nations the focus of the organization is on stabilization of its business current business operations. In addition to this, it is seen that because of this the organization is inculcate the new business model of omni-channel business model through the effective usage of which it is likely to offer both physical and also online shopping services to the customers (Jenkins & Williamson, 2015). In this regard, it needs to be said that these measures of the organization are designed to help to gain competitive advantage within the business market of Australia.
The key capabilities are organization under discussion here are listed below-
|
Value |
The effective human, financial and technological resources of the organization had helped it in a substantial manner to pursue international expansion. This is not only aimed to expand the business of the organization but at the same to enhance the profitability of the organization and thereby help it to gain competitive advantage |
|
Rareness |
The subsidiary companies of Wesfarmers, namely, Coles, Target, Bunnings Warehouse and others has not only enabled it to gain monopoly in the business market of Australia but also to offer a wide variety of products or services to the customers (Abc.net.au, 2019). This in turn contributes in a significant manner towards the rareness of the organization. |
|
Imitability |
The organization is currently using Platform strategy to enhance its tie-ups with the various local dealers which in turn has channelized and thereby improved the availability of goods or services manufactured by the organization in the market (Morschett, Schramm-Klein & Zentes, 2015). This contributes in a significant manner towards the imitability of the organization since the organizations have to depend on vendors and third players for the delivery of their goods or services in the market. |
|
Organized |
The organization takes the help of hierarchical organization structure to effectively organize the different departments of the organization to ensure the steady flow of information and also to get the work of the organization completed in an effective manner. |
A value chain analysis of the organization reveals the fact that the business activities of the organization can be categorized into two sections, namely, primary and secondary. The primary activities are related to inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, customer service, sale and others. It is pertinent to note that for the effective management of these activities the organization had an effective supply chain system, offers regular training to the employees to enhance sale and also to manage effective relationship with the customers (Ansoff et al., 2019). Furthermore, it is seen that through the usage of the Platform strategy the organization had been able to create its own networks which in turn had much improved the quality of supply system. More importantly, for the effective management of customer relationship the organization had established a separate department for the management of the same. In this regard, it needs to be said that the organization had been able to gain competitive advantage because of the effective utilization of its human, technological and financial resources for the management of the above mentioned primary activities.
The long history as well as the wide range of products or services offered by the organization can be said to main strength point. Furthermore, the organization has active interests in almost all the major industries, which means that although it is incurring loss in one industry it would be able to make it up with the profit that it had earned from other industries (Prajogo, 2016). More importantly, the omni-channel business model that the organization is currently following is another strength point of the organization which distinguishes it from others.
The major weakness of the organization can be said to be its inability to formulate business strategies on the basis of the requirements of the external business environment and also the changing needs of the business world (Vrontis et al., 2017). The net result of this is that the organization failed to capitalize on the e-commerce model at the right moment and this resulted in a substantial loss of competitive advantage in Australian business market. In addition to this, because of extensive expansion followed by the organization it is facing severe management issue and this resulted in the exit of Bunnings Warehouse from UK and also the huge losses that Target Australia incurred for the fiscal year of 2018.
The major business opportunities which galores the organization is the full-fledged use of the e-commerce business model which will enable it to offer services on par with Amazon, Woolworths and others. In addition to this, the organization can also take the help of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices to further enhance its brand image and earn the loyalty of the customers. The organization of regular discounted sales is another opportunity that the organization can utilize to enhance its business prospects.
The major threat that the organization is facing is the fierce competition that it is experiencing in the Australian business market. Another threat that the organization is facing currently is the problem of ineffective management. As already mentioned the organization had become the victim of its own growth and thus it needs to formulate effective measures so as to enhance the quality of management practices followed by it.
Wesfarmers is currently taking the help of the omni-channel business strategy to offer both online as well as physical shopping options to the customers. It is pertinent to note that this strategy is being followed by the organization in response to the e-commerce business model followed by its competitors (Wang et al., 2015). More importantly, in the present times it is seen that the buying behavior of the customers have undergone a drastic change and they are increasingly opting for the online mode of shopping (Chang, 2016). Thus, the organization through the usage of this strategy hopes to reclaim the monopoly that it once held in the Australian business market.
The organization is also taking the help of Platform strategy and the Green supply chain management process. The primary objective of the organization behind the usage of these tactics is to improve the effectiveness of the supply chain system used by them and also to mitigate the damage that they are causing to the environment on the score of their business operations (Saebi, Lien & Foss, 2017). More importantly, the organization with the objective of improving the individual performance level of the different workers of the organization is also taking the help of TQM strategy.
Digital marketing is another important strategy that the organization is currently following to effectively promote as well as market the different products or services offered by them to the customers. Furthermore, it is seen that the usage of this marketing is not only cost effective for the organization but at the same time enables it to reach out to a comparatively larger customer base in comparison to the traditional methods of marketing and promotion (Jenkins & Williamson, 2015).
Conclusion
To conclude, the external business in which an organization is operational wields a significant amount of influence on the business activities of an organization and thus it becomes imperative for the organizations to take into effective consideration the same. More importantly, the requirements or the demands of the business world and also the customers have changed in a significant manner in the present times and the organizations need to integrate them within the framework of their business activities. This is perhaps one of the major reasons why the organizations which are disregarding these factors of the business world are increasingly finding it difficult to sustain themselves within the business world. This becomes evident from the above analysis of the organization Wesfarmers and also the manner in which it failed to take into effective consideration the key requirements of the environment in which it was operational.
Three of the most important measures that the organization Wesfarmers can use to enhance its performance are listed below-
References
Abc.net.au, (2019). Wesfarmers net profit plunges nearly 87pc on Target and Bunnings UK write-downs. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-21/wesfarmers-profit-falls-87pc-on-target-bunnings-uk-write-downs/9469302
Ansoff, H. I., Kipley, D., Lewis, A. O., Helm-Stevens, R., & Ansoff, R. (2019). Implanting strategic management. Springer.
Australia.gov.au, (2019). Australian Government Home. Retrieved from https://www.australia.gov.au/
Banerjee, S. B. (2017). Corporate environmentalism and the greening of strategic marketing: Implications for marketing theory and practice. In Greener Marketing (pp. 16-40). Routledge.
Chang, J. F. (2016). Business process management systems: strategy and implementation. Auerbach Publications.
Epstein, M. J. (2018). Making sustainability work: Best practices in managing and measuring corporate social, environmental and economic impacts. Routledge.
Forbes.com, (2019). Wesfarmers on the Forbes Global 2000 List. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/companies/wesfarmers/#431a670f5d0a
Foss, N. J., & Saebi, T. (2017). Fifteen years of research on business model innovation: How far have we come, and where should we go?. Journal of Management, 43(1), 200-227.
Frynas, J. G., & Mellahi, K. (2015). Global strategic management. Oxford University Press, USA.
Grant, R. M. (2016). Contemporary strategy analysis: Text and cases edition. John Wiley & Sons.
Hanson, D., Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E. (2016). Strategic management: Competitiveness and globalisation. Cengage AU.
Hill, C. W., Jones, G. R., & Schilling, M. A. (2015). Strategic management theory. Cengage Learning,.
Hsu, C. C., Tan, K. C., & Mohamad Zailani, S. H. (2016). Strategic orientations, sustainable supply chain initiatives, and reverse logistics: Empirical evidence from an emerging market. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 36(1), 86-110.
Jenkins, W., & Williamson, D. (2015). Strategic management and business analysis. Routledge.
Kirchoff, J. F., Tate, W. L., & Mollenkopf, D. A. (2016). The impact of strategic organizational orientations on green supply chain management and firm performance. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 46(3), 269-292.
Leonidou, L. C., Fotiadis, T. A., Christodoulides, P., Spyropoulou, S., & Katsikeas, C. S. (2015). Environmentally friendly export business strategy: Its determinants and effects on competitive advantage and performance. International Business Review, 24(5), 798-811.
Lloret, A. (2016). Modeling corporate sustainability strategy. Journal of Business Research, 69(2), 418-425.
Martinez-Conesa, I., Soto-Acosta, P., & Carayannis, E. G. (2017). On the path towards open innovation: Assessing the role of knowledge management capability and environmental dynamism in SMEs. Journal of Knowledge Management, 21(3), 553-570.
Morschett, D., Schramm-Klein, H., & Zentes, J. (2015). Strategic international management (pp. 978-3658078836). Springer.
News.com.au, (2019). Bunnings UK and Target savage Wesfarmers’ profit. Retrieved from https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/wesfarmers-poor-bunnings-uk-target-performance-drags-down-profit/news-story/19a6f05696ffeb33676e9b2077dff125
Pérez?López, D., Moreno?Romero, A., & Barkemeyer, R. (2015). Exploring the relationship between sustainability reporting and sustainability management practices. Business Strategy and the Environment, 24(8), 720-734.
Prajogo, D. I. (2016). The strategic fit between innovation strategies and business environment in delivering business performance. International Journal of Production Economics, 171, 241-249.
Rothaermel, F. T. (2015). Strategic management. McGraw-Hill Education,.
Saebi, T., Lien, L., & Foss, N. J. (2017). What drives business model adaptation? The impact of opportunities, threats and strategic orientation. Long range planning, 50(5), 567-581.
Schaltegger, S., & Wagner, M. (2017). Managing the business case for sustainability: The integration of social, environmental and economic performance. Routledge.
Sroufe, R., & Joseph, S. (Eds.). (2017). Strategic sustainability: the state of the art in corporate environmental management systems. Routledge.
Vrontis, D., Thrassou, A., Santoro, G., & Papa, A. (2017). Ambidexterity, external knowledge and performance in knowledge-intensive firms. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 42(2), 374-388.
Waddock, S., & Bodwell, C. (2017). Total responsibility management: The manual. Routledge.
Wang, G., Dou, W., Zhu, W., & Zhou, N. (2015). The effects of firm capabilities on external collaboration and performance: The moderating role of market turbulence. Journal of Business Research, 68(9), 1928-1936.
Wesfarmers.com.au, (2019). Home. Retrieved from https://www.wesfarmers.com.au/
Wheelen, T. L., Hunger, J. D., Hoffman, A. N., & Bamford, C. E. (2017). Strategic management and business policy. Pearson.
Wong, C. Y., Wong, C. W., & Boon-Itt, S. (2015). Integrating environmental management into supply chains: a systematic literature review and theoretical framework. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 45(1/2), 43-6
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download
