Case Analysis

Case Analysis

Introduction

The assignment is related to the Case Analysis of a business firm. The business firm that has been selected for this topic is Sara Lee Corporation. It basically includes a case study on a particular business issue. The title of the Case Study is “Sara Lee Corporation in 2011: Has its Retrenchment Strategy Been Successful”. There are different sequences which would be followed for the topic. These sequences have a lot of value in the topic because it would cover all the important aspects of the Case Study. Therefore, all the issues and aspects related to the Case Analysis of the business firm will be discussed in detail.

Identification of the Key Problems

The identification of the key problems is an important aspect in the Case Analysis of Sara Lee Corporation. It is important to understand the concept of the Retrenchment strategy. This strategy is used by the corporations in order to decrease the diversity or the overall size operations of the company. This strategy is adopted by the company in order to reduce their expenses with the main objective of making a more financial stable business. The strategy usually involves the withdrawal of the certain markets or the discontinuation of selling products or service in order to make a beneficial impact on their overall operations. Therefore, it is vital to assess the identification of the key problems of the Sara Lee Corporation (Amabile & Conti, 1999).

Sara Lee's Retrenchment Initiatives

It was important for the company known as Sara Lee Corporation to implement various initiatives for the Retrenchment Business activities. The role of the Retrenchment Initiatives had a lot of value because it was the need of an hour for the company. There were eight business initiatives that were adopted by the Sara Lee Corporation. These eight initiatives were required to have an exit because it was considered non-strategic. The eight initiatives that were met by the Sara Lee Corporation are:

Direct Selling

US retail coffee

European Apparel

European nuts and snacks

European Rice

U.S meat snacks

European meals

Sara Lee Branded Apparel

The financial position of the company also was not that good in 2011. It became very vital for the Company to adopt major steps in order to improve their business operations. Sara Lee Corporation has performed very well in the past and they have managed to run their business operations at a fair position. The company labeled all steps of reviving their business position under the title known as “Post Retrenchment Strategy”. These steps had the major aim to revitalized sales and boost profitability. The steps required lot of efforts because it was vital to improve the overall financial position of the Sara Lee Corporation (Dolmat-Connell, 1999).

The overall situation of the North American Industry

The overall situation of the North American Industry also had its own implications. The economy of the US suffered a lot because of the Global Financial Crisis that occurred in the year 2008. The crisis produced a negative impact on the entire economy in USA and the Corporate Sector ...