MORRISON

Morrison



Table of Contents

(a) Critically analyse the the external environment of Morrison's.3

(b) Compare the culture of Morrisons before and after the acquisition of the Safeways. (he wants the 7s framwork to be applied here)7

The McKinsey 7S Framework7

(c)Critically analyse the areas where Morrisons gains value across its business operations (please include a detailed insight into the company's sales and marketing functions. (value chain to be applied here)12

Areas Where Morrison's Gains Value Across Its Business Operations12

Value chain15

Nature of the Structure, Culture and Leadership of Morrison's Organisation Pre and Post Merger16

Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Organisation17

Core Competencies18

Marketing Mix Of The Organisation19

Conclusion25

References27

Case Study-Morrison

(a) Critically analyse the the external environment of Morrison's.

One of the political factors that the industry faces is the possibility of the government creating an independent supermarket regulator. The Association of Convenience Stores reported that in a recent debate in the House of Commons MP Keith Vaz said that the expansion of the big multiple supermarkets was damaging competitiveness and consumer choice, “distorting” the grocery market and threatening the viability of small shops and the high street. Currently the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is the only regulatory body and is under increased pressure to investigate the current state of the industry. (Grant, 2004)

The UK economy is currently stable and is unlikely to affect the supermarket industry to any great extent. Though Sir Terry Leahy, chief executive of Morrison's noted that people are facing higher bills and have more debt in recent years. (Handy, 1993)

In today's society there is an increased computer culture, hence the industry has adapted to these demands. Supermarkets all have websites where customers can find out more about products and the company itself. Morrison, Asda, Sainsbury's and Iceland now offer online shopping; it is a big market place and is another example of how customers are always seeking increased convenience. Based on figures from “The Scotsman”, internet retail sales for 2005 in the UK totalled a staggering 9.79 billion - or £6.73 billion. (Johnson, 2004)

Generally speaking, there are four external environmental forces, which are the competitive environment, the general environment, stakeholders' expectations and the internal environment, affect the supermarket retail industry. Within these forces, the main factors are as follows:

Customers

As for the supermarkets, meeting the customers' needs should be put into the first place, because the nature of supermarket industry is market-orientated.

Furthermore, with the development of social economics, customers have more choice of shopping methods than before. They can choose the lowest price and most convenient way to purchase. Meanwhilecustomers have become less loyal to a particular brand, they prefer wider range of products in supermarket. (Kaplan, 2000)

Substitutes

The threat from the substitutes of supermarket industry can not be ignored. There are three main substitutes exist in the supermarket retail industry. First comes to be the online store. At present, online store has been developing rapidly. Many customers prefer this shopping way to be less time-consuming and more convenient. The second one is convenience store (24 hours). Customers can buy stuffs any time they ...