Research Proposal
How can ASDA be Competitive Through Strategic Management of its Resources?
Introduction:
Competitiveness cannot be achieved easily because even successful and competitive companies may face challenges and problems in their business. Any organisation which has been doing business has resources, and these resources guarantee the success of the company. Top companies in an industry have to formulate strategies to keep ahead of their competitors. Therefore, companies aim to manage their resources strategically. The relationship between competitiveness and strategic management of a company’s resources should be examined so that companies can get the knowledge and expertise to be successful. This research proposal has taken this topic, and the relationship between the competitiveness of a company and strategic management has been proposed to study (Größler, 2007). However, the relationship would not be studied in terms of variables only, but a notable player in the retail industry in the UK, ASDA has been taken as a case. The research would highlight and explain the benefits of strategic management, and it would propose ASDA to be competitive through the management of its resources strategically.
ASDA:
ASDA is already the second largest supermarket chain in the UK. The company is wholly owned by Wal-Mart, which is a global leader in the retail industry. The company has its focus on Britain’s market and for this purpose; the company focuses on the market of the UK. It gives plenty of concentration to the company to strategically plan for the future. The strategic management goals of the company include becoming affordable for customers and to exceed the expectations and needs of customers proactively. The case of the company is a good option for the study of competitiveness and its relationship with the strategic management of its resources. The proposal would not only study the relationship between variables, but it would study the case of ASDA as well, so that the practical importance of the study can be ensured. The company has achieved notable success in the UK market, and further, this company should be studied so that the importance of strategic management can be highlighted (ASDA, 2019).
The rationale of the Study:
The study is going to be conducted on ASDA, and it is proposed to study the company in light of the relationship between competitiveness and strategic management of its resources. The company is the second largest supermarket chain in the UK and its parent company, Wal-Mart has been struggling to keep growth rate. Therefore, this proposed research would recommend the company to be strategically successful. Moreover, the study would also explore how competitiveness can be achieved by companies and the application for the company would provide practical implications of the research.
Problem Statement:
ASDA is the second largest supermarket chains in the UK and UK is going through turmoil and uncertainty in the result of Brexit. Moreover, the global retail industry has been experiencing pressures in the areas of growth and competitiveness. Once the retail sector was considered as the daily need of consumers and their purchasing behaviour was considered much conventional. However, increasing use of technology and an increase in competition in the market have convinced retail companies to work in a dynamic environment. For this purpose, they have to draw more benefits from their resources. In this changing outlook and context of the industry, consideration of the retail sector in light of strategic management would be very helpful. This is the issue or aspect which is going to be studied in the proposed research that ASDA is to be researched with the perspective of strategic management. Resources possessed by competitors would also be analysed, and strategic management adopted by ASDA for its resources would also be examined so that the competitiveness of the company can be found.
Research Questions:
- What is the relationship between competitiveness and strategic management of the company’s resources?
- How can ASDA achieve competitiveness through strategic management of its resources?
Research Objectives:
- To find the relationship between competitiveness and strategic management of resources
- To apply the relationship on ASDA
- To recommend ASDA in light of the relationship
Literature Review:
The resources should be understood and analysed which are possessed by a company. Researchers have given this idea that companies should not be analysed and viewed in terms of their products only. The right way to analyse a company is through its resources. It is the strength of resources which enables a company to be successful, and the performance of an organisation is also ensured in light of its resources (Javad and Cordon, 2010).
Competitiveness can be achieved by formulating a competitive strategy. Competitiveness is different from mere operational level success in which companies earn average or impressive results and profits. By the term, competitiveness means that a company can have a competitive advantage through which it may earn above average results for its stakeholders. The question is that how is it possible to achieve competitiveness and competitive advantage and it is by strategically managing the resources possessed and owned by a company. Strategic management of resources enables an organisation to keep evaluating its internal and external environment because analysis of these environments enables the organisation to yield more profit in the business. Strategically managing resources also help to exploit opportunities in the market and in so doing; an organisation may be protected from threats (Kianto, Andreeva and Pavlov, 2013).
In one of the study, it has been focused on the ability of an organisation to generate strategic resources, and this can be done by management of resources and putting in the entrepreneurial and dynamic capabilities for an organisation. Development of strategic resources requires strategic management of already possessed resources. These resources should be furnished through entrepreneurial and dynamic capabilities (Andersén, 2007). It has been mentioned in the research that the resources of an organisation must affect the performance of an organisation and if resources do not affect the performance of an organisation, then performance would affect them (Größler, 2007). The resources of an organisation can be managed strategically, and mere operational level management is not useful in the long run. Strategic management of strategic resources is critically important so that the company can sustain its growth in the market (Jessop, Nielsen and Pedersen, 2016).
For competitiveness, resources are vital. Competitiveness is ensured by focusing and working with the resources of an organisation. Resources are inputs for products, services, inventions, innovations, and any kind of output for an organisation. There are two types of resources available for a business, and they are tangible resources and intangible resources. Tangible resources include resources which can be touched like raw materials, machinery, land, and any product or commodity to be used in operations. On the other hand, intangible resources are those who cannot be touched generally, and they are human capital, patents, copyrights, brand equity, and technology. However, the lists of intangible resources are very long to include many assets (Krstić and Stanišić, 2013).
Resources should be managed strategically, and strategic management of resources leads to the development of capabilities through resources. The capabilities turn into core competencies for an organisation. The competencies finalise which activity or process is vital for the sustainability and success of an organisation (Paulraj and Blome, 2017). Distinct capabilities and core competencies turn into a competitive advantage for an organisation. Strategic management of tangible and intangible resources can be possible if different types of knowledge are used. Tacit knowledge is one of the types which help in the development and management of resources (Sisson and Adams, 2013).
Competitiveness relies on core competencies and distinctive capabilities and in so doing, competitive strategy is formulated. Competitive strategy is formulated to have competitiveness. Strategic management of resources makes it possible to draw competitiveness. Pre-emptive and reactive measures or strategies are formulated so that competitiveness can be sustained and made possible. Strategic management of a firm involves specific operations, which guarantee the success of the firm. Strategic management of performance objectives is ensured so that these objectives can be achieved strategically. Maximisation of profit and increase in sales may be forms of performance objectives, and these performance objectives can be achieved through strategic management (Bititci, Cocca and Ates, 2016).
Moreover, pricing policies also have to be adopted where cost related, price related, and revenue related policies are made. Strategic management of different policies helps to develop and maintain resources with a business and business model can be adapted to a dynamic environment, and continuous development is also possible. Development of the business model is important in ensuring competitiveness, and it is the area of strategic management because the business model plays a critical role in earning revenues for an organisation.
The competitiveness of a company can be achieved by focusing on its resources and these resources have to be managed strategically. A company would be competitive or possess a competitive advantage if it has the strategy and values which are not possessed by any other competitor of it (Barney, 2015). Thus, it is noted that the competitiveness of an organisation can be yielded by strategically managing the resources held by a company. This is how; strategic management leads to competitiveness or competitive advantage for a company.
Capitalising on Key Success Factors to Achieve Competitiveness:
Key success factors can be developed by focusing on strategic management. Any industry or business has some key success factors, and that business has to rely on those factors to be successful. Key success factors explain those actions needed to be successful in the industry while there is competition in the market as well. The connection of key success factors with competitiveness is important and established because competitiveness is taken from these key success factors (Anand and Grover, 2015).
This proposal has been prepared for the relationship between the variables of competitiveness and strategic management of resources held by an organisation. However, the relationship has been analysed and discussed for a retail supermarket ASDA. For a grocery supermarket, key success factors should be highlighted so that industry-specific key success factors can be identified.
For grocery supermarket industry, low-cost operations are one of the prominent key success factors. To ensure this key success factor, an organisation has to gain operational efficiency to get costs down. A retail company procures commodities in bulk quantities and efficiency is brought into all aspects of the business operations of a retail business. The maximisation of buying power is also the intention of an organisation in the retail sector so that large numbers of commodities can be purchased with fewer spending. Moreover, another important key success factor is the differentiation as customers expect that a retail sector would provide commodities of diversified nature so that there is plenty of choice for a customer (Vogel and Paul, 2015).
Competitiveness is the result of the development of core competencies and distinctive capabilities which are made possible by strategic management of resources. Strategic management sets a long term direction of an organisation, and a company has to rely on key success factors to achieve a sustainable future in business. Resources and capabilities are means towards competitiveness, and their management requires smartness and rationality so that they can turn into an advantage which is not matched by any competitor in the market (Kasemsap, 2018).
A retail business has resources in the shape of location, several stores, sales, revenues, services, and other resources which help it to be in the business. Strategic management of these resources enables it to draw competitiveness from this. Some retail stores may be cost-efficient, and some retail stores may be known for their differentiation. Moreover, some retail stores are known for their ability to fulfil the distinct needs of customers in the market. This is why; resources need to be managed strategically so that they can remain competitive (Mohr and Batsakis, 2018).
Based on the literature, the variables would be researched, and their relationship would be found between them. In the result, the relationship would be applied on ASDA, and the company’s resources and their way of management would be analysed so that its competitiveness can be understood.
Research Methodology:
The research would be conducted on the variables, and rich literature review would be conducted on these variables. Constructs would be identified from the literature which would add to the relationship of competitiveness and strategic management of the company’s resources. After establishing a strong relationship between the variables or researching the relationship, the case of ASDA would be taken to implement this relationship. Then, the most important question would be answered which the title of this is the proposed research. The answer would cover how ASDA can be competitive by strategic management of its resources. For all of this research, secondary research would be undertaken, and databases and company documents would be accessed to get the information. The information would be evaluated and critically analysed in the context of the chosen organisation.
In this context of the research, this proposed research is qualitative, and it relies on secondary research. This method of research is very useful and effective for exploring a phenomenon (Merriam and Grenier, 2019) and it is desired outcome of this research to explore how strategic management of resources can lead to competitiveness of ASDA.
Sources of Data and Information:
For the collection of data and information on the variables and actions of ASDA as per these variables would be taken from different databases where research articles are found. Research articles from notable databases would be researched in which topics on competitiveness, strategic management, retail sector, and resource variables have been included. Peer-reviewed articles would be used for a rich literature review so that the nature of these variables would be discussed in detail.
Furthermore, the company which has been chosen is ASDA. The strategic approach adopted by the company would be analysed. For this purpose, secondary sources would be consulted, and the company’s related sources would be consulted so that company’s viewpoints on the adopted strategy can be found. These data sources and information are secondary, and they would help the chosen company to take initiatives on strategic management of its resources to get competitiveness.
Ethical Considerations:
The proposed study is going to be conducted on ASDA and variables have been chosen as well which would be implemented on ASDA. All of the resources would be properly referenced and cited in the research. Moreover, only publicly available information on strategic management of the company would be used, and confidential information or data would not be used. The research results would be given as recommendations, and the purpose of the result would not be to criticise the company. All ethical considerations would be observed in this research so that the research would be high on ethics criteria.
Timeline:
The research proposal is going to present the timeline of the research so that all activities and steps of the research can be proceeded as per given time. The following table has the timeline of activities to be undertaken in the proposed research. The table of the timeline shows that the research would be completed in nine weeks. However, more change can be introduced in the timeline as the need arises. Time has been given to each step as per its importance and changes in the time can be made as per time is taken by each activity in reality.
References
Anand, N. and Grover, N. (2015) ‘Measuring retail supply chain performance: Theoretical model using key performance indicators (KPIs)’, Benchmarking: An International Journal, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 135-166.
Andersén, J. (2007) ‘A holistic approach to acquisition of strategic resources’, Journal of European Industrial Training, vol. 31, no. 8, pp. 660-677.
ASDA (2019) ASDA, [Online], Available: https://direct.asda.com/george/clothing/
10,default,sc.html?awc=2925_1555428121_cf1e5ce9f61b5bb6138c9fa7
dde305f3&awin_aff=101248_adgoal_adgoal+GmbH+-+Content_Sub+
Networks&cm_mmc=GEOR-aff-_-awin-_-adgoal-_-101248&cmpid=
afc-_-GEOR-_-awin-_-101248-_%20-generi [15 April 2019].
Barney, J. (2015) ’15 Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage’, International Business Strategy:, vol. 3, no. 2, p. 283.
Bititci, U., Cocca, P. and Ates, A. (2016) ‘Impact of visual performance management systems on the performance management practices of organisations’, International Journal of Production Research, vol. 54, no. 6, pp. 1571-1593.
Größler, A. (2007) ‘A dynamic view on strategic resources and capabilities applied to an example from the manufacturing strategy literature’, Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, vol. 18, no. 3, pp. 250-266.
Javad, F. and Cordon, C. (2010) ‘Developing a framework for Identification and Analysis of the Strategic Resources and Capabilities in Supply Chains’, In The 8th International Conference on Logistics and SCM Research, vol. 1, no. 2, pp. 40-54.
Jessop, B., Nielsen, K. and Pedersen, O.K. (2016) ‘Structural competitiveness and strategic capacities: rethinking the state and international capital.’, Institutional Change: Theory and Empirical Findings: Theory and Empirical Findings, p. 227.
Kasemsap, K. (2018) ‘The roles of corporate marketing strategies and brand management in the global retail industry’, In Digital Marketing and Consumer Engagement: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications, vol. 5, no. 3, pp. 294-325.
Kianto, A., Andreeva, T. and Pavlov, Y. (2013) ‘The impact of intellectual capital management on company competitiveness and financial performance’, Knowledge Management Research & Practice, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 112-122.
Krstić, B. and Stanišić, T. (2013) ‘The influence of knowledge economy development on competitiveness of southeastern Europe countries’, Industrija, vol. 41, no. 2, pp. 151-167.
Merriam, S.B. and Grenier, R.S. (2019) ‘Qualitative research in practice: Examples for discussion and analysis’, Jossey-Bass, vol. 7, no. 2.
Mohr, A. and Batsakis, G. (2018) ‘Firm resources, cultural distance and simultaneous international expansion in the retail sector.’, International Business Review, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 113-124.
Paulraj, A. and Blome, C. (2017) ‘Plurality in environmental supply chain mechanisms: Differential effects on triple bottom line outcomes’, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 37, no. 8, pp. 1010-1030.
Sisson, L.G. and Adams, A.R. (2013) ‘Essential hospitality management competencies: The importance of soft skills’, Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Education, vol. 25, no. 3, pp. 131-145.
Vogel, J. and Paul, M. (2015) ‘One firm, one product, two prices: Channel-based price differentiation and customer retention’, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, vol. 27, no. 5, pp. 126-139.
