Waitrose Case Study - International Strategy Essay Example
INTERNATIONAL STRATEGY ASSIGNMENT
Case Study - Waitrose
INTRODUCTION
Waitrose was setup at Acton in 1904; it was founded by Wallace Waite, Arthur Rose & David Taylor. In the year 1906 Taylor left the firm, the first shop named “Waitrose” was formed. The company was later acquired by John Lewis Partnership in the year 1937. At that time it had 10 small service food shops and had a turnover of 150000 GBP. After the acquisition, Waitrose now are specialist Supermarkets, having more than 175 supermarkets all over UK mainly in the south-eastern region. It now boasts a work-force of over 37000 employees and many new stores. They offer fresh produce, poultry, bread & meat. Waitrose is a company known for providing high and good quality products and it targets the higher class with its good and high quality products. Even though it’s a comparatively smaller company than its competitors (Tesco & J.Sainsbury, Iceland), it was successful in its business and was a profit making firm, this was all because they use to perform things strategically.
KEY EXTERNAL FACTORS IN THE WAITROSE ENVIRONMENT
There are many external factors which can be identified, which affect the working culture and environment of the company & in this case Waitrose. One can categorize these factors by use of PESTEL ANALYSIS. Here we look at the various external factors under various heads in the analysis such as Political, Legal, Socio-cultural, and Environmental.
The POLITICAL factors provide some important key drivers of change for Waitrose. The company Waitrose faced two political environments, one in the United Kingdom and the other in South Africa. The government was stable in the UK and in South Africa but there was still different in many ways, which in turn create drivers of change. South Africa was chosen by the company to outsource its citrus fruits. In order to maintain the quality of products Waitrose created a Foundation in South Africa for the welfare of the farmers. The
Case Study - Waitrose
INTRODUCTION
Waitrose was setup at Acton in 1904; it was founded by Wallace Waite, Arthur Rose & David Taylor. In the year 1906 Taylor left the firm, the first shop named “Waitrose” was formed. The company was later acquired by John Lewis Partnership in the year 1937. At that time it had 10 small service food shops and had a turnover of 150000 GBP. After the acquisition, Waitrose now are specialist Supermarkets, having more than 175 supermarkets all over UK mainly in the south-eastern region. It now boasts a work-force of over 37000 employees and many new stores. They offer fresh produce, poultry, bread & meat. Waitrose is a company known for providing high and good quality products and it targets the higher class with its good and high quality products. Even though it’s a comparatively smaller company than its competitors (Tesco & J.Sainsbury, Iceland), it was successful in its business and was a profit making firm, this was all because they use to perform things strategically.
KEY EXTERNAL FACTORS IN THE WAITROSE ENVIRONMENT
There are many external factors which can be identified, which affect the working culture and environment of the company & in this case Waitrose. One can categorize these factors by use of PESTEL ANALYSIS. Here we look at the various external factors under various heads in the analysis such as Political, Legal, Socio-cultural, and Environmental.
The POLITICAL factors provide some important key drivers of change for Waitrose. The company Waitrose faced two political environments, one in the United Kingdom and the other in South Africa. The government was stable in the UK and in South Africa but there was still different in many ways, which in turn create drivers of change. South Africa was chosen by the company to outsource its citrus fruits. In order to maintain the quality of products Waitrose created a Foundation in South Africa for the welfare of the farmers. The