Custom essays on Bed Bath & Beyond annual report ( SWOT) for 2010 fiscal year
3. Conduct a competitive and marketing analysis of the organization to determine SWOT
Like any other company Bed Bath & Beyond has a number of competitive advantages; there are also some weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
Among the significant strengths of Bed Bath & Beyond are its leading market position; great network; wide assortment; confident and continuous rise in company’s sales volumes could be indicated. Among the strengths, Bed Bath & Beyond refusal from advertising campaigns should be mentioned. This retailer does not use any heavy advertising campaigns. Instead of it, Bed Bath & Beyond uses coupons, direct mail and online support. This absence of large advertising budgets creates a serious competitive advantage for the company. Bed Bath & Beyond concentrates on an everyday-low-price strategy while its competitors spend a lot of their money on advertising campaigns.
As for the weaknesses of Bed Bath & Beyond, such characteristic as geographic concentration could be named. It is known that the site selection process of this company is unconventional. Bed Bath & Beyond chooses the store locations that aren’t attractive for other market players. Simply speaking, this company often decides to choose space nobody else will take and reckons that customers are going to find the store no matter of its location, but simply because they are loyal to Bed Bath & Beyond. Another weakness of the stores chain is the relations with its suppliers. It appears that the company has a controversial image among the companies it cooperates with. It tends to negotiate hard; it’s not the easiest company to have a business with. Vendors even share different anecdotal stories about chargebacks of this company. But again, this characteristic is the relative weakness. It may be unpleasant for the vendors, but on the other part they still continue the cooperation with Bed Bath & Beyond and such scrupulousness characterizes the company as the serious market player with strong business grip.
Among the possible threats for the company, few could be named: intense competition in the retailing sector; slowdown of the housing market in the United States that means lower demand for the domestic furniture and related goods; and also as the large employer Bed Bath & Beyond may face a threat of rising wages.
Opportunities for Bed Bath & Beyond include online retail and international expansion (starting with Canada).
4. Apply the appropriate strategy (low cost, differentiation or niche) the will maximize the organization’s return to shareholders. Provide a detailed rationale for the reason you choose this strategy and state the expected outcome(s).
The appropriate strategy was already chosen by Bed Bath & Beyond. It combines low cost and differentiated strategy and it works perfectly. This conclusion is confirmed by the annual report of the company.
5. Create a detailed scenario in which a merger or acquisition would be a viable strategy to implement. Consider who the merger or acquisition would involve, the market condition making it a good choice, and the type of strategy that would make it a success.
Regarding possible merger or acquisition, I would recommend Bed Bath & Beyond to acquire other retailers, but not domestic. This company should become an international player. I consider that excellent experience and market expertise will allow Bed Bath & Beyond to operate efficiently on the similar markets, such as Canada, by applying the same low cast and differentiated strategy.
6. If you were a leader in this organization, determine the appropriate rewards that would best motivate employees toward achieving the desired strategy. Review the financial performance of the company to ensure the rewards are appropriate. Justify your selection.
The employees’ motivation may be material or moral; both of them are important for people. Material motivation should include appropriate levels of wages and salaries and the rewards that depend on the sales volume.
Besides it, the company should care about its employees. According to the company’s corporate responsibility report, Bed Bath & Beyond suggests various benefits to its employees including: “Medical & Dental Benefits, Personal Life Insurance, Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account, 401(k) Savings Plan, and Associate Purchase Discounts.” (“2011 Corporate Responsibility Report”, n.a.)
Bed Bath & Beyond also provides the opportunities of training and education. In my opinion, trainings are effective in building the motivation among the employees. The company’s HR team should use innovative and flexible tools for staff’s development and training, because it’s the only way to accomplish the top performance in comparison to the rivals. Training is really a vital part of the personnel strategy; it’s required for overall organizational growth and its performance. Of course, the way the training process is organized is also quite important; the company has to be sure that employees are being trained in the best possible way. In order to ensure the trainings are effective, employees and HR team may use the latest technologies like virtual class rooms, PDAs, podcasts. Bed Bath & Beyond claims that “the training programs, such as Associate Development Training, Management Development Training, Leadership Development Training, and Product University Training, are designed to give the employees the skills that will enable them to grow as far as their ability will take them in the company. “(“2011 Corporate Responsibility Report”, n.a.)
Another important element of the corporate culture that play a significant motivational role is the internal promotion. Bed Bath & Beyond claims that it’s “culture is based on a philosophy of promoting from within “ (“2011 Corporate Responsibility Report”, n.a.). This organization actually gives the opportunity of advancement to the managers to good retail management skills.
7. Evaluate how the company’s current strategy supports or discourages ethical business behaviors (or perhaps both). Discuss how you arrived at your assessment.
Ethical breakdown is one of the modern business challenges. Codes of ethics are used in order to provide guidelines for employees and employers on what to do in different situations. Bed Bath & Beyond officially supports ethical business behaviors. It follows the principles of corporate social responsibility (CSR) that are indicated in the corporate responsibility report. This report serves as a guide for company’s members and partners. The report confirms that company’s commitment to ethical values, it claims that Bed Bath & Beyond should act as responsible corporate entity, a positive economic force and a responsible citizen in the local communities. (“2011 Corporate Responsibility Report”, n.a.) CSR in practice means that the profit maximizing should be provided in a socially responsible way. Three major elements of CSR are: responsibility to shareholders, responsibility to society (respect of human rights), and responsibility to nature (good environmental practice). (Rondinelli, 2007) Sustainable development and corporate social responsibility are the important part of the strategic management systems of many transnational corporations. This concept includes the simultaneous consideration of economic growth, environmental protection, and social equity in business planning and decision-making.
It should be mentioned that according to the unofficial information that is spread by the vendors, sometimes Bed Bath & Beyond relations with its suppliers may be considered as non-fully ethical, this is a disputable issue. The following recommendation for the employees of Bed Bath & Beyond could be suggested: under any circumstances they need to think about ethical questions in their everyday business activity and find new ways to understand and resolve the ethical conflicts.
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