Gap in Strategic Management Analysis of Gap Inc

* 1999-2006 annual growth rate 3.5%. (More than market growth rate) but one competitor grew by 6% annually.

Based on the opportunities shown by the SWOT analysis, and the factors presented in the Porter Five Forces, as well as the rivalry the company faces from other competitors in the industry Target needs to have a future plan. Some of the recommendations for the company includes expansion into new attractive markets with good income based and substantial population. According to Hahn Kwak, and Palys (2005), the company needs to expand its operations in the South and Northeast metropolitan regions in the US. In addition, the company needs to focus on gaining market share in the market the company already operates. This implies that the company needs to consider expanding its retail channels in grocery stores, stationary, and drug stores. The company also needs to establish its retail stores near the center of major cities in order to gain a market share against its rival Walmart. The company is normally viewed as an urban brand and therefore placing store in major cities gives the company the ability to attract and retain more urban customers as well as middle-class customers. Urban residents will readily accept the

Today the chain of stores span over 500 individual stores in 11 countries across the world, namely (apart from Canada), Brazil, Panama, Trinidad and Tobago, Australia, New Zealand, United States of America, United Kingdom, France, India, and Singapore.

1971 to over 800 stores located in 46 states and Puerto Rico. This industry is

2008- 102 stores outside states (76 canada) (20 UK) (8 Japan) (6 Koreia) (5 Tiawan)

In addition, the company distributes their products through a network of 42 owned and leased distribution centers. As of December 29, 2012, they distributed their products via 39 distribution centers in the United States and three in Canada. The company owns four and lease 38 of these distribution centers. Furthermore,

The company began in 1971 in Seattle, Washington with one retail store and it grew to over 2,600 stores in 13 countries by the early 2000’s (Schultz, 2011). They now have operations and retails stores in more than 50 countries around the world (Harrer, 2011).

The brand expanded into Canada after receiving success in America, and later opened their first store outside of America on December 2008 in London. They have expanded from one location, to now having five hundred and seventy eight locations across the globe.

As at 31 December 2009, there were 195 franchised complexes throughout Australia. They have also rapidly expanded their offshore markets over the past few years, there are 70 company-owned stores located in New Zealand (31

Gap’s current objectives and policies include ethical sourcing, better employment practices, and community involvement. These objectives and policies are captured by the following statement:

As of Feb 28, 2014, the company had approx. 10,000 employees & 246 retail stores in 20 countries. The company has business in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, United Kingdom, Ireland, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Israel, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and China. The company also operates an e-commerce website with 12 different localized online stores across the world.

A steady increase in the popularity of online sales has caused a major push towards e-commerce in the retail industry.

Building on its success with the strong regional organization in Europe, P&G replaced its International Division with four regional Entities that assumed responsibility for profitability:

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. helps individuals around the globe spare cash and live better - at whatever time and anyplace - in retail locations, online and through their cell phones. Every week, more than 245 million clients and individuals visit our almost 11,000 stores under 65 flags in 28 nations and e-trade sites in 11 nations. With financial year 2015 net offers of $482.2 billion, Wal-Mart utilizes 2.2 million partners around the world. (Wal-Mart Corporate) Wal-Mart is a superpower in the business world and has been that way for 50+ years. Understanding how it got to this point and how it has maintained its successful business model starts with its

Conclusion: GM has therefore strategically planned their geographical layout of subsidiaries in order to target some of the business capitals of every continent. Although this seems like a major advantage for business, it also comes with its setbacks such as difficulty in communication and cultural differences. The communication gap seems to be disappearing by the day with the blessings that technology has brought with it like mobile phones, VOIP, e-mails, video-conferencing that have all taken the place of telephones, telegraph.