Summary
The aim of this report is to explore the internal strengths and weaknesses of John Lewis and the external threats and opportunities for this organisation. Secondly, it will explore how John Lewis could use this SWOT analysis to benefit them in the future.
Introduction
John Lewis is a British department store that operates in the United Kindom and is well known for its ‘Never Knowingly Undersold’ policy that brings quality products to the UK high streets and online shopping. A SWOT analysis is intended to analyse the organisation 's current status and its potential for the future. Morrison (2011, p. 158) states that a “SWOT analysis is a strategic tool used by businesses to assess the organisation 's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.” Using a SWOT analysis will encompass a detailed evaluation of the organisation for John Lewis, which could be used to benefit the company in the future. As Wetherly & Otter (2008, pp. 24-25) says “The capacity of a business to take advantage of opportunities and resist threats will depend on its internal strengths and weaknesses.” But if John Lewis has the internal strengths to undertake a change a SWOT analysis will help as it was “designed to enable an organisation to take into account internal and external factors that may affect its strategic planning decisions and thus improve its prospects of success” (Harrison, 2014, p. 6).
Main Body
Strengths
Customer loyalty/service
Marketing
Leading brands
Quality
Range
Every company has a set of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Even Foot Locker with its dismal situation in the United States still has strengths and opportunities. When doing any type of company analysis these categories need to be considered for they can be a clear indicator if this particular organization has a possible future. SWOT analysis involves specifying the objective of the business venture
Everyone in their life experiences a state of hopelessness. Whether it is a big or a small occurrence; it helps us shape up mentally or physically ready for the real world. In March, Lewis talks about the events in his life that we classify as his turning points which caused them to turn their life around. It is true that many events did not increase his will to protest. I think that John Lewis' life was changed by his turning points, there are four turning points what continues to affect him to this day. The four turning points that stand out are his first arrest, Lewis' trip to Buffalo with his Uncle Otis, Dr. King's speech, and when he decided to join the Freedom Riders.
John Lewis questions if there will be a time when a political party will actually protect the rights of the African Americans, and when fighting will no longer be necessary. Lewis implies that the government is not doing anything to protect the rights of African Americans because he constantly asks “where is the political party that....” (para 6). John emphasizes his idea and argument through multiple rhetorical questions and examples. The significance of the evidence that he uses proves that the government is not doing anything to stop the inequality in America. Additionally, in paragraph six, Lewis asks, “What did the federal government do when local police officials kicked and assaulted the pregnant wife of Slater King, and she lost her
SWOT analysis is a study of the Strengths and Weaknesses (internal factors) of an organization as well as, the study of the Opportunities and Threats (external factors) of an organization (Mind Tools, 2016). After learning the strengths and defining the weaknesses of an organization, the threats can be eliminated making for more opportunities. A strength of CVS is the “pharmacy segment has a diverse network with 7,152 Long drug stores and pharmacy stores generating 68% of the total revenue (Kasi, 2017).” If CVS could team with Wal-Mart pharmacy, the revenue would increase. A weakness of the company is the security. Many robberies have been reported due to the organization and security measures (Kasi, 2017). If the reorganization of the
A “SWOT analysis is a historically popular technique through which managers create a quick overview of a company’s strategic situation” (Pearce & Robinson, 2009, p3). SWOT is an acronym for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. This concept was incorporated as a diagnostic tool for many entrepreneurs to work on their business. It is important as a business owner to be able to analyze forces and trends that can affect a business. The owner of Sivalry Clothing Company will discuss several capacities of the business operations and forces and trends that the business will have to encounter. Such topics include: economic as well as legal and regulatory forces and trends, how well the organization adapts to change, and the supply chain operations of the organization. Also, identification of issues and opportunities that the company faces will be discussed.
In March, Uncle Otis saw in John Lewis at a young age that he was different from the other kids in town. Lewis was always eager to learn, and he showed this through his yearning to learn. Otis also noticed that Lewis was different by the way he presented himself through his actions and his appearance. The chickens his family raised intrigued Lewis as a child, and it was to where he developed a relationship or bond with the chickens. He treated each chicken equally, which put him in the mindset that everyone is to be treated equally. Lewis talks about how his education is what got him engaged with the Civil Rights Movement. John Lewis had this passion to progress the Civil Rights Movement into a larger movement, and Uncle Otis realized that
John Lewis has beaten Marks and Spencer’s and has become the Britain’s number one shopping destination. John Lewis has 91,000 members of staff compared to the 82,000 that Marks and Spencer’s, this may be due to the fact John Lewis is much more economically stronger than Marks and Spencer’s, they are able to employ more workers as they are able to look after them within the company. One of John Lewis’ values are "putting the happiness of partners at the centre of everything we do". John Lewis is also environmentally sustainable as they have many products that they are selling that have been recycled; this means that they are aware of their environmental surroundings. There are many ways that they are socially sustainable as well, they hold many events both within and out of the company as a way of getting their employees, customers and also the wider community involved so that they can build a strong relationship with them.
Another approach to strategy development begins with an analysis of external and internal factors, followed by some visioning, then planning. Including in the analysis phase is often a “SWOT,” a thorough examination of internal Strengths and Weaknesses, as well as external Opportunities and Threats. SWOTs are praised for capturing both the positive (strengths and opportunities) and negative (weaknesses, threats); and organizations embrace this approach with the hope of gaining a “balanced” analysis of itself, inside and out (Hetzel and Silbert, 2007).
SWOT analysis can be used to describe and analyse a company’s internal capabilities in relation to its competitive environment. A strategy behind
A SWOT analysis is best developed by a team of managers who have different perspectives of an organization’s strengths and weaknesses. The external threats and opportunities are best developed by an outside source to provide objectivity. An organization looks internally at its strengths and weaknesses and externally at its threats and opportunities. An organization’s strengths involve looking at an organization’s positive attributes, focusing on their competitive advantage. An organization’s strength looks at what they do well, their assets and other resources, and also take into account what others see as their strengths.
An internal assessment analysis named SWOT, which stands for a company 's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats is conducted (Abraham, 2012). Strengths and weaknesses are the internal aspects of the normal SWOT analysis (Abraham, 2012). They include problems that need to be corrected, deficiencies recognized through a comparison with competitors, or deficiencies relative to recognized strategies such as lacking the resources to grow (Abraham, 2012). An opportunity is a product-market issue (Abraham, 2012). It must include a product or service that is actually offered, to include the existing ones, and a defined customer group at which that product or service is targeted, including the existing ones (Abraham, 2012). Threats are external trends that could have a negative effect on the company (Abraham, 2012).
“SWOT analysis (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats analysis) is a framework for identifying and analyzing the internal and external factors that can have an impact on the viability of a project, product, place or person.” Margaret Rouse (2014) John Lewis – Strengths John Lewis use two formats to sell there products, online and in shop. If they did not have a website, there market would be just the UK as they do not have any shops outside the UK. The website is easy to understand and follow which allows people from other countries to buy goods.
To get a better understanding of the issues that face Walmart, it is a good idea to do some research to understand the company and its competitors. This can be done by finding out what Walmarts strengths and weaknesses are by conducting a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis stands for Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. By using this tool SWOT, this will show and identify the strengths and weaknesses of Walmart and what opportunities and threats there are in the environment (Dyson, 2002). Once these areas identified strategies that can be developed to build on Walmart's strengths, get rid of weaknesses, manipulate the opportunities and counter the threats (Dyson, 2002). The strength and weaknesses are what is internal to Walmart, and opportunities and threats are what is external. Meaning what is out there in the market and they are happening even if they like it or not. By doing a SWOT analysis will allow a business according to Dyson (2002), “to attempt to connect internal and external factors to stimulate new strategies” (pg. 633). A SWOT analysis can be conducted at any time for a business, especially if the environment is changing so they can respond proactively. Typically a company would want to analyze at least once a year. Below is the SWOT analysis for Walmart:
As Zappos faces the challenge of determining next steps in regards to maintaining the existing business unit or to enter a new business venture, the SWOT analysis will provide clarity in the firms Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. This is an extremely suitable
The focus of the SWOT analysis is to identify the key internal and external factors that are important to achieving the objective. SWOT analysis groups key pieces of information into two main categories; internal factors and external factors. The internal factors are the strengths and weaknesses that are internal to the company while the external factors are the opportunities and threats that presented by the external environment. The internal factors are determined by their impact on the company’s objectives. What may represent strengths with respect to one objective may be weaknesses for another objective. The external factors may include technological change, legislation, cultural changes, and changes in the marketplace or competitive position (Wood, 2008).