Tesco has been a successful retailer in UK with a market share of more than 30%. This has been a positive improvement considering the level of competition in the retail grocery sector. The company has over the years remained competitive and increasing its revenues every year. The ever increasing improvement in the company’s performance can be attributed to its ability to understand its threats, weaknesses and opportunities and act accordingly to realize organizational objectives.  A good management in an organization should be capable of taking advantage of the opportunities and strengths and at the same time take precautionary measures to deal with threats and weaknesses facing the organization. Tesco has also embraced the McKinney 7s framework for strategic fit (Dransfield & Needham, 2005).

To start with SWOT analysis, Tesco enjoys a strong brand image and market leadership. It enjoys about 30% of UK market share and also operates in other 14 worldwide markets outside UK. The strong brand image has made it easy for market penetration. Tesco has also embraced technology in ensuring sustained market presence in almost every part of the world. Tesco.com is the largest online grocery shopping service in the world which has enabled sustained growth in sales. The online services can be very instrumental for the company’s growth in sales.

Nevertheless, the company has been faced with some threats which have been a hindrance to the company’s expansion plans. For instance, not all expansion projects that satisfies the local community’s requirements thus resulting t them being frozen in waiting for government decision. There have also been patent infringement claims that have resulted to numerous law suits (DuBrin, 2009).

The company has also taken advantage of the opportunities found in the international markets. The Euro zone retailing sales has shown a growth of 33% as of august 2008 as compared to 2007. Sales in Asia also increased by 11% at the same period. As a result of these increased sales, the company has expanded its market to such destinations as China and India. The company has also diversified its merchandise to non-food products as well as services.  Non-food sales increased by 4.1 billion pounds as of August 2008. The same trend was noted in service provision sector which made reasonable profits.

Threat to Tesco is high competition as the result of financial crisis and consumer’s budget tightness such discount competitor as Alsi and Lidlrs are eaten away Tesco’s sales by offering high quality goods for the lowest price. The group faced risk of losing its customers who switched to the other retails in order to reduce its living costs and had to revise its strategy in order to remain its customers (Flensted, 2009).

McKenzie’s 7s analysis has also been useful in strategic fit for Tesco Plc. The analysis is involved in shared values, strategy, structure, system, staff, style and skill. Tesco has however effectively applied the 7s framework to increase its market share and profits.

Shared value: this is a statement of the company’s objectives and what the company believes. According to Tesco, it is its believe to increase its sophisticated management techniques from simple manufacturing companies to the value of high standards and march northward on their value chain.

Strategy: this describes the methods adopted by company to implement its objectives and goals. It is evident that Tesco applied various strategies usually using balanced score card (BSC) method.

Structure: this is usually concerned with the organizational management structure. In Tesco, it is believed that there is no need of one leader thus the whole group of employees from top to down to work on strategies (Flensted, 2009).

System: this is concerned with how well an assignment has been accomplished. It describes how smart objectives have been accomplished within an organization. Tesco used a steering wheel to achieve its pre determined strategies smartly simply used to help the employees in future.

Staff: this is concerned with the number of staff in an organization. Tesco has a perfect HR department which has recruited over 400,000 capable employees.

Style: it describes the style of the organization in which it works to achieve its goals. Tesco used steering wheel to achieve its objectives. It has 90 degree arcs, in which four main areas are considered which are, financial, customers, operations and employee performance.

Skill: this is concerned with individual capabilities of the organizations employees to a particular task. Employees at Tesco are provided with full knowledge on how to effectively and efficiently work within the organization. The company has set standards and provides skills to its employees to meet the set standards.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is evident that Tesco has been performing well in retail market. The fact that it enjoys over 30% of the UK market share is a prove that the company has been doing well. However, it is important to understand that the modern economy is very dynamic and competitive and thus makes it essential for strategic planning. The strategic plan will help achieve and maintain a strong market position within the industry. It is for this reason that the organization must use analytical tools such as SWOT and McKenzie’s 7s analysis to design a strategic plan (Palepu & Healy, 2007). Tesco should take advantage of the strengths and opportunities within its environment and have mitigating factors to deal with threats and weaknesses facing the organization. It is also important to ensure that the 7s are to the advantage of the organization.

References

Dransfield, R., & Needham, D. (2005). Applied business: AS level for OCR. Oxford: Heinemann,.

DuBrin, A. (2009). Essentials of management (8th ed.). Mason, OH: Thomson Business & Economics.

Flensted, R. (2009). What’s up, Britain?: Landeområdet Storbritannien (1. udgave, 2. oplag ed.). Kbh.: Gyldendal.

Palepu, K., & Healy, P. (2007). Business analysis and valuation (IFRS ed.). London: Thomson

Do you need an Original High Quality Academic Custom Essay?