Supply Chain and Distribution Strategy of Bryant Company - Assignment Example

Running Head: Business Analysis Business Analysis [Institute’s Table of Contents TASK 3 PESTEL 3 Ansoff Matrix 5 CompetitiveAdvantage 5 TASK 2 9 Planning and Control 9 Supply Chain and Distribution Strategy 10 The Transformation Model 12 References 14 BUSINESS ANALYSIS TASK 1 PESTEL Political: The political as well as governmental structure of UK is thought to have sturdy leadership, encouraging public-private partnerships, financing options despite the fact that these are limited, and strong departments. The procedure of consolidated development with societal input is as well considered as a positive aspect. Bryant-homes efficiently take part in the political activities for the interest of the business and its clientele for the policies that can influence its business operations. The decisions and policies of the government can greatly affect the productivity of the company. It acts in accordance with all the legal as well as other requirements essential for political involvement and dealings (Pan & Goodier, 2011). Political decisions of the government decide fiscal and regulatory policies which have to be taken into account at the time developing the strategy. For instance, the government’s ‘Mortgage Support Policy Scheme’ supports home owners who have fulfilled the set criteria to pay back their mortgages by offering around 80 percent of total interest assured. This policy will somehow decide part of Bryant-homes’ policy since the more individuals who can find the money to pay back mortgages, the more houses will be sold. Economic: The general economic view for the last six quarters has been that of a contracting financial system. Even with the small intensification attained, the majority of sectors of the economy are still suffering from the outcomes of the recession. The result, together with increasing unemployment level, is that individuals have smaller amount money to use, and are likely to spend their restricted resources on necessary products. This invariably indicates that the high end market where Bryant-homes is represented may suffer. Nonetheless, the government has made attempts to ensure ascertain that additional credit is accessible to individuals via the banks “by issuing bailout funds” (Barlow et al, 2003, p. 139). These developments indicate that the company may have to sell its significant stock of developed houses at prices quite below to what was actually estimated, with the purpose of raising cash and enhance liquidity. Social: The business has started different societal campaigns to support learning, secure operational environment and job assurance to the individuals. Social factors as well influence the policies Bryant-homes adopts since alteration in “patterns of living may dictate what sort of houses increase in demand” (Pan et al, 2007, p. 190), for instance, family focused houses rather than flats. Technological: The role of technology in the accomplishment of any business in aggressive markets of today cannot be disregarded. The company invested huge amounts during the last year to improve the technological equipment to facilitate its workers as well as to ensure smooth functions all over its business units. Environmental: The Bryant-homes tries hard for brining enhancements in its functions to reduce the discharge of carbon dioxide, energy use and water use. The company have confidence in delivering a positive influence by providing “conservation minded and environmentally friendly products to the customers” (Ball et al, 2000, p. 738). Legal: The functions of the company are conditional on different regulations and laws inflicted by the local as well as international governments. It strictly attempts to follow these rules when making its business operations. A few of the legal parameters which the company has to follow are linked with the marketing, confidentiality, disagreement of interest, fair dealing, and a lot more (Tiesdell & Adams, 2004). Ansoff Matrix Existing Products New Products Existing Markets Market Penetration Highly recommended for Bryant homes. Business already seeking trying to find ways for this. Diversification This is a doubtful strategy for the time being. Additional emphasis is on selling existing products. New Markets Market Development Taking into account the economic situation, this may not be suitable. Nonetheless, if good prospect arise in adjacent economies, it could profit from them. Product Development May be feasible following a little economic constancy has been attained. Competitive Advantage With Bryant’s unique housing plans, the extremely individual product is verifying of benefit. Bryant has significantly developed the selection offered to buyers by speeding up the pace at which fresh and innovative designs are launched. A key competitive lead with respect to sales has been derived over the years from Bryant’s smart site designs which offer a lower density as compared to those developed by its competitors. Progressing stress from increasing land prices has indicates that business densities have gone up. Bryant has inspected its site plans, both for current as well as projected growth and where suitable, has raised densities while sustaining the Bryant reputation. The business has initiated a number of three storey plans that take advantage of roof space - offering additional living area on the same place. Bryant has as well acted quick in response to demand for additional urban expansion, with plans for apartments as well as a number of other housing schemes. With respect to competitors within the UK house building market, Bryant-homes’ major competitors, according to the sales revenue, are Barratt, Persimmon plc, and the Berkeley Group. The following chart shows the yearly revenue of 2012 for these businesses. Figure 1: Yearly Revenue for 2012 (Source: Adams & Moore, 2014) With respect to market size, Bryant-homes is also the leading house builder within UK, which is evident from the following chart showing its market size in comparison to its main rivals. The market size is a sign of the estimated amount of consumers and sellers within the UK housing market. Figure 2: Major House Builders in UK according to Market Size (Source: Adams & Moore, 2014) The competitive nature of the house building sector indicates that companies are persistently looking for innovative methods to achieve competitive lead over one another. During the last five to six years, Bryant-homes has concentrated on modernization in design with the aim of achieving competitive benefit. With respect to product offerings, Bryant-homes is involved with more or less all forms of product within the housing sector. This has proved to be a lead to this point, as it appears to be capable of switching product focus in accordance with demand. It as well appears to be stronger in particular areas than as compared to a few of its rivals, for instance, in the development of environmental friendly buildings. Bryant-homes’ first priority is to endure the severe economic condition, withstand the financial downturn and then regain the productivity. The business has good quality structures with which this can be attained and strict expenditure measures along with insightful management judgments can guarantee its continued existence while putting it on an excellent spot for designing long-term policy. Bryant Homes started to charge premium prices for premium products. It is essential to ask for a price which is a sign of the excellence of the homes. Customers would think that they were being sold small if they were provided with the homes that are below a premium price. Buying a house is generally the key group of expenses for adult customers in UK. Bryant Homes believes that in house pricing, it is required to charge a price which reveals the buyers’ point of view regarding the product. Nonetheless, in UK, it is the market that mostly set the value of housing. The existing condition of the house building industry in some ways reveals the condition of the general economy. Statistics show that there has been a clear reduction in new orders acquired by service providers during the past two years. New orders for public housing are at around £ 500 million during the fourth quarter of 2012, down from £ 715 million during the same part of 2010, although new orders for private housing are at £ 1450 million during the fourth quarter of 2012, in comparison to £ 1876 million during the fourth quarter of 2011. During fourth quarter of 2013, mortgages were decreased by 49 percent in comparison to statistics from December 2012, and the amount of loans for first time customers dropped by almost 55 percent. Drop in investor confidence within the wholesale debt market has created a “funding gap of more or less £ 550 billion” (Myers, 2013, p. 782) for mortgage suppliers, which has been momentarily supported by financial support by government in particular liquidity as well as credit guarantee plans. These momentary steps are however likely to end soon. Nonetheless, it has been reported that not much has been done through new housing in offering specific retirement housing as merely seven percent in the UK live in specific retirement residences. This situation does not appear positive to Bryant-homes; nonetheless the interim blend of governmental financial support provides some hope. TASK 2 Planning and Control Burton group is dynamically functioning with planning officials, councillors as well as local communities to deliver new stores, investment as well as jobs. The company carries on to make a better investment within the external structural design of its latest stores. Burton group’s plan is to change the quality of building related to “out-of-town retail” (Birtwistle et al, 2003, p. 119) and build the type of shops that communities will notice as a positive aspect.The company is quite clear about the fact that it should not compromise service or quality to save few bucks, nor should it stop undertaking new costs that enhance its service offer. As a result it should control overheads by means of operational improvement as well as enhanced procurement. Against more and more demanding customer environment, Burton group took steps to run the business practically. Within an enormously aggressive market, the company made huge investments in providing its clientele with a great value when they are trying to manage their resources cautiously. The company tightly managed its costs, capital investment as well as stocks. Therefore, it delivered earnings in proportion to previous year, and made considerable efficiency savings in the capital investment plans (Doherty, 2000). The plan to transform Burton group into a top international retailer stays unaffected and has been confirmed by stable sales growth during the last year. The company is showing good growth but successful implementation of its policy wants Burton group to get used to both market prospects as well as existing market situation. While circumstances within the UK are likely to be more complicated as compares to what is initially predicted, Burton group is heading in the right direction to deliver the targets. UK gross margin was reduced by 27 basis points on around 42 percent. General commodities gross margin was reduced by 76 basis points on 53 percent as a result of “additional promotional activity, input price inflation and adverse currency stress” (Rowley, 2009, p. 351). Supply Chain and Distribution Strategy Supply chain strategies define the way supply chain should work in order to be competitive. It is a practice that has to be repeated with the aim of assessing the cost gains of the operational factors. Supply chain strategies rely on the business’s corporate policy which is the outline for what the business would like to achieve. The supply chain and distribution strategies depend indirectly on the corporate policy and directly on the business unit plan. There are two major forms of supply chain strategies; one is lean strategy and the other is agile strategy (Doherty & Alexander, 2004). Burton group’s main aim is to bring sustainable long term development within earnings per share and its business strategies to attain these together with developing its product range, increasing the amount of its consumers as well as their standard spending, and enhancing product sourcing, decrease cost and handle stock levels resourcefully. The main purchasing behaviour of Burton group’s clientele is not predictable at all times as the fashion market is exemplified by increased instability, low certainty and high level of impulse buying. Fashion shops accustomed to change their supply only two times during a year, with more or less eight fashion seasons during one year, the stores have to continually change their supply. Actually, fashion trends have been noted to last for “six to eight weeks only” (Bakewell et al, 2006, p. 171). This causes difficulties in the supply chain for the majority of companies in fashion industry. The resultant instability needs a quick supply and distribution strategy. Mass customisation is the main method within the agile strategy. This includes mass production of the business’ commodities but configuring them to some extent so that there are a few differences in the products. The consumers then have diverse products to pick from although the goods are basically the same. Burton group implements this approach by providing mass products in different colours, sizes and styles to contain the variations within its consumers’ preferences. Alternatively, as noticed from its business strategies, there is a powerful desire to cut down cost and handle supply levels resourcefully. This signifies the lean supply approach which removes wastes and boosts effectiveness. Burton group controls its inventory management perfectly with the application of practical and stable information technology systems, which ascertains that there is a fine balance between having extra products available and the possibility of not having them when the consumers would like to have them. It is necessary for Burton Group to work closely with its suppliers its success depends on the suppliers meeting high quality standards. A huge amount of work has been done lately, laying down directives for suppliers to ascertain that all of the activities linked with bringing supplies to customers “add as much value to the goods as possible” (Marciniak & Bruce, 2004, p. 389). The company’s warehouse as well as distribution processes are persistently checked to retain competence and decrease threats like “physical property damage, decreased fabric waste, warehouse breakdowns, capacity shortages” (Marciniak & Bruce, 2004, p. 390) etc. Care is also taken to make sure that the products are transferred to the retail shops promptly. Owing to this, during 2010, the business was capable of raising gross profit margin by 1.2 percent by decrease in warehousing as well as distribution costs. Procurement is the procedure of acquiring and buying the materials and services essential for Burton group. The materials and services acquired by the company will differ along with each business’ requirements. A business such as Burton group that sells clothing and accessories will have to purchase material, sewing tools, labour expert in stitching and making clothes. The process of procurement is more complex as a result of the variations during the cost and quality of materials and services all over the. While staying competitive, businesses have to purchase their supplies from regions that offer best value for money so that they save on costs of production. The laws, related to buying and selling, as well signify that companies have to “factor in laws, custom and excise duties” (Birtwistle & Tsim, 2005, p. 459) when selecting where to purchase their materials from. The identification of accurate source of supply, acquiring proper quantity, at the proper time and at the proper prices is vital components of procurement functions. The Transformation Model One of the major drivers for transformation was the improvement of the Group’s Integrated Supply Chain Management system. Introducing the system required the major personnel training plan ever started by the Burton Group and this has had a major impact on every job role within the company. The key advantage of this new system is ‘on line’ supply visibility during every phase of the supply chain, which ensures better supply chain control. It has presented a common system with regulated operating practices across each and every retail brand. ISCM offers standard communication to all contractors and carriers. The advantages of the IT expansion plan carry on to feed their way across the business - gains will raise over years, as a result developing the Fastflow system. Fastflow’s accomplishment is also well exemplified by a huge improvement concerning Evans shops which now indicates they can act in response to colour trends during the season. It has reduced the number of shirt supply from four to one. The outstanding “dealer balances product finishing between the Far East and the UK to gain the maximum flexibility” (Birtwistle & Tsim, p. 455). Supplies from the Far East will be inexpensive, largely due to smaller labour costs; however, it will take more time to ship to the UK. Domestically produced products will be offered more rapidly; letting the retailer to respond to fashion trends on a later phase during the selling term, but will be highly priced. The company found a combination of the two sources offered the most advantageous supply. Supplies for early in the season was “dyed at source and afterwards shipped to the UK. Later, T-shirts were brought into the UK by the dealer in their greige, or un-dyed shape, next dyed and sent to shops in steadily lessening lead times to respond to colour trends” (Birtwistle & Tsim, p. 456). The project capitalize on the advantages of economical production of lower-risk typical colours on extended lead times from the Far East with enhanced sales later during the season from quick turnaround fashion colours in the UK. Fastflow facilitated the Burton group to act in response to customer demand mainly in high season. Garments sourced for the start of the summer season had fifteen weeks lead times from the long haul source and was available in basic colours. This emphasizes the aspects of the Burton Group’s Fastflow procedure and transformation philosophy. References Adams, D.,& Moore, C. (2014). Why not build faster? Explaining the speed at which British house-builders develop new homes for owner-occupation. Town Planning Review, 83(4), 291-314. Bakewell, C., Mitchell, V. W., & Rothwell, M. (2006). UK generation Y male fashion consciousness. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 10(2), 169-180. Ball, M., Farshchi, M., & Grilli, M. (2000). Competition and the persistence of profits in the UK construction industry. Construction Management & Economics, 18(7), 733-745. Barlow, J., Childerhouse, P., Gann, D., Hong-Minh, S., Naim, M., & Ozaki, R. (2003). Choice and delivery in housebuilding: lessons from Japan for UK housebuilders. Building research & information, 31(2), 134-145. Birtwistle, G., Siddiqui, N., & Fiorito, S. S. (2003). Quick response: perceptions of UK fashion retailers. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 31(2), 118-128. Birtwistle, G., & Tsim, C. (2005). Consumer purchasing behaviour: an investigation of the UK mature womens clothing market. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 4(6), 453-464. Doherty, A. M. (2000). Factors influencing international retailers market entry mode strategy: qualitative evidence from the UK fashion sector. Journal of Marketing Management, 16(1-3), 223-245. Doherty, A. M., & Alexander, N. (2004). Relationship development in international retail franchising: case study evidence from the UK fashion sector. European journal of marketing, 38(9/10), 1215-1235. Marciniak, R., & Bruce, M. (2004). Identification of UK fashion retailer use of Web sites. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 32(8), 386-393. Myers, D. (2013). A review of construction companies attitudes to sustainability. Construction Management and Economics, 23(8), 781-785. Pan, W., Gibb, A. G., & Dainty, A. R. (2007). Perspectives of UK housebuilders on the use of offsite modern methods of construction. Construction Management and Economics, 25(2), 183-194. Pan, W., & Goodier, C. (2011). House-building business models and off-site construction take-up. Journal of Architectural Engineering, 18(2), 84-93. Rowley, J. (2009). Online branding strategies of UK fashion retailers. Internet Research, 19(3), 348-369. Tiesdell, S., & Adams, D. (2004). Design matters: major house builders and the design challenge of brownfield development contexts. Journal of Urban Design, 9(1), 23-45. Read More