Posted: April 7th, 2015

Maddona or Tesco case study-writter will free to choose the topic

Maddona or Tesco case study-writter will free to choose the topic

Order Description

2 case studies; choose 1

words-2200

Exploring Strategy

Case Study Analysis

Case Study option 1:

Madonna after the fall: Tour, album and waging war on ageism
Madonna is determined to bounce back after her humiliating tumble at the Brits. But 30 years after her spectacular arrival is Madonna past her sell by date?

Source: Power, E., www.independent.ie, 08/03/2015

Does Madge still have it? Is it admirable or inappropriate for someone in late middle age – she turns 57 in August – to so provocatively flaunt their sexuality? Might it be better to gracefully fade from view rather than figuratively flog a horse that has already had a more than decent outing. We wonder – and yet cannot quite agree an answer. This time, the debate is even louder than usual. Madonna has released 13th album Rebel Heart, a shimmering pop affair that arrives in the wake of her Brit Awards disaster/publicity coup. As everyone on the planet is by now aware, her comeback at the Brits turned into a surreal farce as Madonna’s cape became entangled with a backing dancer and down she went, literally flat on her face.
In the social media era, nothing catches fire like a pop star tumbling a*** over elbow and the débâcle had the curious effect of making Madonna newsworthy again – even sympathetic. It was telling that Ms Ciccone dominated the post-Brits conversation, not Taylor Swift or Kanye West. For the first time in recent memory, the Zeitgeist belonged entirely to her. Granted, the singer had to slip down a flight of steps to regain the front pages. But, ask yourself, is there a pop star on the planet you would rather watch fall down the stairs more than Madonna? Maybe Elvis and Michael Jackson – but that’s about it. When she is minded to do something spectacular, no one fascinates like Madge. Would you care if Ed Sheeran lost his footing during a performance? No, you would not. As to whether Madonna still has ‘it’ in a musical sense – the new record appears to argue both ways. Among die-hards, the album has been embraced as the strongest of her recent career. It is dynamic and glittery, tough on the outside, yet with an agreeably soft centre (lyrically, she is in a sharing frame of mind). “I definitely think Madonna is still relevant,” says music blogger Silvan Schreuder of Popsirens.com. “The fact that one million more people tuned in for the [Brits] ceremony compared to last year shows there is plenty of interest in Madonna, as well as the fact that her fall made headlines worldwide. Her new album is a bit modish at points, but overall it’s underpinned by strong melodies and good song writing. It’s her most personal and strongest work in over a decade and despite its length, feels concise and has strong themes running through.”
If Madonna has a complicated relationship with music – she is the perpetual outsider and trend-chaser- it is fair to say we, the audience, have a complicated relationship with her. Since breaking through in the early 80s as a sexually provocative tweaker of taboos – it is difficult to appreciate today just how scandalous a song called ‘Like a Virgin’ must have struck listeners in 1985 – Madonna has been an object both of derision and fascination, a role model and a cautionary tale for anyone chasing fame for its own sake. What can be stated with certainty is that Madonna is not unaware of the argument swirling around her age and the appropriateness of her continuance as a raunchy singer. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, she fairly comes out swinging, decrying haters seeking to dismiss her strictly on her seniority. For anyone of a certain vintage, her pronouncements have the aspect of a rallying cry – why hasn’t someone stood up like this before rather than apologising for growing older?
“It’s still the one area where you can totally discriminate against somebody,” she said. “Because of their age. Only females, though. Not males. So in that respect we still live in a very sexist society. “No one would dare to say a degrading remark about being black or dare to say a degrading remark on Instagram about someone being gay. But my age – anybody and everybody would say something degrading to me. And I always think to myself, why is that accepted? What’s the difference between that and racism, or any discrimination? They’re judging me by my age. I don’t understand. I’m trying to get my head around it. Because women, generally, when they reach a certain age, have accepted that they’re not allowed to behave a certain way. But I don’t follow the rules. I never did, and I’m not going to start.”
Nor is it fair to condemn her as shocking simply for the sake of it. Far from a cynical manipulation, there is a persuasive school of thought that, as a young woman in a strange city (New York in the early 80s) she utilised her sexuality as a defence mechanism. In her 2007 biography of Madonna, writer Lucy O’Brien asserts that, aged 23, Madonna was attacked by a mugger on the Lower East Side and sexually abused at knife point. “It can be argued that her anger at the attack came out afterwards in a need for complete sexual control,” she writes in the book. “Many friends have suggested she used sex to get attention, to get dinner, get a bed for the night. As a young women who felt powerless, it was one way to show men that she was the dominant one and she didn’t care. Sex became a mask, a way of psychologically turning the tables on her attacker.”
The difficulty is that, while her initial determination to shock may have sprang from a real, raw place, ever since, Madonna has been mostly concerned with trend-hopping. Her music has shapeshifted in many dazzling ways, though often with one eye on what is fashionable in the moment. In the late 90s, with angst-ridden female singers such as Alanis Morrissette dominant, Madge ditched the flesh-flaunting and morphed into the pale-faced chanteuse of Frozen (no, not the Disney movie). Later, she hitched herself to the boom in dance music, working with producers Mirwais and Jacques Lu Cont (whose cred seems not to have recovered from clambering metaphorically into bed with Madonna). Rebel Heart, for its part, features contributions for voguish talents Avicii and Diplo. It is unclear whether Rebel Heart will become a major hit or, as with recent Madonna albums, is doomed to be of interest only to the fanbase. Then maybe that’s the wrong argument, suggests Scheruder. Nobody expects a 56-year-old to have the novelty factor of younger upstarts. What is important is that she succeeds on her own terms, not everyone else’s. “[She] might not sell as much as some of the more contemporary artists like Taylor Swift, but that doesn’t mean she’s not relevant. She will sell a decent amount of albums – even though it will always be compared to her earlier albums without taking into account that album sales have diminished. She’ll do very well out of the Rebel Heart tour [which looks set to skip Ireland] and will play for thousands. Madonna still has it and looks determined to hold on to that crown. And good on her.”
In Rolling Stone, Madonna made it clear that she sees her ongoing career as part of a continuum. She did and said the unthinkable in the 80s – and here she is, an older lady rocking her socks off, doing it all over again. “When I did my sex book, it wasn’t the average,” she said. “When I performed ‘Like a Virgin’ on the MTV Awards and my dress went up and my ass was showing, it was considered a total scandal. It was never the average, and now it’s the average. “When I did Truth or Dare and the cameras followed me around, it was not the average. So if I have to be the person who opens the door for women to believe and understand and embrace the idea that they can be sexual and look good and be as relevant in their fifties or their sixties or whatever as they were in their twenties, then so be it.”

1. Case Study 1: Questions:
2. a. How has Madonna achieved success over so many years?
b. What threatens the sustainability of Madonna’s success?
c. What recommendations would support Madonna’s success in future?

NB: See also Chapter 5 core text Case Example (pp129-132)
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Case Study Option 2:

If Tesco’s boss can trim the fat, 2015 could see the retailer rise again

Source: Butler, S., The Observer, 4/1/2015

Analysts predict a recovery for the group as long as Dave Lewis gets his strategy right
If 2014 was the year of the discounter, 2015 is set to be the year of Dave. All eyes are on the new boss of Tesco, Dave Lewis, as he tries to reboot the UK’s biggest retailer after an annus horribilis marked by falling sales, five profit warnings and an accounting scandal. In the past year, Tesco’s bungling has given free rein to discounters Aldi and Lidl, which have both seen rapid growth by offering a cheap and more convenient alternative to spending hours wheeling a trolley around a huge out-of-town store. If Lewis can muster a fightback, that will not only make life tougher for the German chains but also for Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s, who are already under considerable pressure. Thanks to an ongoing price war, you may have enjoyed a cheaper Christmas dinner. But all four of the major chains are expected to have seen sales tumble, while Aldi and Lidl enjoyed double-digit growth and upmarket grocers Waitrose and Marks & Spencer also benefited. Morrisons boss Dalton Philips is the most likely to fear the festive hangover. After two miserable Christmas performances, many believe his head will be on the block if Morrisons finds itself to have been the worst performer of the big four during December. Former Tesco man Andy Higginson has been lined up to take over as chairman from Sir Ian Gibson and many believe he will do so before his scheduled start date in June.
“Another bad Christmas is likely to mean the chairman comes in early, and a new management team,” says Bruno Monteyne at Bernstein Research. Morrisons has been losing ground even while Tesco has been in meltdown. The Bradford-based chain, like rivals Sainsbury’s and Asda, will be under extra pressure if Lewis can make swift improvements at Tesco. Dave McCarthy, a retail analyst at HSBC, reckons the rapid growth of the discounters may be slowing and Tesco could soon be on the mend: “We believe discounters’ growth has peaked, and while they will remain an important feature, we do not believe they will be the defining feature of the grocery sector in 2015 – that will be Tesco’s recovery.”
There are signs that Lewis has already reined in the pace of falling sales at Tesco: the retailer put in its strongest performance since June in the three months to 7 December, according to figures from Kantar Worldpanel. However, sales were still down 2.7%, a performance which puts Tesco well behind Sainsbury’s and Asda and only ahead of Morrisons among its major competitors. An insight into Lewis’s plans is expected when he updates the City on Christmas trading on Thursday. Traditionally, the major supermarkets use the first month of the year, when shoppers are feeling hard-pressed after the Christmas binge, to talk about price cuts. Will Lewis begin the year with a shock-and-awe pricing strategy? Most analysts believe that is unlikely, as the former Unilever boss has already told the City to watch out for changes as they appear in store, rather than wait for grand announcements of strategy, as he believes this kind of public statement could benefit his rivals. Before Christmas, he produced the first evidence of his tactics to put Tesco on the front foot. As shoppers prepared for Christmas, Tesco slashed the price of the “festive five” – bags of vegetables including carrots, potatoes, Brussels, cauliflower and parsnips – to 49p. The promotion was simple and widely advertised and made Tesco 65% cheaper than 2013 for those items – and at least 20% cheaper than all of its rivals, including Aldi, according to analyst Bernstein Research.
“This year is going to be great for the consumer,” says Clive Black, an analyst at Shore Capital, as he predicts ongoing heavy price competition will mean deflation will continue in 2015. The impact of strong harvests, thanks to this year’s warm weather, and relatively low oil prices, together with some big commitments from the grocers, will keep prices down. Sainsbury’s has said it will slash costs by £500m over the next three years and save £150m in the year ahead, by cutting better deals with suppliers as it tries to improve products and lower prices. Morrisons is to invest about £300m in price and product improvements, while Asda has pledged to spend more than £200m a year on price cuts up until 2018. Tesco spent more than £200m in 2014 and the 49p festive-five promotion signals that it is prepared to invest more. Tesco’s festive promotion is not just about a stronger focus on price. It can be seen as part of a wider trend towards simpler, pared-down grocery retailing as the chain saves cash to cut prices. “There is no call to offer 45 colas. It can’t offer two like Aldi, but it can reduce,” says independent retail analyst Steve Dresser. While Waitrose has set out to make itself radically different from discounters, installing service counters and an array of ways to taste-test or dine in stores, its mainstream rivals will have a laser-like focus on ways to save cash. The chief executive of one of the big grocers is privately warning that shoppers are going to have to get used to stores that are less than pristine.
After many years of expanding workforces, jobs are also likely to be lost. This week’s update from Tesco is likely to include details of cutting head-office overheads, with jobs expected to be axed. Lewis might try, for instance, to bring together the grocer’s huge offices in Welwyn Garden City and Cheshunt. Analysts also expect Lewis to give some indications of businesses which could be sold – such as movie-streaming offshoot Blinkbox or market research operation Dunnhumby. There could also be a partial flotation of Tesco’s Asian business or Tesco’s bank, as Lewis sets about stabilising the group’s balance sheet. The credit-rating agencies have made it clear they have concerns about Tesco. Less than four months into the job, Lewis has already been forced to warn that profits will be a massive £500m less than hoped for this year, after he put more staff in stores and resettled agreements with suppliers. Lewis may also give more details about what he plans to do with Tesco’s largest stores, now that shoppers have a clear preference for smaller shops. Analysts at Goldman Sachs believe supermarket bosses need to take drastic action, shutting one in five of their stores if the financial health of the mainstream grocery chains is to recover from the damage being inflicted by the rapid change in shopping habits. They predicted that sales will fall by about 3% a year in major supermarkets’ largest stores between now and 2020. Because the fixed costs of running a big store – lighting, heating, rates, minimum staffing levels, etc – are high, such declines in sales would hit profits seriously if action is not taken.
Goldman Sachs argues that Tesco’s biggest problem is not price, but over-expansion, which has left it with 56% of its stores more than 40,000 sq ft in size. While the mass closure of existing stores may not be on the cards this year, Lewis has already pulled out of one major development and mothballed two stores. Others have been trimmed by giving space to other retailers, such as Sports Direct, or services, such as gyms and play centres. But space for building food stores is far more valuable than space used to house gyms, soft play centres or even to build houses – and Tesco and its rivals are now expected to have to write down the value of their property significantly. Tesco alone is expected to write down the value of its UK stores by at least £1bn, as property industry sources said capital values had fallen by 20% or more for supermarket space. The discounters, by contrast, are hunting for new locations. Lidl wants to open at least 30 shops in 2015, and Aldi 65, while Sainsbury’s will decide the future of its Netto discount chain by the summer. Asda is also keen to open more mid-sized stores and so all of them will be competing for the same locations. If Netto proves a success, Sainsbury’s could use its existing property portfolio – either under-utilised space in existing stores or spots in shopping developments that it controls – to roll out the chain, which currently has just five outlets. But reviving the Netto brand, which exited the UK in 2010, isn’t a guaranteed success. Mike Coupe, Sainsbury’s new chief executive, has distanced himself from the Netto project so far, and analysts are bitterly divided over whether the idea makes sense.
For all the discounters, finding new space will dictate the scale of their continuing impact this year. While both Aldi and Lidl continue to persuade more shoppers to put more items in their basket on each visit – and are likely to continue to gain market share in 2015 – some of their stores are now becoming overwhelmed. Aldi’s growth has also been partially driven by expanding the number of items it stocks and introducing more premium-priced goods, and analysts believe both those strategies could be running out of steam. “As it adds more bells and whistles, from range extensions to self-checkouts, to accepting credit cards, it risks heaping too many costs on a business model founded on simplicity,” says Natalie Berg, global research director at Planet Retail. But the economic realities that have driven the trend for discount shopping may also be changing. Rising incomes and employment may mean customers could again want greater choice and services, such as online shopping or click and collect, which the major retailers can offer. These factors will be more attractive still if the big chains can bring prices down to near discounter levels. “The gloves are off. Tesco is no longer the chubby kid getting outmanoeuvred… all the big four have gone to the gym and will fight back,” says Black.
Tesco’s plans for new era put it on investors’ shopping lists
Source: Andrea Felsted and David Oakley, Financial Times 08/01/2015
Tesco’s head office in Cheshunt — a drab 1970s concrete office block — once symbolised Britain’s biggest retailer as a no-nonsense behemoth. “It said what you needed to know about Tesco,” says one former insider. But as the group expanded beyond its core supermarket business, and food retailing is challenged by the rise of the no-frills grocers, Dave Lewis, Tesco’s new chief executive, is making a decisive break with the past. He will close the Cheshunt office in 2016, as part of a wider turnround plan designed to cut costs and improve operations in the wake of several profit warnings and a misstatement of first-half pre-tax profit by £263m. “The history is not lost on me at all. It was with some soul-searching,” said Mr Lewis, pictured, as he announced the decision. “But there is a new chapter for Tesco out there.”
Mr Lewis, who became chief executive in July after his predecessor Philip Clarke was ousted, set out his vision on Thursday for what the new era for Tesco would look like. As well as scrapping the final dividend for the current financial year, and starting a consultation to close the company’s defined-benefit pension scheme, which is £3.4bn in deficit, Tesco will implement a range of cost-cutting measures aimed at saving £250m a year at a one-off price of £300m. The retailer also plans to consolidate its UK offices — its base in Welwyn Garden City will be the new headquarters — and streamline its central functions and store management. This, Mr Lewis hopes, will reduce overheads by 30 per cent, suggesting thousands of job cuts to come. Investors greeted the plan by sending the shares, which had fallen 40 per cent last year, up 15 per cent to 209.25p. Some shareholders and analysts said Mr Lewis’s strategy was the right one for the changing retail landscape, particularly as Tesco showed some improvement in trade over Christmas. One top 20 shareholder said: “We are hopeful that Tesco can turn things round from here. The group is going through the pain of job losses and store closures to enable it to cut prices to compete with the discounters. This is essential for the group to be able to turn a profit.” Dave McCarthy, an analyst at HSBC, said the plan showed that Mr Lewis was prepared to “make bold decisions on all areas of the business, that the balance sheet is being strengthened, that management has been strengthened and there are no sacred cows with the closure of the Cheshunt head office”. But others expressed concern that Mr Lewis would have to go even further to revive the retailer’s fortunes. Bruno Monteyne, an analyst at Sanford Bernstein, said Thursday’s announcement represented only the first steps. “It’s a turning point in the road,” he said. “A lot more needs to happen before you could say that Tesco is out of the woods.” He added that it was one thing to set out a plan, but it still needed to be executed successfully.

HERE IS AN GRAPH WHICH i WILL UPLOAD IT LATER AS I COULD NOT PASTED

This is particularly the case, given that Mr Lewis’s revival plan comes amid an increasing polarisation in the British grocery market, mirroring other parts of the world such as the US, with more upmarket grocers, such as Waitrose, performing well. At the other end of the market, the trend in much of Europe — led by Germany, where discount supermarkets account for about 40 per cent of the market — for shopping in the so-called hard discounters is spreading to the UK. Nor, warn some analysts, is the threat from the discounters just about price. Consumer habits are changing, choosing to shop locally and more frequently and eschewing big out-of-town stores. Tesco said it would close 43 unprofitable stores, more than half of which are smaller convenience outlets, and withdraw from 49 store developments, overwhelmingly big out-of-town stores. But, some elements of the strategic blueprint relate to the way Tesco has developed in particular.

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Under founder Jack Cohen, the retailer began selling surplus groceries from an East End market stall in London, and for many years it pursued a “pile ’em high, sell ’em cheap” strategy. When Sir Terry Leahy became chief executive in 1997, the Tesco juggernaut rolled into a huge array of areas, from clothing and financial services to telecoms and even garden centres. It expanded overseas, becoming the joint second-biggest grocer in the world. Mr Lewis is now unpicking some of this expansion, partly because of the pressures on Tesco’s balance sheet. On Thursday, Tesco said it had appointed Goldman Sachs to explore options for Dunnhumby, the data analysis company that runs its Clubcard scheme. It has also offloaded Blinkbox, the film streaming service and Tesco Broadband. But the retailer made no mention of selling part of Tesco’s Asian businesses, which could be worth £7.5bn to £9bn, or a minority stake in Tesco Bank. Mr Lewis indicated that he would “consider further steps as necessary” to strengthen the balance sheet. However, he insisted there was no need for a fire sale, even though Tesco wants to maintain an investment grade credit rating. But while investors may be placated for now, Mr Lewis will have to tackle staff morale as he implements one of the biggest overhauls in Tesco’s history. Some insiders suggest there is some concern among Tesco staff that Mr Lewis is trying to overturn too much of the essence of Tesco too quickly. Staff, many of whom are shareholders, have seen the value of their investments plummet. They now face the pension changes and a wage freeze. Others believe that uncertainty over job cuts could be a distraction over the next few months, potentially jeopardising some of the progress that has been made by Mr Lewis. The chief executive said he was “very alive” to issues around staff morale. But he insisted: “I’m not a Tesco historian. I am looking at the business we have today.”

Case Study 2 Questions:

a. How did Tesco achieve success over so many years? What role did strategic leadership play in this?
b. What threatens Tesco’s success?
c. What recommendations would support Tesco’s success in future?

NB: See also p30 & p254 core text

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Assessment Criteria:

? Presentation and Style: Logical organisation; coherence & effective communication which demonstrate a strong understanding of the strategic management discipline (15%)
? Conforming to Instructions: Using APPROPRIATE sources/strategic management theories & models to effectively support discussion & analysis; acknowledgement IN THE TEXT of sources (no separate bibliography required) (15%)
? Content & Knowledge: Providing a clear rationale for models/frameworks chosen; clear, accurate APPLICATION of models with critical appraisal (25%)
? Thinking, Analysis & Conclusion: Expression of arguments that are clear, coherent and tenable; well developed, analytical conclusion grounded in evidence previously provided (15%)
? Methodology: Includes effective collection & evaluation of information and/or data relating to case study organisation (15%) – go beyond limited information provided today
? Practical/Interpersonal Skills: Making clear decisions which give due weight to alternatives; development of effective recommendations for case study organisation with a rationale that includes evaluation of suitability, feasibility and acceptability (15%)