Strategy Management

Core Business Definition 

Selfridges is a shop that concentrates in the sale fashion clothes for both men and women, the sale if bags and shoes beauty products, kid’s utilities home technology, foodstuffs, and jewelry an watches. It is a store that operates in London and has not diversified in other parts of the world. Whereas we can say that the store is widely known and has gained some international name, it has not yet expanded into the global market. It only operates in London, in Birmingham, in Manchester Exchange Square, and Manchester Trafford. Selfridges is, therefore, a one-stop shopping experience of the many fashion items that are desired by people in the modern world (“London | Stores | Selfridges”, 2019) . Since the organization has not been in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), it is a new entrant into the UAE market.

Selfridges was first started as a retail business for fashion and shop items. It was a retail business that was started by Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1906 where it was started as a departmental store for every retail piece that was in the market. Due to its retail nature, the departmental store gained a lot of influence in the London Oxford Street and gained popularity across the nation. I made instrumental profits decades after establishment and has since become one of the greatest retailers in the UK market (Collins, 2010). The core business of the facility still remains their core business even in the modern business. It is a store where every retail item is well structured and accessible to customers. Alongside the brand that they have built and the quality of products that they sell to their customers, the organization has since become a preferred retail shop for many.

Porters Five Forces Evaluation

Competitive rivalry	The UAE is one of the countries where the retail business is handled with ultimate respect. Selfridges is set to face a number of retailers who are inclusive of the Al Aqili Group, the Al Hokair, and the Al Khaja Group. The three are the best-known retailer firms in the nation laying effective concentration on services and retail property (VCSMR, 2012). The retail business in the UAE has been on a positive rise for the last two decades. The current developments in the market are that the retail business in the UAE just like fore Selfridges ensure that they sell almost every item that is sold in the land. The retail industry in the UAE is set with an international corporate view such that product differentiation has not affected it. Instead, the nature of the business is one where there is increasing capacity. Retail organizations are increasingly adding more products to their retail businesses with a view of increasing their market as well as making more sales. Selfridges should, therefore, face the UAE market with a view that they can make more sales in the country but only if they can manage to keep up with the competition.
Supplier Power	The power of suppliers means so much to businesses in the modern world. It is the power that determines how businesses fair on concerning how an organization can be able to shift from one supplier to the other (E. Dobbs, 2014). The UAE market is one that has myriad opportunities to change suppliers, especially in matters that concern fashion items. There are many suppliers of fashionable items such as apparel, fashion watches, and beauty products among other items that are sold by Selfridges. Therefore, there is such a great likelihood that supplier power will not inhibit the operations of the firm in UAE.
Buyer Power	In the UAE, it is necessary for Selfridges to consider that the basic market that they will need to attract is made up of the occupants of the country (Madichie & Blythe, 2011). Due to the existence of many retail firms that concentrate in the same sale of goods in UAE, buyer power will be of instrumental effect because they will have the power to control the pricing and cost of products they will also have the ability to determine the quality of products that Selfridges will provide among many other buyer-related details.
Threat of Substitution	The threat of substitution is an imminent threat that faces the UAE in such an effective manner as for the present. In the view that the UAE market is one of the most diversified markets in the retail business, the organization will have to face instrumental challenges while trying to convince customers on the quality of their goods (Madichie & Blythe, 2011). The threat of substitution even after joining the market as a fair competitor, therefore, remains quite imminent (Rice, 2010). The organization could lose its customers to existing businesses or to new entrants too, and hence there is a need for the organization to ensure that its grip in the market is one which addresses the threat of substitution.
Threat of New Entry	Just like their entry into the UAE market is a new entry, Selfridges ought to consider that the UAE market is not one that is protective of new entries. It is rather a market that is welcoming of new entries in the retail business to other companies and retailers just like it is for Selfridges. It therefore squarely means that Selfridges should always expect new entries into their market because the market is welcoming of every retailer. As such, the organization needs to set itself in such a manner that their products can always stand the test of new entries.  They should for a product line where new entries are not equal threats. To do so, the organization will have to build a sustainable brand that will stand the test of new entries.

UAE Retail Market Overview

Strategic Capabilities

Physical Capabilities

Physical capabilities are the physical issues that are owned by an organization. They are the physical things that an organization can depend on to make their existence unshakable. For Selfridges, the physical capabilities in the UAE are not that dependable. As of now, the organization still does not have physical buildings that they can depend on among others. However, the organization still has their products that are sold in London and which can still be depended on to make sales in the UAE. The organization still has a widespread database that can store their data even in the UAE. The computer system and the database of the organization are sufficient to control sales in the UAE. They are two most important issues that will affect the way that the organization markets itself and achieve efficiency in the way that products are sold (Skogdalen & Vinnem, 2011). As per the physical capabilities, Selfridges will have to acquire physical stores among other physical equipment, and hence the organization cannot be said to have that instrumental, physical capability.

Financial Capability

Financial capability is one of the most significant abilities that a company diverging into the international business can ever have. Financial capacity helps the organization to afford all the costs that come with joining the new market (Garavan & McGuire, 2010). It is the sole capability that enables the organization to stand the test of a new market and also to prove the ability to manage daily activities. Selfridges has a tremendous financial repertoire that will be essential in enabling the firm to explore the new market and make efficient exploits. Cash flows in recent years depict that the organization is instrumentally making sales.  Their entry into the UAE market will, therefore, be easy due to their financial ability. It will also be a good step as it will be a better way to increase their profitability making them improve their financial capability.  

Selfridge sales since 2011

(“Selfridges Retail Limited net worth UK 2011-2017 | Statistic”, 2019)

Human Capability

Human capital is such an instrumental determinant of the success of an organization. An organization requires human capital to expedite strategies that are put in place as well as for the day to day running of the organization. Human capital includes the management, partners, suppliers, and customers (Garavan & McGuire, 2010). Selfridges has amiable human capital as they have a large customer base in London, they also have a high number of employees. The suppliers of their different items of trade are many and considerate, and also, the organization has invested in good management that has seen the store succeed for over a century. The sizeable human capital that the firm has will support them to gain a base in the UAE as they will support the entry into the new market as well as ensuring that the performance of the business is top-notch.

Applicable Strategy

While entering the new market, the organization ought to ensure that it meets the needs of the UAE retail market. The strategy that the organization will use will first need a feasibility test of the market. The feasibility test of the market will include the best region where the company can start the first stall. The chosen location will have to be one where competition is less and where the market is available. As a new entrant, the organization will not be interested in facing off the current competitors in the very first establishment because of stringent competition in The very first entry into the market. Thought the strategy would be essential in making the organization known the UAE market is highly competitive.  Starting at a highly competitive ground would, therefore, cause the organization a stunted growth in the initial stages which would even affect the ability to engage the market. The apparent strategy will, however, ensure that the firm creates its brand steadily to a position that it becomes an equal competitor to the existing retail businesses.

Technology

The organization recognizes that entry into the new market will require an instrumental investment in technology. The organization has noticed that business organizations are performing quite well in the social media and over the website. On the website thus, the organization will market its entry into UAE. At the same time, the organization will create social media pages on Facebook and Twitter. The technological advancements will ensure that the organization attracts new customers as well as ensure that the dwellers of UAE understand the entry of a new retail business dealing with apparel and fashion products. Also, the sites will advertise customer benefits such as discounts which will be effective marketing strategies.

The entry of Selfridges in the UAE market is a new entry that will need instrumental investment in technology, human capital, and financial capital. The new market remains a mystery to the organization. However, with the financial ability of the organization, the strategic setting and the capacity of the facility to maintain business standards that it has set in London, its existence in the UAE remains a viable venture.

References

Collins, N. (2010). Selfridges Named World Best Department Store. The Telegraph, 14.

E. Dobbs, M. (2014). Guidelines for applying Porter’s five forces framework: a set of industry analysis templates. Competitiveness Review, 24(1), 32-45.

Garavan, T. N., & McGuire, D. (2010). Human resource development and society: Human resource development’s role in embedding corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and ethics in organizations. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 12(5), 487-507.

London | Stores | Selfridges. (2019). Retrieved from http://www.selfridges.com/DE/en/features/info/stores/london

Madichie, N. O., & Blythe, J. (2011). The “bold and the beautiful” of the UAE retail environment. Marketing Intelligence & Planning, 29(6), 593-601.

Rice, J. F. (2010). Adaptation of Porter’s five forces model to risk management. DEFENSE ACQUISITION UNIV FT BELVOIR VA.

Selfridges Retail Limited net worth UK 2011-2017 | Statistic. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/589770/selfridges-retail-limited-net-worth/

Skogdalen, J. E., & Vinnem, J. E. (2011). Quantitative risk analysis offshore—human and organizational factors. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 96(4), 468-479.

VCSMR, P. (2012). Understanding value: a consumer perspective in UAE retail market. American Journal of Business and Management, 1(4), 190-195.