Written Assignment Unit 5: Strategic Management 1

Written Assignment Unit 5: Strategic Management

University of the People

BUS 1101: PRINCIPLES OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

Kurry Klingel, Instructor

July 22, 2020

Written Assignment Unit 5: Strategic Management

Strengths: Athlete's Warehouse would sell athletic products and provide expert advice to

customers. Considering that Colin Power has a Ph.D. in Physical Education along with professional

experience and Ed Power has played goal for the Grand Falls ANDCOS in the Newfoundland Senior

Hockey league, one strength is that they provide expert advice to customers. The organization has

control over provided professional advice which determines customer satisfaction and company

reputation. The second strength of the Athlete's Warehouse is that “Colin would provide full-time

management” (Howse, 1992, p.2) to the organization. This is an advantage for the organization since

Colin has demonstrated his management expertise by being the Executive Director position, operating the

previous Athlete's Warehouse, and opening The Fitness Factory. This strength cannot be imitated by the

competition and the organization controls this sustainable competitive advantage (Carpenter et al., 2010,

p. 228). The final strength is that “Colin had established a credit rating with some suppliers” (Howse,

1992, p.2). Subsequently, an acceptable credit reputation allows the organization to invest in renovations

and inventory to open a store.

Weaknesses: One of the weaknesses of the Athlete's Warehouse is that Colin and Ed are at a low

financial status. They only have $12,000 of the inventory and old cash from the Athlete's Warehouse

closed store in Comer Brook to afford an investment of $10,000 in renovations and display racks and

about $20,000 inventory (Howse, 1992, p.2). The second weakness is that they have a failure reputation.

They already had an Athlete's Warehouse store in Comer Brook, which closed because “Colin was no

longer available to provide management” (Howse, 1992, p.2). This is a disadvantage against competitors

as well as a risk for Ed since he would use his retirement money to invest and he can lose it. Finally, the

organization has a selective perception of athletic endeavor stereotypes. Colin and Ed only focus on

“people between the ages of 13 and 34 who were involved in some type of athletic endeavor” (Howse,

1992, p.2) and forget other groups that use athletic footwear and clothing without practicing athletic

endeavor.
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Opportunities: In Grand Falls, an opportunity for the organization is that stores do not offer a

selling mix of athletic footwear and clothing nor expert assistance for clients. Therefore, with this

external factor, the organization would be a “unique” store. A second opportunity for the organization is

that at least 3000 people in the Grand Falls area pay for good quality merchandise (Howse, 1992,

p.5). This chance guarantees that expert assistance along with excellent services and goods are sold. At

last, the organization has an excellent location for selling. Recognizing that Grand Falls is the primary

service center of at least 50,000 people where average family income is the fifth-highest in Newfoundland

(Howse, 1992, p.3), allows the organization to attract a huge number of customers and make high profits.

Threats: One threat to the Athlete's Warehouse is that some customers may have developed a

loyalty sense to the competition. B & B Sports had been the only sports store in town since

1983(Howse, 1992, p.3). For new businesses, it can be difficult to make customers that already prefer to

buy goods or services in a habitual store. The second threat is that the organization's products can be

replaced. When customers do not meet their needs with Athlete's Warehouse products, they can go to

Sports Experts and find what they were looking for. Finally, Athlete’s Warehouse competition can

imitate the strategy by hiring experts that assist customers with the selection of the goods.

Overall evaluation of the organization based on the SWOT analysis

The company can provide unique expert advice to take advantage of that no competition offers

assistance in the purchase of proper products and that in case a company does that the company service

will be financially stable to avoid it. Also, this strength along with publicity that improves the

organization’s reputation show customers that they should change their sense of loyalty in favor of

Athlete's Warehouse. Secondly, people in the Grand Falls area are willing to pay for good quality

merchandise for this reason Colin needs to make sure the organization sells the majority of its products

and has an expanded target market while meeting the needs of all customers by possessing enough,

popular and modern supplies which helps the company to increase its financial status. To do so, the

company has to use its credit rating to supply its huge number of customers that can popularize the

company to enhance its reputation, and expand its target market with less selective perception.
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Written Assignment Unit 5: Strategic Management 5

References:

Carpenter, M., Bauer, T., & Erdogan, B. (2010). Management Principles, v. 1.1.

https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/management-principles-v1.1/index.html.

Case Study: Howse, B. (1992). Athlete's warehouse (A). Atlantic Entrepreneurial Institute.