Business Strategy Analysis (Thesis Sample)

Name:
Business Strategy Analysis: Greenergy UK
Institution:
Date:
Executive Summary
This paper is a business strategy analysis of the biofuel business unit of Greenergy Company UK, exploring its external and internal environments, related SWOT analysis, as well as the current and suggested future strategies. This report underscored the importance of PESTEL analysis, Porter’s five scores, value chain analysis, and SWOT analysis as important tools that help organizations determine their positioning within the business environment in terms of risks, opportunities, and attainment of a competitive edge for global expansion. The report found out that Greenergy’s political, technological, and sociocultural aspects favor its nature of business ensuring it has a sustainable competitive edge and a significant market niche. In addition, there is minimal threat of new competitor entrant and rivalry and presence of a sustainable supplier power since the company owns and controls nearly 70% of UK’s biofuel energy segment almost enjoying a monopolized market. This is Greenergy’s major strength besides the unique nature of its products. However, to enjoy absolute control and enhance its grip on the market, the company should engage more in research, develop unrivalled technologies, establish stringent controls on raw material supply, lobby for stricter market entrant requirements, and institute mechanisms of maintaining customer brand loyalty.
 TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Table of Contents
 TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u  HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731653"
Title Page:  PAGEREF _Toc389731653 \h
1
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731654"
Executive Summary  PAGEREF _Toc389731654 \h
2
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731655"
Table of contents  PAGEREF _Toc389731655 \h
3
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731656"
1. Introduction  PAGEREF _Toc389731656 \h
4
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731657"
2. External Environmental Analysis  PAGEREF _Toc389731657 \h
5
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731658"
2.1 PESTEL  PAGEREF _Toc389731658 \h
5
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731659"
2.1.1 Political Aspect  PAGEREF _Toc389731659 \h
5
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731660"
2.1.2 Economic Aspect  PAGEREF _Toc389731660 \h
5
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731661"
2.1.3 Socio-cultural aspect  PAGEREF _Toc389731661 \h
6
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731662"
2.1.4 Technology  PAGEREF _Toc389731662 \h
6
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731663"
2.1.5 Environment  PAGEREF _Toc389731663 \h
7
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731664"
2.1.6 Legal aspect  PAGEREF _Toc389731664 \h
7
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731665"
2.2 Porter’s Five Forces  PAGEREF _Toc389731665 \h
8
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731666"
2.2.1 Buyer Power  PAGEREF _Toc389731666 \h
8
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731667"
2.2.2 Supplier Power  PAGEREF _Toc389731667 \h
8
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731668"
2.2.3 Competitive Rivalry  PAGEREF _Toc389731668 \h
9
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731669"
2.2.4 Threat of Substitution  PAGEREF _Toc389731669 \h
9
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731670"
2.2.5 Threat of New Entrants  PAGEREF _Toc389731670 \h
10
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731671"
3. Internal environmental analysis (Value chain analysis)  PAGEREF _Toc389731671 \h
10
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731672"
4. SWOT Analysis  PAGEREF _Toc389731672 \h
11
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731673"
5. Current and Future Strategies  PAGEREF _Toc389731673 \h
13
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731674"
6. Conclusion  PAGEREF _Toc389731674 \h
14
 HYPERLINK \l "_Toc389731675"
References  PAGEREF _Toc389731675 \h
16

Business Strategy Analysis: Greenergy UK
1. Introduction
Business strategy analysis is an important tool that plays an important role in organizational planning. It seeks to identify various business needs as well as determine valid solutions to pertinent organizational problems. Solutions often entail components for systems and policies development, process improvement, strategic planning, and organizational change. Changes aim at ensuring the organization achieves its strategic goals. Greenergy is a UK-based company that deals in the supply of fuel. According to tank Storage Association (TSA) (2014), the company has grown from a small enterprise instituted in 1992 to become one of the largest suppliers of fuel in the UK, supplying nearly one sixth of the country’s total road fuel. Its product consumers include supermarkets, fleet organizations, and major oil companies. Greenergy operates from its own terminal located in Plymouth and eight others across the UK (TSA 2014). It also uses other companies’ terminals and facilities. Consequently, Greenergy has significantly invested in the country’s fuel supply network taking into consideration environmental and safety measures. The company deals in diesel, petrol, and biofuel supply. According to the company website, Greenergy is the leading biofuel supplier in the UK, engaging in blending, production, and sustainable sourcing. Since business strategy analyses can cover entire organizations, this paper will limit its focus to the biofuel business unit, exploring its external and internal environments, related SWOT analysis, as well as the current and suggested future strategies.
2. External Environmental Analysis
2.1 PESTEL
PESTEL is an acronym for political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, environmental, and legal issues. PESTEL analysis helps organizations determine their positioning within the business environment in terms of risks and opportunities of global expansion (PESTEL-Analysis.com 2014).
2.1.1 Political Aspect
Globally, there is an overall push for the use of sustainable and renewable green sources of energy to minimize environmental detriment (UNEP 2009). Greenergy’s diverse stakeholders play an important role in mapping ranging from political contributions to simple agreements with trade groups in using renewable energies. According to Dermibas (2009), politics advocating for the use of sustainable biofuels also entail the keeping of oil prices in check, sustainable food prices, wealth creation, and fuel security. There is an important need to regulate the use of biofuels because they also emit carbon dioxide, a major contributor to global warming (Biofuel.org 2014). The UK department for Transport (2014) regulates the use of renewable road fuels and other non-mobile machinery.
2.1.2 Economic Aspect
Economic aspects of any business organization have a significant impact on its performance and profitability. The Professional Academy (2014) notes that economic factors affect organizational performance in terms of exchange and interest rates, inflation and growth, disposable income of both businesses, and consumers among others. Currently, Greenergy boasts a significant return on its biofuel supply business, as the largest supplier of the product within the UK (Greenergy, 2014). Additionally, Greenergy supplied in excess of 13.5 billion liters of biofuel, diesel, and petrol, in 2013. The company has a turnover of £3.9 billion, in 2010 culminating from its business units operations, biofuels inclusive, making it the third largest privately owned company by turnover in the UK (The Independent 2011).
2.1.3 Socio-cultural aspect
Sustainability of all business organizations depends on the socio-cultural impact the company has on its environment. These include health and safety consciousness, customer service, attitudes towards consumers’ lifestyles and demographics, buying habits, and consideration of minorities, among others (Strategic Management Insight 2013). Greenergy’s biofuel production plant is located in Immingham away from individuals’ homesteads to minimize the diverse health detriments associated with production of biofuels (Greenergy 2014). In addition, the company considers health and safety a priority of all its operations, given the diverse health detriments associated with carbon dioxide.
2.1.4 Technology
The development, adoption, and use of better production, management, and supply technologies ensure an organization positions itself better within the competitive market to remain profitable. Newer improved technologies improve productivity, efficiency, as well as quality, leading to organizational growth, profitability, and sustainability within the modern competitive market (PESTEL-Analysis.org 2014). Sources indicate that Greenergy’s biofuel plant, the largest in the UK, is a modern state-of-the-art facility that uses the latest most efficient technologies in production to minimize emission of harmful carbon dioxide during manufacturing operations (TSA 2014; Greenergy 2014).
2.1.5 Environment
Environmentally sustainable manufacturing practices and organizational consciousness in operations including waste disposal, have become important aspects of ethical practice. These have become significant owing to the ever-diminishing raw materials, environmental concerns, and the government’s target on carbon footprints, sustainable operations, pollution targets, and waste management. The UK Department for Transport requires all suppliers handling in excess of 450,000 liters of fuel per year must prove that a particular percentage of their supplies are from renewable and sustainable energy sources. A study on environmental sustainability observed, “the simplicity of manufacturing biofuels has significant benefits in emission and could also play an important role in the energy economy if higher crop productivities are attained” (Dermibas 2009, p.113).
2.1.6 Legal aspect
Legal factors are an important consideration for any business entity. In the renewable energy sector, legal factors guide organizations on legislations pertaining to certification, fair competition, employee health and safety,...