Publix Super Markets (Case Study Sample)

Publix Super Markets Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Course Professor’s Name Date Publix Super Markets Business model Publix Super Markets is an American private unlisted company where employees own most share ratios. The company operates in the chain of supermarkets within the United States by engaging in grocery activities such as seafood, bakery, dairy, pharmaceutical sales, meat, poultry, and other daily-use items. In the business model, the company is listed as the 86th firm in Fortune 100 (Concepcion, 2019). The main competitors of Publix company are Costco, SuperValu, Krogers, Wal-Mart, and Target Inc. SWOT Analysis Strengths * The company’s comprehensive product portfolio allows it to expand its customer base activities since it benefits from its products. * The company has a solid financial position in the global market, allowing it to make further investments to help the firm grow. * Publix super markets Inc. has a strong online presence since it is recognized by many people in the United States, enhancing its social networking operations. In turn, it helps the company create strong relationships with its customers. * The company has access to suppliers offering lower-cost raw materials, enhancing business performance and efficiency. * The company’s geographic presence, located in different regions in the United States, allows it to reach a broader market since it is accessible to all potential customers. * The company is located in a well-developed area with an integrated IT infrastructure that improves most operations, such as gaining knowledge about global market trends. * Publix super markets Inc. has access to committed and competent human capital in the form of labor which grants it a competitive advantage over other businesses. * The company ensures it avails high-quality products, which helps them gain brand loyalty from the customers and enhances its performance compared to its competitors. Weaknesses * The company fails to understand customer expectations and needs in various situations, which is attributed to poor decision-making strategies. Therefore, the firm fails to identify the areas of improvement needed in its products or services. * The company utilizes a pricing strategy that is quite costly to the customers and incomparable to the products offered, reducing demand for specific products. * Publix super markets offer poor customer service, such as customers complaining of inefficiency in how they are handled. It leads to a bad image for the company, altering its overall growth. * A lack of organizational commitment and high reports of employee turnover rates reduce the company’s performance capability, thus, poor productivity margins. * The decision-making in Publix takes too much time, causing expensive delays in introducing new products in the market. * There are many critics of poor waste management where the company fails to integrate proper sustainability functions in its operations and is thus considered ineffective in its practices. * The organizational culture used within the company creates an internal weakness since it does not align with the set business objectives. For example, the company’s primary goal is to launch new and innovative products in the market (Mujtaba et al., 2020). Still, on the other hand, there are barriers in organizational culture that prevent employees from being innovative and creative. * In the company, there is poor direction through the misalignment of leadership styles and the strategic objectives set, which reduces its performance capacity in the global market. Opportunities * The company can consider promoting community relations by offering additional services to its customers, such as cooking lessons for the people. The technique will help attract more people to learn how to cook new recipes (Concepcion, 2019). Thus, community relationships and market shares will increase by a higher margin. * Publix super markets can consider geographical penetration and expansion into the existing markets. The development will help enhance its operations in developing markets such as India, China, and Asia (Concepcion, 2019). The needs will help the company grow since effective strategies will be devised for the product prices. * The company can develop new technologies that will assist in production activities and the delivery of services to customers. It should utilize better innovations in its business operations to facilitate its performance. * The company can opt to engage in other social media marketing and e-commerce activities which will grant it a chance to gain a solid online presence on different sites. * Through adequate market knowledge, the company can adapt to the changing customer needs, tastes and preferences by offering them the required products and services. * Even with the rise in customers’ disposable income and increase in customer availability, the company can consider introducing high-end products that will boost the purchasing power of its customers. * The company can consider engaging in new market segments and niches by offering essential product and business expansion opportunities to boost operation levels. * Publix can consider keeping its product prices low to help attract more customers to the company and its key subsidiaries. Threats * There is a shortage of skilled labor due to high turnover rates, which reduces the performance and productivity of the company. * Increasing numbers of direct and indirect competitors such as Walmart stores, Sweetbay Supermarket, and Winn-Dixie stores deny the firm an opportunity to expand and sustain its customer base. * The growing issue of poor waste management is a threat to customers since they believe the products and services offered are inefficient. * The company cannot comply with changing regulations and hence suffers from the risk of lawsuits. * There is a deteriorating economic condition alters business performance since the purchasing power of customers is affected. * The potential rise in inflation leads to increased production costs that alter the profitability margin of the company in the long run. * Even with the government, changes in minimum labor wage affect the company’s ability to increase costs to labor requirements. * Through globalization exposes the company to different cultural diversities that alter the organization’s cultural intelligence levels. TOWS Analysis Internal strengths strategies are creating a solid brand image, a strong international distribution network, intermittent focus on market research, and a substantial investment baseline. The internal weaknesses are high employee turnover rates, poor decision-making, and poor organizational culture. The external opportunities entail expansions within the emergent markets, corporate development, partnerships with other firms, and proper business enhancement activities. The external threats are competition that leads to price wars and increasing numbers of independent producers. Group Map The Group Map method used in the analysis assessed the quality and prices of different products available at Publix super market. The study offers an overview of individual products' low and high price levels. PESTEL Analysis The Political aspect indicates that the company has a Political Action Committee that raised funds from political parties to help support their operations. They consider the fact that Congress should invest in the grocery industry. The company’s associates receive over $2 million in contributions from political parties to enhance the grocery operations. The Economic aspect ensures that the company’s operations are affected by economic trends in the United States. Even with the company’s economic conditions, it still managed to increase its earnings by over 5% and shares to 1034 in 2010 (Harrison et al., 2018). There are issues of unemployment, declining market conditions, and downsizing, which alter the company’s performance and customer purchasing power. The Social aspect considers changes in consumer preferences, needs, and demands. The company has engaged in different social activities within the community and state levels to create value for its customers, shareholders, and the community at large (Harrison et al., 2018). It has considered specific improvement initiatives, such as using reusable bags in its stores, EPA partnerships, and product sourcing to boost operations. The Technological aspect indicates that Publix super markets Inc. has established an Information System equipped with various professionals to enhance the use of information technology. It uses the latest technology that works in the LAN and WAN to promote its performance levels. The Environmental aspect states that the company runs various programs promoting environmental safety standards. The programs entail a reduction in fuel, water, and energy consumption. It promotes proper health and hygiene in its operations. The...