Sports retail has become a very popular in recent years; with trends leading towards sports clothing as a fashion statement and more of a commodity it has transformed the sports retail into a highly competitive industry. Porters (1996) five force analysis (appendix 3) has helped to understand the industry and highlighted the levels of competitive powers that directly impact upon SD and the industry. In which, has identified that there is a high power of buyers (consumers), with a noticeable level of other retailers in the market competition is a major pressure which is evident through retailers reducing prices to maintain a place in the market. The SWOT further reinforces this as it identified that SD operate under low margins which questions
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Annual profits are set to be £40 million lower than expected this Christmas (Financial Times 2016). In such a competitive environment demands speed, initiative, flexibility and adaptability (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington 2013). Options for SD include the focussing on developing its current competitive strategy, as a cost leader, becoming competent in terms of flexibility and being prepared to take risks, to stay competitive and maintain its position in the market. From what Volberda (1996) suggests this option may be hindered by SD current bureaucratic vertical structure. To alleviate this, decentralisation and a flatter structure may be an option worth …show more content…
This is a possible reason for one of the most significant current discussions in regards to workers of SD, a “culture of fear” and an environment similar to that of a “labour camp” within SD’s Shirebrook warehouse (BBC 2016). Questions have also been raised about the exploitations of agency workers (The Independent 2016) which is definitely a cause for concern in regards to media coverage and potential reputation damages. A SWOT analysis (appendix 1) highlighted that staff turnover in the company is an issue, currently sitting at an all-time high of 22% (Sports Direct 2016), also the company seems to portray a “role culture” (Handy 1993) involving hierarchical bureaucracy, controlled by procedures and authority. In addition, according to Deal and Kennedy (1982) SD Culture is categorised as the process culture, a focus on the process and not the content, again a tightly structured hierarchical system. The current culture seems inappropriate for the environment and threatening for SD’s future. This matter has been widely published across the media in 2016 and has dramatically affected SD financial statistics in the same time period, which is why it has been considered as a major strategic force. It is apparent that the lack in HRM (human resource management) practices may come from the massive expansion SD has seen in recent
Annual profits are set to be £40 million lower than expected this Christmas (Financial Times 2016). In such a competitive environment demands speed, initiative, flexibility and adaptability (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington 2013). Options for SD include the focussing on developing its current competitive strategy, as a cost leader, becoming competent in terms of flexibility and being prepared to take risks, to stay competitive and maintain its position in the market. From what Volberda (1996) suggests this option may be hindered by SD current bureaucratic vertical structure. To alleviate this, decentralisation and a flatter structure may be an option worth …show more content…
This is a possible reason for one of the most significant current discussions in regards to workers of SD, a “culture of fear” and an environment similar to that of a “labour camp” within SD’s Shirebrook warehouse (BBC 2016). Questions have also been raised about the exploitations of agency workers (The Independent 2016) which is definitely a cause for concern in regards to media coverage and potential reputation damages. A SWOT analysis (appendix 1) highlighted that staff turnover in the company is an issue, currently sitting at an all-time high of 22% (Sports Direct 2016), also the company seems to portray a “role culture” (Handy 1993) involving hierarchical bureaucracy, controlled by procedures and authority. In addition, according to Deal and Kennedy (1982) SD Culture is categorised as the process culture, a focus on the process and not the content, again a tightly structured hierarchical system. The current culture seems inappropriate for the environment and threatening for SD’s future. This matter has been widely published across the media in 2016 and has dramatically affected SD financial statistics in the same time period, which is why it has been considered as a major strategic force. It is apparent that the lack in HRM (human resource management) practices may come from the massive expansion SD has seen in recent