SWOT Analysis

sadista

I'm conducting a SWOT analysis on Heatons department stores and cannot identify any weaknesses, although surely they must exist! Online research is turning up zilch, has anyone got any suggestions or knowledge that would fit this category? Thanks

electric applause

Would competition from other stores count? Or would that fall under threats?

sadista

Yeah that's a threat because its external to the company. A weakness would be any internal shortcoming of the company, I'm stumped.

Peterdalkey

They are small compared to Primark or Dunnes.. They pay more... The task is rather simple....

Buttercake

They sell a lot of tack I find, been in their shop out in Charlestown and didn't find anything that I wanted to buy.

TV Fad products with little shelf life span "The Amazing Miracle Electronic Corn on the Cob Holder" now available in Heatons

Selling cheap low cost goods is a weakness as turning away a demographic of people that may have money to spend

terryhobdell

NEARLY Nationwide?

red dave

Sometimes weaknesses in large companies can be weak management and high turnover of staff, low morale etc. (I'm not saying they exist in Heatons, just an example of weaknesses in general).

I'd fire you if you were on my research team OP.

terryhobdell

Incidentally why are you carrying out a SWOT analysis? Are you a student? Have you ever visited one of their shops? That might be an insulting question but I wouldn't fancy an analysis based on what's on line. The comments about their stock and size suggest that you are missing out on some pretty basic stuff.

jimmii

50% owner is probably more interested in the success of another brand which I would consider a weakness. They also have a low market share and I would also say they have a weak brand image/awareness (If you asked 100 people in Dublin the first place they would go to buy sports gear I would think few would say Heatons/Sportsworld). They have also stated in the past that they would not have been able to expand so it seems there would have been possible monetary issues in the past (although I wouldn't think that was a problem now considering recent results).

sadista

Thanks for your input guys, some food for thought there.

To the poster asking if I'm a student the answer is yes.

To Red Dave I can't see how a judgment such as the one you've made above is conducive to the discussion. I don't ever intend to be a professional market researcher, not my cupan tae, so you never have to worry about employing and having to fire me.

I had identified generic weaknesses such as the management, low morale etc but I will be required to back up each point for a presentation hence the reason why I've spent the last few days trawling the net looking for any news that would give away any weaknesses the company might have, but unfortunately there was not a lot of media coverage. I have since been talking to some employees there and have identified some more, such as outdated POS technology.

jimmii

Did you buy the business post article? First thing that comes up for me
https://www.google.ie/search?q=heatons+competition+dispute&oq=heatons+&aqs=chrome.0.69i59l2j69i57j69i60j69i59j0.1583j0j7&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=122&ie=UTF-8

robodonkey

Look for:
Cash reserves (info from Companies House UK? CRO.ie?)
Changes to Board over last X years, inidicators of "unrest" or leadership problems?

sadista

€2.69 for access to a single article?? As an impoverished student that makes me sad.

Peterdalkey

Even In this recession, you would find it hard to get anyone to do your homework for you at that kinda dough!

pedroeibar1

sadista wrote: »

€2.69 for access to a single article?? As an impoverished student that makes me sad.

Whether or not you intend to pursue a career as a researcher, you should get off your ar$e and do a bit of basic work yourself instead of coming here to get your homework done for you.

The points you make on POS technology and morale are BS in the overall scheme of things. What experience/knowledge/information have you got that gives you the right to say

sadista wrote: »

I had identified generic weaknesses such as the management, low morale etc ....... and have identified some more, such as outdated POS technology.

Heatons' strategy is heavily focussed on the value-end of household goods and textiles – sheets, towels, curtains, etc., in addition to some general clothing and sportsgear. So what has happened to the young, new homebuyer niche in recent years?

Heatons' general modus operandi appears to be a +/- 15,000 sq.ft. retail space, to operate on the ground floor for the Heatons brand and install a mezzanine for the Sports World operation which is run separately as a “store within a store.” Where are the units located? Out of town? In town? What size towns? Premises leased/owned? When did they take on new leases – boom or pre-boom? Compatibility of product ranges? Those are what count, not what some gobdaw junior with a part-time job and an opinion says to you.

Heatons AFAIK remains an unlimited entity so a/cs are not available; it is a very old co that went the limited route in the 1940’s and then went private again with a ‘generation’ change followed by the Mike Ashley involvement. He is a retailing guru, one of the richest guys in the UK, worth a few billion, all of which was made from retailing, sports retailing in particular. Now, with him owning almost half of your business, much of which is sport related, would you want to pi$$ him off, even if he were half-wrong?

FAIL.

rubberdiddies

the OP was simply asking for help. thats the whole spirit of boards, right?

(not that the below advice is worth a jot, it's just my observation)

their online store is IMO poor.
coupled with the fact that it's tied in with the buy4now crowd (eg: the prominent e-mail address displayed at the top is help@buy4now.ie instead of help@heatonsstores.com).

This to me indicates that it's outsourced (i don't know the ins and outs of the buy4now system/service)

As well as coming across as unprofessional, what level of control do they have over their online store?

That, to me anyway, would be a weakness.

Axwell

Mod Note

Folks if you have something constructive to add feel free, if you are just going to make abusive comments or put people down then take it elsewhere, this isnt the place for you.

Voltex

SWOT is an age proven tool in pre-strategy formulation thinking..but certainly has its limits. When conducting a SWOT or even a PESTLE we tend to search for subject areas we are already familiar with...so in essence we are searching for strengths, weaknesses, external environmental contingents that we may already know about yet are just seeking validation for...(Pfeffer & Salancik, 1978).

One of the most powerful concepts Iv encountered in terms of Organisational Theory is systems theory...and systems thinking. I thoroughly recommend an quick read of systems theory as a pre-req to understanding the context in which an organisation finds itself. Context defines the organisation's boundaries and the limits to which strategy can be constructed around.

When thinking of organisational functions with systems theory its quite easy to identify weaknesses. I know all the above is not much help for your assignment but hopefully it will allow you to think about strategy formulation in a slightly different way.

Peterdalkey

Folks if you have something constructive to add feel free, if you are just going to make abusive comments or put people down then take it elsewhere, this isnt the place for you.

Fair enough, lets have school/college homework posters declare their interest
/intent/purpose of their post and then we can post gently or simply ignore.
If there is to be a move away towards a warm and fuzzy PC child friendly business and enterprise playroom, I for one have no interest in that! It does,however, open an opportunity to have a similar forum for grown ups, with negative criticism allowed when complete twaddle is posted!

Would be very useful to have any new rules posted in the sticky, so at least we all know where we stand.

Voltex

Peterdalkey wrote: »

Folks if you have something constructive to add feel free, if you are just going to make abusive comments or put people down then take it elsewhere, this isnt the place for you.

Fair enough, lets have school/college homework posters declare their interest
/intent/purpose of their post and then we can post gently or simply ignore.
If there is to be a move away towards a warm and fuzzy PC child friendly business and enterprise playroom, I for one have no interest in that! It does,however, open an opportunity to have a similar forum for grown ups, with negative criticism allowed when complete twaddle is posted!

Would be very useful to have any new rules posted in the sticky, so at least we all know where we stand.

I cant agree with you there. A real weakness of undergrad business courses is the lack of experience most students have. Case studies and real world input (constructive as well as critical) is so important.

Critical analysis in terms of their analytical analyses of case studies is fair...but they shouldn't be expected to think like experienced business people or post-grad students.

Peterdalkey

could not agree more Voltex, my sole issue is where they choose to post, this is a business and enterprise forum. The educational sector is very well catered for on boards.ie, they should use those resources or at the very least declare their post is project homework related, if they actually want real world experienced feedback, different responses should be expected.

Voltex

Peterdalkey wrote: »

could not agree more Voltex, my sole issue is where they choose to post, this is a business and enterprise forum. The educational sector is very well catered for on boards.ie, they should use those resources or at the very least declare their post is project homework related, if they actually want real world experienced feedback, different responses should be expected.

Fair comment...but as a general forum, I believe the more experienced amongst us should be stimulating the less experienced rather than seeking to segregate them.

Peterdalkey

I would view this as a rather specific forum not a general chatroom as you seem to suggest. In fairness to this OP, it was not they who went all mushy!

pedroeibar1

Peterdalkey wrote: »

In fairness to this OP, it was not they who went all mushy!

No, but a Mod does not usually jump in without being summoned by a 'report'.

Peterdalkey wrote: »

I would view this as a rather specific forum not a general chatroom as you seem to suggest.

I agree. I also have always understood that homework questions are frowned upon by Boards and on some forums e.g. History they are outlawed.

I deliberately pushed the envelope on my recent post because the OP had made sweeping unresearched comment and I wanted to stimulate a debate. It is not even necessary (as suggested earlier) to spend the price of a cup of coffee on researching the key players in Heatons, there is plenty of data out there on Forbes, UK newspapers, etc, all free. I and other ‘negative posters’ gave several pointers, all of which have been ignored by the OP.

Regarding comments by others, I’m a relatively new poster on this forum and the quality of the posts here often surprises me. Some of the responses given are high-level, of independent non-executive director value yet some of the posts are astonishingly naive, to the extent that they often do not even deserve a reply. How can anybody advise a poster (other than saying ‘go to an accountant/solicitor/EI/SYOBC’) who has no notion of such basics as the difference between a company, a sole trader, a business or a partnership? Or VAT rates/calculation/workings of? Comments that can be inferred as 'put-downs' are not necessarily so, but even if a put-down is implied it is, when merited, quite justifiable and a useful wake-up call to get an OP thinking instead of sitting back and getting others here to do the work.

Axwell

Peter, the post I am referring to was deleted. It was from a user with 22 posts and the type of childish response that boards doesn't need in general never mind this forum. So if we are going to have a grown up forum like you want then posts like those are going to be removed.

Kindly let the mods do their job and don't tell us how we should run the forum or respond with smart comments. If you see a post doesnt belong then just report it and it will get moved, same goes for anyone else.

Peterdalkey

So, is homework in or out? the answer is not clear from the guidance provided.

Axwell

Homework wasn't the issue Peter, its peoples attitude and responses. If someone posts something that doesn't belong you simply report it and let the mods deal with it, be it them looking for help with their homework or any other type of post that's out of place.

Peterdalkey

It appears so, that we were, as they used to say years ago, at cross purposes!

Cheers

Peter

Buttercake

That buy 4 now website is gas! - all it is is outward & Tradedoubler affiliate hyperlinks, theres no shopping cart system.

Software
Buy4Now have invested millions of euro into developing a software suite that represents the latest in technology and encompasses all elements of an eCommerce solution

Buy4Now provide a number of services that separate us from pure software companies e.g. marketing, consultancy, search engine optimisation, operational planning, call centre and web design.

sadista

Hi everyone and thanks for all your input. I've been away for a few days and just caught up on the discussion.

I just want to point out that contrary to what people have assumed about me, this was not my first stop for "free and easy" information. I had spent almost a week looking up various articles, visiting my local store, reading employee reviews and talking to current employees. After all that, I still had not gleaned what I considered to be excellent points and thought that I may have been overlooking certain things because of my lack of experience. That's the reason why I turned to this forum.

I, perhaps naively, presumed that experienced business people would be happy to impart information based on their experience and knowledge to point me in the right direction. At no point did I expect to be spoon fed and if this was not the right place for this discussion I would have happily requested it to be relocated to a more suitable forum.

To whomever thought I have ignored suggestions I most certainly have not. I went away and looked up any reference material that would confirm what was suggested here. Furthermore, as a student who does not party, smoke, or treat myself to starbucks cappuchinos and still only has 30e per week disposable income, you can probably now understand my dismay at having to spend 3 quid on a single article.

So apologies to anyone who was peeved. I'm fairly peeved myself that individuals would take this as an opportunity to judge and berate instead of enlighten and educate and for that reason I would be fairly discouraged from posting here again.

Graham

sadista wrote: »

I'm fairly peeved myself that individuals would take this as an opportunity to judge and berate instead of enlighten and educate and for that reason I would be fairly discouraged from posting here again.

In the spirit of enlightening and educating, you did yourself no favours by putting what appeared to be minimal effort into your opening post.

There are plenty of people in this forum who willingly enlighten and educate posters here on a daily basis, I enjoy reading most of their responses. That's not to say that I somehow have a right to expect such education or enlightenment.