Josefina Santambrogio (F7143857)

TMA 01
PART 1
A SWOT analysis identifies the position of an organisation in relation to its internal (Strengths and Commented [p1]: Hi Josefina – please make sure you
Weaknesses) and external (Opportunities and Threats) environment and how this would affect its clearly number each answer (so that it is easier for me to
follow).
performance.
Commented [p2]: A clear definition and good that you
Depending on what specific objective the SWOT analysis is based on, it is very useful when it comes have identified the importance of the internal/external
to making decisions such as implementing new ideas and technology, taking advantage of new dynamics.
business opportunities or the development of future marketing projects among others. In addition, it Commented [p3]: Ok – good to see you supporting your
encourages information exchange between different sectors of the same business, this way they can answer with examples.
identify how to improve operations and use resources efficiently.
It can also be used to obtain insight about the market and have a better understanding of the
competitors and what position the organisation should take against them. SWOT is a good analysis
that can lead into a plan to achieve the objective. Commented [p4]: A good definition Josefina and well
explained in the context of the organisation.

HUMAN RESOURCE ACCOUNTING AND MARKETING

MANAGEMENT FINANCE
Family business with Project turnover of Good reputation and
strong values. £40m by 2020. strong brand Commented [p5]: Yes – an important element.
recognition.
Experienced senior Growing demand.
staff. High quality meat-
STRENGHTS 5% of turnover goes based products.
Next generation eager on wages. Commented [p7]: Yes – which is low thanks to the
to take over the Technological advance investment in technology.
business. 15% of turnover on Commented [p6]: Leading to strong succession planning.
developing products
and ideas.
Young staff. UK market only focus. Veggie range only sold
at Waitrose.
WEAKNESSES Not enough
experience among Not a big range of
staff about veggie veggie ingredients
products.
Profit-share for the Going overseas. Entering new market
whole team. segment. Commented [p8]: Yes – the export market could well be
New building facilities. very profitable and a further path for expansion.
OPPORTUNITIES Young staff could
potentially stay there Waitrose sales
for many years. extending to 200
stores
 Demand fluctuations. Meat business going
THREATS meat free, could
damage reputation. Commented [p9]: Fine in terms of the format of your
table…..a little brief on some of the descriptions (see my
comment below).
On the above table I carried out a SWOT analysis for sausage brand HECK in which I identified the
following: Commented [p10]: Good to see the analysis
below………..but ideally this should have been incorporated
 Strengths: into your table (above)
 A family run business will pay more attention to the quality of their product
rather than a big corporation which just wants to make profits.
 The owners know what they are doing, they had another sausage company
which they sold and regret. The also treat their employees well which is key
for the good functioning of a business.
 Next generation eager to take over the business – they show interest in the
business, want to make sure it evolves and expands. It also guarantees
business will be kept within family.
 It’s a projected £40m turnover company with a growing demand that invests
15% of its profit into developing new ideas and it only spends 5% on wages.
 Having a good reputation helps to promote new products because
consumers know they are reliable and offer high quality food. Commented [p11]: Some good points included
 Weaknesses: here…………the requirement was to split them between
HRM/Finance/Marketing……….you have not differentiated
 Half of their employees are very young which could mean less experience
them in this way.
and low reliability.
 They only want to focus on the UK market missing on the opportunity to
expand to other areas with the advantage of the upswing of veggie
products.
 Their veggie range has only been sold at Waitrose. I think they should have
tried sales in other supermarkets to see consumer’s response.

 Opportunities:
 They treat their employees well by making them feel involved and part of
the family, launching a profit share scheme could motivate employees and
make them stay or even attract more people to work for them.
 Going overseas would be a major opportunity to expand the business and
reach different markets. Commented [p12]: Yes – particularly the Australian
 The construction of new facilities allows more production which can be sent market.
out to retailers faster increasing sales.
 The entrance into a new market segment brings the opportunity of
producing loads of new different foods and to increase the popularity of the
brand, if successful.
 Threats:
 This company has already suffered from lack of product demand which
could happen again.
 A well-known sausage company is entering the veggie market for the first
time competing against veggie-only companies. People may be Commented [p13]: Some detailed analysis and you have
apprehensive of trying new products from a meat-based company or lifted the key points from the case study.
products not being good enough which can damage the reputation of the
Most points do repeat what you have in your
business. table……….ideally everything should be within the table.
In my opinion the biggest issues Heck should address are: Commented [p14]: Next time please clearly number each
question/answer…….can’t tell what is Q3 and Q4 here.
 Launching a veggie range with little knowledge of this market. From the case study I assume
that they have a lot of experience with meat products but it’s unclear the research they’ve
done about this new market. They are playing against big competitors such as Quorn, a well Commented [p15]: Yes – I agree that this is clearly a risk
stablished veggie brand. This could cause severe damage to the brand’s image and a lot of
lost profit. I think they should look for an advisor who has solid experience regarding the
veggie market and who can help them develop more ideas in terms of ingredients as I
believe quinoa, kale and chia seeds are not enough to launch a full new range of products. Commented [p16]: Ok – fine.

This also links back to your original SWOT analysis.

 Focusing on the UK market only. From my point of view, not wanting to expand overseas is
a huge mistake, I understand it is too far to send sausages to Australia and fear that quality
would not be the same if the products are made from sub-contracted manufacturing but it
is not hard to send their home-made products to other countries. I believe they should
totally take advantage of the currently growing veggie business, especially in Europe. Meat
sausages will sell well anyway if quality and taste are good. Exporting to other countries
helps to promote the brand and it also opens the doors to many new markets which could
offer the company innovative ingredients, recipe and flavour ideas they could bring back to
the UK and launch themed ranges with a taste from different countries. Commented [p17]: Another key issue that you are right
to highlight.

Some good discussion here Josefina.

Word count (with table): 920
Word count (without table): 793
Commented [p18]: Ok – just be careful on the wordcount
next time (880 max for this TMA)
Commented [p19]: Disappointing not to see a reference
section………this is a mandatory requirement, so please
make sure you include one for TMA2 (see my TGF post for
guidance on referencing).