Strategic decision making techniques used in improving a firm’s productive position through stock control and managerial decisions: A case study of ten retail supermarkets

Strategic decision making techniques used in improving a firm's productive position through stock control and managerial decisions: A case study of ten retail supermarkets

Focus on strategic decision making techniques used by retail supermarkets located in the United Kingdom, ten supermarkets will be center of research investigation through integrative and comprehensive case study analysis encounter of retail supermarkets as elaborated below (this will be current UK supermarket chains).

- Aldi

- Asda

- Morrisons

- Sainsbury

- Tesco

- Marks and Spencer

- Netto

- One Stop (Owned by Tesco)

- Prestige Food and Drink

- Shoprite (Isle of Man)

To focus upon performance consequences of strategic group membership in specific context, alternative grouping procedures indicate that performance differences exist across groups in line with theoretical expectations for some of the multiple indicators of performance used in the study, strategic dimensions identified from in-depth industry analysis are good performance discriminators. The study will show consistent patterns present in positioning of strategic groups within the UK supermarket industry. The need to explore nature of relationship between Head Office and stores of the supermarket chains mentioned, focus on role played by range of technological tools available for managing the stock and connecting different parts of productive system and the implications for employee learning in stores, organizational centre and periphery gives rise to different types of skills and expertise, providing the basis for potentially expansive learning environment at the level of the store.

Presence of interpretive methodology to examine the buyer-supplier relationships in supermarket industry from the perspectives of manufacturing managers and market based regulators of 25 interviews with supermarket managers/heads. The study demonstrates application of interpretive analysis and interview technique to establish issues concerning strategic decisions of retail supermarket network in UK today. Craig Smith's model of ethical stance and decision making which serves as backdrop to explicating respondents' perspectives on supermarket industry. Reveal coercive practice at work in supply chain and in the operations of companies working with.

Analyze differences and similarities in strategies adopted by supermarket chains operating in the UK finding ten profiles of strategic behavior (hypermarkets, small local supermarkets and large supermarkets). Thus, explore possible causes of the similarities and differences in strategic behavior, that economic, demographic and cultural factors offer only limited explanation. The differences appear rooted in differences in development of retail industry, and in specific strategic choices linked but not necessary consequences of differences. Following review of the literature from studying UK supermarket industry which suggests that contemporaneous social and financial performance are negatively related, while prior period financial performance is positively related with subsequent social performance. Positive relationships between age and size of the company with social performance will be found. Different perspectives of strategic decision-making and outcomes have been advanced in the literature. Among those are the rational normative, external control, and strategic choice models. Research examines hypothesized effects of factors associated with perspectives on strategic acquisition decisions.

Furthermore, strategic decision models were found to vary by industry and executive characteristics of age, educational degree type, amount and type of work experience, strategic decision models are quite complex with significant implications for future research and for strategic decision-making. Study differences in the decision making processes used by UK supermarkets as susceptible to the use decision making biases compared to others. The use of biases and heuristics may offer some help in explaining why entrepreneurs sometimes make bad managers. Whereas the use of cognitive biases may be beneficial in some circumstances, it can lead to major errors in others. Although research has yet to establish performance implications, it is possible that extensive use of heuristics in strategic decision making may be a great advantage during the start-up years. Arguments that developments in UK supermarket practice have resulted in distinctive system of retailing in the UK, and that this has some important consequences for how one assesses the nature of competition in this market. In particular it means that standard approaches to assessing consumer benefits and the presence or absence of anti-competitive behavior may not be appropriate. It is argued that UK supermarkets are delivering quite different offering to the marketplace from simple basket of goods' with specific price and quality. The issues of product range, innovation potential, associated convenience factors are all part of the package, how competition policy needs to consider long-term innovation potential as well as short-term price issues.