Whittakers Business Strategy

By developing and targeting key areas for sustainable value chain, Whittaker’s is committed to reducing its environmental impact over the next ten years. In the usual annual conference, the management of Whittaker’s revealed some of the specific strategies that will enable the organization to achieve sustainability. Among the top strategies include reducing greenhouse gas emissions, reducing water consumption, boosting a significant support for cocoa farming, providing renewable processes, adopting United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals and establishing social investment fund to support the surrounding communities (Whittaker, 2018). Technology and innovation, overall low cost leadership strategy, and broad differentiation are the latest strategies to be put forward by the management of Whittaker’s to enhance sustainability. This report evaluates these new strategies and it will figure out on how they help to meet the key role and responsibility of environmental sustainability.

3 Whittaker’s Brand Internal Environment: 15 3. 0 Key success factors and strategic challenges 16 3. 3 (a) Sources of Key Competitive Advantages for Whittaker’s Brand 17 3. 4 (a/b) In light of all analyses done so far, the following highlights the key challenges Whittaker’s Brand is facing: 18 4. 0 Strategic options and plans 18 4. H. Whittaker and Son’s Limited in full is a confectionery Chocolate manufacturer based in Porirua, New Zealand. Whittaker’s becomes the second largest chocolate brand in the country after Cadbury. Being established in 1896, the family owned company is known for crafting the finest chocolate brands in the world. Whittaker's is a much-loved Kiwi brand in New Zealand and a genuine family business going back to four generations of J. Some of the ways include committing to getting their ingredients fairly; support the Porirua Youth Awards i.

e. taking care of the community around them, starting the Whittaker’s Cocoa Improvement Programme and using renewable energy sources. Strategic influence Sustainability is one positive way of impacting the environment. It forms the basis for evolution of Environmental Policy in New Zealand. It ensures that several conditions on this planet support the project of civilization and the global communities do not slip into deteriorating the environmental conditions and the resources. Human and technical sustainability also addressed the dramatic environmental changes on this planet that can influence policy making and the natural web. Droughts, rising sea levels and floods causing damages on property, taking lives, reducing production and creating environmental refugees has been well addressed and their impact reviewed. With the review, sustainability in the 21st century is certain that nations and the community will both mitigate the declines of the ecosystems and adapt them.

One recent sustainability policy is that of striving to avoid the unmanageable and the unavoidable. Starting in 1896, Whittaker’s expanded its operations to more countries and it is now one of the 90 members of the World Cocoa Foundation providing its products to several locations in the world. In June 2014, Whittaker's expanded its market to Malaysia. This entry mode made Whittaker’s one of the world’s most successful global source of quality chocolate, trusted local and international ingredients for cocoa products (Daniels & Insch, 2006). It serves and wholly owns shoppers in several parts of New Zealand and offers products at low-prices and elegantly designed fascinating merchandise in well displayed large warehouses to offer its product offerings. Factors that facilitated entry of Whittaker’s into the foreign market Strong brand image; Whittaker’s chocolate products has a large public acceptance as compared to its competitor products.

Whittaker’s main business strategy is to satisfy customer needs by providing high quality nutritional chocolate products and excellent services to chocolate lovers. To achieve this, Whittaker’s Company has to assess global tastes and preferences of customers in the global market and produce goods and products that are in line with the tastes and preferences in relations to quality and standards. Another goal is adoption of new technology and innovation to increase the company profit and market share in the market (Gary, 2015). Another business strategy was product diversification. In 1978, Whittaker’s Company produced four signature products – the K-Bar, Sante Bar, Toffee Milk, and Peanut Slab (J H Whittaker & Sons Ltd. The privacy policy sets out Whittaker’s information collected and information handling.

The company as well uses social media applications and websites to communicate and enhance their daily business operations. All the company stakeholders’ disclose personal information relating to Whittaker’s in accordance with privacy policy and applicable privacy legislation. The company management expects that every employee should be honest and straightforward in offering professional services. A professional employee should not only be honest but also fair or truthful in business relationship dealings. Change of the plans in the business increases the disagreements between the owner and the contractor given that the contractor had scheduled its work to suit to a particular period. b) Managerial Decision-Making Style: Shared management and decision making-style: Whittaker’s sons share decision making roles while executing and planning the top management roles.

In innovating their frequently introduced strategies, the sons combine their efforts to develop a successful idea that will boost the company to the next level. The shared decision making style incorporates an interactive process engaging the executive members, directors and junior workers in Whittaker’s. In the interactive process, the partners at Whittaker’s don’t necessarily look for a single best solution but they frame any situation broadly by taking into account multiple elements of success they overlap (Galotti, Ciner, Altenbaumer, Geerts, Rupp, & Woulfe, 2006). Delegation management and decision making style: The top management as well delegate some decision making roles to the individuals working in the operational level and the business level. Some of the roles and decision making activities include supervision roles of checking on junior employees and ensuring that all activities are accomplished accordingly to avoid inefficiency in the company.

The effect of delegation is that the executive management will have a reduced workload in execution of duties involving long-term strategies such as international or global market entry (Heller, 1971). Chapter 2. 0 External and Internal Environments of Whittaker’s Limited For a business strategy to succeed and sustainability to be achieved, an internal environmental analysis is required. PESTEL is a strategic tool to analyze the macro environment of the organization. Macro- environment can be analyzed using other strategic tools like Porter’s Five Forces which is quite different form PESTEL analysis. PESTLE ANALYSIS PESTEL analysis describes the framework of macro-environmental factors used in environment to scan the parts of strategic management for instance like when conducting market research thus giving an overview of the various factors that have to be taken into consideration (Team, 2013).

External Macro Factors Impact on Organization’s Business Situation Impact on Organisational Sustainability Impact on Organisation’s Future Outlook Political: The New Zealand government plays a fundamental role in the trend of regulations and deregulations. Effects of change in business regulations and change in Legislation and taxation effects on the Whittaker’s Brand Company. These factors undermine its progressive role in maintaining the environment and managing physical resources such as water, air, climate and the vegetation. The following are the identified sustainability issues. Legal policies damage the consistency of Whitter’s Brand. Increased level of regulation and government oversight it faces thus facing increased level of litigation. Economic Expectations of a growth rate of 2. Technological Technology incentives, technology level in the industry and also access to new technology promotes the continuous innovation at Whittaker’s Brand (Gary, 2015).

Its competitors like Cadbury have demonstrated a great ability to duplicate chocolate products thus making Whittaker’s products not to be unique as anymore. Also their new products they bring through new technologies will have an expanded market and excellent competitive advantage. Scientific Revolution from technological advancement marks the beginning of tremendous upheaval in impacting the societies and even the environment. It is significant to make changes in philosophy, literature, economy, and politics in most societies to enhance sustainability and transform the environment through technological reform. Socio-cultural environment impacts on the sustainability of the company because countries’ state of education, health consciousness and the attitude of customers determine the state of relating with the surrounding community and promote continuous medical education in case of need.

Good socio-cultural strategies promote corporate social responsibility which will boost the company reputation. Environmental The environmental factors include climate change, weather, waste management and laws regulating to environment pollution and legal factors includes the consumer protection, copyrights and patents and data protection (Carter & Swinburn, 2004). New Zealand effort to cut greenhouse gases could increase manufacturing and electricity costs of Whittaker’s in the country. The climate change due to global warming could disrupt shipping and Whittaker’s supply chain. Industry size impacts Whittaker’s growth expectations and greatly increases the company future growth rates in general sense (Arora, 2015). Profit and Growth Potential: The potential demand is 2 million chocolate bars/day ranging between $4 to $5 and the market structure comprises of 70% domestic market as well as 30% export sales, with this the potential growth in export is rising due to high demand in Asia and Middle East countries.

The company expects to increase its profits to up to 5% in the coming year (Arora, 2015) Competition: The most significant competitor of Whittaker’s in New Zealand is Cadbury Limited. Cadbury has more than 25% share of the market with many brands and customers to serve in the New Zealand market and outside the country (Gary, 2015). Table 02 (Examination of External Micro Factors for Whittaker’s Brand) Porter’s Five Forces Porter’s five forces is a model for organizations to enable them to comprehend their aggressive position in worldwide markets. The power of buyers is influenced by the quantity, cost of substituting and their importance to the operations. If the company has few and dominant buyers then its power and strength in the reasonable market will remain intact and vice versa.

Supplier power: this is the capacity of the Whittaker’s Brand supplier to change market prices as well as prices of goods and services. The power of the suppliers is influenced by the quantity, cost of swapping, uniqueness of their inputs raw materials and the strength and control over the company (Lee and Klassen, 2008). Table 03 Porter’s five forces 2. Strengths The adoption of e-commerce and mobile purchase will increase the company profits. As well the new technology will bring out more new flavors, different customer tastes and more satisfaction through online purchase adoption. Financial: Chocolate brands in Whittaker are expensive to buy. Expensive products scare consumers in the market. Weakness According to an analysis of Whittaker’s products, the company develops products that are quite expensive to be bought.

e. competition reduces Sustainability increases because Whittaker’s business growth will increase steadily. Technology: Whittaker has consistent innovative tools that have helped them come up with new products continuously (Walter, Edvardsson, & Öström, 2010) According to Scenario Analysis, the chocolate industry has positively been influenced through the new innovative techniques Whittaker’s innovative techniques will help the company to increase its market share through increase product lines and increased volume The innovative techniques will guide the company to lessen the industry competitive pressure Out of the innovations, sustainability will be enhanced Financial: The financial status of Whittaker’s is stable since they have an increased sale of up to 5% (Arora, 2015) The SWOT analysis gave this stable position of Whittaker’s The stability increases Whittaker’s business situation in the industry Financial stability is associated to competitive advantage thus making the competitive pressure to lessen High level of sustainability Human: Established relationships with customers which has then created customer loyalty (Arora, 2015) A scenario analysis of the industry showed how Whittaker’s have established good relationships with its customers Increased customer loyalty which will increase the general sales of the Whittaker’s Established customer relationships decreases the competiveness of the rivals in the industry Increased level of sustainability Organizational Culture: strong adaptive cultures that promote unity and progression Scenario analysis showed a strong culture of unity in Whittaker’s management and succession Reduces chances of conflict thus creating a friendly environment for business Decreased space for competitiveness from the rival companies like Cadbury Improved sustainability Table No: 05 (Examination of Internal Environmental Factors for Whittaker’s Brand) 3.

0 Key success factors and strategic challenges 3. 2 Factors that will enhance development, growth and success of Whittaker’s Brand are referred to key success factors. Due to serious rivalry, it is basic to arrange a compelling procedure before starting a promotion crusade. It is especially imperative for little organizations to use their constrained assets adequately (Thaichon & Quach, 2015). Positive impact on the company's image. Increased sales and profits of the company Capability and resources Key resources: support system of the business, investment in assets, copyrights, brand patents, data from competitor market and customers, and finally well-skilled electronic employees. Key partners: customers, suppliers, employees, directors, creditors such as banks and financial institutions and distributors of the products to warehouses and customers. Source of competitive advantage Value? Rare? Costly to Imitate? Competitive consequences Performance/Sustainability Innovation and Technology Related: Innovation of Kiwi for Kiwi Yes, the innovation adds value to the company Yes, the product becomes rare to be copied or duplicated Yes, since it is technology related it is hard to imitate since it is costly Creates a sustained competitive advantage Enhances a High performance and Long term sustainability Market Related: e-commerce Yes, the good mobile technology adds value to Whittaker’s Yes, it is rare to copy the e-commerce technology since it is a unique app Yes, it is costly to imitate the e-commerce marketing technology e-commerce creates a sustained competitive advantage e-commerce leads to good performance and Improved sustainability Capabilities: trained personnel and key activities Yes, creates an added value to the company Yes, it is hard to be copied by the rivals Yes, trained personnel are costly to be imitated Creates a Sustained competitive advantage Promotes Higher performance and Long term sustainability Distribution -related Yes, creates value to Whittaker’s It is hard to be imitated Costly to be imitated Creates a sustained competitive advantage Promotes a good performance and a long term sustainability Table No: 07 (Examination of Sources of Key Competitive Advantages for Whittaker’s Brand) Summary: with increased technological advancement, e-commerce, innovation and the Whittaker’s capabilities, long term sustainability is expected and high performance in terms of profitability is as well expected (CFA & Trivedi, 2016).

The market-related, distribution, technology, skills, capacity and location related sources of competitive advantages makes Whittaker’s to be outstanding chocolate brand in New Zealand the global market. The company should ensure that the above sources of competitive advantage are monitored, innovated, restructured and maintained to enhanced long-term sustainability. With innovative strategies, the company will enjoy long-term economies of scale in the industry as well as the New Zealand market. x 3. Strategic options are executed to enhance competitive advantage and promote long term sustainability. The strategic options identified in Whittaker’s include: Product diversification, Diversified income streams, large market share, increase its brand awareness, product development, cost leadership, differentiation, market development and new acquisitions for the evolving economy (Robson, 2015). The following presents the formulation of strategic options for Whittaker’s, including analysis and evaluation of these options for their strategic-fit and trade-offs for the organization.

Particulars Tradeoffs Fit or No Fit Strategic Options/ Advantages Disadvantages Consistent with KSFs Offer cost reduction/ economies of scale/ profitability Opportunity maximisation/ growth potential? Creates or enhances competitive advantage? Fit with Business Model/ Resources/ capabilities? Product diversification Advances the nature and the wellbeing of Whittaker’s as well as increasing the market share.  Increased costs that accompany product diversification  Yes  Yes  Yes  Yes  Yes Diversified income streams  - Fast growth - Increase market share - New resources and competencies  - High cost - Integration issues  Yes  Yes  Yes Yes  Yes Increased brand awareness The brand can increase its brand awareness by more marketing campaigns. 0 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Environmental Management (EM) Corporate social responsibility is a concept that involves a type of international private business self-regulation and takes many forms depending on the company and industry (Schwartz, 2017).

1 Environment Management Environmental management is a way of regulating and controlling the natural physical resources to enhance long term sustainability (Molina, Tarí, Pereira, López, & Pertusa, 2015). The following discussion critically examines the role and implications of Environmental Management for the organisation in terms of assumptions under each of the following: • Political Political environment in New Zealand can impact the way the environmental management of Whittaker’s is regulated. Political unrest after elections or nominations might tamper with certain programs like use of renewable energy by Whittaker’s to promote environmental conservation. Out of the political consequences, the company might not be able to execute some corporate social responsibility programs like planting trees to conserve water sources. Key Stakeholders Business Practices Impact on Environment and Sustainability a) Whittaker’s Executive Renewable source of energy Generate power from 100% renewable energy sources of wind and water thus environmental protection and long-term sustainability a) Suppliers Getting ingredients fairly The cocoa beans for Whittaker’s blocks come from the Fairtrade Cooperative ‘Kuapa Kokoo’ in Ghana.

This fair acquisition of raw materials promotes long term sustainability in the society. b) Company management Whittaker’s Cocoa Improvement Programme. Helps to grow the yield and improve the cocoa quality for the whole industry thus promoting long term sustainability. c) Customers Supporting the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation Committed $75,000 for continuous medical education thus promoting corporate social responsibility which will boost sustainability. In 2017 J. H Whittaker and Sons Limited was certified with the ISO14001 (Whittaker’s Limited, 2017) standard that is approved to companies that demonstrate that they are engaged in suit the environmental policy and existing requirements through an environmental management system (ISO, 2018). In the annual sustainability reports of the company are presented the elements required by ISO, which demonstrate the improvement of the company in managing their environmental and sustainability responsibility, such as their plans, operations and results.

Any other relevant 6. 0 Conclusion Business strategies set to promote successful environmental management programs and enhance sustainability should be greatly viewed and implemented by Whittaker’s Brand. Use of clean energy in Cocoa production in Ghana and Fiji Another way of resolving the sustainability issues is use of hydropower energy which has a feature of producing clean energy. It is regarded as the best source of energy because it is not accompanied with greenhouse gases that pollute the environment. The water plants do not create waste byproducts. Secondly, hydropower is an efficient source of energy since it can re-use it byproducts (water) for other purposes like irrigation, recreational activities and even consumption after treatment. Reference List Adams, C. , & Wintrobe, R. The logic of bureaucratic conduct: An economic analysis of competition, exchange, and efficiency in private and public organizations.

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