Reflection Report

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Table of Contents

Reflection Report ..................................................................................................................... 2

1 Learning Experinece ........................................................................................................ 3

1.1 Theoratical Reflection .................................................................................................. 3

2 Contribution to ICS .......................................................................................................... 4

3 Professional Development ................................................................................................ 6

3.1 Gap on Knowledge Barriers ........................................................................................ 7

3.2 Aims of Improvement ................................................................................................... 7

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1 Learning Experience
The in-depth research on the Sterling group prevails that The Sterling Group has highly eligible
human resource to meet their future plans and targets. The company has its own distribution
channel which enables them to reach their customer within 24 hours from placing their order
to the company, and most of the competitors of the company cannot beat their delivery time.
The effective and efficient supply chain management system helps the company to control their
inventory. The company has lasting relationships with their clients and stakeholders which
guarantee heavy profit margins. T The company has the customers base around ten thousand
which can be effectively motivated to order other office equipment from the company. This
has made the organic growth rate of the company to be promising with 10% per annum. The
organisation also has a good and focused management. The research work on SOS revealed
that the Company has an efficient supply chain management system for procurement and
inventory control for the computerised tracking of sales and purchases.

1.1 Theoretical Reflection

I have adopted several research theories to understand and develop the business paradigm of
the Sterling Group especially Sterling Office Supplies (SOS). Some of them include PESTLE
analysis for external and internal business environment, Porters five forces model to analyse
the marketing competition, and 5M model approach for internal environment analysis. These
models help me to understand the specific condition which may impact the business growth of
the SOS. I have analysed that the company has strength in different areas like the company
offers integrated designs to its customers who serve as a distinct advantage in the potential
market and its quick response time which helps the company to deliver all the equipment to
their client by itself without the help of any intermediary which helps them to reduce their
operational cost. The company has an effective supply chain management system which
enables them to reach their clients within 24 hours. The company also get benefited by the
latest technology like the Sterling Group has installed new management information system to
optimise their business processes and procedures. However, I have observed certain
weaknesses in the company in the detailed analysis including their policy regarding import and
export of the equipment. The company doesnt do not import and export any material and such
policies and strategies have potential to negatively impact their business in future due to lack
of improved and high-tech equipment available in the international market. The other area

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which is overlooked by the company is related to its expansion in other parts of the UK as well.
I have observed that the company mainly deals in South UK and mainly achieve its profit
margins from this part of the UK. In the absence of any strong marketing and advertisement
campaigns, it is not possible to achieve the target of expansion in all over the UK. I also came
to learn that the company doesnt have any marketing and advertisement department to carry
out electronic or printing marketing campaign. The Sterling Group is highly vulnerable to the
economic condition which can be proved disadvantaged for the existing businesses to survive
and hostile for the entrepreneurs. I have found that The Company has many direct and indirect
competitors which arise the needs to use different print and electronic media to advertise their
products in order to capture more share in the office equipment suppliers

2 Contribution to ICS
This work enables me to understand the internal and external environment factors for the
growth of the business. I have applied PESTLE model for analysing the external environment
factors which give me better understanding of practical knowledge about their role in making
strategies for the business. As far as PESTLE analysis is concerned, I leant that the company
can get benefit of political stability in the country as no major changes are up with the new
government though the company is vulnerable to the economic environment and any policy
changes that impact the businesses and entrepreneurs directly affect the company turnover.
Moreover, the company has adopted the policy to keep its pace with technological
advancements which help them in completive market. I have also performed 5M approach to
analyse the internal environmental factors and identify significant strengths and weaknesses of
the company. Wright (2014) presented the 5-M Model comprises of Man, Machine, Medium,
Mission and Management and helps the managers in providing the systematic overview of
analysing the business operations. The company has capable human resource to handle
business operations effectively and it is equipped with modern business processes to continue
their business operations. The companys mission is to provide everything for office.

I have learned a lot about establishing and measuring growth strategies by using different tools.
Ansoff is one of them. Ansoff is a tool for measuring the growth strategies. He declared the
product-market strategy is a set of processes that ensure the synchronisation of product line
with the mission to make that product (Ansoff, 1957). I have developed different growth
strategies for the SOS with the help of Ansoff. Marketing penetration strategy helps the sterling
group to grow using its existing products and services in existing markets and continue to

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provide their best products like office stationery in the existing market. The sterling group
achieve this by selling more products or services to established customers or by finding new
customers within existing markets, the South UK. The sterling group needs to focus on the
other parts of the UK as well apart from South UK. The company can use this strategy by
focusing on different customer segments and new regions of the country. The Product
development strategy says that the Sterling group can achieve this objective by extending its
office equipment and furniture range in the existing markets. The product developments are
mostly the result of high research and development activities to remake the product or acquire
some other products and rebranding it as own. By research, I observed that the SOS also want
to extend its business operation to provide a human resource for the offices as well. The nest
and last Ansoff strategy is regarding diversification; the company introduces new products and
services in the potential market in order to grow their revenues. However, the Sterling Group
can be benefited through related diversification in the existing business environment and the
new product/market space.

I have also developed Product Life Cycle (PLC) for the company in order to understand the
different stages of their products and services. The product life cycle is an important marketing
concept for understanding the business and marketing and different stages of the products from
first introduction to the market to the final elimination from the market (Tsiakkiros, 2002). I
have found that the company introduce itself as everything for office from paper clips to
office furniture. In growth stage, I have observed that the company achieve its sales targets
through commercial stationery which is almost 80% of the total business value of the company.
However at maturity phase I have found that the main business of the company is still growing.
The Sterling Office Supplies (SOS) is growing at a rapid pace by meeting the total demands of
the office equipment and the office furniture in the UK. The company can further use some of
the extension strategies to avoid decline stage including advertisement and marketing
campaigns, effective customer response time, price reduction and other added features with the
offered services and the products.

I have made the Gap analysis for the company. According to Franklin (2006), Gap analysis
helps in identifying the performance gaps in the company through the analysis of optimised
use of organisational resources and the input integration of the company with the current
allocation of the resources. The Gap analysis helps the company to improve their performance
through the mention of average performance areas. The company can achieve its target by

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positioning its products into the new markets and by introducing more optimised business
operations.

I made a blue ocean strategy for the company to highlight competition free market areas. The
strategy canvas helps me to identify those areas for the Sterling Group where is competition is
out of concern for the competitors. I have developed different attributes of strategy canvas by
analysing the Kim and Mauborgne (2005) book, Blue Ocean Strategy. Raise is an attribute
of this strategy which defines which characteristic of the product should be highlighted. In case
of SOS, I learnt that the company is currently enjoying a customer base of over ten of thousand
which can be helpful in expanding its business. Moreover, the company also offered provide
integrated items to the customers who make the company unique among their customers. These
attributes should be highlighted and used to advertise the brand products and services. The
next stage is Reduce and I found that the sterling group is currently not reducing any of its
products through its major business share is on office stationery. However, I recommended that
the company needs to reduce its focus on the operations of supply chain management. I found
that the strategy to manage its own supply chain diverted the Companys main focus of selling
office equipment to managing supply chain which may impact the companys sales targets.
The next attribute of Blue Ocean Strategy is eliminate. However, I didnt find that the
Sterling Group is planning to eliminate any of its products and services. There is a need to
expand the companys horizons outside the UK to give better competition to its direct and
indirect competitors. But, there is a need to eliminate one of the strategies which include not to
import or export any of the office material. I found this strategy very unrealistic in the dynamic
business environment. In last stage i-e, create, the sterling group has an idea to introduce the
availability of human resource as part of their strategy, everything for the office. The
company can create different value adding services on its products including insurance, or
promotional prices in order to attract more customers.

3 Professional Development
This report helps me a lot to gain practical knowledge and experience of the business world
and analyse real problems while strategizing the business objectives. I have developed major
business models and utilise their worth to formulate the series of strategies and
recommendations about the Sterling Group. This case study helps me in understanding the
potential market and its impact on business performance. The PESTLE model helps me to how
to develop external market opportunities and threats in order to survive in the business world

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whereas 5M model approach helps me to identify the internal threats and weaknesses of the
businesses. This approach develops a professional approach to consider all the possible
variables before formulating any business strategy. The Porter 5 forces model is an addition to
that practical knowledge which helps in understanding the important dynamics of the
competitive market with the help of its certain attributes regarding demand and supply. The
Blue Ocean strategy is an outstanding approach which helps the company to notch those
marketing areas which are out of focus for the competitors to avoid the marketing competition
and attract the customers. However Blue Ocean Strategy requires very careful and in-depth
analysis of all the products features and attributes. This research work on integrated case study
is a valuable addition to my business knowledge and skills which helps me in understanding
the different dynamics of the business with help various business approaches.

3.1 Gap on Knowledge Barriers

I have done intense research to develop this ICS. However, there is a certain limitation which
may impact my research work on this case study. The availability of the information about the
Sterling Group is very limited and same is the case with the Sterling Office Supplies. The
availability of more information may help in the better formulation of the recommended
strategies. The lack of information forced me to develop sometimes hypothetical conclusions
based on the material available on the case study which may not be applicable to real business
situations. Moreover I have some issues regarding time management during my course work.

3.2 Aims of Improvement

The abstract nature of this integrated case study helps me to understand the different problems
of the real business world and how to handle the different business dynamics in the practical
field. This extensive research work helps me to consider all the important factors while
formulating and strategizing any business objective. This research work helps me to understand
the important environmental factors, impact of potential market on business products and
services, impact of demand and supply ratio in business world, untapped market area, and the
importance of unconsidered market competition area for the business growth and high
revenues. This knowledge will help me to further fine tune my research work in future.

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References

1. Ansoff, I. (1957). Strategies for Diversification, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 35

Issue 5, pp. 113-124.

2. Franklin, M. (2006). Performance Gap Analysis: Tips, Tools, and Intelligence for
Trainers, ASTD Press.

3. Kim, W. and Mauborgne, R. (2005) Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested
Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant, Harvard Business Press.

4. Tsiakkiros, A. (2002) "Strategic planning and education: The case of Cyprus", The
International Journal of Educational Management Bradford 2002
5. Wright, T.P. (2014) Man-Machine-Environment triad, Cornell University Press.