I have included a swot analysis as well as lecture notes as well previous discussion. The purpose of this week's discussion is to do a little online brainstorming for solutions, and share some person

ALYA : SWOT ANALYSIS FOR JC PENNEY COMPANY 0

SWOT analysis for JC Penney Company.

Overview of the company

JC Penney Company is an international company operating in USA and is among the major leading company in retail industries. The company have more than 850 stores where it sells different types of retail commodities such as home furniture, beauty products, watches and jewelry and it also provide different services such as salon, jewelry repairs as well as the optical services. The company competes with other companies in retail industry such as Walmart international company, Target international, Amazon, and Bed Bath, and Beyond (Eades, Glazer, & Eyal, 2017).

SWOT analysis

Strength of the company

The strength of the company is that it has a larger market share of 3.30% as compared to other competitors such as Ross stores which has 3%, and Ikea Corp 2.30%. The company in retail industry with the highest market share is Walmart international which has the market share of 17.6%. When the company has a larger market share it is easier for the company to meet its objective of maximizing the profit because it will have more sales than others companies with lower market share which act as a competitive advantage to the company.

The company has the highest number of employees who are about 95,000. More employees is a strength to the company because it makes the company have the capacity to serve more customers within shortest time without pressure. Having different types of employees help the company to benefit from the diverse skills and experience that different employees have which enables the company to meet its objective.

The company has multiple product line dealing with different products ranging from home furniture, beauty products and services such as salon and jewelry repairs. Dealing with different product line help the organization to target more market segments that contain different customer preferences and sales. As a result of a larger market segment the company can expand its market share hence increasing its sales which is necessary for profit maximization.

The company have a shorter supply chain where the company structure have the directors and departmental managers who manage the daily activities of the company. Each stores are managed by the manger where the customers can either come physically or do the transaction via online channel where they can order for the product through the website of the company and the product is delivered directly to the customer. By dealing directly with the customers instead of using distributors, wholesalers or retailer to take the products the customers it shorten the supply chain hence reducing unnecessary transaction cost which makes the supply chain short. A shorter supply chain is easier to manage because it has less participant making it effective and efficient.

Weakness of the company

Weakness of the company is an internal business environment negatively affecting the operations of the company but the company has control over the weaknesses it is facing. The net sale of the company have been reducing. In 2018 the net sale was million$ 12,554s but in 2019 it reduced to $ 11,664, and for the first quarter of 2020 the net sales further reduced to $ 10,716. The reduction in the net sales make it difficult for the company to get enough revenue to sustain its activities. It is because of this reduction in the net sales that has forced the company to close some of the stores as a way of reducing the cost of operation to balance with the reduction in the net sales so that the company can still operate under profitable zones.

The company takes longer time to clear its inventory. There is a decline in the turn over ration for the company from its financial statements which indicates that the company is experiencing a high cost of holding the inventory in there warehouses and stores which affect their performance negatively. At the end of the financial year of 2019 the financial statements indicate that the company posted an inventory turn overate of 3% which was lower than that of its competitors like Target which is its major competitor. To remain competitive in the market the company need to come up with better strategies that will ensure that the company increases its inventory turnover rate so that the holding cost can reduce and as a result the performance of the company is boosted.

Threats to the company

Threats to the company are external business environment that have an influence on the performance of the company. The threats to JC Penney Company include existence of competition from other companies operating in retail industries. There are other companies that have a larger market share than JC Penney Company which challenges the operation of the company. JC Penney Company only control the market share of 3.3%. Other competing companies have a more market share than that of JC Penney Company. Walmart Company has the market share of 17.6%, Bed Bath and Beyond 14.7%, Target Inc. 9.3%, Amazon 4.7%, kohl’s Corp 4.6%, and Marshalls 4.2%. for the competitors to have a larger market share than the company it’s a threat which require the company to come up with market penetration strategy to ensure that it expands its market share so that it can become competitive in the market to avoid collapsing due to high competition rate.

Different business culture is a threat that can affect the operation of the company negatively. The company is an international companies operating in more than one state which introduces the company to different culture both in terms of the customer beliefs as well as the differences in state regulations (Revilla, & Saenz, 2017). To comply with the state regulation is sometime costly because different states have different requirements and the company has to comply with those requirements for them to be allowed to operate in the global market.

There are strict regulations governing the retail industry which require all the companies to comply with. The JC Penney Company deals with different product lines and it is difficult for it to comply to government regulations on specific products because each product line has its own regulation that the company has to observe. When the company implements all the regulations it becomes costly hence reducing the profit of the company.

Opportunities for JC Penney Company

Opportunities are external business environment that affect the operation of the company positively. Opportunities for JC Penney Company includes increased usage of online transactions by the customers. The company has well established website where it interacts with its customers. With the current shift in business transaction where most customers prefer online transactions it’s advantageous to the company because it has a well-established online websites where it can transact with its customers. Online transactions will enable the company to expand its market share as well as reducing the cost of operations. Increased use of online transaction will shorten the supply chain hence improving the supply chain efficiency which is necessary for improving the financial performance of the company.

Market globalization provide an opportunity for the company to increase its market share by expanding the customer base. Because the company is operating in more than one country it has an opportunity of targeting more market segments. But for it to benefit from the global market it has to understand the preferences of different types of market segments and supply the products according to the needs of the customers (Ferreira, & Ferreira, 2018).

Currently the company has invested more capital into the infrastructure and the system to improve its performance. The company has more stores with a better website that allows for online transactions. Having invested in fixed asset the company will benefit in from such an investment because the cost is only incurred ones. But the benefits will be realized by the company for a longer period of time hence giving the company a competitive advantage in the market following the initial capital investment.

References

Eades, K. M., Glazer, D., & Eyal, S. (2017). JC Penney Company. Darden Business Publishing Cases.

Ferreira, J., & Ferreira, C. (2018). Challenges and opportunities of new retail horizons in emerging markets: The case of a rising coffee culture in China. Business Horizons, 61(5), 783-796.

Revilla, E., & Saenz, M. J. (2017). The impact of risk management on the frequency of supply chain disruptions. International Journal of Operations & Production Management.