Overview

• You will work individually to conduct a strategic analysis, and write a report on a real-life business. Please note that this report will focus on business-level
• You are required to conduct strategic analyses on the Australian householder hardware industry (hardware and building suppliers Retailing industry) where Bunnings is operating, which is a division of Wesfarmers - a publicly listed company, for this
• You are advised to conduct research such as Internet searching for industry and media reports, and browsing the website and annual reports of Wesfarmers and other relevant

Key information sources of Bunnings and Wesfarmers

• Wesfarmers’ Website
• https://www.wesfarmers.com.au/
• Click on its “Investor Centre”

https://www.wesfarmers.com.au/investor-centre

• It contains information about its brief history and current business operations

–Its Website has a detailed information about its strategic context (Corporate Performance, Results and Presentations, Corporate governance, and Announcement, etc).

Key information sources of Bunnings and Wesfarmers (cont’d)

• Other information sources:

–Library: Database such as industry report

–IBISWorld: INDUSTRY REPORT G4231 Hardware and Building Supplies Retailing in Australia (This can be downloaded from the Library or the Course Canvas.

–Media (online newspapers, such as The Australian, Australian Financial Review)

Write a 1500 word report, excluding references and appendix. In this report, you are required to perform the following tasks:

• Describe briefly the background information (strategic context) of the organisation (Bunnings Warehouse). This information should be brief and relevant to the discussion of your assignment and thus may include ownership, history, size, business scope, major products/services, and major markets, and financial performance of the organization selected.
• Key source of information: Wesfarmers’ Website, Annual Report
• Conduct a macro-environment analysis for the entire householder hardware industry within which the organisation operates. You should use the analytical framework provided in the textbook. Foci will be placed on the understanding of the purpose of this analysis, the identification of key factors and their implications in terms of key opportunities and threats, and the discussion of their overall impact on the industry growth in the future. Draw your conclusion based on your macro-environment analysis.

– Reverent chapter: Chapter 2 and Module 2

• Undertake an industry (competitive) analysis using Porter’s 5- forces model. You are required to pay attention to the purpose of this analysis, the inter-connectedness of different aspects of the competitive forces, the links between the competitive forces and macro-environment, and their overall impact on the industry and the organization selected in terms of main driving forces in the competitive environment. Draw your conclusions based on your five-force analyses.

– Relevant chapter: Chapter 3 and module 3

–Key information source: IBIS World report

• References should be utilised within this Report to validate the information presented, and should be drawn from academic sources and organisational information such as the website and annual reports. The business press may be used to identify relevant

Assignment submission

• You are required to submit your assignment It should be attached with a coversheet, which can be downloaded from the Course Canvas and signed.
• Please submit it via the course

Assignment help and support

Three worksheets (templates) for developing Assignment 1

• Worksheet 1: Strategic context;
• Worksheet 2: How to conduct macro-environment analysis
• Worksheet 3: How to conduct industry analysis

Bunnings’ strategic context (Introduction)

- A very relevant information source

• IBISWorld Report – Company Report

– Wesfarmers

–Our focus is on Australian householder hardware industry

–This is an important reference for your assignment, particularly the Introduction. This is available in the online database of RMIT library.

• You also need to look at Wesfarmers’ Website

Another relevant source of reference (Con’d)

• IBISWorld Industry Report G4231 Hardware and Building Supplies Retailing in Australia
• It can be downloaded from RMIT
• Three worksheets for Assignment 1, which can be downloaded from the Course