Topic: An interior design business
Order Description
*Please refer to reference materials
The situation analysis is designed to enable you to conduct an analysis of the uncontrollable environment and the industry sector that you are operating in, and gives you an idea what type of factors may impact on your business.
You will explore your competitors and your possible target markets using a variety of sources from government departments such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Consultancy firms, reports, information from data bases such as MINT to prepare your analysis. This is a skill that will be required in many jobs that you may have after graduation. The task will also provide you with generic skills in research, report writing and critical analysis of data and information.
The Situation Analysis instructions, template, and the marking rubric are available on Moodle.
Your situation analysis needs to cover the following areas.
1. Industry overview
2. Factors of uncontrollable environment that impact on the industry
3. Competitor analysis
4. Target market
5. SWOT analysis
Note: Using Wikipedia, companies’ official websites or any online/offline source that lacks academic credibility is NOT considered appropriate for University study.
This is a skill that will be required in many jobs that you may have after graduation. The task will also provide you with generic skills in research, report writing and critical analysis of data and information.
Required length:
Provide a situation analysis of 3 to 5 pages plus references (12 point typeface, single spaced). Reference list is not included in the page count. If you go over the page limit, 10% per page will be deducted. The reason is that employers often expect you to provide information in a succinct form and this assessment enables you to practise this skill.
Marking criteria:
Your situation analysis is marked on the following criteria.
*My topic is an interior design business – You need to provide a business name and decide a location.
Brad has a degree in interior design and worked 5 years in an interior design firm in Melbourne. He would like to return to Canberra and open his own interior design business to provide decoration and interior design services for home owners. In order to apply for a business loan from Commonwealth Bank, he needs a well-researched marketing plan.
Brad decides to approach a marketing consultant to prepare the marketing plan. He would like to have a solid assessment of the uncontrollable environment, an analysis of the major competitors (including competition type and competition level), and consumer behaviour trends in interior design industry in Canberra. He needs solid geo-demographic data about Canberra to decide a location for his bakery. He then needs a detailed marketing strategy.
* It is a template for this assignment, following the instruction please.
Introduction
Provide an overview of the Situation Analysis. No more than ¼ page. No marks are allocated to this section but this will help you to focus your work.
Consider the following:
The purpose of this situation analysis. (e.g. It is about the dental industry/travelling industry in Canberra.)
Important aspects of the situation analysis such as competitors in your chosen location (E.g. Belconnen, Gungahlin) and identified market segment.
Industry Overview
Provide an overview of the industry:
Size ( turnover, employees numbers)
Growth ( per year)
What are the factors of success in this industry ( access to resources such as capital or labour, understanding of customer needs, technology, patents etc)
Good source of information include MINT database, consultancy reports on industries from
KPMG, PWC, Accenture, Ernst and Young, BCG,Forrester, Gartner, industry associations
Journals and Magazines- eg. RetailWorld, B&T and government department (productivity commission, Departments of industry, tourism, innovation
Government website such as www.australia.gov.au and www.abs.gov.au.
Factors of uncontrollable environment
PESTEL analysis: Analysing uncontrollable factors that impact on the industry including political force, economic force, sociocultural force, technological force, and legal force.
Political forces (page 55-56)
Examine the relevant political forces affecting or potentially affecting the organisation. Political factors require considerations of political stability, government policy, trade agreements, and taxation arrangement. The specific political forces most relevant to your organisation will vary depending on if your business is domestic or international in nature.
Economic forces (page 57)
Describe the macro-environmental economic forces that influence the organisation and the market. For example, you may discuss the impact of interest rates, economic growth, consumer confidence, income levels, saving levels, the availability of credit, unemployment levels and exchange rate. These are suggested considerations. You may choose factors that are relevant to your industry to discuss.
Sociocultural forces (page 57)
Describe the sociocultural force in the organisation’s market. Social and cultural forces that may influence the organisation include religion, subcultures, multiculturalism, beliefs, attitudes and population trends. Organisations operating internationally may face various sociocultural forces in each of their country-specific markets.
Technological forces (page 58)
Consider how technology can be used to offer better value to customers. This should include an examination of how technology may support innovation across various aspects of the marketing mix. Technological change offers significant opportunities and threats and should be examined based on research evidence.
Environmental forces (page 58 – 59)
Consider how ecological and environmental factors such as weather, climate, and climate change could possibly impact on your business.
Legal forces (page 59)
Identify legal and regulatory forces that govern many aspects of an organisation. Legal force include legislation in place locally such as the Trade Practices Act as well as international conventions and agreements.
Competitor analysis (page 52-53)
Examine the micro-environmental competition factors including the type of competition (e.g. pure, monopolistic, oligopoly, monopoly, and monopsony) and competition at each level (e.g. total budget, generic, product, and brand). You need to exam the major competition in the industry in Australia wide and competition situation in ACT based on your research evidence.
Who are your competitors?
Are they direct competitors or indirect competitors?
How are they different or similar to your business in terms of location, size, ownership etc.?
What are their competitive advantages?
What is your competitive advantage compared to major/direct competitors? (E.g. access to finance resources, skilled employees, location, and so on.)
How effective is your competitive advantage? You may discuss the following aspects:
Service quality, positioning, resources, location, and growth potential.
Customer/Client analysis (Chapter 6)
Discuss your chosen target segment in ACT based on your understanding of the competition. Describe the needs and wants of the organisation’s actual and potential customers/clients. This should include current needs and wants, customer preferences, possible changes to needs and wants and the extent to which the organisation can influence customer preferences.
How will you segment the market? (Consider using a combination of segmentation variables such as demographic, lifestyle and behavioural segmentation.)
Single target market or multiple target market?
How large is the target market. ABS quick stats is helpful in quantifying the size of your target market.
Demographic and/lifestyle changes
Where are they located? ( use ABS data)
It is important that the description of the target market/segment is as specific as possible. For example, if it has been determined that the target market is urban 25-30-year-old single males, this needs to be what is stated, as opposed to a more general description such as ‘young single men’. You need specify the size of the target market such as how many 25-30-year-old single males are in Belconnen based on ABS data.
Information on how to effectively segment markets is introduced in Chapter 6.
SWOT analysis (page 67-69)
Strengths
The organisation’s favourable internal characteristics such as competitive advantages and core competencies. Remember, strengths are the factors that the organisation can directly influence.
Weaknesses
Attributes of the organisation that hinder it in trying to achieve its objectives. These are unfavourable internal characteristics. Remember, the weaknesses are factors that the organisation can directly influence.
Opportunities
External factors that are potentially favourable to the organisation. Opportunities are external to the organisation and are not directly controllable by the organisation.
Threats
External factors that are potentially unfavourable to the organisation. Threats are not directly controllable by the organisation.
Reference list
Full in-text reference and reference list are required. You may use APA or Harvard referencing style.
* Finally, it is a useful for sources this assignment.
Yellow pages https://www.yellowpages.com.au/. This source is helpful for you to identify local competitors.
Regional data on ABS https://stat.abs.gov.au/itt/r.jsp?databyregion This is a source for demographic data about specific suburbs in Canberra.
Average weekly earnings and other economic indicators data from ACT Governmenthttps://apps.treasury.act.gov.au/snapshot (Useful for addressing economic forces.)
Household expenditure data from ABS https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/[email protected]/Latestproducts/6530.0Main%20Features22009-10?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=6530.0&issue=2009-10&num=&view= (Relevant source to economic forces discussion)
ACT Budget Brief Canberra 2015: https://apps.treasury.act.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/733712/1Budget_2015-16_Summary_Text_ACC.pdf. (Economic growth and diversification for Canberra & Economic and fiscal outlook sections of this report are relevant to economic and political forces discussion.)
ACT economic overview available at Invest Canberra website https://www.investcanberra.com/resources.aspx. This is a useful source of Canberra economy discussion.
Benchmarks by industry https://www.ato.gov.au/Business/Small-business-benchmarks/In-detail/Benchmarks-by-industry/ (This is a useful source for cost analysis.)
Australian food statistics 2012-2013 https://www.agriculture.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/ag-food/publications/food-stats/australian-food-statistics-2012-13.pdf. This is a relevant report for food related topics.
ACT Government The Healthy Weight Action Plan https://www.act.gov.au/healthyliving. This page contains information about an initiative by ACT Government to encourage people to live a healthier life. It’s useful for addressing political and sociocultural forces.
Australian organic market report 2014 https://austorganic.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/AO_Report_2014_web.pdf.
Australian organic market report 2012 https://austorganic.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Organic-market-report-2012-web.pdf
Australia’s food and nutrition report 2012 https://www.aihw.gov.au/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?id=10737422837
Organic retailers tipped to shine as industry value hits $1.27 billion https://www.startupsmart.com.au/planning/business-planning/organic-retailers-tipped-to-shine-as-industry-value-hits-127-billion/201210267987.html
Enhanced Media Metrics Food report https://emma.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/emma_food_report.pdf
