DEDAN KIMATHI UNICVERSIOTY OF TECHNOLOGY

SCHOOLOF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINSTRATION

BACHELOR OF BUSINESS ADMINSTRATION

STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

KIEMA MICHAEL MUSEMBI

B012-01-0510/2017

HUMAN RESOURCE OPTION

ASSIGNMENT 2

SUBMITTED BEFORE 20TH AUG, 2020

 CASE STUDY OF COLES LIMITED COMPANY

A SWOT and a PESTEL analysis of Coles ltd.

PESTEL ANALYSIS

PESTLE analysis is a framework which is imperative for companies such as Coles, as it helps to
understand market dynamics and improve its business continuously

PESTEL Analysis of Coles Ltd analyses the brand on its business tactics. Coles PESTEL
Analysis examines the various external factors like political, economic, social, technological,
Environmental and Legislation which impacts its business along with legal & environmental
factors. The PESTLE Analysis highlights the different extrinsic scenarios which impact the
business of the brand.

Below is the PESTEL analysis for Coles Limited

Technological factors.

Coles Limited is surrounded by companies with well equipped tools to conduct their activities.
This calls for the management to come up with their own tools to prevent the company from
closure due to competition.

Environmental Factors.

Diseases are an environmental factor affecting Coles Limited. The CoVID 19 disease has made it
very difficult especially for the marketing and human resources department to operate as
theyhave been doing before the pandemic.

Legal Factors, the law

The government has given out its restrictions to Coles Company. It has come up with stringent
regulations touching on the sector. Some of these regulations have had to do with new legal and
health requirements, which have been brought about by Covid 19. Government bodies dealing
with the environment has too shown its concern over the disposition of Coles waste matter.
 NEMA has threatened to close down the plant if the company does not dispose its waste
properly.

SWOT ANALYSIS OF COLES LIMITED

What is SWOT Analysis?

A SWOT Analysis is one of the most commonly used tools to assess the internal and external
environments of a company and is part of a company’s strategic planning process. In addition, a
SWOT analysis can be done for a product, place, industry, or person. A SWOT analysis helps
with both strategic planning and decision-making, as it introduces opportunities to the company
as a forward-looking bridge to generating strategic alternatives.

A SWOT analysis is divided into two main categories: internal factors and external factors.

Internal factors comprise of the company’s strengths and weakness while the external factors
consists of the opportunities and threats.

According to the case study, Coles Limited has the following internal factors, both strengths and
weaknesses that give the company a competitive advantage and a need to overcome some
characteristics in order to improve its performance are;

 There is a board of Directors that meets twice a month to make strategic decisions and
receive reports on their implementation.
 Company image. This is how the public see Coles Limited.
 Market share. The company has a share of the market for its products and services.
 Financial resources. The company has an annual turnover of Ksh 400million
 The company has an active management board.
 Coles Limited has a number of branches
 Organizational structure. The company has 3 main departments, headed by 3 directors.
George is in charge of marketing and advertising; Sam is in Accounting and Finance and
Jane Human Resources department.
 The company has a number of staff that includes 82 men and 41 women
 Favoritism. Women are placed in the higher rank more than men and men have accused
the management of favoritism.

External Factors

External factors are the opportunities and threats to the company. Opportunities are elements that
the company sees in the external environment that it could pursue in the future to generate value.
Threats are elements in the external environment that could prevent the company from achieving
its goal or its mission or creating value.

Coles Limited is open to the following external factors; both threats and opportunities

 Customers. Coles’ customers are committed and very loyal

 Competitors. Of late there has been a lot of competition that threatens to eat into the
profits of the company
 Government regulations. The government has come up with stringent regulations
touching on the sector. Some of these have had to do with new legal and health
requirements, which have been brought about by CoVID 19. In addition NEMA has
threatened to close down the plant if the company does not dispose its waste properly.
 Diseases. The CoVID 19 disease has made it very difficult especially for the marketing
and human resources department.
 The companies that surround Coles Limited have better equipment and are
technologically savvy

Clearly Coles limited needs to strategize on the Human Resources Department. What
advice would you give Jane on crafting the following strategies

a) Resourcing.

Jane should select the right employees to the right position. Those who wish to be promoted to a
better grading should seek guidance and clarification on the matter from the HR, Jane. Also, Jane
should use a 50-50 method to allocate the workers into the senior staff and not have a higher
percentage of men in the senior management with the women feeling downgraded.

b) Human Resources Development.

Jane should conduct training for the Coles staff only if it is necessary and not according to the
pressure given by the workers.

c) Rewards/remuneration

Jane should fairly reward the employees of Coles Limited. Equity in reward management is of
higher concern to make sure some workers do not feel over or underpaid according to the tasks
they perform.
d) Employee relations

Jnae should focus on the company’s mission and values and similarly promote a dialogue and
communication to the workers. She should find a way to measure the satisfaction of the
employees in their and the management.

The role of HR director in Strategic Human Resource development

The Human Resource Director;

 Recruits, interviews, hires, and trains new staff in the department. He or she is
responsible for resourcing of the work force in the organization.
 Oversees the daily workflow of the department. Any organization has its daily human
resource functions and the workflow of the organization is overseen by the HR directo
 Provides constructive and timely performance evaluations.
 Handles discipline and termination of employees in accordance with company policy.
The organization has its Human resources manual which contains what should be done
on discipline matters of any employee who goes against the policies of such organization
and it is the role of the HR director to do so.
 A plan, leads, direct, develops, and coordinates the policies, activities, and staff of the
Human Resource (HR) department, ensuring legal compliance and implementation of the
organization’s mission and talent strategy.
 Collaborates with senior leadership to understand the organizations goals and strategy
related to staffing, recruiting, and retention.
 Plans, leads, develops, coordinates, and implements policies, processes, training,
initiatives, and surveys to support the organizations human resource compliance and
strategy needs.
 Administers or oversees the administration of human resource programs including, but
not limited to, compensation, benefits, and leave; disciplinary matters; disputes and
investigations; performance and talent management; productivity, recognition, and
morale; occupational health and safety; and training and development.
  Identifies staffing and recruiting needs; develops and executes best practices for hiring
and talent management.
 Conducts research and analysis of organizational trends including review of reports and
metrics from the organizations human resource information system (HRIS) or talent
management system.
 Monitors and ensures the organizations compliance with federal, state, and local
employment laws and regulations, and recommended best practices; reviews and
modifies policies and practices to maintain compliance.
 Maintains knowledge of trends, best practices, regulatory changes, and new technologies
in human resources, talent management, and employment law; applies this knowledge to
communicate changes in policy, practice, and resources to upper management.
 Develops and implements departmental budget.
 Facilitates professional development, training, and certification activities for HR staff.

4) Implementation of strategies will involve a change in the way the business is run. Explain the
challenges that are likely to be. How would you deal with them?

 Weak Strategy. The point of a strategy is a new vision. This is an opportunity to create a
roadmap with broad buy in and narrowed focus. There should be distinct milestones,
clear timelines, and precise roles for employees. If taking on a large, company-wide
initiative, it is better to start small to ensure goals are manageable and achievable. From
there, resources and objectives can be expanded until the end result is achieved in the set
timelines. Don’t assign fuzzy responsibilities, get caught up in buzzwords, or overwhelm
departments with too much too fast.
 Ineffective training. A new strategic initiative will never get off the ground without the
proper training for employees who are expected to execute. There are many reasons
companies skimp on proper corporate and learning opportunities for employees, and we
broke them down in an earlier blog post.
 Lack of resources. The most common direct costs of executing a new strategy are
associated with the consultants or board members brought in to plan, execute, and
provide training, as well as the cost of any new associated technology. This can be
 prohibitive for a company of any size, especially small- to mid-sized companies and non-
profits.
 Lack of communication. Communication is key in the execution of any new strategy. An
effective communication plan must be initiated from the top down. Transparent, honest
communication is not only the quality of an effective organization, but it is a necessary
step for any new roll out. Lack of communication results in disjointed teams and
widespread uncertainty.
 Lack of follow through. Truly, the execution of any new strategy is never over. There
should be regularly scheduled formal reviews of the new strategy to review processes,
ensure the plan is performing as designed, and make any necessary tweaks. We suggest
holding these meetings once a quarter. As such, training should be included as part of this
perpetual process review. Subscription-based training platforms are the perfect tool to
ensure long-term consistency and ongoing skills evolution. This style of ongoing training
is cost effective, team-oriented, and can revolve around a curriculum that evolves along
with the company’s strategy.

Know the challenges to avoid the challenges

Acknowledging these biggest challenges to strategy implementation and communicating

them to those who are responsible for the dissemination and execution of any new
strategy is critical.Understanding how companies can get in their own way is the key to
ensure that you won’t make those same mistakes, and know how to take corrective action
if you do.