From Cult Clothing to Global Reach: Superdry Plc's Strategic Triumphs Unveiled

Part 1

The Superdry Plc has been addressed as the leading fashion brand that has gained a significant success in the field of clothing and apparels industry since its incorporation. The mission of the company is focused to influence the perception of consumers that are having a significant interest in the style and fashion. In the context of contemporary business environment, the business strategies of Superdry Plc are significantly aligned with the business mission and perception of consumers. For managing the high level of the market competition, the management of Superdry Plc pays huge attention on the product quality along with verity so as the business entity has gained a great recognition in both UK along with overseas markets (Superdry, 2021a). In this context, Superdry Plc’s Cult Clothing Store was kept huge popularity in 2004 that was being termed as the most important historical milestone of the firm, relevant for business dissertation help. As per the business model, the business focuses on the sustainable development and growth of the business operations. Therefore, managers have considered a variety of other channels and tools to expand the business operations. For attainment of the strategic objective of the business diversification, Superdry Plc has considered both companies owned stores along with franchises and licences that has supported the business entity to expand the business operations in the overseas countries. During the period of 2010, the company got listed on the London Stock Exchange so as management was found easy access of funds that found very effective in supporting a variety of the business expansion decisions (Superdry, 2021b).

In the context of highly competitive market trends, I felt that the select fashion brand has adopted an efficient business model with consideration of a variety of proactive business strategies that would not only attain the vision of the business entity but also influence the sustainable growth to company. In this regard, the company designs, produces and sells a wide range of premium apparel to meet the needs and expectation of global markets or overseas consumers. For attainment the corporate objectives, the consideration of flexible, capital-light, and multi-channel would support the business entity for assessing the new business opportunities that could enhance the long-term business sustainability (Nosratabadi & Chau, 2019). With reference to current business environment, the role of technology has been enhanced in significant manner in the strategic planning and resource management. Moreover, the design of excellence supports companies for attainment of the quality related objectives in the strategic planning and product offering. Moreover, the business entity has maintained a distinctive culture with passionate and creative leadership that plays a critical role in enhancing the efficiency of the business operations. These elements have focused on the four different categories such as product & style, social and sustainability. In the context of operational business model, the consideration of different channels such as concessions, outlets, online stores, strategic partners, and online distribution via partners. These factors have been found very effective to attain the business vision and mission (Superdry, 2021c). Moreover, the consideration of the overseas independent partners would be found very effective to expand the business new emerging markets. In the context of contemporary market trends, the culture plays a critical role in selection of the preference of the customers and brands that may have a significant influence in business planning and resource management. This element assists management in stimulating the business growth. In this regard, Superdry was entered into 10-year joint-venture with Trendy International Group that has great experience in the Chinese retail operations (Kumar & Goyal, 2021). For transforming the business towards different digital platforms, the business entity was initiated its website in 2018 that enhanced the reach of the company in more than 157 countries. This approach has been found very effective to manage the relationship with customers because different digital tools such as social media, website, emails, and others are offering a great support to manage regular conversation with users. Therefore, digital tools are being termed as essential element in the customer service and product management. For attainment of the business sustainability, the company recently initiate the Grown Future Thinking to consider different tactics and approaches of the sustainable business operations that would assist to deal with social and environmental market challenges in the business execution and resource management (Brown & Brown, 2019).

The assessment of the business strategies with reference to mission and vision of Superdry Plc has determined that the company has adopted appropriate values to meet the expectations of different stakeholders. The consideration of different cultural norms and values in the business planning and resource management has played a critical role in performing the sustainable sourcing of different resources. The ethical business operations provide a significant assistance in influencing the brand value in all over the world. As per the contemporary business environment, the leadership considers different reforms that have increased the popularity of the country in UK markets, and it also encourages the popularity of organisation in various other countries (Yang, 2021). This is because the brand value plays a critical role in changing the perception of consumers along with citizens that enhances the future business opportunities to Superdry Plc. Therefore, it can be stated that the business strategies of Superdry Plc are significantly aligned with the mission and vision of the business entity.

Part 2

In the context of contemporary business environment, the financial performance of an organisation plays a critical role in influencing the overall value of listed firm. In this regard, the assessment of the revenue trends within the Superdry Plc has addressed upward trends during the period of 2010 to 2019 that shows that the management follows appropriate business strategies and tactics to enhance the overall sales in different markets. However, there has been a significant fluctuation identified in the net profit margin from 2015 to 2018 but company has recorded huge downfall in its net earnings as compared to the profit margin of 2010 because firm has addressed huge losses in 2019 (Superdry, 2021d). Therefore, it can be stated that fluctuations in the profit margin along with losses would incorporate the sustainability issues for the Superdry Plc in near future. In similar way, some downfall has also occurred in the current ratio of the company as compared to previous that shows the reduction in company’s liquidity. However, the current ratio is still above the ideal current ratio of 2:1 that indicates that company would not face any liquidity crunch. Further evaluation of the liquidity ratio has determined that the liquidity ratio has recorded the downward trends that could influence the liquidity issues to management in upcoming years. In similar to net earnings, the company has also addressed the negative trends in the return on capital employed that may hamper the perception of investor about the efficiency and profit generation capabilities of organisation (Pang & Duan, 2019). Further evaluation of the company’s gearing determines the increment in the debt capital of Superdry Plc in proportion of equity that could enhance the solvency risk of the business entity. Moreover, the assets turnover ratio has recorded the positive trends that indicate the optimum utilisation of the company’s assets to generate appropriate revenue. Further assessment of the market value of the shares of Superdry Plc has recorded the downward trends within the last five years. The reduction in share prices would adversely affect the market value of the business entity along with fund generation capabilities of an organisation. Moreover, the downward trends in share prices would influence solvency risk to business entity and companies would face some issues in assessing the investment from the equity stakeholders (Superdry, 2021d). In the context of strategic planning and resource management process, the market value of the company plays an important role to managing the capital requirements. This because the high market value provides an opportunity to business entity for raising finance from the debt capital. Overall, it can be stated that the market value and financial condition of the Superdry Plc is not appropriate so as management should take appropriate measure to enhance the business profitability and share value (Ukko & Rantala, 2019).

Part 3

In the context of contemporary business environment, the formulation of different corporate social responsibility related strategies has been addressed as an important aspect of the business planning and resource management. Therefore, an organisation is able to consider the interests of different group of individuals and stakeholders such as investors, shareholders, lenders, government agencies, employees, consumers, general citizens, environmental safety agencies, and others. In this regard, the management of Superdry Plc has paid huge attention on the sustainable business operations. In the context of social interest, company focuses organic cotton products for avoidance unethical trade operations in the field of cotton (Zattoni & van Ees, 2017). Moreover, the CSR policy of the business entity covers the empowerment of young and vulnerable communities in different countries that plays a critical role for overall social development. In this regard, the Superdry Plc has initiated the program of sustainability warriors in which company has developed different teams and groups for execution of different CSR policies. In the context CSR operations, the management of Superdry Plc has focused on the different types of green initiatives for lowering the carbon footprint in which the business entity has adopted renewable electricity sources to manage the emission of carbon (Ionescu, 2017)). Moreover, company is also offering a significant assistance to all its suppliers for the development and usage of renewable energy for achieving the target of 100% of renewable energy usage among suppliers till 2030. In this regard, the business entity has adopted ISO 50001 energy management system. Furthermore, the packaging has been considered as the most critical pollutant so as Superdry Plc has adopted different policies to achieve the target of 100% reusable packaging till 2025 (Superdry, 2021e).

In the context of employee’s viewpoint, the Superdry Plc offers safe, healthy and unique work culture to all employees in which employees can easily presents their ideas and suggestions to management. The collaborative working has been addressed as an important characteristic of Superdry Plc’s work culture. For attainment of social responsibilities towards the employees, the business entity has attained all legal guidelines related to human rights, fair pay, workplace equity, and discrimination avoidance. In this context, all employees and managerial staff members have to follow a well-established code of practices for avoidance unethical business operations along with discrimination. In addition to that, the business entity has adopted different programs like Coaching for Growth for enhancing the skills and professional expertise of employees in which company offers a variety of training programs to support career development of employees (Yuan & Yu, 2020). These programs assist employees in advancing a variety of personal and professional skills that would provide new career opportunities to staff members. In addition to that, the business entity has adopted appropriate corporate governance policies to manage conflicts among different individuals and avoidance unethical practices.

With reference to interest of lenders and shareholders, the business entity prepares different types of financial statements with consideration of different guidelines of IFRS and other reporting standards that increase the reliability of financial data. Moreover, the consideration of third-party auditing services ensures top management and other stakeholder about the actual financial position of the company (Tamvada, 2020). In the context of CSR practices, the business entity always tries to develop appropriate relationship with shareholders for maintaining their trust within organisation. Moreover, the company has established an appropriate audit committee to manage different kinds of internal risk factors such as financial risk, operational risk, solvency risk, and other compliance related elements that are having a significant impact on the sustainability of an organisation. This is because the consideration of interest of different stakeholder in the strategic planning process enhances the efficiency of business operations (Bian & Tao, 2021). In this regard, the management of Superdry Plc has followed all types of legal guidelines and taxation laws aligned with domestic and international trade regulation. In the context of corporate social responsibilities, Superdry Plc carries out different activities for developing of their suppliers such as cotton farmers and others. In this regard, the business entity facilitates different local innovative solutions as per the needs of different communities. In the context of community development, the company involves in various activities such as facilitation of education to children in village areas, establishment of partnership with universities to develop different educational programs, charity and other activities. During the period of Covid-19, company provides a great support to its employees and other personals that influence the perception of different stakeholders in the positive manner (Wang, Hsieh & Sarkis, 2018). For carrying out the workforce planning, the management of Superdry Plc has adopted different guidelines of Modern Slavery Act 2015 for preventing the human trafficking and slave labour within the business along with its supply chain.

To achieve the objective of environment protection, CSR policy of the Superdry Plc influences managers and employees for performing the carbon reporting that determines the level of carbon emission on different business activities. This reporting approach has been found very effective in lowering the carbon footprint and consideration of green initiatives in different projects.

Part 4

In the current assignment, I have gained a variety of skills that would support me in my personal and professional development. This assignment influences me for carrying out systematic online research about an organisation that has increased my research efficiency because I have considered a variety of facts and figures to gain in-depth understanding about the market position of an organisation. In the context of online research skills, I have found that selection of appropriate keywords provides a great support in assessing the useful data about the subject matter. In the context of data collection, I have also addressed the usage of qualitative and quantitative in different conditions. Moreover, this assignment has supported me to enhance my financial analytical skills because I have examined the financial of different companies to examine its financial condition. In this context, I conducted equity research for evaluating the share market trends along with their implications on the business sustainability. In this context, my understanding of different accounting approaches and concept has supported me in evaluating the financial statements in an efficient manner. In addition to that, the working on this assignment has found very useful for testing my general data analytics skills that would support in managing different tasks and job roles. Moreover, I have also found a significant improvement in my reporting skills while working on different assignments and academic tasks. This is because I prepared different business reports and documents to support my assignments. For managing different professional job roles, academic skills associated with report preparation and presentation developments are being termed as the most essential skills. By developing different skills, I would influence my career development activities in an efficient manner.

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