ContentsINTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................................................2

TASK 1....................................................................................................................................................3

1.1 Assess how business mission, vision, objectives, goals, core competencies inform strategic planning with reference to Mulberry................................................................................................3

1.2 Analyse the factors that have to be considered when formulating strategic plan with reference to Mulberry.......................................................................................................................................3

1.3 Evaluate the effectiveness of techniques used when developing strategic business plan using examples from Mulberry...................................................................................................................4

Task 2.....................................................................................................................................................8

2.1 Analyse the strategic positioning of a given organisation by carrying out an organisational audit in Mulberry........................................................................................................................................8

2.2. Carry out an environmental audit for a given organisation Mulberry......................................11

2.3. Asses the significance of stakeholder analysis when formulating new Strategy Mulberry.......14

2.4 Present a new strategy for a given organisation........................................................................15

TASK 3..................................................................................................................................................17

3.1 Analyse the appropriateness of alternative strategies relating to market entry, substantive growth, limited growth or retrenchment for Mulberry...................................................................17

3.2. Justify the selection of a strategy Mulberry..............................................................................18

TASK 4..................................................................................................................................................20

4.1 Asses the roles and responsibilities of personnel who are charged with strategy implementation at Mulberry...........................................................................................................20

4.2 Analyse the estimated resource requirements for implementing a new strategy for a given organisation for Mulberry...............................................................................................................20

4.3 Evaluate the contribution of SMART targets to the achievement of strategy implementation in Mulberry..........................................................................................................................................21

CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................................23

REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................24

1

INTRODUCTION

Mulberry Group PLC (Mulberry Group) is a well known brand name which is famous in the market for

luxury bags of women and men, accessories, clothing and footwear. The company has two segments

Retail and Design. The company owns around 107 stores they sold there products through its own

stores at concessions, through wholesale channels. Mulberry as a brand has strong presence in UK

and the strategic focus of the company is to grow in USA and Asian market. It is widely operated in

Mulberry operated across Europe, North America, and Rest of the World.

2

TASK 1

1.1 Assess how business mission, vision, objectives, goals, core competencies inform strategic planning with reference to Mulberry

The aims of a strategic planning is to set priorities and focus energy towards common goal by

strengthening resources, operations and ensuring all employees and other stakeholders work toward

the common goals, basis which an agreement is established for the changing environment. The aim

is to define what an organization is, what it does, who it serves, the purpose of existence and the

future goals. The strategic plan is reflected in the vision, mission, objectives, goals etc. of the

organization and provides a direction.

The vision statementdefines the futurean organization aims to achieve. It provides motivation

to the employees and gives them the inspiration; vision defines the purpose of existence of an

organization.

The mission statementdefines the purpose for which an organization intends to serve its

stakeholders. It covers the broad level objectives an organization aims to achieve, which are

broken down and passed on to the employees in form of quantifiable objectives.

Goals are time bound achievable that the employees are expected to achieve and are used to

assess their performance. The higher the employees align themselves to the vision, mission,

objective etc. to the organization higher their motivation and have higher levels of productivity.

Core competencies are unique characteristics of an organization, which distinguishes it from

competitors. (Strategic Management, 2010)

1.2 Analyse the factors that have to be considered when formulating strategic plan with reference to Mulberry

A strategic plan covers the competitive decisions and business approaches that the management

follows for the success of the organization. A complete scanning of internal and externalfactors is

required prior to formulation of a strategic plan with clear targets and outcomes to be achieved.

External factors such as industry dynamics, risks, competition and internal factors such as –core

strengths, ability to tackle unforeseen risk etc. are important to be considered for the strategic

planning process. The planning process involves all the key stakeholders in the process- Board of

directors, Top level executives, Business Unit Managers and Middle and low level managers. A

strategic plan functions in a manner such that it gives a direction in work at all the levels and hence

each level is impacted by it. Several approaches to the strategic planning process that can be

followed in Mulberry are:

Informal planning; there is not concrete plan, the focus is to capitalize on any

opportunity which comes up

3

Top-down planning; this is a tradition approach in which the senior management

decides the broad level vision, mission, objectives and the strategic initiatives, which are

passed on to the lower levels. This helps in bringing uniformity of tasks but leads to lacks

of motivation and commitment in employees towards larger organizational objective from

lower level staff

Bottom-up planning; focusses on collecting information from the lower levels to

formulate a strategic plan. The people who are closest to the operational activities are

able to give a helpful inputs based upon their experiences. This helps in higher levels of

commitment amongst the employees, however it is a time consuming process and

requires more coordination.

Behavioural approaches:as per this approach strategy as an outcome of the

social,political, and cultural processes of management in an organisation. It is described

in the following phases-

o Problem awareness – (a)internal results, (b) a trigger alert for formal information

systems

o Problem diagnosis – analyse and find the root cause of the problem

o Solution development – (a) memory search, (b)passive search)

o Solution selection – (a) eliminate unacceptable plans, (b) endorsement

o (Strategic Management, 2010)

1.3 Evaluate the effectiveness of techniques used when developing strategic business plan using examples from Mulberry

Various techniques which has been used to develop the strategic business plan have been discussed

below. In case of an organization like Mulberry, which is a conglomeration of different portfolios, a

portfolio analysis tool will be helpful for classification of different units. Some of the portfolio analysis

tools are-

BCG growth-share matrix; - This classifies a company’s business unit under four categories

based on the combination of growth rate of the market (industry attractiveness) and relative

market share (competitive advantage). The resources from one unit could be utilized for

another Line, which may be an under-performer and will act as a cost advantage for the firm.

4

Figure 1

(Source: Net MBA Strategic Management)

Stars: these are products with high growth rate and high market shares. The cash generated

is used by the same unit. In case of Mulberry, products other than hand bags could be a star

product.

Cows: are products with high market share and lower growth rates and produced matured

products, which require least investment, the cash generated from these can be utilized for

other production lines. In case of Mulberry, the hand bag manufacturing could be a cow

product.

Dogs: products with low margins and loss bearing products fall in this range. Some newly

launched products by Mulberry may initially fall in this category.

Question marks: as the products in this category have low market share but high growth rate,

they require most of the investment.(Strategic Management, 2010)

General Electric Business Screen: assesses the business unit in terms of market

attractiveness/profitability and based upon the position of business (high to low) it is given priority.

5

Figure 2.1(Source: Michael G Warner, MBA, DipM)

Shell Directional Policy Matrix: assesses the performance of business on parameters of Sector

profitability and an organisations competitive strength. This plotting will help in understanding the

current status of the organization.

Figure 2.2 (Source: SPM Portfolio Management, 2014)

SPACE, - Strategic Impact and Action Evaluation: the space metrics analysis different aspect of the

organization and gives them a score based upon their importance for the company.

6

PIMS _ Profit Impact of Market Strategy is covering long term study of the performance of strategic

business units in an organization. The function of this approach is to analyse the relationship between

businesses key strategic decision and their results.(Marketstrats, 2010)

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Task 2

2.1 Analyse the strategic positioning of a given organisation by carrying out an organisational audit in Mulberry.

Organizational audit in Mulberry-The strategic positioning of an organisation entails understanding the

current situation and the foreseeable developments, and drawing information on how an organisation

will respond to those development in the most suitable manner.

In case of Mulberry, we can conduct an organizational audit to better understand the strategic

positioning of the firm. Various tools that be used of the purpose of organizational audit are as follows

1. Position audit- aims to understand the current state of organisation by examining areas of

Resources/asset- Mulberry has various stores in UK and has also opened up 17+

international stores. Mulberry has cash reserves of £21858 million (2013) and property,

land, equipment as assets and inventories (Raw material, WIP, Finished good) and other

financial resources

Products Brands: traditionally the company manufactured handbags and has now

included a range of male and female clothing, leather accessories and footwear

Operating systems / production and distribution: the production and operations of

Mulberry are classified under two categories-Design and Retail.

The rand management, marketing, product design, manufacture, sourcing and wholesale

distribution for the Mulberry brand are included in the design segment. They invests in

design and development for make changes and develop the market accessory, clothing

and footwear collections for Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter each year according to

the market conditions.

Internal organisation: the organisation is headed by the founder and a board of directors,

senior staff and other employees

Financial resources: The Company has its own cash reserves and in addition, during

June 2014, the Group has arranged a £7.5 million revolving credit facility to provide

additional headroom in available funds.(Annual Report and accounts Mulberry, 2014)

2. Resource audit- covers all the resources of a company and their evaluation, in order to

determine the best possible ways to utilize them.

Human resources: Mulberry currently employs 943 resources, an ongoing assessment of the required

number pf people for Mulberry, assessing their skills and capabilities and positioning them accordingly

on the tasks will help the business. Also it is important to assess the knowledge gaps in employee to

perform the task.

Assessment of the distribution network to identify the best possible ways to position the

Mulberry products

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Understanding of financial resources and other production/operations related resources

will help in bridging any gaps in the targeted production outcomes

3. The value chain concept given by Michael Porter which suggests that value of the service and

product has been add by the activities done in an organisation, so the organisation can gain

competitive advantage if the activity is run at the optimum level.

Figure 3 (Source: Competitive Advantage, Michael Porter, 2009)

The Primary Activities include-

Inbound logistics: It includes receiving, storing, distribution inputs to the product etc.

Operations: operations deals with the machinery, packaging, assembly, testing etc.

Outbound logistics : It include warehousing, material handling, distribution

Marketing and Sales: These are including in marketing and sales are sales administration,

advertising and selling.

Services: services which is provided after sales, means sale services, repairs

A combination of above activities will help gain competitive advantage for Mulberry.

Support Activities include

Support activity are those which help the organisation to gain the profit. They include:

Procurement of resources, raw material

Technology development: Mulberry must invest in using the latest technology for production

of its products

Human resource management:managing the employees effectively from

Firm infrastructure: aspects which impact the organisational culture, such as planning,

finances, quality control etc.

9

The value chain process covers all the aspects of the organisation and in an organisation like

Mulberry, an optimum balance of primary and support activities will help gain superior competitive

advantage.

4. Benchmarking-is a process of evaluating an organisations performance compared to

others/competitors. Mulberry can use benchmarking as a way to help become more

competitive by understanding what competitors in luxury brand segment are doing and can

identify areas where they are underperforming. This will help in improving its performance

based upon the learning from the other organisations.

SWOT- An analysis of Mulberry’sStrengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats will help

understand the organizational climate.

Strengths Weaknesses

Strong market presence in UK Inability to establish in high end product range

Strong production and operations Downward trend in revenue of the company

Ability to diversify in new product line-apparel, footwear Decline in wholesale revenues

Sufficient assets Heavy reliance on European and UK markets

Successful expansion plan/opening of new stores Limited range of products

Good cultural fit with UK market  

Strong position of Euro in the market  

Opportunities Threats

Expansion of business in US and Asia Threats of economic downturn

Research and product development Economic slowdown

10

  Enhanced competition

  pricing pressures, in relation to competitor brands

2.2. Carry out an environmental audit for a given organisation Mulberry

An environmental audit is necessary to understand the impact of external factors in the business and

the organization in which it operates.

Environmental audit for Mulberry- can be done using two primary tools-

1. PESTLE analysis (Political, Economic, Socio-cultural, Technological, Legal and

Environmental) assess 6 key major macro environmental factors which affect an organisation.

Political: Several political decisions will have an impact on the future of Mulberry and the rate

tax has been levied by the UK government. This will have an impact on the company’s

corporation tax and also the ability of customers to spend with Mulberry, with respect to

income tax. One of the positive aspects is the low interest rates, which will permit the

organisation to get money from financial institutions and banks at a low interest rate. The

political environment in UK is suitable for an organisation like Mulberry and poses low risk, as

the nature of political system is based on parliamentary democracy.

Economic: The overall economic environment determines the performance of a brand in an

economic climate. UK was hit by major recession in 2007 and has recovered to some extent,

however the likelihood of its rec there is economic recession in UK The economic recession

hit UK in 2007 and while the statistics show a slight recovery in 2010 and 2011, others within

the business press indicate that the UK economy could continue to flat line or worse result in

a "double dip" recession. These headline figures may seem to paint quite a negative picture

for brands such as Mulberry which are highly reliant on the UK economy. It is the alarming

patterns in Uk that the level of unemployment and household disposable incomes. One hand,

levels of unemployment have been increasing in recent years with a rise from 2007 to 2011.

However, conversely, the level of disposable income of individual households during this

period hasconsistently risen from 2007 to 2011. For Mulberry and other premium brands this

may have a key impact upon strategy.

Social-Cultural: There are many social and cultural changes take place in the UK The effects

of this change are more visible and have an immediate impact on the performance of

companies like Mulberry since the fashion industry has a deep socio-cultural influence.One of

the key issues in the UK market, but also seen across Mulberry’s wider European markets is

the general aging of the population. It is like a problem but on other side it is opportunity. After

the world war II Uk become the more diverse.

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Technological: Uk business environment has been changed because of the new technological

developments have been transformed, especially which operate in the those retail sector. The

technology development which can be seen are internet or communications based in nature,

with increasing trends of online shopping.

Legal: Mulberry also confirmed the legal standard which is prevailed in the jurisdiction. There

are some legal regulations which affect Mulberry in the UK are- Minimum wage legislation

and other laws which deals with the equal opportunities etc.

Environmental: The environment is also one of the main issues for the firms operating which

is operating in national market and consideration given to aspect of physical environment. UK

environmental condition is better than the other geographic like earthquakes, hurricanes and

forest fires, but in UK the retail industry has been affected by some environmental issues

such asfloods and snow storms. (Marketstrats, 2010)

2. Porter’s 5 force analysis: The Porter’s Five Forces Model is used for the assessment of the

industry attractiveness.

Figure 4 (Source: Porters Five Force, Strategy Skills)

 

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1. Threat of New Entrants: Mulberry has less threat because mulberry in itself a brand which have

full control over the minds of the people. The new brand entry but they have to deal with the high cost

and need latest technology. The many competitors in the market are yet establishing to make their

strong position in the market. They take various severely hamper their plans to retaliate without

technological developments as without distribution channels, but their products would not be taken

seriously by the customer in the market.

2. Bargaining Power of Suppliers: The Suppliers have less power for bargaining the product price

because their products are not established their consistency in the market. It is the contrary to

ordinary brands where these products have to establish the confidence in the customer in worldwide.

3. Bargaining Power of Buyer: Most of the consumers are indulged in the luxury goods industry are

professionals who are relied on mobile and expensive gadgets and also expect seamless services

every time they use them. The buyers have the high bargaining power in the luxury goods industry

4. Threat of Substitutes: There is high threat which is indulged in the substitutes.  Due to growing

competition, a cheaper quality product with similar feature like that of Mulberry, may take away its

business.

(Porters Five Forces, 2013)

2.3. Asses the significance of stakeholder analysis when formulating new Strategy Mulberry

The stakeholder matrix helps in identifying the weightage each stakeholder holds in terms of power and interest in the progress of the organisation.

Figure 5

13

In case of Mulberry, there are six key stakeholders – employees, customers, suppliers, government,

society and media.

Media is an influential stakeholder and the main aim of Mulberry is to keep them satisfied as

the media wields considerable power in the process of brand building.

Customers form the most influential stakeholder for Mulberry and they must be managed

closely as they wield both, power and interest.

Government needs to be managed closely as the entire luxury goods market is a high-value

industry and even a single legal regulation can spell doom for the industry. \

Suppliers for an important part of the supply chain that helps Mulberry deliver its products

worldwide and are instrumental in maintaining margins with high levels of quality.

Employees form the base of all the progress that Mulberry has made.

Society has a lower interest in what Mulberry is doing until and unless there is a huge

financial or labour debacle that the organisation is embroiled in.

Figure 6

Significance of stakeholder analysis in new strategy formulation: as per the assessment done

above, we can determine the level of priority each stakeholder requires. Keeping this in mind we can

formulate the new strategy.

2.4 Present a new strategy for a given organisation

A new business strategy for Mulberry must be a plan helps in utilization and application of resources

in order to gain maximum competitive advantage. The strategy must focus on the future of the firm,

managing direction of competition in future and needs of the customers.

The new strategy for Mulberry should cover the following aspects:

14

1. Revenue strategy: must focus on activities which contribute to larger revenues. Some of the

strategic action can help in increasing the revenues.

A line of ultra-premium products must be created and produced in small amount, so

that the demand increases and popularity rises.

2. Information, Technology and awareness:

Mulberry should focus on increasing awarenessof its products using social media

channels-Facebook, Twitter etc. in domestic and international regions

Mulberry has invested in a supply-chain evaluation systems, similarly the company

must invest in other such IT systems must be enabled in the organization to manage

other areas such as-finance, resources etc. for enhanced organizational capabilities

3. Product strategy

Mulberry must invest in R&D to come up with new products, compared to competitors

the range of product line in Mulberry is still limited

Product differentiation of its products is necessary, which can be achieved by

showcasing the quality and unique features of its products

A range of new products can be introduced in related or similar lines such as-for kids

or sports line.

Product expansion: the focus must be on expansion of existing product before they

become old in the market

4. Explore new geographies

The focus of Mulberry is to establish itself in USA, Asia and middle-east, however the

company must not limited itself to these geographies and must therefore explore additional

channels and geographies, where the growth opportunities look positive.

5. Strategic alliance-partnership

Mulberry could get into a strategic alliance with other company in order to increase its product

range. For example, it could form an alliance with a sports manufacturing brand Adidas and

use their know how to introduce a new product.

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TASK 3

3.1 Analyse the appropriateness of alternative strategies relating to market entry, substantive growth, limited growth or retrenchment for Mulberry

Market entry strategies:

Organic growth; strategy aims at growth by building on capabilities in the existing

business or organization. Like in case of Mulberry, The company initially

manufactured handbags and later ventured into production of apparel, footwear etc.

This is a traditional approach and is adopted in businesses where the products are of

technical nature and risks related to disruption needs to minimized and investments

are evenly spread over time.

Merger or acquisition; in a Merger, the operations of two companies are combined

together to become a single entity. Acquisition is when a company takes over another

company and the latter becomes a part of the former. Mergers and acquisitions are

relatively quicker strategic approaches; however the integration process of resources,

function, systems etc.is complex. Like in case of Mulberry, the company could merge

with another player in the market like Prada, Gucci to create something unique. In

case of Acquisition, Mulberry may acquire another firm or may get acquired itself,

depending on the financial status. (Carol Wood, 2012)

Strategic alliances; is an alliance between two or more organizations in order to

pursue a common strategic decision. This is a better strategic approach as the

organisations can use their unique capabilities to achieve the strategic projective

without having to invest time in integration process. Some of the types of alliances

are: Licensing; Joint Ventures, franchising, consortia, networks and subcontracting.

16

One of these models followed by Mulberry is franchising, where we see multiple

stores operating in different regions under the name of flagship store Mulberry.

Substantive growth strategies:

Horizontal Integration: refers to acquiring or expanding the business into additional

areas that are at the same level of value chain in similar or different industries. Like in

case of Mulberry, the horizontal integration could involve Mulberry buying another

fashion brand which will add a new product like (watches) to its portfolio or another

fashion house.

Vertical integration; refers to expanding of business in areas that form part of the

production path. Like in case of Mulberry, if the organization owns its suppliers

(backward integration) and distributors (forward integration).

Related Diversification refers to expansion of business or product line which similar

areas as those of current, like for example- Mulberry currently manufactures hand

bags and later my expand business by manufacturing tourist bags, travel bags etc.

UnrelatedDiversification is expansion of business into a new market. Like if Mulberry

start manufacturing television or any such unrelated product

Limited growth strategies:

Do nothing; is basically continuing the current pattern of activities and not bringing in

any strategic change in the organisation

Market penetration; when businesses builds on existing capabilities and increase

market share in the existing industry

Market development; refers to exploring new markets by introducing its existing

product to a new segment of customer.

Product development; is when the organisation introduces a new product/product line

Disinvestment strategies: include

Retrenchment by reducing or downsizing current operations/finances to become

financially stable

Turnaround strategies; aim as turning a loss-making firm into a profit making

business.

Divestment; is similar to retrenchment strategy, where the aim is to reduce the scope

of the business

Liquidation is basically an exit strategy. Where the company may sell its assets to pay

off the creditors.

3.2. Justify the selection of a strategy Mulberry

The strategy selected for Mulberry can be assessed on three parameters, which will determine the

success of the suggested strategy.

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1. Suitability: assesses the extent to which the strategy is relevant and is addresses the

current issues of Mulberry based upon its rational, assessment of strategic fit and

strategic appropriateness. Methods that can be used to assess the suitability are-

Ranking of strategic option in order of priority

Decision tree: by choosing the best option from a range of key factors

Scenarios: the strategic choices are evaluated against a range of possible future

scenarios

The new strategy for Mulberry will be suitable as it focus on improving the current concerns of the

company such as- downward revenue trend, challenges to establish itself as a high end luxury brand

and limited product range.

2. Acceptability: aim to assess the expected performance of the strategy and its ability to

meet expectations of the stakeholders. Methods that can be used to assess the

acceptability are-

Returns: that a stakeholder can expect in terms of financial gain or tangible/ non

tangible benefits. Risks by Financial ratio projections; robustness of strategy, stake

holder mapping.

The new strategy will prove to provide financial, tangible and intangible gain for its stakeholders and

hence will be high on the parameter of acceptability.

3. Feasibility- helps understand the capability of an organisation to deliver a new strategy.

Methods that can be used to assess the feasibility are-

Financial feasibility; to understand the cash flow for implementation of the new

strategy, it can also be done using break-even analysis

Resource assessment: to understand if the existing resources and their skills can be

utilized for new strategy implementation or of there is a need to hire new talent

Implementation of strategy: to understand how the strategy will work and the

organization can be structured

Mulberry has been a long term market player with strong financial reserves and resource capacity,

hence the feasibility of execution on new strategy would be high. Mulberry has a congenial

organizational structure and is a people driven organisation, factors which will help in easy

implementation of new strategy.

18

TASK 4

4.1 Asses the roles and responsibilities of personnel who are charged with strategy implementation at Mulberry

The implementation of new strategy in Mulberry will be driven by to management. Some of the key

responsibilities which will be managed by the manager or key personnel for implementation of the

strategy will be:

1. Communicate the strategic plan to the employees and how it connects with the larger

objective of the firm. Appraise them about the strategic decisions and how it will impact their

work and what results will be expected from them.

2. Assigning of roles and responsibilities/KPI as per the plan, based upon the expertise and

skills of people

3. Involve all managers as active participants so that they can associate with the process. Also

to ensure that the intent of new strategy is reinforced within their team members.

4. Define group goals for collective tasks of strategy and take care of any training development

needs that the employees must have, in order to excel in tasks they are expected to perform.

5. Manage the change process by addressing the questions and apprehensions of the

employees relating to the new strategy

6. Assess the performance of employees on the initially set performance standards/KPIs

(Strategic Management for Senior Leaders, A Handbook for Implementation, 2010)

4.2 Analyse the estimated resource requirements for implementing a new strategy for a given organisation for Mulberry

As per the new strategic plan we can understand that Mulberry will have to increase its headcount

and attain experts in some specific areas.

19

Roles/SkillsNumber of resources required

Manager 10 to 15

Staff 40 to 60

Digital Media expert 2

IT expert 6

R&D Team 3

Managers and staff: will be required for running of new stores in new geographies. With the

current financial capacity Mulberry can open close to 15 stores in a year. However as per the

new strategy, these stores could be in diverse geographies and hence hiring local talent may

also be suitable.

Digital media expert: in order to create awareness on social media channels, it will be helpful

to hire digital social media expert, who will focus on enhancing brand image and expanding its

presence in new geographies though these channels.

IT experts: as per the new strategy, Mulberry must invest in technology. The aspects of

technology could be outsourced or in-house, however it will be helpful to have an in house IT

team for trouble shooting of issues

R&D: the focus of new strategy is on product expansion, diversification and exploring new

range and hence it will be helpful to have a research and development team set to focus on

market trends, customer choices etc. and bring about innovation in the product range of the

company.

4.3 Evaluate the contribution of SMART targets to the achievement of strategy implementation in Mulberry

Any organization, irrespective of its size and growth, must ideate around setting SMART targets as

part of strategy implementation. Mulberry is witnessing transformation in terms of expansion of its

global retain and manufacturing footprint and it is imperative for them to establish targets that can be

achieved in a manner that is conducive to their business needs.

Setting a SMART target entails five parameters that the strategy implementation hinges on – Specific,

20

Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and time-bound.

An explanation and description of each of these steps, with Mulberry in context, would help in

analysingand addressing the issues that they are facing.

Specific:

A specific goal establishes what needs to be achieved. It states, without ambiguity, what the

organization must achieve in order to accomplish a particular, larger goal. A specific goal will make it

easier for those writing objectives and action plans to address questions like who is to be involved,

what is to be accomplished, where is it to be done and when is it to be done? The goal for Mulberry is

to establish itself as a luxury goods maker of choice, in the league of LVMH and the likes. A specific

goal in the case of Mulberry would be to achieve a marketshare equivalent to or greater than LVMH.

Measurable:

A goal can be measured only if it is quantifiable. This, indeed, means that the sales, production and

associated targets must be identified as part of the overarching goal. Subjective goals cannot be

measured and they do not add up to the specific goal mentioned earlier. In case of Mulberry, their

revenue must grow at a more rapid pace and their loss of income on account of overseas investment

should be lowered in order to have a healthy consolidated growth rate and earning. A goal can only

be accomplished if the targets are measured against numbers that the targets are being compared

with.

Attainable:

Many organization get ahead of themselves with strategy implementation on back of internal

andmarket optimism. In their excitement to deliver exponential growth, they tend to forget the market

forces that have a direct effect on the performance of the organization. A challenging goal that can be

measured against projected numbers and against specific targets is attainable and the target is

slightly flexible to accommodate the volatile nature of the market forces. While being optimistic, the

goal should be realistic and not be over-ambitious. An example in case of Mulberry would be to bridge

the deficit in revenue in the next financial year rather than targeting a 100% increase in revenue and

profits.

A smart strategist understands the importance of setting attainable goals as over-ambitious goals are

usually not met and result in the project being abandoned or cut short, without the desired outcome

but with an expenditure that cannot be offset against gains.

Relevant:

The goals should be relevant to the organization that it is being set for. If a Mulberry were to be given

the task by the CEO to create a luxury spacesuit for astronauts that can be bought in the market,

21

itwould not work; it is not relevant to the line of business that Mulberry is in. When setting a goal, the

longer-term targets of the organization must be kept in context and the shorter-term targets must be

achieved in an attainable and planned manner.

Time-bound:

Another vicious circle that organisations fall into is the desire to deliver a product owing to the brand

name that is attached to it. An example could be an haute couture hand bag that Mulberry might be

developing to take on the market leaders. The ever-changing fashion sense and requirements of the

target audience might result in the bag being designed and redesigned, over and over again, without

any thought for developing the product within a time-bound manner. This would result in cost-overruns

and eventual decrease in profit, owing to higher and unworthy investments in product development.

CONCLUSION

Mulberry is a known brand in the UK and aims to establish itself in the high end range of luxury

brands. The company has fair in-house capabilities to grown, however some of the milestones needs

to be achieved are by expanding itself to new geographies, acceptability of higher priced products by

customers, increasing the line of products and hence there is a need to adopt a new strategy at

Mulberry.

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REFERENCES

Strategic management, 2010, http://www.netmba.com/strategy/matrix/bcg/ [Accessed 22 June 2015]

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