Introduction
The business environment dynamics forces organizations to look for ways of achieving a competitive position in the market. As such, firms adopt different strategies as they try to maintain a competitive position. Using SWOT analysis aids in the identification of human resource areas where businesses have opportunities as well as risks or weaknesses. This report will give a detailed analysis of the competitive position, comparator competitive position, human resource risks, and Nike, Gap, and Macy opportunities. Furthermore, the overall assessment of the human resources competitive position of the three companies will be provided.
Competitive position
The competitive position entails the execution of unique strategies that are aimed at helping firms gain a competitive advantage. In simple terms, it is a unique strategy that creates value for an organization. Through the competitive position, organizations appreciate how they are different from their competitors and how they can focus on value addition.
For a market leader to maintain a strong market position, three major strategies are important. The first competitive position strategy is market expansion. This means that a company stands out from others to gain the most. Nike’s strategy of targeting non-users enables it to remain a strong market leader in the apparel industry. Nike’s strategy to target non-users of their products by promoting sporting events during causal occasions helps it maintain its market space.
The second competitive position for Nike is maintaining its existing market share. To maintain market share, industries concentrate more on competitive advantages. Additionally, continuous product improvement may increase the competitive position of a company. Other aspects that are important for this strategy. As for Nike, advertisements entail the use of famous sportsmen like Tiger Woods.
Moreover, Nike’s website is friendly to every customer because it has a provision for selecting several languages suitable to every customer regardless of nationality.
Furthermore, continuous innovation has also been their source of maintaining a competitive position. Nike’s focus on innovation is strongly tied to its business strategy. The company has invested a lot in research and development. Furthermore, it has also invested in learning about fashion trends and the tastes and preferences of customers. In recent years, athletic products have become popular, and people have been looking for durable and stylish products. This is why, for Nike, innovation is at the heart of their business.
The last strategy of maintaining a competitive position in the market is through heavy advertising, continuous product development, and price incentives. Furthermore, market giants may also acquire other companies just as the way Nike acquired Umbro in 2007.
GAP inc
Gap Inc. uses different strategies from the ones used by Nike to maintain their market share. For them, they follow a cost-leadership strategy where they offer stylish and fashionable products at competitive prices, which vary with the various brands which they offer, but in most cases, their products are not associated with high prices but quality. Furthermore, their customer base is a diverse one with customers from different income and age groups, and their competitive prices help it maintain a competitive position in the market.
Gap’s success in developing its quality products of different designs as opposed to its competitors has helped the company have a strong market presence. The company’s brand came to be well-known when it introduced products in the market bearing its logo. Customers then started identifying themselves with the brand by wearing their products, which had the iconic logo. Gap produced products such as jeans, hoods, and shirts with the name “GAP” written on them and was worn worldwide, which led to the brand’s success. Customers associated themselves with GAP because of the image that the company portrayed when marketing its products. This aspect helped GAP develop a strong and well-known brand worldwide, hence helping it maintain a strong market position. Today, customers trust GAP in terms of producing fashion trends of high quality.
The company’s entry into international products helped in maintaining its competitive position over its competitors. Gap’s growth has enabled it to penetrate international markets and compete with other local brands. Furthermore, just like Nike, it is dedicated to continuous product development through new market entry, expansion of product portfolio, and providing customer convenience through online marketing.
Macy’s
For Macy’s to maintain a competitive position in the market, it uses three strategies that are different from Nike and Gap Inc. The three strategies utilized by Macy’s include multi-channel integration, MAGIC, and My Macy’s localization. These three business strategies play a significant role in increasing the company’s sales.
For instance, through the use of My Macy’s localization strategy, the shopping experiences of the merchandise, as well as the consumers, are improved. Through the use of this strategy, Macy’s has maintained its market share position over its competitors. Providing its customers with the exact required products in the right place and time has helped the company beat its competitors. Furthermore, the multi-channel strategy has enhanced the company’s position in the market because the strategy connects stores to the internet and enhances the delivery of products to its customers. Lastly, the MAGIC strategy promotes the company’s engagement with the clients where the customers ask questions and are given feedback.
Comparator Group Competitive position
Nike is a successful company because it has one of the best marketing strategies all over the world. Compared to Gap and Macy’s, it has established and developed its brand through marketing. For instance, a report on Nike’s advertising indicates that the company spent 3.28 billion U.S dollars in 2016, 3.34 in 2017, 3.58 in 2019, and 3.75 billion U.S. dollars in 2019. The figures indicate that Nike is committed to spending a lot on advertisements and making people worldwide aware of their brand. The company spends $100 per second on advertisement. In a year, Nike spends more than $3 billion on advertising. Nike uses celebrities, college, and professional athletes to market its products. Nike is ahead of Macy’s and Gap Inc. in terms of advertising. Macy’s sending in billion U.S dollars was as follows; 2015-1.17, 2016-1.15, 2017-1.11, 2018-1.16, and 2019-1.33. The statistics indicate that the company has had a downward trend in advertising, hence the need to improve its advertising strategy. Nike beats Macy’s in advertisement, which may explain why it is the leading firm in the apparel industry.
Comparing Gap inc with Macy’s and Nike, the company has to put a lot of effort into advertising to maintain a competitive position. In terms of spending on advertising in U.S million dollars, the company spent 639 in 2014, 578 in 2015, 601 in 2016, 673 in 2017, 650 in 2018, and 687 in 2019. Just like Macy’s, Gap needs to allocate more funds to advertising. Companies communicate best with their customers through advertising. Through advertising, customers become aware of brands that are available in the market as well as the products offered by these brands. Therefore, for Gap and Macy’s to have a stronger market share, they need to improve on advertising and emulate Nike’s performance.
Embracing technologies is another aspect that enables firms to maintain a competitive position in the market. Nike, Macy’s, and Gap Inc have tried to embrace technologies in their day-to-day operation. Nike uses technology to immerse clients in their functions and automate some human functions to give their customers a unique experience. Furthermore, it has utilized social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn in its operations. Similarly, Macy’s and Gap use social networking sites for advertising their products.
Nike, Macy’s, and Gap utilize technology in their advertisement; hence they are at par with regard to the integration of technology in advertising.
Human Resources Risks
People are the greatest assets of an organization. The success of an organization depends on the quality and performance of employees. However, in business operations, organizations are bound to experience human resource risks such as Ethics, leadership and behavior, Employment-related lawsuits, and risks associated with recruitment.
Ethics, leadership, and behavior
In most cases, employees do not resign from their jobs but quit their employers. Many employees have cited this as the main reason why they quit their jobs. To maintain productivity, leadership skills, and professional ethics are critical in maintaining employee productivity.
One of the human resources risks that the company faces in areas like ethics, leadership, and behavior. A day hardly passes without institutions hitting the headlines due to ethical violations. Human resources are regarded as a guardian of values in an organization, and therefore, organizations need to establish a culture that values ethical value. Ethical violations may damage a company’s reputation, which may harm recruitment and retention of employees. Nike has been accused of ethical issues related to child labor, workplace abuse, sweatshops (exploitation of workers and unfriendly working conditions), social injustice, and employing uneducated workers. These unethical practices employed by the company have faced criticism for more than twenty years. However, to fight against these unethical practices, the company established anti-Nike campaigns to improve the working conditions of employees. Like Nike, Gap has also faced labor issues, including the use of sweatshops, and women were also exposed to forced abortions.
In terms of ethics and behavior, Macy’s has faced ethical issues with regard to an unsafe working environment for workers. Violation of these ethical issues with regard to human resources poses potential risks to the organization as this may destroy brand reputation hence a decrease in sales.
Employment-related lawsuit
This is another potential risk area in human resource development. Several employers assume that bide to all employment laws to the latter. However, sometimes employers get surprised when they learn about the causes of action which employees can use to file a suit.
Failing to comply with labor regulations may lead to lawsuits.
As companies are expanding their businesses, third parties have become popular and have exposed the business to international labor laws and regulations. Nike has often been sued for going against labor regulations, such as employing children as well as workplace discrimination. Gap Inc. and Macy’s have also been sued for not complying with labor standards.
Employers, therefore, need to be up to date with federal and state laws that guide business operations so as to be less susceptible to lawsuits. Some of the common workplace suits that need to be avoided include discrimination, harassment, personal injury, overtime, among others.
Recruitment
Every HR team strives to recruit the right employee. Recruiting the right staff contributes to a productive and positive workplace, smooth operation of the business, the stability of an organization, motivated employees, and more benefits. To secure such benefits, it is the responsibility of human resources to look for the best employees. Therefore, this means that errors in recruitment processes need to be identified because any slight mistake during the hiring process can affect the quality of hiring.
Recruitment is a potential risk area in human resource management. The way an organization carries its recruitment determines the kind and type of employees it will attract. The risks associated with recruitment are inconsistent hiring practices and getting the right employees fit for the right role. Nike has not been consistent in hiring. The company has been facing lawsuits with regard to gender discrimination in the workplace. Women and minorities have often complained of having discriminated against during the hiring process. Furthermore, Nike does not get the right employees for the organization because it has been accused of employing children as well as uneducated workers. This is a clear indication that the employees that the company attracts do not have the right skills fit for the required jobs. Since Gap Inc and Macy’s have also been accused of child labor, this still translates to unhealthy hiring practices.
Human Resources Opportunities
Improving labor practices
To enhance performance, Nike, Gap, and Macy’s have the opportunities to enhance their performance in the market. In terms of improving human resource practices, the three companies can improve their labor practices to address the existing controversies such as dealing with workplace discrimination issues, child labor issues, and unhealthy work environment, among others. Improving a work environment may be a great opportunity for these companies since it will reduce operating costs, reduced turnover rate of employees, and increased productivity. Addressing challenges concerning labor practices may lead to improved brand image for the companies.
Engagement of a talented workforce
Engaging a talented workforce helps in building a culture that encourages and values innovation and creativity. If an organization hires the right people, it reaps some benefits such as lower training costs, customer loyalty, and exceptional performance. Therefore, talented employees always add value to an organization. When companies avoid hiring talented workers as a cost-cutting mechanism, this may negatively affect a company in terms of sales. Nike, Gap, and Macy’s have been for employing children for quite a long time. If these companies engage a talented workforce, it may be a great opportunity for them.
Training and development
In an organization, human resources training and developing employees is an aspect that companies can’t ignore because this contributes to the overall achievement of set organizational goals and objectives. Engaging a talented workforce is not enough for an organization. With continuous training and development, employees can articulate an organization’s mission and vision in their day-to-day business operations.
Engagement of a talented workforce goes hand in hand with training and development, an aspect that the three companies engaged in, and this has been a great opportunity for the companies to maintain their human resources. With a talented workforce that is fully trained and developed, the employee retention rate is improved.
Overall assessment of the Company’s Human Resource competitive position
In summary, for a company to maintain its competitive position in the market, hiring a skilled and talented workforce to bring varied skills and experience to an organization. Nike, Gap, and Macy’s need to hire a skilled and talented workforce to maintain a human resource competitive position. Further, they can upgrade the human resource department to have recruitment specialists who understand the company’s strategic roles, which can enhance business success. Further, improving labor practices is not an option for these organizations, but mandatory. Organizations need to understand that the human resource team is a valuable resource because it helps a company maintain a competitive position. Human resource teams are tasked with numerous responsibilities that impact how a company competes against others.