Company Profiles & Analysis
Founded in 2010 in Manhattan USA by Adam Neumann and Miguel McKelvey, WeWork Inc. is a global flexible workspace provider that comprises a network of 756 locations in 38 countries. The co-working giant has approximately 590 thousand physical memberships as of December 2021 (Annual Report, 2021). In the US in 2021 WeWork represented approximately 0.5% of all commercial office space and 63% of Fortune 100 companies are WeWork members WeWork’s mission is to empower tomorrow’s world at work. The workspace provider has a business strategy of digitalizing the real estate business and offering space as a service. The company had severe leadership and ethical challenges under controversial co-founder and the first CEO Adam Neumann, but the current CEO Sandeep Mathrani is bringing discipline and maturity to the leadership. The hierarchical organizational structure of the company has allowed Mathrani to turn around the business to a certain extend via reducing operational costs and focusing on the core business. The co-working and office space operator has considerable strengths such as solid international presence, brand recognition and experience in its niche. At the same time, WeWork has certain serious weaknesses that include the absence of profitability and high level of indebtedness. Moreover, WeWork brand image has been severely damaged due to management and ethical issues under the leadership of Adam Neumann as discussed throughout this report. WeWork Inc. Report contains the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, Value Chain analysis, Ansoff Matrix and McKinsey 7S Model on WeWork. Moreover, the report contains analyses of WeWork’s business strategy, leadership and organizational structure and ecosystem. The report also analysis marketing strategy, ecosystem and discusses the issues of corporate social responsibility. 1. Executive Summary 2. Business Strategy 3. Leadership 4. Organisational Structure 5. Organizational Culture…
Founded in 1985 by Howard Schultz, Starbucks Corporation (NASDAQ:SBUX) currently operates in more than 34,000 stores in 84 markets according to its mission statement “to inspire and nurture human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighbourhood at a time”. Starbucks Corporation brand portfolio consists of Teavana, Tazo, Seattle’s Best Coffee, Evolution Fresh, La Boulange and Ethos and it sells coffee, tea, other beverages, and a variety of food products. There are two formats of Starbucks stores: company-operated and licensed stores. By the end of fiscal year of 2021, Starbucks had 17,133 (51%) company-operated stores and 16,700 (49%) licensed stores. As of October 2021, Starbucks had approximately 383,000 employees worldwide, including 245,000 employees in the US. The world’s largest coffeehouse chain refers to its employees as partners. Starbucks results for fiscal 2021 demonstrate the overall strength and resilience of the brand. Consolidated revenues increased 24% to USD29.1 billion in fiscal 2021 compared to USD23.5 billion in fiscal 2020, primarily due to business recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Also contributing to the increase was USD576 million of incremental revenue attributable to the extra week in fiscal 2021. Starbucks business strategy is associated with providing customers a Starbucks Experience, i.e. a ‘third place’ experience away from work and home, where people can have quality time with friends or alone enjoying quality coffee, beverages and fresh food. Currently, the company is following international business expansion strategy with a particular focus on China and Asia Pacific market segment. Starbucks is an acknowledged leader in the industry in terms of exploiting information technology and technological developments. The company has adapted mobile apps for the promotion of its brand and sales of products earlier than the competition. Starbucks app offers multiple features such as store locator, nutrition-based information and rewards program. Moreover, ‘MyStarbucks Signature’ initiative…
IKEA Group owned by Stichting INGKA Foundation is the largest furniture and home appliances manufacturer and retailer in the world. Founded almost eight decades ago in Småland, southern Sweden by Ingvar Kamprad, today IKEA Group has 11 franchisees operating in more than 500 locations in 63 countries (Annual Report, FY21). By the end of FY21 IKEA employed 225000 people worldwide, an increase of 8000 people compared to the previous year. The world’s largest furniture retailer offers nearly 12000 products and develops approximately 2000 new products each year. In FY21 the company generated total operated income of EUR 25.6 billion, an increase of 8.5% compared to the previous year. Net profit for the year amounted to EUR 1.4 billion (Annual Report, FY21). IKEA’s vision is “to create a better everyday life for the many people” and the company follows an extreme cost leadership business strategy along with new product development strategy to realize this vision. International market expansion strategy also represents an important element of IKEA business strategy. Leadership style exercised to manage the home improvement and furnishing chain can be branded as leading by example, as set by the late founder of the business Ingvar Kamprad. Furthermore, the company has integrated the principles of frugality and intangible employee motivation into its leadership practices. The Swedish furniture chain has devised a unique and complicated organizational structure designed to pay minimum taxes. IKEA possesses a number of noteworthy strengths such as market leadership, ownership and efficient application of democratic design concept and solid financial position of the business. At the same time, the global furniture retailer has serious weaknesses as well. These include weak presence in Asia, difficulty to sustain the competitive advantage and the lack of flexibility of the business due to its large size. IKEA Group Report contains the application…
McDonald’s Corporation is a global fast food chain that serves more than 70 million customers in 119 countries employing about 200,000 people. McDonald’s operates two types of restaurants – company-owned and franchised restaurants with about 93% of restaurants belonging to the latter category (Annual Report, 2021) McDonald’s had disappointing financial results in 2014 with a sales growth of only 1% and a decline of operating income of 8%. Steve Easterbrook, McDonald’s Chief Brand Officer was promoted as the new CEO and President effective from March 1, 2015 to turn around the business. The list of major changes introduced by Steve Easterbrook includes reducing the use of antibiotics in chicken and massively restructuring the corporation, along with introducing changes in the menu. The turnaround efforts of the new CEO Steve Easterbrook proved to be effective with the company shares hitting record by the third quarter of 2015. However, Mr. Easterbrook was fired in 2019 due to breaching McDonald’s employee code of conduct through engaging in consent sexual relationship with female employees. New President and CEO Mr. Chris Kempczinski has proved to be effective so far, with McDonald’s emerging from COVID-19 pandemic stronger than before. In 2021, global comparable sales increased 17.0%, primarily due to strong sales performance across all segments from continued execution of the Accelerating the Arches strategy, as well as recovery from the impact of COVID-19 in the prior year. In 2021 consolidated revenues increased 21% (18% in constant currencies) to USD23.2 billion. At the same time, the fast food giant has certain weaknesses as well. These include the menu still consisting of primarily unhealthy food and the declining brand image of McDonald’s. Furthermore, the fast food chain has very high employee turnover and the company has attracted increasing negative publicity in the past few years. McDonald’s Corporation Report…
Square Inc. is a global financial services and digital payments company based in San Francisco, USA. Founded by co-founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey in 2009, the company started with selling card readers that enabled small businesses to accept credit cards. Since that time Square has evolved into an international financial services and mobile payments platform providing an ecosystem of integrated products and services. In 2019 Square processed USD106.2 billion of Gross Payment Volume (GPV), which was generated by nearly 2.3 billion card payments from 407 million payment cards. At the end of 2019, Square point of sale ecosystem had over 180 million buyer profiles and approximately 230 million items were listed on Square by sellers. The financial unicorn generated net income of USD375.4 million in 2019, employing 3,875 people full-time. Square business strategy is based on simplification of financial transactions and the company has developed an expanding ecosystem of products and services. The finance sector disruptor has certain business advantages such as the first mover advantage and strong leadership by CEO Jack Dorsey. At the same time, there are certain weaknesses associated with Square. These include lack of global presence, high employee turnover and dependence on payment cards networks. The payments company faces a set of potential threats as well such as increasing complexity of the business, cyberattacks and emergence of new competitors. Leadership style at Square can be classified as purpose-driven leadership and the payments company has a purpose to make it easier for everyone to participate in the economy. Furthermore, Square leadership appreciates teamwork and focuses on benefiting from team effort to a great extent. Square Inc. Report contains the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, Value Chain analysis, Ansoff Matrix and McKinsey 7S…
Founded in Illinois, US in 1928, W.W. Grainger Inc. is a B2B distributor of maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) products and services. The global industrial supply company has more than 3,5 million customers and about 25000 employees worldwide. (Fact Book, 2020). The global MRO products distributor works with approximately 5000 suppliers internationally. In 2019 Grainger generated revenues of USD 11,2 billion, 3% increase compared to the previous year (Annual Report, 2019). Grainger pursues differentiation business strategy. Specifically, the B2B distributor differentiates on the basis of products, offering the widest range of MRO product categories. Grainger’s use of differentiation business strategy also extends to differentiated sales and services. The company delivers its products with high level of speed and convenience and employs highly qualified sales representatives with deep technical knowledge. Grainger has hierarchical organizational structure and its organizational culture is based on diversity and inclusiveness and value for technology and innovation. Moreover, focus on teamwork can be highlighted as one of integral components of Grainger organizational culture. Business development strategy for the B2B distributor integrates market penetration, product development and market development strategies. The industrial products distributor immensely benefits from the economies of scale and the company has an extensive experience and knowledge in selling MRO products. At the same time, Grainger has certain weaknesses that can have negative implications on long-term growth prospects of the business. High level of indebtness is a major issue for the company and as of December 2019, Grainger’s consolidated debts amounted to USD 2,4 billion. Moreover, with total 72% of revenues generated in the US in 2019 (Fact Book 2020), the B2B distributor is over-dependent on the home market in the US. W.W. Grainger Inc. Report contains the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces,…
Amazon.com Inc. was founded in 1994 in Washington and Amazon.com as a website became first active in July 1995 to become the largest online retailer in the world to offer Earth’s Biggest Selection in less than two decades. The e-commerce and cloud computing company generated revenues of USD 386 billion and earned a net income of USD 21.3 billion in 2020 alone (Annual Report, 2020) The e-commerce giant employs approximately 1,3 million full-time and part-time employees referred to as Amazonians (Annual Report, 2020). Amazon has declared its adherence to four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence and long-term thinking. These principles represent sources of Amazon’s competitive advantage. Amazon business strategy is a hybrid of cost leadership and business diversification. The online retailer also benefits from encouraging communication between various elements within its ecosystem and promotion of its leadership principles consisting of 16 points discussed in this report. The founder and former CEO Jeff Bezos prefers to base business strategy on things that do not change. Specifically, consumers will always want low prices, variety and speedy delivery of their orders. Amazon focuses on these facts via effective integration of information technology into various business processes. Combination of pragmatist, visionary and autocratic leadership styles are exercised at various levels at Amazon. The company has a hierarchical organizational structure. Nevertheless, it remains highly flexible to adapt to frequent changes in the external marketplace. Amazon organizational culture, on the other hand, is based on the principles of high level of cost-consciousness, constant reinvention and improvement of organizational culture and customer obsession. Major weaknesses associated with Amazon include seasonality of the business, low profit margins and lack of focus on specific product or service categories. Moreover, a weak competitive position of Amazon’s Fire Phone and damage to…
Airbnb Inc. is a global hospitality service brokerage company. It is an online marketplace for peer-to-peer lodging, as well as, tourism and experiences services. Founded in 2008 in San Francisco, USA, Airbnb has become a lodging colossus and travel industry disruptor with more than 6 million listings in more than 191 countries and regions worldwide. There are about 100000 cities with Airbnb listings and 500 million Airbnb guest arrivals all-time. Moreover, more than 2 million people on average stay on Airbnb each night and there are more than 30000 Airbnb experiences worldwide. The company employs about 5000 employees worldwide. Airbnb’s business has doubled almost every year of its existence. It became profitable in 2017, with a profit of USD93 million on revenue of USD2.6 billion. This is a stark contrast from heavily loss-making sharing companies such as Uber and Lyft. It is estimated that in 2018 Airbnb surpassed the performance of the previous year and by 2020, its revenue is projected to be as much as USD8.5 billion. The peer-to-peer lodging company is valued at about USD 31 billion. The company’s mission is to create a world where anyone can belong anywhere, providing healthy travel that is local, authentic, diverse, inclusive and sustainable. Airbnb business strategy effectively contributes to this mission. Airbnb business strategy is associated with platform business model and accordingly, instead of owning the services it offers, the company engages as a broker between suppliers and consumers, receiving a commission of 9% to 15%. Moreover, increasing level of technological integration into various aspects of the business can be specified as one of the critical features of Airbnb business strategy. The global hospitality service brokerage company also places its community and trust among organizational stakeholders at the forefront of its business strategy. The travel industry disruptor has certain weaknesses…
Established in 1977 in California, Apple Inc. is a global designer, manufacturer and marketer of mobile communication and media devices, personal computers, and portable digital music players. Apple is the largest IT company in the world by revenue and total assets and the second-largest mobile phone manufacturer. The company also sells a variety of related software, services, accessories, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. Apple’s ability to design and develop its own operating systems, hardware, application software and services to provide its customers products and solutions with innovative design is placed at the core of its business strategy. As of September 2020, Apple had approximately 147,000 full-time equivalent employees. The net sales of the world’s largest IT company by revenue increased 6% or USD14.3 billion during 2020 compared to 2019. Higher net sales in Services and Wearables, Home and Accessories categories played an instrumental role in achieving such a growth (Annual Report, 2020). Apple business strategy comprises focusing on design and capabilities of products and ever-strengthening the company’s ecosystem. The first company ever to be valued at USD1 trillion purposefully cultivates a reputation for not paying dividends to investors. In short-to-medium term perspective, Apple is working towards decreasing dependence of the business on the sales of iPhones. Leadership style at Apple is known to be democratic. CEO Tim Cook practices ‘quiet leadership’ and he is widely recognized as an effective leader. At the same time, a number of industry watchers and analysts criticize Tim Cook for the lack of innovative genius his predecessor legendary Steve Jobs used to possess. Apple has hierarchical organizational structure. Moreover, the company’s organizational structure also integrates product-based grouping with a focus on collaboration between different groups and divisions. Organizational culture of the multinational technology company, on the other hand, fosters creativity and innovativeness…
Microsoft Corporation is a US-based global technology company with headquarters in Richmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, Microsoft’s mission is ‘to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more’. Microsoft employs more than 130 000 people internationally. During the fiscal year 2018 the tech giant generated USD 110.4 billion in revenue and USD 35.1 billion in operating income. Microsoft produces a wide range of products and services related to productivity and business processes and to support digital work and life of customers. Some of its products and services have become highly popular in the global scale. For example, more than 135 million people use Office 365 commercial every month and Outlook Mobile is installed into more than 100 million iOS and Android devices worldwide. Similarly, Microsoft Teams is used by more than 300 organizations worldwide, including 87 of the Fortune 100 and nowadays there are nearly 700 million devices around the world with active Windows 10. In 2014, Satya Nadella replaced Steve Ballmer as CEO of Microsoft. Since taking over the top job, Nadella has focused on ‘humanising’ the company by improving its organizational culture and he also enhanced the coordination of efforts across the departments and groups of the company. Microsoft business strategy can be classified as product differentiation. The company develops advanced technological products and services and sells them for premium costs. Moreover, Microsoft business strategy is currently focused on “cloud-first, mobile-first”, growth through mergers and acquisitions and exploring business opportunities related to augmented and virtual reality. Recently, the multinational technology company has also included ‘tech intensity’ as one of the important pillars of its business strategy Microsoft Corporation Report contains the application of the major analytical strategic frameworks in business studies such as SWOT, PESTEL, Porter’s Five Forces, Value Chain analysis, Ansoff Matrix and…