Five I’s Strategic Analysis
Lululemon Strategic Analysis
Lululemon’s success has, over the years, been contributed to by its ability to generate quality yoga pants. To increase its effectiveness and control in the market, the firm has opened numerous stores to enable its customers to get their products easily. However, the entity has, over the last five years, faced various complications that have resulted in the reduction of its share price in the market. Additionally, the organization’s competitiveness in the industry also reduced as most of its clients, particularly women, shunned away from its products (Lussier & Sherman, 2014). The company’s critics increased when its chairman Chip Wilson linked the recalling of their brands on a specific population of their clients. Instead of apologizing for his comments on plus-size women, Wilson apologized to the enterprise’s employees for the aftermath of his comments (Bhasin, 2013). As a result, some of the institutions top managers including Christine Day resigned, thus plunging the company into more operational complications (CBS News, 2013). To reduce the intensity of these problems affecting Lululemon, the management should apply the 5 I’s of strategic management that consist of issue identification, interested stakeholders, incentive of stakeholders, information about issues, and interaction approaches.
The first stage of the analysis, identifying the issue, involves the identification of the main factors affecting the organization. Through the identification of the main issue, the firm will be able to develop mechanisms that could help to reduce the implications of these effects. Using this method, the firm would be able to develop an effective plan on how to manage the limited resources and maximize profits. Through this step, the company would be able to evaluate how the comments made by its chairman, Chip Wilson affected the perception of its customers towards the company and their ability to purchase products of the firm (CBS News, 2013).
The second procedure that involves interested strategic shareholders will assist the organization to identify stakeholders that may benefit from any strategic action implemented by the firm. Considering the scope of the problem, it affected different people in the company including suppliers, creditors, employees, and customers. Most of these groups were negatively affected by the chairman’s sentiments and would, therefore, benefit from any image reconstruction policy adopted by the management.
The third step, incentive of stakeholders, primarily involves developing mechanisms that would help in restoring the functioning of the institution (Lussier & Sherman, 2014). It involves investigating the legitimacy of the alleged claims, assessing the urgency to solve them, and the powers of the affected stakeholders in the market. Additionally, it enables the management of the company to identify some of the actions that may be taken by the affected population (Lussier & Sherman, 2014). Therefore, Lululemon should identify incentives that would help in restoring confidence by using methods, such as proper compensation, prompt payments, offering quality products, and fair pricing of their commodities.
The fourth step, information objectives, is an essential procedure as it helps the organization to gather relevant data that can be used to cure the complications of the firm. However, the enterprise must authenticate the information as well as its sources to avoid using fake information that might increase the complications facing the firm (Lussier & Sherman, 2014). Some of the reliable sources that Lululemon can use include its customers, media, and experts in the market. Lastly, the use of interaction strategies by the company as a strategic analysis technique will primarily help the firm to find a method of re-establishing their operations in the market. The company can use expert testimony and secondary research from third parties including supportive stakeholders as main sources of information that could help in increasing its interactive methods. Additionally, the management can opt to initiate an interactive environment through brainstorming and forecasting the market to help in implementing the best approaches.
References
Bhasin, K. (2013). Lululemon makes painful admission. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/12/lululemon-pr_n_4434580.html
CBS news. (2013). Lululemon founder Chip Wilson issues apology following thigh-rubbing pants comments. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lululemon-founder-chip-wilson-issues-apology-following-thigh-rubbing-pants-comments/
Lussier, R. N., & Sherman, H. (2014). Business, society, and government essentials: An applied ethics approach. Long Grove, Illinois: Waveland PressInc.