Staples: Situational Analysis

Issues: Staples initially faced issues with locating real estate to open its stores in area that could sell their products to. The FTC investigation of merger between Staples and Office Max.

Situational Analysis:

External Analysis:

Pest analysis of Staples concluded that the political involvement with the attempts of merger between Office max and Staples was halted because of the FTC involvement. There have also been economic issues with banks being hesitant to lend to people because of the state of the economy and consumer confidence is low. Socially there has been a widespread adoption of internet based companies that can offer office supplies at lower cost. Technology is constantly changing and stores are moving away from catalogs to items being purchased via the internet, and databases are becoming more prevalent in use than calling an order in. Please see attached figure regarding Porter’s Five Forces.

Internal Analysis:

Staples has a sustained competitive advantage over others. They entered the industry wanting to provide a way for businesses to get all of their office needs at a lower cost. Staples has increased their sales over time and remained to stay ahead of their competition. They have expanded into new marketplaces and once they entered smaller areas their business increased even more. Staples follows are differentiated pricing strategy that is evident in more mature industries.

Key Industry Success Factors:

Firms that are in this industry focus on operational efficiency, customer support and service, and being a leader in the products that they are selling. Staples focuses on social responsibility where they are focusing on differential advantage so this makes them different than the other companies in their industry.

Strategies: