Playing Field, Competition, and Our Organization Procter and Gamble
following the template
(Proctor & Gamble as my Company)
As the Chief Strategy Officer of your company, you have been commissioned to recommend a game-winning move that will allow your company to achieve strong revenue and profit growth and to create a sustainable competitive advantage.
Using the Assignment 1 Template, address the following:
1. Introduction and Playing Field Description: Provide an opening paragraph that explains the purpose of your brief, then detail the specific target segment of the market where you are choosing to compete.
You should ensure the target segment is sufficiently large to achieve your company’s sales and profit growth objectives, but sufficiently focused so that your company can intimately understand market characteristics and compete effectively. The template provided for this assignment guides you on how to organize relevant information, including:
a. Your company
b. The industry for your organization of choice
c. The market size of this industry
d. Specific description of the segment of this industry in which you will compete (the Playing Field)
e. Brief explanation of why you selected this segment.
2. Competitive Analysis: In this section you will identify the two most formidable competitors in your playing field and address the following for each:
a. How big is each competitor in this target segment?
b. What is their most significant strength and their most significant weakness?
c. Briefly explain how this strength and this weakness impact their ability to compete effectively.
d. Does their recent performance indicate they are generally winning or losing in this playing field?
Support your conclusions with data.
e. Has anyone (including new market entrants) introduced any game-changing new
products/technology/capabilities? Have they developed (or lost) a key competitive advantage?
3. Organizational Assessment; In this section you will “turn the mirror around” and look inward to assess
the capabilities and competencies of your chosen organization. Briefly address the following:
a. How big are we in this target segment?
b. What is our most significant strength and our most significant weakness?
c. Briefly explain how this strength and this weakness impact our ability to compete effectively.
d. Do our recent results indicate we are generally winning or losing in this playing field? Supportyour conclusions with data.
e. Have we introduced game-changing new products/technology/capabilities? Have we developed (or lost) a key competitive advantage?
4. Key Conclusions: Provide a succinct conclusion that captures your critical insights about the target segment and the relative competitive balance of the three companies you analyzed.
5. References: Include in-text citations for all data, assertions, and facts, and a corresponding reference list. Appendices are allowable if additional supplemental information is needed for the brief.
Formatting and Submission Requirements
• Use the Assignment 1 Template to complete this assignment. Ensure you address each element of the template.
• The submitted template should be 2 to 3 pages (not including the cover page or appendixes/references page).
• Typed, single-spaced, professional font (size 10 – 12) with one-inch margins on all sides.
• Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, your name, professor’s name, and the course title and date.
• Use and reference at least 3 external sources to support your brief. Include a references page at the end documenting sources and citations.
• You may use additional headings within the template to identify subtopics if this will improve the clarity of your template.
• You are welcome to include charts, tables, and graphs in-text or in an appendix.
• Develop and support your research with facts and in-text citations, appendixes, and references.
First Name, Last Name
Professor’s Name
Course Title
Date
Playing Field, Competition, and Our Organization
TO: Insert name of CEO of selected Company
FROM: Your name
DATE: October 27, 2022
RE: Playing Field, Competition & Our Organization________________________________________
1. Introduction and Playing Field Description
As Procter & Gamble moves towards its sustainability goals and customers continue to demand eco-friendly products, we need to examine ourselves as an organization and determine the playing field and the competitive landscape before executing our strategy. Below is a description of the playing field for our proposed game-changing move, an analysis of two of our top competitors, and an assessment of our company.
a. Company Name and Organization within the company Procter & Gamble Fabric & Home Careb. Industry Household & Personal Products Industryc. Market Size According to a Fortune Business Insights (2021) report, the global market size of the Household and Personal Products Industry was $235.76B last year (Fortune Business Insights, 2021). The report projects a market size of $334.16B by 2029. A different EMR (2021) report documented a $116.73B market size for the global household market in 2020. Thus, the market size has been growing recently (EMR, 2021).
d. Playing Field Eco-friendly fabric and home care products, including soaps, detergents, and air care, for North America, Latin America, and the Asia Pacific market. The market can be expanded to the Middle East and Africa (Fortune Business Insights, 2021).
e. Rationale for Selection Expert Market Research [EMR] (2021) reports a growing demand for “green” home care and fabric products because of the increased consumer awareness of the significance of environmental sustainability. Therefore, the increasing demand promises growth and greater financial rewards for the fabric and home care segment. The report also suggests that the increased income of the consumers increases the purchasing power of these products. (EMR, 2021).
2. Competitive Analysis
Competitor 1: Unilever Group
a. Size The Unilever group is among the top two companies in Global Home Care, with retail outlets in 190 countries, as per 2021 data (Unilever, 2021). Although the market is highly fragmented (competitive) with no dominant players, Unilever often holds the second or third market position. These rankings vary by geographic region, period, and product category (Research and Markets, 2021).
b. Most Significant Strength and Weakness Unilever has a global presence- The organization’s products reach customers through several retail outlets across 190 countries (Unilever, 2021). With its global footprint, the publicity of its various brands has a broader reach. Therefore, the company can boost its sales, increase productivity and impact more lives. Imitable products- The Dove and Rexona brands of Unilever are most affected. As a result, imitation of their brands influences the perceptions and attitudes of the customers toward their products. The imitations lack the quality of their products, thus affecting the performance of specific brands (Kissinger, 2017)
c. Competitive Impact of Strength and Weakness. Unilever’s global reach suggests that the organization can win more customers across regions of the world. More customers mean increased sales, and thus the company can effectively compete in its various divisions. Conversely, imitable products affect customer loyalty and may cause some customers to switch brands. d. Recent Performance Unilever is winning in some areas and losing in others. While its fabric cleaning and enhancers categories thrive, its home and hygiene products are declining (Unilever, 2021).Unilever’s 2021 annual report indicates that Unilever’s Home Care underlying sales grew by 3.9%. The company also reported a growth rate of 5% for fabric cleaners and 2% for fabric enhancers. Much of this growth was in South Asia and Latin America (Unilever, 2022).However, Unilever reported a decrease of €102 million in its underlying operating profit. This decline was because the company could not fully recover from the high input cost inflation by increasing the prices. Moreover, underinvestment in the brand and marketing of these categories because the pandemic necessitated investment in high-demand hygiene products (Unilever, 2022).
e. Major Developments Unilever launched its first paper-based recyclable laundry detergent bottle in June 2021. The pulp paper-based bottle is the company’s strategic move towards environmental sustainability and the existing demand for ‘green’ household products. This development was developed for Unilever’s leading brand (OMO), meant to debut in the European and Brazilian markets this year (Verified Market Research, 2022).
Competitor 2: Church & Dwight Co., Inc.
Size Church & Dwight has diversified from an exclusively U.S. enterprise to a global business over the past twenty years. Today, 18% of the company’s sales are derived from outside the U.S. Although the company does not have as broad global reach as Unilever and P&G, it has subsidiary operations in 7 nations, including China, Australia, Canada, France, U.K, Mexico, and Germany. Its products are distributed in 130 countries (Church & Dwight Co., Inc., 2021).
Most Significant Strength and Weakness The company has a robust and diversified product portfolio consisting of Value (40%) and Premium brands (60%), with safe and effective products contributing to environmen...