Essay: How can Richard Baker ensure successful strategy implementation at Hudson’s Bay Company?

Hudson’s Bay Company is the oldest retailer in Canada and has been in business since 1670. While the economy continues to go through changes, HBC has had to keep up with it and add changes to the brand in order to stay successful. The competitive strategies continue to change over time. Hudson’s Bay Company was sold to Zucker and NRDC which changed the competitive business strategy that was previously used. The competitive strategy that HBC is adopting now is from combining both Zucker’s and NRDC’s strategies which have different competitive ideas. This helps HBC to appeal to customers in different groups. While Jerry Zucker had different ideas for the company and wanted HBC to be known for their customer satisfaction and improving the efficiency within the company, NRDC wanted to attract many different customers which was their key strategy. The renewal strategy they used was towards wanting to attract former customers and focus on the intimacy within the customer and brand. HBC introduced the rewards program which contributes to the sales and has the intention of keeping customers loyal. Another business level e- strategy was that HBC added was the implementation of their online website which allows customers to shop on their own time within the comfort of their own home. This lead to reaching new customers as well as increasing their revenue which is why this strategy was kept even after HBC was sold to Zucker and NRDC. Another competitive strategy which was the diversification strategy on the corporate level that HBC implemented after being sold was by adding a VIP suite at a Toronto location, dropped over 60 brands and introduced and sold goods from high- end designers such as Gucci, Armani and Chanel. The most successful business level strategy which is the differentiation strategy was that HBC partnered with the Canadian Olympic Team and are the official clothing outfitter. Fans rushed to buy items from this line which included all types of merchandise such as sweaters, hats and mittens. This strategy was a corporate level strategy and ensured success as the deal is set to last through 2020. This partnership helped HBC’s image as the company seemed patriotic and showed their pride for their roots. The last and also successful competitive strategy HBC introduced was improving their image by purchasing Saks Fifth Avenue which is a very upscale department chain. This competitive strategy was a corporate level strategy which turned out to be very successful for them. Hudson’s Bay Company went through a lot of the years but after being sold to Zucker and NRDC, made great progress through the competitive strategies they implemented on the business and corporate level.
Richard Baker is HBC’s strategic leader and in order to ensure successful strategy implementation, there are a few things he can do with respect to the employees. The first is planning in which it is important to have substance and ensuring that employees participate and understand the goal. Corporate governance is also important as it ensures control over the project and includes monitoring employees throughout the process to guarantee that performance is up to the expectations. Richard Baker needs to make sure that all the strategies are implemented correctly and by working with the employees, need to ensure that strategies that are not good are altered or cancelled. In order to ensure that strategic leadership is provided, Baker needs to continuously inspire employees to improve the strategies for better implementation. The critical tasks Baker needs to provide is to ensure that all the employees know the strategy, act as a teacher towards his employees, thoroughly keep strategic control and maintain a sense of urgency. Another strategy Baker could add in order ensure successful strategy implementation is to do a SWOT analysis with his employees. This sets out the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that face the company. By doing this with the employees, different perspectives can be added and Baker can ensure that employees understand the business plans.
2019-3-19-1552974405