Case 16 Sara Lee Corp
Case 16- Sara Lee Corp. in 2011: Has Its Retrenchment Strategy Benefited Shareholders?, Page C243 1. What is Sara Lee’s corporate strategy? How has its retrenchment strategy changed the nature of its business lineup?
Sara lee’s corporate strategy was implementing acquisition strategies. The retrenchment strategy changed the nature of its business lineup from a small wholesale distributor to acquiring retail food business. The business also acquired related and unrelated business. Sara lee corporations was able to transform it into a more tightly focused food, beverage and household products company. Sara Lee is returning to its roots of food service where name recognition is the strongest. 2. What is your assessment of the long-term attractiveness of the industries represented in Sara Lee Corp.’s business portfolio?
The retail, foodservice, and industries represent the most attractive long-term. Sara lee has name recognition in the retail industry. Sales of these products will likely remain high as consumers purchase lunch meats and other foods rather than eating out because of the state of the economy. 3. What is your assessment of Competitive strength of Sara Lee Corp.’s different business units?
The narrowing of focus in the food industry and away from less fitting industries has allowed for value chain match-ups in the form of production technology, shipping logistics and customers. Opportunities for skills transfer, cost sharing and brand sharing include the production of bakery, retail and foodservice goods since many of these are similar or the same products. Producing a large batch of the same product costs less than having to set up and run a separate product line. 4. What does a 9-cell industry attractiveness/business strength matrix displaying Sara Lee’s business units look like?
The 9 cell industry strength matrix shows that there are opportunities for rapid growth and a good potential for winning a much stronger market position
Sara lee’s corporate strategy was implementing acquisition strategies. The retrenchment strategy changed the nature of its business lineup from a small wholesale distributor to acquiring retail food business. The business also acquired related and unrelated business. Sara lee corporations was able to transform it into a more tightly focused food, beverage and household products company. Sara Lee is returning to its roots of food service where name recognition is the strongest. 2. What is your assessment of the long-term attractiveness of the industries represented in Sara Lee Corp.’s business portfolio?
The retail, foodservice, and industries represent the most attractive long-term. Sara lee has name recognition in the retail industry. Sales of these products will likely remain high as consumers purchase lunch meats and other foods rather than eating out because of the state of the economy. 3. What is your assessment of Competitive strength of Sara Lee Corp.’s different business units?
The narrowing of focus in the food industry and away from less fitting industries has allowed for value chain match-ups in the form of production technology, shipping logistics and customers. Opportunities for skills transfer, cost sharing and brand sharing include the production of bakery, retail and foodservice goods since many of these are similar or the same products. Producing a large batch of the same product costs less than having to set up and run a separate product line. 4. What does a 9-cell industry attractiveness/business strength matrix displaying Sara Lee’s business units look like?
The 9 cell industry strength matrix shows that there are opportunities for rapid growth and a good potential for winning a much stronger market position