Strategic Management: Strategic Audit of Safeway

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Please find attached file.

The annual report, corporate profile, fact book as well as analyst report are too heavy and hence taking time to upload. Please refer to the links in the document, they will guide you there.

This guideline will help you understand the concepts needed for this solution as well as also provide links and inputs towards the answers. You will however need to form your own answers when submitting the assignment.

Company Background

Safeway Inc., together with its subsidiaries, operates as a food and drug retailer in North America. The company operates stores that provide an array of grocery items, food, and general merchandise, as well as features specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral, and pharmacy, as well as coffee shops and fuel centers. It also offers SELECT line of products that include baked goods, sparkling ciders and lemonades, salsas, whole bean coffees, frozen pizzas and entrees, and fresh and dry pastas and sauces, as well as an array of ice creams, hors d'oeuvres, and desserts; O ORGANICS line, which comprises milk, chicken, salads, juices, and entrees; Lucerne line of dairy products; Eating Right line of better-for-you products; Bright Green line of home care products; Total Pet Care line of pet foods and pet care products; and Value Red line of value-priced paper goods.

As of December 31, 2009, Safeway operated approximately 1,725 stores in California, Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Colorado, Arizona, Texas, the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Mid-Atlantic region, as well as British Columbia, Alberta and Manitoba/Saskatchewan. In addition, the company owns and operates GroceryWorks.com Operating Company, LLC, an online grocery channel, doing business under the names Safeway.com, Vons.com, and Genuardis.com; and Blackhawk Network Holdings, Inc., which provides third-party gift cards, prepaid cards, telecom cards, and sports and entertainment cards to North American retailers for sale to retail customers. Additionally, it engages in gift card businesses in the United Kingdom, France, Mexico, and Australia. Further, the company, through a 49% ownership interest in Casa Ley, S.A. de C.V. operates 156 food and general merchandise stores in Western Mexico. The company was formerly known as Safeway Stores, Incorporated and changed its name to Safeway Inc. in February 1990. Safeway was founded in 1915 and is based in Pleasanton, California.

Please refer to the attached file for more information.
1. Safeway fact file.pdf
2. Safeway Corporate information.pdf

Key concept EFAS, IFAS, SFAS

EFAS - External factor analysis summary is a mix of Opportunities and Threats faced by the organization.

IFAS - Internal factor analysis summary is a mix of Strength and Weakness of the organization.

SFAS - Strategic factor analysis summary is a weighted index derived out estimation of the criticality of each of EFAS and IFAS factors. A practical demonstration in the excel sheet will explain this better.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths: Positive tangible and intangible attributes, internal to an organization. They are within the organization's control. Strengths can be defined to include in past/historical accomplishments - history and tradition and also refer to the present - conditions that define an advantageous market position.

The key strengths of SAFEWAY INC (SWY, hence forth) are the number of stores (1700 plus), geographical spread (in the US except pockets in the east coast and in ...