Strategic research project overview and methodology

¶ … Pro-Shops, Inc.

The state of Missouri has much to offer tourists of all types, including two world-class zoological parks and an array of lakes, caves and other unspoiled natural resources. Surprisingly, though, the biggest tourist attraction in Missouri is not the zoos or the natural resources, or even Silver Dollar City or the St. Louis Arch. The biggest tourist attraction in Missouri is just a store, but what a store. The Bass Pro-Shop's flagship megastore in Springfield attracts millions of people to its Outdoor World facilities that are filled with representative live specimens of the wildlife that are characteristic of the states in which it operates, as well as featuring a staggering array of sporting goods for every age and taste. This paper provides a review of the relevant peer-reviewed, scholarly and organizational literature concerning Bass Pro-Shop's vision and mission statement and the extent to which the company is following these, an external assessment using Porter's model for a competitive analysis and an evaluation of the organization's market penetration, market development and product development strategies. A SWOT analysis of the organization is followed by recommendations for corporate strategy for Bass Pro-Shop for the next five years of operations. Finally, a summary of the research and important findings are presented in the conclusion.

Review and Analysis

Vision and Mission Statement

The company's vision is to "Bring the great outdoors & #8230; indoors." The company is proud of its mission statement as exemplified by its prominence on its Web site as shown in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1. Bass Pro-Shop Mission Statement

Environmental Analyses

Bass Pro-Shops competes in a highly competitive sporting goods and boating sector, but the enormity of their in-store and online offerings defy easy pigeonholing of their operations into one category or another. Indeed, the company has defined an entirely new commercial category that combines outdoorsy kitsch with authentic (and free!) learning experiences from its in-store museums, aquaria and shooting galleries, as well as the outdoor-brought-indoors feel to their Outdoor World megastore concept. Despite these constraints, Porter's five forces can be used to gain some insights into the environment in which Bass Pro-Shop competes in ways that might otherwise go undiscerned. To this end, Porter's five forces framework is applied to the company's competitive environment below.

Force No. 1: Power of Buyers: Bass Pro-Shops' Outdoor World and other facilities are visited by nearly 80 million customers each year in North America and the company reaches even more through its online offerings.

Force No. 2: Power of Suppliers: Bass Pro-Shop enjoys a number of exclusive contracts with vendors, especially in its fishing tackle and supply lines.

Force No. 3: Threat of Substitution: Although the company features several exclusive lines with an emphasis on high quality merchandise, virtually all of the products and services provided by Bass Pro-Shops in its online offerings can be replicated elsewhere at a lower price; however, it would be challenging if not impossible to replicate the unique atmosphere of its brick-and-mortar operations.

Force No. 4: Threat of Entry: On the one hand, because of its unique blend of educational and entertainment in its Outdoor World format, Bass Pro-Shops enjoys a high degree of immunity from new entrants to the sporting goods and boating sectors. On the other hand, though, the company is highly vulnerable to erosion of its online market share in several categories, except those that may require a touch-and-feel ability to encourage the purchase decision (i.e., a large boat or tent).

Force No. 5: Internal Rivalry: The company is privately held and there was no internal rivalry discerned from the literature review.

Market Penetration, Market Development and Product Development

The company's market penetration in North America consists of 52 retail stores as well as its facility in Canada together with its online offerings (About Bass Pro-Shops, 2012). The company's market and product development remain aggressive and high profile in all of the communities in which it competes (Bass Pro-SWOT analysis, 2012).

SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis helps to identify internal and external factors that affect the company's competitive environment.

Strengths (internal): Because the company is privately held, the company's leadership team enjoys a high degree of flexibility in its decision-making.

Weaknesses (internal): Although the company is technically an "international," Bass Pro-Shops has only launched one retail store in Canada and there is no indication that there are plans for expansion to other countries in the foreseeable future.

Opportunities (external): The company has formed strategic partnerships with police and sheriffs' agencies in a number of the communities in which it has operations in an initiative intended to promote inner-city sports through basketball, soccer and softball teams (Wilson, 2006). These initiatives may help create lifetime customers for this sporting equipment.

Threats (external): The primary threats arrayed against the company today are in its online store where its Website appears stodgy and old-fashioned (perhaps by design), but where the shopping and checkout process need to be streamlined in any event.