Evaluation of Strategic Alternatives in Second Focus Area of The Research Paper

Evaluation of Strategic Alternatives in Second Focus Area of The Limited Brands INC - Research Paper Example Therefore, this present paper will explore appropriate alternatives that Limited Brands Inc can explore in order to eradicate the weaknesses that have been identified and make the company competitive, thus increase its market share, sales, and profitability levels. While evaluating the strategic alternatives that the company can explore, the study will focus on marketing function of the company. Strategic alternatives Considering the weaknesses that have been noted that been noted which include poor brands, lack of efficient resources, inadequate technology, and poor positioning it can be deduced that the strategic alternatives that the company have comprise of rebranding. Rebranding will focus on its beauty products and apparels in order to come up with brands that are competitive within the market place; this is according Burtenshaw et al. (2006). The second strategic alternative is mobilization of funds from shareholders through options such as initial public offering, issuing of bonus shares to the current shareholders, merging with a strategic company or investor who can bring into the company more financial resources as well as strong management skills or borrow additional funds from financial institutions such as banks. The third strategic alternative is acquiring latest technology that can improve the operations within the company, lower operational cost, and improve the quality of customer service (Tench and Yeomans, 2006). It is of essence to state that acquiring latest technology largely depends on the availability of financial resources and therefore, this third strategic alternative is dependent upon the second strategic alternative. The fourth strategic alternative is repositioning Limited Brands Inc within the market so that prospective customers can have a new positive attitude towards the beauty products and apparels of the company; this is according to Smith and Taylor (2004). Under repositioning, the company will engage in aggressive marketin g campaign in order to change consumers’ perception and attitude towards the company as a whole and that they may be able to associate the company with superior beauty products and apparels. Selected alternatives Considering that, the alternatives focus on different areas of operations in Limited Brands Inc it would be impossible to pursue all the strategic alternatives simultaneously because some dependent on the other. For example, the company cannot seek to acquire adequate technology without having adequate financial resources. Furthermore, the company cannot acquire additional resources if it still has poor brands and has a weak position within the market since it will be unable to convince any willing investor or financier that it will offer them good returns. Therefore, the only viable alternatives for Limited Brands Inc are to rebrand its beauty products and apparels, and repositioning itself within the market. According to the writings by Fill (2006), these alternati ves will enable Limited Brands Inc to record more sales, generate more profits, and acquire more market share. By being able to record more sales and higher profits the company can be able to easily acquire more financial resources and advanced technologies. Collectively, these achievements will give the company a competitive advantage within