Research Paper on Value Creation and Competitive Advantage at Roots

Introduction

In the highly competitive environment that Roots Canada operates in, it is essential to actively look for ways that the firm can retain its attractiveness to its existing and potential customers. A major way a business can establish and retain a competitive advantage by focusing on value creation, where clients feel the worth of the products they purchase from the organization, and thus, willing to remain loyal. The ability of the company to stay competitive and able to create value for its customers and shareholders can be linked to its strategic decisions and actions that characterize its understanding of the market.

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Firstly, the underlying ideology behind Roots is the production of high-quality footwear, bags, and apparel. The company started in 1973 with only one shoe product, the inverted heel, which was highly popular, and introduced the firm into the Canadian market. Ever since the company makes some of the most popular leather footwear and bag products. Retaining its ability to produce high-quality products has involved the strategy where the company is involved throughout the production of the raw materials. Such an approach ensures that the organization can control the quality of the raw materials based on the standards that it has set for the respective products from years of experience in the industry. It quality assurance department works closely with the suppliers to ensure that there is a strict adherence to qualities, and hence creating value to the clients.

The second strategy that the company relies on to ensure it creates value for its customers is through research and development. The approach allows Roots to be at the forefront in not only finding new trends but also influencing them. In an industry where the sense of fashion changes from time to time and across age groups, Roots is keen to be in the forefront in the guarantee that clients will always get the trendy bag, show, or a sweatpant that meets their expectations of value and price. To achieve the goal, the company has a well-established and funded creative department whose role is to ensure that Roots offered the trendiest products with the best quality, and reasonable price to the customers.

The other major strategy that has allowed Roots to offer value to its clients is by ensuring that it adheres to its core principles of wellness, health, and environmental protection. In wellness and health, the company offers high-quality sports and fitness products that are highly popular with customers. The focus of the business is to ensure that it offers comfortable and affordable fitness clothes that can serve the whole family. In environmental protection, the company is actively engaged in the whole process of production of its raw materials through its set standards for each item. Roots work closely with its suppliers across the world to ensure that there is humane treatment of animals for leather production as well as ensuring that there is no mistreatment of workers across all its suppliers.

On competitive advantage, the company has undertaken various measures. For instance, to retain price advantage, the company has outsourced some of its production to countries with affordable labor such as China, and this has ensured its high-quality products remain accessible to many of its customers. Furthermore, its continued expansion across Canada, USA, and Asia has ensured the company can achieve economies of scale, and thus able to retain a low price of its items. Its strong identity is also a major competitive advantage over any competitors in its market, especially in Canada. The above strategies have ensured that the business remains competitive even with increased competition from other players in Canada and from across the world.

In the next five years, it is imperative for the company to continue investing more in research and development that will ensure it producers products that resonate with the changing needs of its consumers across time and age groups. With the increased trend towards offshoring, many brands, including Roots, risk losing the strong identity of "Made in Canada" that has propelled them into a great success. Hence, there is a need to ensure that it does not lose its Canadian brand identity by outsourcing many of its products to other countries. The other important aspect of value creation is through involvement in corporate social responsibility programs in Canada and across the world, which will allow the company to continue to be viewed as one that is ready to solve major societal and environmental problems. Investment in new technologies will also play a major role in ensuring that its products costs remain low and hence better pricing, for a sustained competitive advantage.

Conclusion

The approaches that Roots have used to retain competitive advantage and ability to create value for its clients and shareholders revolve around its values and principles. Its commitment to high-quality products has led to major investments in research and development. Further, it is at the forefront of influencing or taking up trends that satisfy the customers. In pricing, its approach to outsourcing some of its activities, as well as adopting economies of scale has worked to its advantage. By proceeding with research and development, more involvement in CSR, and retaining its Canadian brand, Roots will continue to have a competitive advantage for the next five years and more.