A diversified company Sara Lee has the following four main businesses -- Processed meats, Coffee and Tea, Consumer Products and Bakery Products. The largest business of Sara Lee is the Processed meats business and constitutes about 40% of the overall revenues of the firm. Its brands include Hillshire, Ball Park and Jimmy Dean. Sara Lee is the market leader in the U.S. where the growth rate is approximately 2.5% per year and it makes up 30% of the revenues of Sara Lee. Internationally, the market for processed meats is growing at a higher rate of 5.5%, however, Sara Lee is behind a well known German manufacturer (ABC) who is the market leader. The second largest business within Sara Lee is Coffee and Tea business (30 % of revenues). Sara Lee’s brands in this business include Senseo and Pickwick. The key competitor for Coffee and Tea business is Maxwell House. Maxwell house is the market leader with a 40% market share, while Sara Lee’s coffee and tea business has a 20% market share. This industry has an average annual growth of 3.5 %. Sara Lee also competes in the consumer products (15% of firm revenues). This business has growth rate of less than 2.5 % annually; and Sara Lee is a distant third in terms of market share. Sara Lee’s brands in the consumer products division include Playtex and Wonderbra. Sara Lee’s fourth business is the Bakery business or Grupo Bimbo (15% of the revenues) is in a mature phase the U.S. (1.5 % annual growth rate) and Sara Lee is behind Entemann; Internationally the bakery business has a growth rate of 5% and Sara Lee is a market leader in Europe. The US revenues of Bakery business is 5% of firm revenues.

(a) Construct a BCG matrix for this company. Support your matrix with appropriate facts in a table.

(b) Evaluate the overall strength of the businesses and whether the portfolio is balanced.

3. (C) What strategic changes would you recommend to the top management of Sara Lee based on your analysis of the BCG matrix? Evaluate strategic fits.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

ANSWER a Business Unit US Market Share Growth Rate Competitive Position Processed Meats 30 25 Poor C... View the full answer