7-Eleven is the world’s largest operator of convenience stores and enjoys a high profile on the eastern seaboard of Australia. The recent acquisition by 7-Eleven Australia of the Quix/Mobil branded stores strengthens the company’s position against the growing incursion of Australia’s two retail giants, Coles (Wesfarmers) and Woolworths, into the fuel and convenience retail sector.

One way to introduce this topic may be to present examples of logos of the different retail brands operating in this sector and have students outline where these outlets are situated locally. This can lead to the development of a suburb/regional map of these retail convenience outlets, including those offering fuel and non-fuel.

In groups students could visit these sites and prepare a basic audit of the retail products and services on offer and could ask to interview owners about the history of the store at this site.

If this is the first time you have used a case study based on 7-Eleven Australia, you could use the basic information available on their website to discuss these points of interest with students.  You might want to have students research these issues and then report back to the class.

·    Country of origin

·    Year established

·    Countries of operation

·    Number of outlets

·    Global revenue/profit/employees if available

·    Year established in Australia

·    Domestic reach and number of outlets

·    Industry of operation

·    Domestic revenue/profit/employees if available

·    Comparison to competitors

·    History of the Slurpee

·    Sales information for the Slurpee

·    Media releases related to the acquisition

You should also access the other two case studies on 7-Eleven Australia, 7-Eleven: Revitalising the Slurpee brand andespecially7-Eleven: Managing a franchise-based business.

This case study essentially comprises 3 parts in respect to a teaching approach.

1.       A discussion of the company’s operations in Australia including an outline of 7-Eleven Australia’s acquisition.

2.       An investigation into the change management process used by 7-Eleven Australia to manage the acquisition.

3.       A description of the progress and outcomes associated with the acquisition with some evaluation using KPIs.

1. Give enough background to explain the operations of 7-Eleven Australia, including the distinction between the responsibilities associated with the company’s operations and the operation of the franchisee-owned stores.  You should use other examples of mergers and acquisitions to illustrate the role of the ACCC in approving corporate takeovers.

2. Introduce a SWOT diagram and have students perform a SWOT analysis on 7-Eleven and other competitors and/or local stores.  Discuss market power and highlight the changing nature of this market sector and the impact on small independent operators. Be sure to clearly explain the benefits and costs associated with a program of expansion through acquisition.

3. Introduce change management processes including Kotter’s 8-step process.  Explain that all processes have three distinct phases and relate this generally to 7-Eleven Australia’s acquisition.  Develop a flowchart or other visual aid to illustrate how 7-Eleven Australia managed the process of acquisition, including key time-based milestones.  Apply the theoretical use of change management processes to 7-Eleven’s Australia’s acquisition.  Introduce issues surrounding resistance to change as well as strategies to deal with resistance in key stakeholders.

Try to match Kotter’s 8-step process to the generic 3-phase process, by using examples of evidence from 7-Eleven Australia’s acquisition.  Consider getting students to undertake an updated SWOT analysis so as to demonstrate how 7-Eleven Australia is progressing in respect to the integration phase of the change.

You should also consider investigating factors commonly driving resistance to change as well as processes that can be used to manage resistance.  These can be applied to 7-Eleven Australia’s acquisition as well.

Change management is an ongoing process which needs to be monitored and evaluated.  It is vital that the class develops key performance indicators that can be used to assess 7-Eleven Australia’s progress generally, and specifically in respect to the store conversion process.  Try to find a local store example pre-conversion and compare this to a store post-conversion; or perhaps contact 7-Eleven Australia to find images of these.

Students should be encouraged to investigate the stages of strategic planning by applying the steps and strategies used by 7-Eleven Australia to manage this acquisition process.  Although this case study doesn’t overtly emphasise the notion of a strategic plan it does, however, inform students of examples of a strategic plan in action. 

You should investigate the previous case study, 7-Eleven: Managing a franchise-based business, to provide background as to how the 7-Eleven Australia operations system will help support new franchisees in the converted stores.

Students can once again be prompted to perform a SWOT analysis to report on the progress of conversion.  Also bear in mind that this conversion is an ongoing process which may not yet be finished.  Given this you should, wherever possible, try to find out information from 7-Eleven Australia related to progress of the conversion process.  This information might be made available through ongoing media releases on the company’s website.