2. Business Strategy 2
Introduction
A person without legs cannot walk; same way business without strategies cannot
grow. Good strategies help business people to cover long distances in short period of time
like Usain Bolt of Jamaica covers 100 meters under 10 seconds. In the absence of strategies
business will run like a person without legs. Strategic planning is essential for all the
businesses, irrespective of small or big, to achieve their long term goals. Strategic
management is a managerial activity of setting objective and Tactics for achieving long term
business goals. It provides proper direction to the enterprise.
Any actions or set of decisions designed to achieve the objectives of a company can
be referred as the strategies of that company (Robinson, 2009, p.3) Successful strategies of
one company need not be successful for another company. Successful strategies in one
market need not be successful in another market even for the same product and the company.
Strategies need to be formulated based on the nature of the product and the nature of the
market. This paper briefly explains the importance of strategies for a business.
Importance of Business Strategy
American business tycoon Parker Pen Company has earlier tried to market their
products globally using the same marketing strategies they successfully used in America.
They thought for same product, same marketing strategies are required everywhere. They
failed to understand the fact that ‘product is the same but the market is different’ in different
places. “The idea of selling pens the same way everywhere did not sit well with many parker
subsidiaries and distributors. Pens were indeed the same, but markets, were different”
(Marketing across cultures, n. d, p.195). Market is different socially, politically and
economically, and based on these differences the buying habits of the consumers are also
3. Business Strategy 3
different. In short, Parker Pen Company failed to formulate right strategies for each market
and failed miserably in their effort to exploit the global market opportunities opened by
globalization.
“From day one onwards, business strategic planning is crucial to your business’s
growth and success, and without an eye to the long term, it would be impossible to increase
the size and stature of your business” (Daud, 2010). Everything is undergoing changes in the
current world and business concepts are also not an exception. Yesterday’s successful
strategies may not be successful today; today’s successful strategies need not be successful
tomorrow. For example, earlier, marketing people adopted all tactics to capture business. But
now they realized that such blind tactics may not last long and for achieving long term goals
it is necessary to establish relationships with their customers. Globalization has opened many
opportunities for organization for international business. Earlier, companies were mainly
focussed on formulating strategies for their country of operation. But outsourcing and
offshoring are common business strategies adopted by big organizations and hence their
strategies must aim at the overseas countries also.
Competitive business strategies are essential for the current business world. Instead of
attacking the strong points of the competitors, modern entrepreneurs are focussing on
attacking the weakness of their competitors (Kotelnikov, 2001). Many entrepreneurs earlier
focussed on attacking the strong points of their competitors and failed miserably. The current
business people have realized that instead of attacking the strong points, it is better to catch
the weak points. Thus business strategies are changing day by day based on the
advancements in science and technology and changing life styles and consumer behaviours.
The introduction of computer and internet has rewritten most of the conventional
business strategies. Online business is one of the rapidly growing business segments at
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present. Entrepreneurs have realised that their conventional means of advertisements have
limitations in reaching out all the potential consumers and internet provides an opportunity to
implement custom made strategies for each customers. Thus business strategies are changing
and entrepreneurs are making every effort and spending much for innovating strategies along
with new products.
Conclusions
Strategic management is the core of any business for which help the entrepreneur to
achieve his long term goals. Current Businesses are working on strategies rather than
resources. A business group rich in resources and poor in strategies may not go places
whereas a business rich in strategies and less in resources may excel. In short, strategies are
the backbone of any business.
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References
1. Kotelnikov Vadim, 2001, Business Strategy Tactics to Beat Your Competition,
Retrieved on 16 January 2010 from
http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/business_strategy.html
2. Daud Naz, 2010, The Importance of Business Strategy Planning, Retrieved on 16
January 2010 from http://www.articlesphere.com/Article/The-Importance-of-
Business-Strategy-Planning/156896
3. Marketing across cultures,(n. d) Retrieved on 16 January 2010 from
http://www.sam.sdu.dk/undervis/90434.E04/Spoergsmaal_til_Case_Tekst_Par
ker_Pen.pdf
4. Robinson Pearce, 2009, Strategic management, The McGraw−Hill Companies, 2009
6. Business Strategy 5
References
1. Kotelnikov Vadim, 2001, Business Strategy Tactics to Beat Your Competition,
Retrieved on 16 January 2010 from
http://www.1000ventures.com/business_guide/business_strategy.html
2. Daud Naz, 2010, The Importance of Business Strategy Planning, Retrieved on 16
January 2010 from http://www.articlesphere.com/Article/The-Importance-of-
Business-Strategy-Planning/156896
3. Marketing across cultures,(n. d) Retrieved on 16 January 2010 from
http://www.sam.sdu.dk/undervis/90434.E04/Spoergsmaal_til_Case_Tekst_Par
ker_Pen.pdf
4. Robinson Pearce, 2009, Strategic management, The McGraw−Hill Companies, 2009