Strategy Essay

Developing a Strategic Plan Essay
Developing a Strategic Plan
I. LOOKING AHEAD: PREVIEWING THE CONCEPTS
The hard task of selecting an overall company strategy for long–run survival and growth is called
strategic planning.
II. STRATEGIC PLANNING
Each company must find the game plan that makes the most sense given its specific situation,
opportunities, objectives, and resources.
Strategic planning: The process of developing and maintaining a strategic fit between the
organization's goal and capabilities and its changing marketing opportunities. It involves defining a
clear company mission, setting supporting objectives, designing a sound business portfolio, and
coordinating functional strategies.
Strategic planning sets the stage for the rest of the planning in the...show more content...
(2) it must shape the future portfolio by developing strategies for growth and downsizing.
1. Analyze the current business portfolio
The major activity in strategic planning in business Portfolio analysis: A tool by which management
identifies and evaluates the various businesses making up the company.
Management's first step is to identify the key businesses making up the company. These can be
called a Strategic business unit (SBU): A unit of the company that has a separate mission and
objectives and that can be planned independently from other company businesses. The next step in
business portfolio analysis calls for management to asses the attractiveness of its various SBU's and
decides how much support each deserves.
a. The Boston Consulting Group Approach
Growth–share matrix: A portfolio–planning method that evaluates a company's strategic business
units in terms of their market growth rate and relative market share. SBUs are classified as stars,
cash cows, question marks, or dogs.
Stars: SBU's placed in this cell are highly attractive because the industry in which they are located is
robust and the business has a strong competitive position in the industry. Stars generate large
amounts of cash, but also require heavy investment to continue to grow and to maintain competitive

positioning. Net cash flow is usually modest. Cash cows: These SBU's are the
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Essay on What Is Strategy
Record: 1
Title:
What Is Strategy? Authors: Porter, Michael E.1 Source: Harvard Business Review; Nov/Dec96, Vol.
74 Issue 6, p61–78, 18p, 1 Black and White Photograph, 3 Diagrams, 1 Graph
Document Type: Article
Subject Terms: *STRATEGIC planning *ORGANIZATIONAL effectiveness *MARKETpositioning
*COMPETITION *BUSINESS planning *INDUSTRIAL management *ORGANIZATIONAL
change *PERFORMANCE –– Management *BUSINESS models *BUSINESS enterprises
Abstract : : Today's dynamic...show more content...
According to the new dogma, rivals can quickly copy any market position, and competitive
advantage is, at best, temporary.
But those beliefs are dangerous half–truths, and they are leading more and more companies down the
path of mutually destructive competition. True, some barriers to competition are falling as
regulation eases and markets become global. True, companies have properly invested energy in
becoming leaner and more nimble. In many industries, however, what some call hyper–competition
is a self–inflicted wound, not the inevitable outcome of a changing paradigm of competition.
The root of the problem is the failure to distinguish between operational effectiveness and strategy.
The quest for productivity, quality, and speed has spawned a remarkable number of management
tools and techniques: total quality management, `benchmarking, time–based competition,
outsourcing, partnering, reengineering, change management. Although the resulting operational
improvements have often been dramatic, many companies have been frustrated by their inability to
translate those gains into sustainable profitability. And bit by bit, almost imperceptibly, management
tools have taken the place of strategy. As managers push to improve on all fronts, they move farther
away from viable competitive positions.
Operational Effectiveness: Necessary but Not Sufficient
Operational effectiveness and strategy are both

Essay on Decision Making Strategies
Strategic thinking is an essential leadership skill. Our learning team has learned to consider our
current decision–making strategies, and examine our options for choosing the best strategy for any
situation be it one–sided, compromise, collaboration and deciding–by–majority rule.
As a learning team we will identify any problem someone on the team may have such as being shy,
not very talkative and hesitate about having to stand in front of the class while presenting our
presentation. Being part of a well functioning learning team identifying the problem(s) and wanting
to do something about it is the first step.
Analyze all parts of the situation to figure out what is stopping a team member(s) from getting what
the team need to solve the...show more content...
This step helps you to think about the risks involved with making a decision. No matter what you try,
there is going to be some uncertainty involved.
Choose the solution that the entire learning team likes the most and try it.
Review the results. Think about what happens. Brainstorming usually works best with a group.
The purpose of brainstorming is to let everyone voice their opinions and say what is on their mind
to better identify possible solutions to a problem. When working in learning team especially a team
where everyone may or may not be working together for the first time. It is important not to make
any judgments about an idea. You want to encourage everyone to get involved no matter how far out
his or her idea seems. No put–downs. Let every team member participate. It is important not to
belittle any ideas that may be presented. Someone should write down all the ideas. Don't leave any
ideas out, no matter how crazy they seem. Keep your mind open to all ideas, both your own and
others.
When the team has tried all ideas, crazy, outlandish, and otherwise, we make a rough draft and
finally evaluate what ideas are real possibilities and what ones should be dismissed. As we narrow
down the ideas, we will consider how an idea might be seen and understood in another way that
might be useful. Eventually, we want to end up with a great number of solutions, something like 3 to
5 of them.
It might be the case that we can even mix and

Marketing Strategies Essay example
Price, product, place and promotion, the four Ps of marketing, are fundamental for successful
marketing communication. One of its goals is building and reinforcing relationships with clientele,
retailers and other people who the company markets their products to. But the main objective is to
reach a target market and affect their behavior through informing, convincing and reminding. They
must reach out to new consumers and persuade then them to purchase their product, while at the
same time they must preserve their current customers. But the no matter how good the promotion, it
can never substitute for quality, enormously high prices or inadequate retail distrabution....show more
content...
(http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/48/04713472/0471347248.pdf)
Environmental scanning, understanding the businesses target market and examining the external
environment, also, is integral to determine business opportunities and threats. To remain in existence,
a business must be prepared to change their business strategies. This external environment includes
market trends and the social, political and economic environment.
(http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/48/04713472/0471347248.pdf)
A product typically has a four stage life cycle, with includes the introduction, the growth, the maturity
and the declining stages of the product. Technology generally has a shorter lifespan. Therefore, new
product must be introduced earlier in the product's life span. (http://www.udel.edu/alex
/chapt12.html#life)
The introductory stage is when a new product is introduced to the market. A new product includes
new models of an item that has already been in the market. During the introductory stage of a
product there is a very high failure rate. It varies from 60%–90%, depending on the trade. (http:/
/www.udel.edu/alex/chapt12.html#life) During this stage the company's marketing objective is to let
the target market know of its existence. Push and pull strategies, with ads and coupons, must be
used. (http://www.learnmarketing.net/promotion.htm)
The product enters the growth stage next. As the product starts to be accepted by the target

Business Strategy Essay
HND in Business and Finance Unit Name: Business Strategy – 7 Assessors: Egya Gyamfi Student:
Sulaiman Adebakin Introduction In this part of the assignment I will be defining and explaining
mission, vision, objective, goals & core competencies, I will also be distinguishing the
difference between each point and the role they play in the operation of a business, I will be
reviewing the issues involved in strategic planning and explain the different planning techniques. 1.1
Explain strategic contexts and terminology – Missions Visions Objectives, Goals, Core competences
About Walkers Walker is a British snack food manufacturer operating in the United Kingdom and
Ireland and to a lesser extent on the European...show more content...
There are many different types of objectives such as long–term and short term objectives. Long–term
objectives focus on the desired performance and results of the organization on an on–going basis. An
example of a long term objective setting out customer service goals by doing this you will be able
to make sure that your organization aims to receive positive customer service feedback. Short–term
objectives are concerned with short–term performance targets that the organisation is working
towards in pursuing its strategies. Short–term objectives tend to last up to six months or a year. Core
competence The core competences of an organisation are the things that the organisation is
particularly good at, that is, the resources, processes and skills which give it a competitive
advantage. It is very important to identify and build on these core competences because they are
what enable them to stand out from other organisations. Apple being one of the most well–known
brands will mean that customers will have high expectations on their products. Apple having
distinctive features on their mobile phones (IPhone) will enable them to have a competitive
advantage on their competitors. A competitive advantage is an advantage over competitors gained
by offering consumers greater value, either by means of lower prices or by providing greater
benefits and service that justifies higher prices. 1.2 Review the issues involved in strategic

Pricing Strategy Essay
Appropriate Price Strategy Price strategy is an essential and most vital element that is involved in
the marketing process. Pricing a product to low would affect the bottom line negatively. On the
other hand if the price of a good or service is too high, then nobody will purchase them. The key is
to research and compare all available pricing strategies and choose which the best one for a particular
situation. Prices have always been the center of human interaction ever since traders have been in
existence. It should come to no surprise that all companies in different industries spend countless
time figuring out how to price their products and services competitively. Examining factors that may
impact the development of our marketing...show more content...
The demand curve is the relationship Demand curve is defined as "the relationship between the
price of the good and the amount or quantity the consumer is willing and able to purchase in a
specified time period, given constant levels of the other determinants," according to the UNO Center
for Economic Education. In other words, you must determine how likely the average customer
within your target market is to purchase your specific product at a given price. This is typically
accomplished through the use of an equation in which quantity = a – (b x price). The calculation of
the cost that is associated with manufacturing and distributing the Eaton tablet in which includes
the cost of labor and overhead in addition to the fixed and variable cost that is included with the
manufacturing of the Eaton tablet. With this an evaluation of external factors which can be
impacted the ability to sell the tablet. Using an analysis such as PEST analysis, which consist of
political, economic, social and technological factors which may impact the organization can be a
tool that may be useful when evaluating these factors. Identifying the pricing objective, and being
specific to the goal of pricing strategy. Choosing either being a premium or an economy price
would simply offer better services at the same price as competitors. With this strategy, being able to
find the appropriate price for the Eaton tablet can be made easy as long as the study of current
trends and

Marketing Plan and Strategy Essay
Marketing Plan and Strategy
1.0 Executive Summary
The proposals that we are going to depose are a planning of continuous action in order to confront
the challenges, which BT confronts. The most important factor is considered to be the fact that the
marketing environment changed rapidly after the deregulation of the telephone industry. Up to then
BT was operating as a monopoly, ignoring the competition and ways to face it.
Our intention is to achieve the already given targets and also prepare BT for an opening to new
horizons. In addition, in order to face the fast changing environment we have to introduce within the
companies activities like cross selling and e–marketing.
A new era is at about to start,...show more content...
The code name we gave to our project is ВЎВҐLow BapВЎВ¦: the sound of boots of an army when
is marching in the battlefield. With this name we compare the business corporations of the present
with the huge armies of the past. In this way, we could consider BT as a big army of the past,
which has to be kept in a continuous march so as to meet our targets both in short and long–term.
Regarding the number of the consumers that are involved and the size of funds, which are going to
be used, BTВЎВ¦s strategy will be an example that may have both a positive or negative effect to
the Global business field in the future. It is up to us to build BTВЎВ¦s fame as an innovative
strategic planner or another bureaucratic plodding giant.
3.0 Situation Analysis.
Before giving our proposals and suggestions, we are going to highlight the key aspects we observed
when we were analysing the current situation. These can be mentioned as the most important factors
that determine our strategy and their presentation will help you to comprehend the status quo as we
estimated it from our own experience.
3.1 Market Summary.
The market in which we are going to be activated is defined from the borders of the UK. However,
Britain is considered to be one of the most developed countries in the world, so it is really difficult
to study examples of other

Strategy as Revolution Essay
Summary of Strategy as a Revolution
By: Hamel Gary
Harvard Business Review, Jul/ Aug96, Vol.74, Issue 4
1. What are the main issues addressed in the article?
Hamel's central thesis is that strategy development must be seen as a revolutionary action within
an organization and goes onto list 10 attributes of such an action. His premise is that revolution is
what is required in an age when incremental change is not enough to secure a position in the
market place. Radical views are what are needed in order to find and establish new marketplaces. He
uses examples such as The Body Shop, Ikea, and Dell.
The attributes for strategy can be summarized as imagination, subversion and power to the people.
Essentially these summarized the...show more content...
They must see what argument is needed and develop their ability to press it. Facilitation means that
they will be able to guide and manage groups as their plan is worked out and put into operation.
Corporate surveillance means they understand the power structure of the company, the depth and
limitations of management, and the management perception of problems such as what it worries
about, what keeps it awake at night, and what it would change once the advantages of change are
explained to them.
3. How is the article relevant to the course and to the subject of strategic management?
Recent developments in existing industries along with trends in nascent disciplines such as
nanotechnology, genetics, and biomechanics indicate that organizations must develop a high
"capacity for change and rapid learning" in order to create a sustainable competitive advantage.In a
global marketplace, organizations must evolve with the changing conditions and develop strategies
that capitalize on emerging opportunities to establish or maintain leadership positions. By examining
the successes and failures of industry giants, forward–thinking executives are likely to recognize the
importance of unleashing the power of innovation and imagination to develop a high degree of
adaptability. With corporate agility emerging as a prerequisite for success, this article attempts to
provide a strategic framework that allows

Strategic Management Essay
Strategic Management
Introduction
To deal effectively with the wide array of factors affecting the ability of a business to grow and
prosper, managers need advanced processes they feel will facilitate the optimal positioning of the
business in its competitive environment. Such positioning is possible with strategic management
because this process improves preparedness for unexpected internal or competitive demands.
Therefore, strategic management is an all–encompassing approach for formulating, implementing
and evaluating managerial decisions in a way that permits the business to reach its objectives.
For a strategic management plan to be successful, however, every manager should:
Clearly see the need for change
Be...show more content...
John, 44–59).
Understandably, organizations with diverse operations due to multiple products, markets or
technologies also tend to use more complex strategic management systems. Despite differences in
detail and degree of formalization, the basic components of the models used to analyze strategic
management operations are very similar.
The strategic management process is based on the belief that businesses should continually monitor
internal and external events so timely changes can be made. To survive, firms must be able to
identify and adapt to change. This involves timely planning, directing, organizing and controlling of
the strategy–related decisions and actions of the firm (Camerer, 195–219).
The strategic management process is sometimes improperly perceived as a unidirectional flow of
objectives, strategies and decision parameters from management to the employees. In fact, the
process should be highly interactive since it is designed to stimulate input from creative, skilled and
knowledgeable people working at every level of the business.
Tools Used in Strategy Development
This section very briefly describes several key tools that can be used during the course of strategy
development and strategic planning. The list is not intended to be comprehensive but to illustrate
the types of tools

Differentiation Strategy
The next option is a broad differentiation strategy providing products or services that offer benefits
different from those of competitors and that are widely valued by buyers. The aim is to achieve
competitive advantage by offering better products or services at the same price or enhancing
margins by pricing slightly higher. Differentiation may be achieved in a number of ways. The
product may incorporate a more innovative design, may be produced using advanced materials or
quality processes, or may be sold and serviced in some special way. Often, customers will pay a
higher price if the product or service offers a distinctive or special value. Differentiation strategies
offer high profitability when the price premium exceeds the costs...show more content...
IKEA and these partners are focusing on improving children's rights and they are promoting
responsible forestry, better cotton cultivation and reduction of CO2 emissions. These also
increase the reputation for IKEA. Innovation You can also attempt to position yourself as the
innovator in your particular market. Strive to be the first to offer new products or services, or
offer creative promotions to attract customers and keep them coming back. Customers may choose
you over your competitors if they expect to see something new and different each time they enter
your establishment, as opposed to the "same old thing" offered by the others. IKEA is having a
product strategy but in order to have a competitive advantage in the market. IKEA could become a
more customer focused company in certain countries. This could help them come with more
customers focused and more innovative products which might result in a higher competitive
advantage in many different new markets they wish to operate in future, or are currently operating
in. For example, Americans prefer to store most of their clothes folded, and Italians like to hang.
The result was a wardrobe that features deeper draws for U.S. customers. * McDonald's understood
that the parent was making the purchasing decision, most likely based only on price. So they put
$0.5 toy in with the hamburger, French fries and Coke. Then they gave it a special name, calling it a
Happy Meal. Then they marketed it to the

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