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Chapter 6 strategy formulation: business strategy
Business Strategy Definition by Michael E. Porter
Chapter 6 strategy formulation: business strategy
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Recommended: Chapter 6 strategy formulation: business strategy
How Business Strategy and Choices should be made
Business policies refer to the guidelines which are developed by an organization in order to govern its actions/operations. They help in defining the limits within which decisions can be made in accordance with Management Study Guide, (n.d). On the other hand, business strategy refers to a long term plan of action/s designed to achieve a certain goal or set of goals or even objectives (Rapid Business Intelligent Success, RBIS (n.d). The policies and strategies should be made in line with guiding principles.
In business sphere, a business policy should be specific or definite. Making policy choices that are uncertain would imply that implementation would be difficult. Additionally, a business policy should be reliable so that it can be followed by the rank-and-file staff. A reliable policy gives no room for misunderstandings. Furthermore, always choose a clear policy. Ambiguity in the policy can also result in misunderstanding. When choosing a business policy, it should be as appropriate as possible. It should be in line with the present organizational goal/s. what this implies is that a policy is supposed to be simple. However, the simplicity of a policy should be accompanied with comprehensiveness and flexible in operation- it should be wide in scope to enable the line managers use them routinely. When all the above is achieved, then it means that the policy is stable and guiding in itself.
On the other hand, a business has to make strategic choices. In doing so, it must consider several things. For instance, the broad aspirations for the organization and the goals for measuring progress should be a guiding principle. For instance, Corning Incorporated’s aspiration was to become ...
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...ate and Jaime (2009) Digital Divide Data retrieved from UoPeople website at http://my.uopeople.org/pluginfile.php/59003/mod_page/content/6/DigitalDivideData.pdf
Jonathan and Paul (2009) Compsis at a Crossroads retrieved from UoPeople website at http://my.uopeople.org/pluginfile.php/59003/mod_page/content/6/CompsisCrossroads.pdf
Management Study Guide (n.d) Business Policy - Definition and Features retrieved from http://managementstudyguide.com/business-policy.htm
Rebecca, Henderson and Cate (2009) Corning Incorporated: The Growth and Strategy Council retrieved from UoPeople website at http://my.uopeople.org/pluginfile.php/59003/mod_page/content/6/GrowthStrategyCouncil.pdf
RBIS (n.d) A Definition of Business Strategy retrieved from http://www.rapid-business-intelligence-success.com/definition-of-business-strategy.html
Innovation
Diversification
Having committees
Both, vision and mission statements provide purpose to organizations. Therefore, they should set the foundation for the strategic planning process. However, if and organizations strategic direction evolves, leaders should consider revising the organization’s mission and vision
However, RLK’s competitors are downsizing and outsourcing R&D and exploiting on the cost advantages. If RLK decides to invest more money into R&D and should the new product stall on launch, they face the danger of becoming bankrupt.
New businesses will take longer to thrive with the United States falling economy. The faltering job market and the deepening slump in housing threaten to hurt consumer spending. Consumers are becoming more conscious of their spending and therefore using cash to pay for smaller necessary purchases. The cost of entertainment and other presumed luxuries may be pushed to the background by most families, when having to choose whether to pay for a bill or treat the family out. Thriving businesses will understand the need to provide a service or product at affordable prices.
Once an organization develops a mission statement, the next step in strategic planning is to align the company’s goals. The goals for a business should reflect the vision and mission of an organization, as well as assist in achieving the overall purpose of the company. Establishing organizational goals promotes the business’ mission and specifies the focus in which staff members should implement in day to day operations.
Two organizations that show the importance of aligning a company’s business strategy with their IT strategy are Cirque du Soleil and Major League Baseball. Both of these organizations rely on digital technology to make it easier to provide to their customers better entertainment through collaboration.
Most of the common activities in our daily life present an opportunity to negotiate, whether or not we realise it. Meta-reflecting upon my negotiation experiences during the class and other activities have led me to identify few common themes. In this assignment, the two themes I will be discussing are (1) the importance of being clear on the strategic intent and big picture thinking, and (2) the importance of managing the negotiation process through understanding the various phases and visualising negotiation as a train journey.
IMAX has a very distinct and successful strategy for their business. It generally involves building revenue through gaining long-term theater system lease and maintenance agreements, film production and distribution, and theater operations. Providing value to the customer and allowing them to experience a movie production like nowhere else is essential within their business level strategy. Aspects of their business, such as rapid technological innovation and image management has allowed IMAX to sustain a competitive advantage using differentiated services and products, rather than by the lowest price. One of IMAX’s key competitive advantages within their strategy is their technology resource capability,
Business strategy is the means by which firm’s plans to achieve its goals and objectives. It can also be termed as organization long-term planning. The strategy covers periods between 3-5 years and sometimes longer. Businesses use two major types of strategy, general or generic and competitive strategies. The overall strategy involves strategies of growth, globalization and retrenchment. The competitive advantage includes low pricing, product and customer differentiation. We will look at the business strategy used by Marks and Spenser (Cole, 1997). The company is a British multinational located at Westminster London and specializes in clothes and luxurious food products.
Murdick, R. G. (2001). Business policy and strategy: An Action Guide. Boca Raton: CRC Press LLC.
In other words, strategic objectives differ from goals/visions in terms of feasibility, practicality, and ultimately implementation. This theme makes its way into essentially every portion of the book, as it is vital to strategy. Often times, strategic planning and strategic thinking is thought to be any action performed by upper management. Rumelt debunks this myth and inserts that these executives are motivating and energizing their employees at best through vague visions and mission statements. Instead, upper-level management should actually focus on opportunities and detail orientated actions to avoid bad strategy. The same logic can be applied to hopeful wishes (over ambitious goals). These goals contain a great deal of uncertainty, as they lack a level of reality and planning. In fact, good strategy should be based off of an educated guess, even if that means you take a stance on an uncertain issue. Rumelt explains, “A new strategy is, in the language of science, a hypothesis, and its implementation is an experiment. As results appear, good leaders learn more about what does and doesn’t work and adjust their strategies accordingly” (Rumelt, 2011, pg. 241). In other words, successful strategists are constantly evaluating and adjusting their original hypothesis to perfect their strategy. This hypothesis allows them to
Strategic Planning for "Doing it for Jesus Bookstore " Strategic planning cause one to be dedicated working towards having a successful business. Being a Christian and having a relationship with God, one day when praying to the Lord about having extremely bad financial problems He spoke to me and said, "As a carpenter I used my hands to work. " God is tired of giving His people visions for businesses that fall through because we do not follow through.
A successful business strategy will identify changes in the external trends in the market place. Plan out what the company’s future direction is. Set out the goals for the management team. It will identify a vision of where the company wants to be in the future. Keep all employees informed of the direction of the company.
A key part of an organizational strategy is to identify market opportunities by finding a niche or a gap in the marketplace that they can pursue to take their company ahead of all their competitors. An organiz...
Before starting any business you should consider its objectives, in order to develop a strategy. It is the strategy that lays out how the objectives will be achieved and determines deadlines for achieving them. If and when the goals are reached the business will be successful.
In order for an organization to increase its value over a period of time it uses what is often referred to as strategic capability. With this process, businesses use competitive strategies to reach targets. (Hartman, n.d.) As competitive strategy goes hand in hand with strategic capabilities, the Business Directory defines competitive strategy as a “long term action-plan that is devised to help a company gain a competitive advantage over its rival.” It goes on to state that these strategies are useful in relation to discrediting another organization’s products or services; as such, they are a main part of advertising campaigns. (Business Directory, n.d.) Laureate Education further explains strategic capabilities as key elements of an organization