...9-306-002 REV: JUNE 19, 2006 DAVID A. GARVIN LYNNE C. LEVESQUE Strategic Planning at United Parcel Service We fully recognize that it is not possible to develop a true strategic plan more than a few years out and that business plans should have an even shorter horizon. But we are convinced that it is possible and wise, indeed necessary, to develop a set of very long-range scenarios that can form the foundation for our future strategic plans. — Michael (Mike) J. Eskew, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, United Parcel Service (UPS) As Mike Eskew walked through the long, open atrium of UPS’s corporate headquarters late in March 2005, he thought about his upcoming lunch meeting with Vice President of Corporate Strategy Vern Higberg. Higberg was preparing a presentation for the senior management strategy committee, the Strategy Advisory Group, on improvements to the strategic-planning process. While the company had made major progress in planning for the future over the past 10 years, Eskew had charged Higberg and his colleagues with developing recommendations for moving forward, citing one of his predecessors, who had said, “The future of our company will be no better or worse than the quality of planning we do to prepare for it.” Company Background History In 1907, 19-year-old Jim Casey borrowed $100 from friends to start the small company that eventually became UPS. From its humble origins delivering messages for the city of Seattle, Washington, UPS...
Words: 9641 - Pages: 39
...Summary of the article “In strategy it is important to see distant things as if they were close and to take a distanced view of close things” (Musashi 2009). * This article focuses on trend diagnosis for strategic foresight in its entirety. The author scrutinizes that although trend is an imperative concept in the strategic issue management, the interpretation of trend in strategic foresight is ambiguous. This paper conceptualizes, from a strategic point of view, trend as an innovation (socio-cultural) and elaborate the implications with respect to strategic issue diagnosis. (Liebl 2010) * * * * * The figure above (Liebl 2010) depicts an elaborate framework for conceptualizing trends. The strategic trend diagnosis has to deal with two different aspects of innovation: invention and diffusion. The invention aspect of a trend is identifying “The New” results from a transgression of contextual boundaries whereas the diffusion is a process of normalization (Normality and Abnormality) – i.e., a new socio-cultural practice becomes a social convention and the phenomena of post-normalization may lead to a process of market creation. * * * * Another main point that the article highlights is the strategy formulation based on entrepreneurial framework. The figure above (Liebl 2010) shows the link to the strategic formulation. According to entrepreneurial framework, the formulation of strategy should start from the “worlds of the...
Words: 1427 - Pages: 6
...Friar Tucker International employs an estimate of 1200 staff members and generates revenue in the amount of $300 million. Friar Tucker International has a vision of joining the top ten hospitality providers of service and to serve families through the business of entertainment; basing the service on superior levels of marketing and innovation. The Friar Tucker International mission is to “attract more visitors and customers through food and entertainment facilities and ensure a great family experience” (Friar Tucker International scenario, 2010). Friar Tucker International, Chief Executive Officer, Ricardo Bellini negotiated and accepted many contracts with hotel chains. The contracts resulted in the management of the establishments and the to implement and carry out projects and manage the implementation of numerous projects. Over the previous years, this company has increased its success rate and has felt the results of growth. Many of the business contracts surround managing centers for entertainment, opening bars, setting up pubs, and managing the operations of scores of restaurants in New Jersey, Washington, Richmond and D.C. All the companies are correspondingly within the realm of Friar Tucker International business alignment and close to the strategic planning. Friar Tucker International accepted a couple of...
Words: 2541 - Pages: 11
...GRADUATE BUSINESS SCHOOL FACULTY OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT MGT 790 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Course Outline 2011 Course Prescription Strategic Management is the process and practice of managerial decision making and implementation that seeks to create and maintain competitive advantage. In essence it determines the long term performance of a business and as such is the role of the senior executive members to refine but the responsibility of all to roll out. Included in the process is comprehensive environmental scanning, strategy formulation (strategic planning), strategy implementation, and monitoring. Students in this course will review how the strategic decision makers within an organisation first identify, define and analyse commercial problems and then develop practical and ethical solutions. It provides a practical guide for, and an initial experience in, strategy formulation and strategic management. Class time will be largely spent in lecture, discussion, case studies and experiential exercises. Students will learn from the theoretical literature, instructor, case studies, videos, research presentations, and from each other. The course materials explain and describe the different aspects, challenges, and stages of strategic management simply and clearly. Goals of the Course To examine and understand the nature and role of strategy, strategic management and strategic leadership within an organization. Learning Outcomes 1. To develop skills...
Words: 1985 - Pages: 8
...Overview Strategy: set of related actions that managers take to increase their company’s performance -for most, if not all companies, achieving superior performance relative to rivals is the ultimate challenge -if a company’s strategies result in superior performance, it is said to have a competitive advantage -Ex: Dell’s strategies produced superior performance from mid-1990s until mid-2000s, as a result, Dell enjoyed competitive advantage over its rivals -How did they achieve competitive advantage? -due to successful pursuit of varying strategies: Direct selling, customization and efficient supply chain mgmt. -enabled company to lower cost structure, charge low prices, gain market share, and become more profitable than its rivals -Dell lost competitive advantage in later half of 2000s HP offered bundled products, needed to find ways to sell to intermediaries & Apple differentiation -first step toward achieving objective is to describe in more detail what superior performance/competitive adv mean and to explain pivotal role that managers play in leading strategy-making process Strategic Leadership: creating competitive adv through effective mgmt. of the strategy-making process -strat-making process is the process by which managers select/implement a set of strategies that ain to achieve a competitive adv Strategy Formulation: selecting strategies based on analysis of an org’s external/internal environment Strategy Implementation: putting strategies into...
Words: 4937 - Pages: 20
...individuals capital structure is can borrow at the same rate as corporations. irrelevant No preference for low debt versus high debt; unrealistic assumptions. Allows interest to be deducted, reduces taxes paid by levered firms; debt "shields" some of the firm's cash flow from taxes. The firm's value increases continuously as more and more debt is used. The cost and availability of debt might affect its ability to pursue capital spending programs MM - Corporate Taxes MM - Corporate Taxes & Personal Taxes Tradeoff The Pecking Order Free Cash Flow/Managerial Constraint 40 % Debt Scenario Personal taxes lessen the advantage of corporate debt: corporate taxes favor debt financing since corporations can deduct interest expenses. Personal taxes favor equity financing, since no gain is reported until stock is sold, and long-term gains are taxed at a lower rate. The use of debt 40 % Debt Scenario financing remains advantageous, but benefits are less than under only corporate taxes. Firms should still use 100% debt. Ignores bankruptcy (financial distress) costs, which increase as more leverage is used. At low leverage levels, tax benefits outweigh bankruptcy costs. At high levels, bankruptcy costs outweigh tax benefits. An optimal capital structure exists that balances these costs and benefits. According to Exhibit 6, DuPont will be able to fund about 78% of its 19831987 needs internally from operational cash flows, asset sales, etc...
Words: 1117 - Pages: 5
...founder and year founded, location, product range, competitors, revenues and turnover are written. Then, the importance and impact of the first stages in strategic management process that is strategic analysis towards Body Glove International L.C.C is explained. In strategic analysis, there are three types of evaluation on an organization, namely, general environment, competitive environment and internal environment. General environment explained about the weak signals that the firm must detect before it creates impact towards the company. There are three types of tool to detect the weak signals, namely, pest analysis which focuses more on external factors, swot analysis focuses on its internal and external environment of the organization and scenario planning which is about future prediction. Competitive environment on the other hand emphasizes more to understanding Body Glove competitor’s actions that is supported by Porter’s Five Forces explaining about its relationship with the new entrants, buyers, suppliers, substitute product and services and intensity of rivalry and also strategic groups is used to detect the company competitive position. The third evaluation that is internal environment explained about the situation which can impact...
Words: 6945 - Pages: 28
...MARKETING PROCESSES 1 DEVELOPING MARKETING STRATEGIES AND PLANS • Corporate and division strategic planning All corporate headquarters undertake four planning activities: a. Defining the corporate mission. b. Establishing strategic business units (SBUs). c. Assign resources to each SBU. d. Assessing growth opportunities. 1. Defining the Corporate Mission Key questions to ask: What is our business? Who is the customer? What is of value to the customer? What will our business be? What should our business be? Mission statements are best when guided by a “vision” that provides direction for the company. [pic] Good mission statements have three major characteristics: a. Focused on a limited number of goals. b. Stresses the company’s major policies and values. c. Defines the major competitive spheres within which the company will operate by defining the: o Industry. The range of industries in which a company will operate. Some companies will operate in only one industry; some only in a set of related industries; some only in industrial goods, consumer goods, or services; and some in any industry. o Products and applications. Range of products and applications a company supply. o Competence. The range of technological and other core competencies that a company will master and leverage. o Market-segment. The type of market or customers a company will serve. o Vertical. The number of channel levels from...
Words: 1999 - Pages: 8
...Running Head: Financial Concepts in Guillermo Furniture Store Scenario Financial Concepts in Guillermo Furniture Store Scenario: Discussion and Explanation Writer’s Name Course Name, Semester No, Class Level Supervisor Name August 25, 2009 Abstract Guillermo's Furniture Store Scenario provides the expedient case study for studying the concept of financial principle in the competitive economic environment. The current paper discusses the approach of financial management with correct application of ideas to create value and economic efficiency through analysis of financial transactions to establish the position of Guillermo in market. The Finance Concepts found in the Context of the Scenario Financial principles, financial markets, and business ethics form a foundation for the financial decisions that managers routinely make. Guillermo’s case study shows that the arrival of new competitor from oversees have put unexpected challenges on the financial condition of the company. The principles of finance describe typical behavior in financial transactions and provide guidance for decision making in the case of Guillermo. Competitors have advantage of applying the new technology to produce customized product with precise measurement to meet the demands of customer. Guillermo is also seeing the issue of rise in labor cost due to economic prosperity of the city. Since financial self-interest guides rational decision making, Guillermo has to reestablish its position...
Words: 797 - Pages: 4
...V O LU M E 1 9 | N U M B E R 2 | S PRING 2007 Journal of APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE A MO RG A N S TA N L E Y P U B L I C AT I O N In This Issue: Valuation, Capital Budgeting, and Disclosure Enterprise Valuation Roundtable Presented by Ernst & Young 8 Panelists: Richard Ruback, Harvard Business School; Trevor Harris, Morgan Stanley; Aileen Stockburger, Johnson & Johnson; Dino Mauricio, General Electric; Christian Roch, BNP Paribas; Ken Meyers, Siemens Corporation; and Charles Kantor, Lehman Brothers. Moderated by Jeff Greene, Ernst & Young. The Case for Real Options Made Simple 39 Raul Guerrero, Asymmetric Strategy Valuing the Debt Tax Shield 50 Ian Cooper, London Business School, and Kjell G. Nyborg, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration Measuring Free Cash Flows for Equity Valuation: Pitfalls and Possible Solutions 60 Juliet Estridge, Morgan Stanley, and Barbara Lougee, University of San Diego Discount Rates in Emerging Markets: Four Models and an Application 72 Javier Estrada, IESE Business School Rail Companies: Prospects for Privatization and Consolidation 78 James Runde, Morgan Stanley A Real Option in a Jet Engine Maintenance Contract 88 Richard L. Shockley, Jr., University of Indiana A Practical Method for Valuing Real Options: The Boeing Approach 95 Scott Mathews, The Boeing Company, Vinay Datar, Seattle University, and Blake Johnson, Stanford University Accounting for Employee...
Words: 6818 - Pages: 28
...main business units were Nokia Consumer Electronics (31 per cent of total sales), Cables and Machinery (25%), Nokia Mobiles Phones (20%), Nokia Telecommunications (17%) and Other Operations (7%). Nokia’s turnover was 3043 million €, and net losses 121 million €. (€ = EURO, 1€ ~ 1USD) “Nokia’s strategy is to invest in telecommunications and closely associated business operations. It focuses on industry segments and geographic regions that have good opportunities for growth and profitability” Jorma Ollila, the new chief executive officer, 1992. In 1999 Nokia had 100 per cent of its operations in the telecommunications and mobile phones, turnover was 19772 million € and net profit 2557 million €. In this assignment I focus on strategic analysis at Hefley Finland business unit level. Strategic Management All firms are faced with the need to create strategies and engage in strategic management. According to Porter unclear strategy is a guarantee for failure. Strategic management is the management of the process of strategic decision making. It can be dived in three parts: 1. Strategic analysis 2. Strategic choice 3. Strategy implementation In an organisation every person may (and should) has a strategy. But it is more common to classified organisational strategies in three levels: 1. Corporate level strategic decisions, which deal with - Overall purpose and scope - Portfolio issues. Adding value to shareholder’s investments - Corporate financial strategy - Structure...
Words: 2635 - Pages: 11
...1. Explain the terms of organizational strategy and strategic management? Ans; Strategic management is a way in which strategists set the objectives and proceed about attaining them .It deals with making implementing decision about future direction of in an organization. It helps us to identify the direction in which an organization is moving. It is continuous process that evaluates control the business and industries in which organization is involved. 2. Organization strategy is the strategy that concerned with your business creating a good value in eyes of your customers and making a strong position in the market. It describes the long term outlook for business and defining new technology and economic conditions. It can also be defined as knowledge of the goals, the uncertainty of event and need to take into consideration or actual behavior of others. 2. Describe the types of strategy in terms of organizational planning and development? Ans: : The types of strategy in terms of organizational planning development are following: * Corporate strategy: Corporate strategy is term which is used to combine or acquire with some other company. * Operational strategy: It is the term used by the area manager’s to give some instructions to the managers to sort out the problems within the organization. * Business strategy: it is the term used to enlarge our business ion the market by introducing new products and by god management skills. * Price...
Words: 2149 - Pages: 9
...The role of scenarios in strategic foresight” Article Summary In the context of the global financial crisis and the turbulence that this has brought to the world economy and therefore to organisations, the article “The role of scenarios in strategic foresight” by Gill Ringland published in the journal Technological Forecasting & Social change volume 77 (9) aims to persuade the reader on the need for strategic foresight over the next decade and what role scenarios can play within strategy foresight activities in organisations (Ringland, 2010). The author predicts that organisations in the west will experience a period of great change and that they are mostly ill-prepared to deal with the rate or the enormity of this change. Ringland believes that conventional business planning will need to change and suggests the need to develop a systematic review of organisational practices that will lead to strategic foresight. This will ensure that organisations are in a position to cope and survive changes in their external environment. Ringland begins by pointing out that the current position of the world economy shows that business and government have a significant debt burden that will take years to pay back especially in the west. In an environment of unemployment, reduced consumer spending and debt repayment, wealthy nations will recover slower than developing nations. There is also a shift in international competitiveness due to changes in labour skills and costs as well as technological...
Words: 3159 - Pages: 13
...how to measure and compare risks across investment opportunities. Analyzes how the firm chooses the set of securities it will issue to raise capital from investors as well as how the firm’s capital structure is formed. Examines how the choice of capital structure affects the value of the firm. Presents valuation and integrate risk, return and the firm’s choice of capital structure. INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS Required Resources Brigham, E. F., & Ehrhardt, M. C. (2014). Financial management (14th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Supplemental Resources MBA Primer Note: The MBA Primer is designed to help students with little or no educational background in business to prepare for the rigors of an MBA program. The MBA Primer is also a useful tool for students who have the business background but might need a refresher. It is a way to help you prepare for the types of activities and concepts that will be covered in the MBA program, so you can feel more comfortable and confident as you progress into higher level courses. Students are emailed an access code for this product when they purchase MBA Primer from the Strayer Bookstore, accessible through iCampus. CNN Money. (2013). General format. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/ Criniti, A. (2013). The necessity of finance. Philadelphia, PA: Criniti Publishing Company. Fidelity Investments, Inc. SWOT analysis. (2013). Fidelity Investments, Inc. SWOT Analysis, 1-8. Hasseltoft, H. (2012). Stocks, bonds...
Words: 1233 - Pages: 5
...Assignment Brief | Title of Qualification:Edexcel BTEC Level 4 HNC in Business | Unit title: Unit 1 Business Environment | Unit code(s): Y/601/0546 | Learner:Nuraiym Azygalieva | Assessor:Dinara Bobusheva | Internal Verifier:Talant Asan uulu | Title of Assignment:Organizational purposes of Business and effective strategy in context of Business start-up.Grading criteria: P1.1, P1.2, P1.3; M1; D1.Related learning outcomes:LO1: Understand the organizational purposes of businesses. | Assignment Number:__1__of __3__for this Unit | Date assigned:November 1, 2013 | Date of review:November 8, 2013 | Date for final submission:November 15, 2013 | Learner declaration:I confirm that this assignment is my own work and any assistance received has been acknowledged and all sources have been stated.Signature: Date: November 15, 2013 | Scenario:In order to facilitate the interactive teaching technique due to accepting the basic findings of Interactive Business Situations Analysis conducted during the seminars and independent students’ study, the following two alternative scenario have been proposed for designing the required Assignment # 1 as follows:Scenario # 1:Primary terms of Business start-up to be organized as “Skull-Up” company are determined as Business partnership with full liabilities legal form. Business specialization of considering enterprise is Restaurant service providing...
Words: 3175 - Pages: 13