...environments. These environments include: the external or operating environment; the competitive environment and the macro environment in which influences such as the economy, government regulations, societal values, demographics and technology come to bear upon an organization. The external influencers included talents and the skills in the workforce, global competition, faster and more disruptive change within the industry, and technological developments. In today's world, organizations are very different due to competitive pressures and technological breakthroughs. Organizations today are: * leaner and more agile * more focused on identifying value from the customer perspective * more tuned to dynamic competitive requirements and strategy * less hierarchical in structure and decision authority * less likely to provide lifelong careers and job security * Continually reorganizing to maintain or gain competitive advantage. (Judith Heerwagen, Ph.D., J.H. Heerwagen & Associates, 2010) Today’s businesses face unique challenges. Leaders are confronted with increased competition, globalization, and demand for growing social responsibilities, technological...
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...A Critical Review Of Crafting Strategy - Henry Mintzberg Table Of Contents Introduction ............................................................................................. 2 Wider Debate Of Strategy .................................................................. 2 Placing The Article In The Wider Debate.................................... 4 Strengths & Weaknesses of the article......................................... 4 Conclusion................................................................................................. 6 References................................................................................................. 7 1 Introduction This essay will critically evaluate the article “Crafting Strategy “ written by Henry Mintzberg. The essay will evaluate the difference between deliberate and emergent strategies and will compare the article against wider debate about processes of strategy. Strengths and weaknesses of the article will be critically reviewed by comparing with previous academic journals and conclusions will be made upon findings. Wider Debate Of Strategy Mintzberg (1984, pp. 69) argues that “strategies can form as well as be formulated” he believes they can emerge due to an ever changing environment” In contrast Porter (1987) takes a more deliberate strategy approach he believes there are 3 types of strategies, low cost, differentiated or focus. “Strategy is the creation of a unique and valuable position involving a different...
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...It is no surprise that today in most companies be it diminutive or immense, competitive advantage runs through their daily operations. Simply by wanting to achieve higher profit than the average competitor in the product market (Porter,1980).Companies seek to use their understanding to outline their market offers to deliver more value to the customers. They do so by applying competitive strategy; which according to Porter (1980) is the search to find a favorable competitive position in an industry. It aims is to establish profitable and sustainable position against the forces that determine industry competition. Therefore competitive strategy is about beating the competition. To achieve such goals Michael Porter and other advocates such as Mintzberg, McGee and Bowman suggested few market positioning approaches and models. The three main approaches are Porter Generic Competitive Strategies, Mintzberg market positioning and customer matrix. To add up, models such as product life cycle, Porter Five forces model, Strategic Grouping and Scenario planning also help to formulate the competitive strategy of a business. Porters Five forces model is the key influence to other models. This model determines industry profitability because it influences the price, cost and return on investment. Porter believes that the five forces is more than just competing with direct competitors but also fighting for profits. In any industry no matter what it produces whether product or service of any type...
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...Strategy is a plan, method, or series of actions designed to achieve a specific goal or effect. Can you explain this? First off let us distinguish between 'A strategy' and 'A Strategic Plan' Strategic Plan; is a systemic process of envisioning a desired future, and translating this vision into broadly defined goals or objectives and a sequence of steps to achieve them. It involves a systematic, formally documented process for deciding the handful of key decisions that an organisation, viewed as a corporate, whole must get right in order to thrive over the next few years. The process results in the production of a corporate strategic plan. Strategy; relates to the firm or company identifying its economic, social, and environmental performance objectives and it helps bridge the gap between the long-term vision and short-term decisions. It provides a basis for the company to build or gain a competitive advantage and increase its bottom line or market share over the long-term. As a strategy involves looking forward there is always uncertainty and risk associated with deciding strategy. The question ‘what is strategy?’ therefore also implies a set of strategic options from which one chooses a course of action to achieve advantage. Strategy is more about a set of options or "strategic choices" than a fixed plan or road map. As I have researched this paper it became apparent that strategy has many facets and means many different things to many different people. Henry Mintzberg addressing...
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...Introduction to strategy Strategic management (strategy) is thinking into the future (e.g. strategic plan usually has a 3-5 year time horizon) Some cultures think strategically on a very long term (e.g. Asian countries 50 to 100 year plans) * Think about the context and the industry we operate to determine that time horizon INPUTS (organisational purpose) (e.g. material, people) - Has to be efficient, effective PROCESS / THROUGHPUTS (strategy process) OUTPUTS (strategy content) Strategically, the input relate to the purpose of the organisation (Why the strategy should be achieved?). The process is the strategy that will be used to develop the plan, to organise (How should the strategy be achieved?)). Finally, the output is the result of all that strategic activity, where the organisation wants to be in 3-5 years from now (What is the strategy sought to achieve?). Every strategy is happening in an environmental context (e.g. political, technological) and has constraints, therefore impacting the strategic system. Situational improvement is a desire of a strategic philosophy of continuous improvement. If there is a good communication then the strategy will affect all levels of the business /organisation. Being ahead of the game, develop initiatives, innovate. Problem solving is more reactive, it’s about having tools and framework to strategically help solving the problem. Strategic management may be seen as finding a compromise between 2 options (often results...
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... |Page No. | | |STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT-DEFINITION……………….… |2 | | |MINTZBERG’S DEFINITION OF STRATEGY……………….. |3 | | |KEY ISSUES OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT……………… |6 | | |PORTER’S THINKING…………………………………………. |7 | | |PORTER’S FIVE FORCES………………………………………. |9 | | |THE NEW STRATEGIC WAVE…………………………..…..… |12 | | |HENRY MINTZBERG' S 5 Ps FOR STRATEGY………..…… |17 | | |IMPORTANCE OF STRATEGY IN ORGANISATION………… |19 | | |THE STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS.................................... |20 | | |STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT: Failure, Barriers...
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...We are all blind people and strategy formulation is our elephant. Since no one has had the vision to see the entire beast everyone has grabbed hold of some part or the other and “railed on in utter ignorance” about the rest Course Title: Bachelor in business studies Module : MGT 330 Module title: Business Strategy Submitted to : Mr Mervyn Sookun Submitted by : Madan Gupta Student Id no: 860199. Contents Page No. 1. Core of the assignment. 3 2 Introduction 4-5 3Porters Generic Strategy 6 4 An Empirical Analysis 7 5. Role of different Schools of Strategy 8-12 6.Advantages & Disadvantages of Strategy 13 7. Conclusion 14 8. Reference 15 : Core Of Assignment: This assignment is designed on the strategy formation and strategic management. The statement of the assignment have been taken from the Strategy Safari (2001) written by H. Mintzberg. As the assignment progresses we will discuss how the strategy formation takes place where the writer comapares it with the elephant. According to the writer We are all blind people and the strategy formation is our elephant and because...
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...Chapter 1 Mastering Strategy: Art and Science LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, you should be able to understand and articulate answers to the following questions: 1. What are strategic management and strategy? 2. Why does strategic management matter? 3. What elements determine firm performance? Strategic Management: A Core Concern for Apple The Opening of the Apple Store Image courtesy of Neil Bird, http://www.flickr.com/photos/nechbi/2058929337. March 2, 2011, was a huge day for Apple. The firm released its much-anticipated iPad2, a thinner and faster version of market-leading Apple’s iPad tablet device. Apple also announced that a leading publisher, Random House, had made all seventeen thousand of its books available through Apple’s iBookstore. Apple had enjoyed tremendous success for quite some time. Approximately fifteen million iPads were sold in 2010, and the price of Apple’s stock had more than tripled from early 2009 to early 2011. Saylor URL: http://www.saylor.org/books Saylor.org 4 But future success was far from guaranteed. The firm’s visionary founder Steve Jobs was battling serious health problems. Apple’s performance had suffered when an earlier health crisis had forced Jobs to step away from the company. This raised serious questions. Would Jobs have to step away again? If so, how might Apple maintain its excellent performance without its leader? Meanwhile, the iPad2 faced daunting competition. Samsung...
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...Marketing plan Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation Table of contents MARKETING PLAN – FORD MOTOR COMPANY……………………………………….4 Executive summary 4 Target market and positioning 5 Positioning strategy 5 Marketing strategies 6 Place 6 Promotion 7 Price 8 Product 9 Evaluation and control of ford motor company 10 Implementation and schedule 11 Conclusion and Recommendation ..12 Reference 13 MARKETING PLAN – FORD MOTOR COMPANY Executive summary The action of business of promoting and selling products and services is called marketing. It also entails market research and advertising. Other researchers define marketing as the communication that takes place between a seller and a buyer aimed at selling a product or service to the consumer. It involves passing information about the value of the product and encourages the consumer to buy it. Marketing is not all about advertising or selling goods or services as most people assume. It is a discipline that makes sure that those who produce services and goods can explain what the consumer likes and match each item or service with a consumer. The process of marketing is done by both small and big companies. This is because it helps in addressing critical market aspects. Marketing is the key to understanding competition in the marketplace. Ford Motor Company is an American Public Ltd company that works under the brand name of ‘Ford’. The company is a multinational corporation. It sells private cars and vehicles that are used...
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...Service Strategy Meghna B. Patel Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago Service Strategy ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) framework is considered as a set of best practices for IT Service Management (ITSM). This framework is widely used by many IT service providers to deliver quality IT services that adds value to customer and aims at attaining the business objectives. It consists of different processes and functions which are divided among five stages of service life cycle. Service Strategy is the first stage in this life cycle. “ITIL Service Strategy provides guidance on how to view service management not only as an organizational capability but as a strategic asset” (Cannon, 2011). It helps in designing, development and implementation of IT services that aligns with the business strategy and thus allowing service providers to think and act in a strategic manner. Service Strategy Principles Utility and Warranty Value of service consists of two components: Utility (fitness for purpose) and Warranty (fitness for use). According to Cannon (2011), Utility is the functionality offered by a product or service to meet a particular need. It refers to those characteristics of a service that contribute to tasks associated with achieving business outcomes. It is used to improve performance of these tasks and/or to remove constraints that prevent the task from being carried out sufficiently. Warranty is an assurance that a product or service will meet its agreed...
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...11 General Strategic Thedrv The Strategy Concept I: Five Ps For Strategy Henry Mintzberg H uman nature insists on a definition for every concept. The field of strategic management cannot afford to rely on a single definition of strategy, indeed the word has long been used implicitly in different ways even if it has traditionally been defined formally in only one. Explicit recognition of multiple definitions can help practitioners and researchers alike to maneuver through this difficult field. Accordingly, this article presents five definitions of strategy—as plan, ploy, pattern, position, and perspective—and considers some of their interrelationships. Strategy as Plan To almost anyone you care to ask, strategy is a plan—some sort of consciously intended course of action, a guideline (or set of guidelines) to deal with a situation. A kid has a "strategy" to get over a fence, a corporation has one to capture a market. By this definition, strategies have two essential characteristics: they are made in advance of the actions to which they apply, and they are developed consciously and purposefully. (They may, in addition, be stated explicitly, sometimes in formal documents known as "plans," although it need not be taken here as a necessary condition for "strategy as plan.") To Drucker, strategy is "purposeful action'"; to Moore "design for action," in essence, "conception preceding action."^ A host of definitions in a variety of fields reinforce this view. For example:...
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...of quantum leap infects the television screen. The conver-gence of technologies combines an internet stream on the classic television. Traditional companies, like RTL, should consider following a different another strategic management course than for example Netflix. This assignment analyzes the streaming market, the forces, threats and opportu-nities as a Macro Environment Analysis. It’s a fast growing business and has a huge potential. The company Netflix is screened by a Micro Environment Analysis to show their portfolio and key figures. In the targeting and positioning part, a possible way of a strategic corporate management is developed, by references on the analysis of Porter’s three generic strategies, Ansoff and Mintzberg. For the final conclusion the current strategy will be investigated and opportunities are shown. Netflix has still some unexploited possibilities to maximize the profit and demonstrate also their market leadership outside the US. Video on demand changes the rules of the game. Instead of a fixed program the user makes the decision. The Megatrend streaming will have a huge influence on the traditional television market. Some traditional...
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...Investigation into the Marketing Strategies used by Commercial Banks in Managing Service Breakdown among SME Customers. Some Experiences in Kenya By Anyim Kevin Ouma and Dr Justus M Munyoki Paper for presentation during the 1st AIBUMA Conference to be held in Nairobi from 25th to 27th August 2010 in Nairobi, Kenya ABSTRACT This study sought to establish the strategies used by ccommercial banks in Kenya in Managing Service Breakdown among SME Customers. The study focused on five commercial banks namely Barclays, Kenya Commercial Bank, Standard Chartered, Equity and Fina bank which currently offer services to SME customers. A self-administered open and closed ended questionnaire was utilized in collecting primary data from the field. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The study found that lack of clear communication with customers, long procedures; intrusive documentation and lack of flexibility are some of the causes resulting in service breakdown. It also established that the main strategies used by banks to deal with services breakdown include; designing services to fit the needs of customers; ensuring that services are always oh high quality without compromise; putting relevant systems in place; having competent employees in place; on time delivery of services and ensuring that services are driven by customers to increase acceptance and satisfaction. Key words: Services Break down, strategies Introduction This study...
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...HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR UNDERSTANDING AND ADHERING TO ALL POLICIES CONTAINED WITHIN THE FOLLOWING TWO DOCUMENTS: UNIVERSITY POLICIES: YOU MUST BE LOGGED INTO THE STUDENT WEBSITE TO VIEW THIS DOCUMENT. INSTRUCTOR POLICIES: THIS DOCUMENT IS POSTED IN THE COURSE MATERIALS FORUM. UNIVERSITY POLICIES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. BE SURE TO READ THE POLICIES AT THE BEGINNING OF EACH CLASS. POLICIES MAY BE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT DEPENDING ON THE MODALITY IN WHICH YOU ATTEND CLASS. IF YOU HAVE RECENTLY CHANGED MODALITIES, READ THE POLICIES GOVERNING YOUR CURRENT CLASS MODALITY. COURSE MATERIALS BARNEY, J. B. (2007). GAINING AND SUSTAINING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE (3RD ED.). UPPER SADDLE RIVER, NJ: PEARSON PRENTICE HALL. MINTZBERG, H., GHOSHAL, S., LAMPEL, J., & QUINN, J. B. (2003). THE STRATEGY PROCESS: CONCEPTS, CONTEXTS, CASES (4TH ED.). UPPER SADDLE RIVER, NJ: PRENTICE HALL. PEARCE, J. A., II, & ROBINSON, R. B. (2011). STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT: FORMULATION, IMPLEMENTATION, AND CONTROL (12TH ED.). BOSTON, MA: MCGRAW-HILL/IRWIN. PLEASE PRINT AND BRING A COPY OF THIS COURSE SYLLABUS FOR REVIEW AND TO CLARIFY THE EXPECTATIONS AS WE MEET IN THE FIRST CLASS. PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THIS SYLLABUS IS CONSIDERED THE RULING DOCUMENT COPYRIGHT...
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...The Closing of Blockbuster Video’s Stores The Closing of Blockbuster Video’s Stores Hanna, Peter Southern New Hampshire University OL-500 Hanna, Peter Southern New Hampshire University OL-500 Abstract: With increasing competition and the growth of technology, it is important that organizations maintain focus on an innovative and clear strategic direction as well as always striving for customer satisfaction. There are four major issues, inefficient and arrogant strategic direction, customer dissatisfaction, fiscal irresponsibility and a lack of innovation that ultimately led to the demise of the video rental “Kingpin” also known as Blockbuster Video. Introduction: Organizational strength relies on its infrastructure and strategic management. The study of organizational behavior within any organization is intriguing. Success relies on many factors that involve leadership, strategic vision and a motivated team poised for the challenges of the day to day operations of the organization. Blockbuster Video skyrocketed to the top of the movie entertainment empire. A Leader in the entertainment industry, Blockbuster Video was plagued by challenges and failures that eventually led to their ultimate demise after a short lived 25 years. This research paper will attempt to answer how the King of the video entertainment empire withered away, even after years of company acquisitions and finally merging with Dish Network. Blockbuster Video faced fierce competition...
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