Monday, November 21, 2011

Chapter 9: Strategy Outline



Strategy comes from the integration of all the concepts in the course and is the key to successful business.


·         Steps for strategy
o   Define a vision (revisit, revise and agree upon)
o   SWOT analysis
§  Strengths and weaknesses internal, opportunities and threats external
§  Some non-profit and governmental entities use “Challenges” rather than “Threats” – model is SWOC
o   Define outcomes and processes
§  How do you know if you have achieved your strategies?
·         Should  be measurable
·         Strategic Planning
o   Three levels of strategy
§  Functional level – how can we improve the operation (efficiency, value to customer, etc.)?
§  Business level – how can we beat the competition?
·         Management-level decisions
§  Corporate – what business should we be in?
·         Board-level decisions
o   There are no perfect answers
o   It’s not easy to experiment
o   Errors are usually costly
o   Seven “S” model to generate strategies (Tom Peters, McKinsey)
§  Tool to help solve complex problems by analyzing and improving organizations
§  Each S should support the others
§  Take a company and analyze it:
·         Shared values (core)
·         Strategy (hard)
o   This is the strategic planning process, not a recursive reference to the strategy itself.
·         Structure (hard)
·         Systems (hard)
·         Skills (soft)
·         Style (soft)
·         Staff (soft)
§  For each of these look at ways to improve or come up with a new strategy.
§  Example: Apple uses a matrix structure (products along horizontal, functional areas along vertical creates a responsibility matrix)
·         Apple keeps high profit portion internal and outsources areas of lower profit, but also functions that are not part of their mission or core values.
§  Innovative companies should have a mechanism to bring a new product to market
·         Otherwise just like Foxcom
·         Often this role is the CEO or some internal committee
o   Mission statements
§  Include values, vision and purpose
·         Single-minded, narrow and concise, focused on a worthwhile goal.
·         Personal mission
o   Value Chain (Porter 1985)
§  Important analysis tool
·         Overhead
o   Firm infrastructure
o   HRM
o   Technology Development
o   Procurement
·         Primary activities
o   Inbound logistics
§  How you get materials into your store
o   Operations
§  How do you produce your product
o   Outbound logistics
§  Delivery to customer
o   Marketing and sales
o   Service
§  Allows you to provide value after the sale
·         Each step in the value chain can add value and facilitate higher price. Value to the customer, dollars to the company.
o   Expansion strategy (Ansoff Matrix)
§  2x2 strategy matrix New versus Exsiting Markets and Products
o   Five Forces Analysis (Michael Porter 1979)
§  Five forces that shape industry competition
·         Threat of new entrants
o   Limit entry of new competitors
·         Bargaining power of buyers
·         Threat of substitute products or services
o   Make your product unique to reduce the impact of substitutes
·         Bargaining power of suppliers
·         Rivalry among existing competitors
§  Use this to analyze the environment before entering a business.
§  BofA no longer a US company, moved to Cayman Islands – this is when they rebranded and included the US flag in their logo.
o   Growth-Share Matrix (Bruce Henderson, Boston Consulting Group 1968)
§  Stars (high growth, high market share)
·         Prioritize these
·         Google, Facebook
§  Cow (low growth, high market share)
·         Invest in these
·         Utilities (PG&E, Comcast)
§  Dog (low growth, low market share)
·         Sell these
·         Book store
§  ? (high growth, low market share)
·         Evaluate further and either build market share (to create a star) or divest
o   Globalization
§  Of fortune 500 most have >25% overseas business
§  Enhancers of globalization
·         Better communication and transportation
·         Fewer trade restrictions
·         Convergence of consumer needs
§  Roadblocks to globalization
·         Cost of coordination
·         Geographic restraints
·         Protectionism
§  Consider these topics when evaluating globalization


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