CASE ANALYSIS- STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT The purpose of Case study is to apply the concepts of strategic management to the facts related about a company's situation and performance and to make recommendations about its future course of action to enable it to compete with sustained advantage in its business environment. It is necessary therefore to develop an appropriate framework to do this. Depending upon the number of times a case is read and the care taken over it, the quality of analysis is likely to be detailed and focused. However it is possible to develop a reasonably good broad understanding that will permit an acceptable level of analysis and basic recommendations even after one reading provided the student knows what to look for …show more content…
For instance in the passenger car market, the major growth opportunity for the next several years will still be in the small car sector(800-1000 c.c.) where Maruti has the best prospects. G.M. or Ford cannot claim this as their opportunity because they do not have products to offer in this critical market segment. SWOT analysis should also cover the existing business and functional strategies of the firm. If all this is done the SWOT can provide a complete and exhaustive framework for environmental analysis. Business Strategies: This term is not to be confused with the overall strategic plan. It refers to the option the company has to either adopt a cost leadership position in its industry, or to differentiate( charge premium prices on its products and services based on unique product or marketing advantages). The Japanese auto manufacturers including Toyota, Honda and Nissan for long adopted cost leadership vis. a. vis their American and European competitors. The Swiss watch industry has always adopted a differentiation strategy for almost all of its products( the exception is Swatch which was deliberately priced low to attack the Japanese who had taken a huge market share by cost leadership) While a new entrant to an industry usually takes a cost leadership position to facilitate its entry, it will after a while consider and adopt a differentiation position for some of its products. This has been demonstrated
Hunger, J. D., & Wheelen, T. L. (2011). Essentials of strategic management (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
This review provides an in-depth strategic SWOT analysis of the company’s businesses and operations in the areas of internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats. (Sector Publishing Intelligence)
The three main competitive strategies are cost leadership, differentiation, and price strategy. Cost leadership focuses on acquiring raw material of the highest quality at the lowest price. In return this company can lower production cost with the goal of being the company with the lowest production cost in the industry. Differentiation strategies allow companies to make their products stand out from the others. Differentiation can be actual or perceived. Actual differentiation occurs when the company creates products that are not available elsewhere. Perceived differentiation takes a lot of marketing and advertisement to convince the consumer that this company’s product is superior. Price strategy includes a variety of strategies that cause a particular product to be marketed at the lowest price possible. Price strategy includes skimming where companies set a high initial price only to turn around and lower it. Bundle pricing occurs when several products are offered for one price. Promotional pricing allows other incentives to buy such as buy one get one half off. Using the pricing strategies causes many consumers to actually purchase more believing that they are receiving a “deal” while the company is still profiting. Competitive strategies are always used by companies and are often used together. Companies that understand how to combine competitive strategies fare much
There are many strategies that organizations can incorporate in today’s business environment. An organization can decide to take on a low-cost provider strategy, a focused low-cost strategy, broad differentiation strategy, focused differentiation strategy, and/or a best-cost provider strategy. While all of them have their own unique features and can offer a competitive advantage over its rivals, Competitive Shoes, Inc. decided to incorporate the best-cost strategy into its organization in order to compete against it rivals. By incorporating the best-cost strategy into its organization, Competitive Shoes Inc. felt that they could stay
A cost leadership strategy focuses primarily on “producing products and/or services that are the lowest in the industry” (Turban, Rainer, & Potter, 2003). This type of organization forms business alliances that support their inventory management through computers and computerized purchasing. A differentiation strategy focuses on being unique within the industry and provides high-quality products at a competitive price (Turban, Rainer, & Potter, 2003). These types of companies “provide their customers with a
The paper that I 'm writing will help you to gain information on how Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness play hand and hand when dealing with a business. The business that I have chosen to write about is Nike. I have always wanted to know the practices that Nike used to make their business last this long and how have they been so successful. I will explain to you how globalization and technology changes have helped or hurt the company and the major role that it has played. I also plan to construct a plan to see how my corporation could earn above-average returns and increase their gaining potential. I will explain Nike 's vision and mission statement and show how this had allowed them to continue to be one of the most outstanding business in this day and age. In turn, I plan to show how each or stakeholder plays an important role in the success of the corporation.
Strategic Management is the theory and practice of making decisions that shape the future of the firm. This course looks at the content and process of strategic decision making from the perspective of managers who are responsible for an entire business unit. These may be individuals who are acting in the capacity of a Chief Executive of a company, divisional General Managers, or departmental heads. It is also the perspective most
The two generic business strategies are differentiation and cost-leadership strategies, and they are fundamentally different from one another, both with their own drawbacks and risks (Rothaermel, 2013). These strategies are referred to as “generic” because they may be used by any type of organization (Rothaermel, 2013). The drawbacks and risks of a differentiation generic strategy is its viability “is severely undermined when the focus of competition shifts to price rather than value-creating
Some students initially find case analysis of strategic issues to be difficult and uncomfortable. This is due to the relative lack of structure of most problems. No correctly answered list of pre-questions or mechanical process will lead to the “right” course of action. In fact, there usually is no single, definitively “right” solution to most managerial problems. When analyzing a case, remember that there are often many possible solutions. The goal is not to find “the solution”, but to examine the case and practice analyzing and solving real world strategic issues using the concepts and theories you learn about in this course.
Differentiation and cost leadership are two strategies chosen because they are the most common between the different companies. Amazingly these leading organizations from different industries are using the same competitive strategies and tactics. The two competitive strategies may be the reason both organizations are leading within their industries. “Differentiation is a type of competitive strategy with which the organization seeks to distinguish its products or services from competitors” (Valdehueza, 2009).
Even though companies have almost similar external conditions, some companies enjoy huge success for years, while other fail miserably, that depends on the sound of strategic management which is a high level plan to achieve one or more goals under uncertain condition. Mintzberg and Waters (1985) stated it is necessary to analyse the strategic formulation and management for the following tasks:
During the developmental stage of the company and the product, the market must be examined the market with an environmental scan and swot analysis to ensure the company will be profitable and successful. The environmental scan and swot analysis does a comprehensive assessment of each factor. This tool gives the company better knowledge on how to conduct their business in the market.
Competitive strategy is the moves and methods that the firm has taken and is taking to appeal buyers, improve its market position, and to endure competitive pressures. The strategy is about what a firm’s capability to try to knock off competitors and attain competitive advantage, which can be offensive or defensive. There are three approaches to competitive strategy, which are low-cost leadership strategy where struggling to be the overall low-cost manufacturer in the in industry. Moreover, pursuing to distinguish one’s product offering from competitors (differentiation strategy), and the last one is focus or niche strategy where aiming on thin portion of the market rather than the whole market (Porter, 1998).
There are five generic business strategies that companies choose from when trying to successfully compete within their respective industries. This is the first choice a company must make, even before deciding an overall strategy. These generic business strategies include low-cost provider strategy, broad differentiation strategy, best-cost provider strategy; focused strategy based on low costs, and focused strategy based on differentiation. These strategies have many advantages as well as disadvantages. Choosing which one to use depends on what market position a company wants to pursue. Deciding to be more offensive or defensive also plays a role in choosing a
S: 1. Product diversity: HP not just do the software and hardware but the whole rang of service to design, implement and IT infrastructure. Right now HP is dominating the market of printer with 40% market share. The product diversity enables the company to hold its position even in the time of recession.