Research Topics: Strategy Formation

Strategy formation regarding operations management Research Proposal

INTRODUCTION As a person with knowledge of various multinational organizations and companies, the author has always brought up to his superiors the viability of strategy formation regarding operations management. However, at times the author fails to understand the reasons or logic behind certain strategic implementations imposed on it. By delving into this project paper, the author intends to have better insights into how the management of these multinational companies and organizations are thought up, formulated and then imparted down into their subsidiaries. The author hopes to have an in-depth understanding as to how the strategic policies of these companies enable them to compete effectively and profitably in this era of internationalization where competition is extremely intense. In order to reinforce the learning objectives, two key focal issues were focused upon, i.e. innovation and diversity. Innovation was discussed with regard to the marketing strategies of the companies where it must be renowned for its developmental capabilities to constantly innovate. Diversity comes under strategic thinking and formation as the companies must consider the diverse culture, political climate, economic surroundings, social environment, technological settings, government policies and legal systems in their bid to become a leading player in the industry.   REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Purpose of the Study This study will be conducted in order to determine the success factors of most multinational companies and organizations in internationalizing their trend to other countries / continents, and provide meaningful lessons such as learning their effective marketing strategies.             This study will also aim to increase the awareness and provide a better understanding of the issues and problems concerning most multinational companies and organizations in order to contribute an effective approach in addressing their problems. Significance of the Study If the success factors of most multinational companies and organizations in internationalizing their trend to other countries / continents will be determined, this study will be a benefit to other multinational companies experiencing problems gaining ground to other parts of the world. Also, if effectiveness is supported, this study will be significant in developing underachieving multinational companies and organizations as productive and effective entities in the future. Research Questions Specifically this study will address the following questions: 1.      What significant success factors of most multinational companies and organizations in internationalizing their trend to other countries / continents were determined? 2.      What specific alternatives or measures can be done to help improve the performance of underachieving multinational companies and organizations? Assumptions The research will be based on the following assumptions: (a) all participants will be utilizing the correct procedures as outlined in the guidelines for the specific methodology employed, and (b) all participants will answer questions honestly to the best of their ability. Limitations Time will be the greatest limitation to this research, which could hinder long-term outcome objectives. Environmental factors, such as socioeconomic status, will not be controlled, and this could create many variables within the research. As this study will utilize a small sample of respondents, the results may not effectively represent the general population.    METHODOLOGY               This study will be conducted in order to determine the success factors of most multinational companies and organizations in internationalizing their trend to other countries / continents. In this study, the interview method of data gathering will be utilized, with a combined total of 50 employees in both Palm, Inc. and Heineken as participants.   Methods of Research to be Used               For this study, the descriptive method will be utilized. In this method, it is possible that the study would be cheap and quick. It could also suggest unanticipated hypotheses. Nonetheless, it would be very hard to rule out alternative explanations and especially infer causations. Thus, this study will use the descriptive approach. This descriptive type of research utilizes observations in the study.  To illustrate the descriptive type of research. The purpose of employing this method is to describe the nature of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study and to explore the cause/s of particular phenomena. The researcher opted to use this kind of research considering the desire of the researcher to obtain first hand data from the respondents so as to formulate rational and sound conclusions and recommendations for the study. To come up with pertinent findings and provide credible recommendations, this study will utilize two sources of research: primary and secondary.  Primary research data will be obtained through this new research study. Questionnaire survey and in-depth interview will be conducted. On the other hand, the secondary research data will be obtained from previous studies on the same topic.  The Research Design             In order to come up with the most suitable research approaches and strategies for this study, the research process “onion” will be undertaken. This is because conducting a research is like peeling the back layers of an onion—in order to come to the central issue of how to collect the necessary data needed to answer the research questions and objectives, important layers should be first peeled away. With the said process, the researcher was able to create an outline on what measures are most appropriate to be applied in the study. While it is not unusual for a researcher to first think of his research undertaking by considering whether one should, for instance, administer a questionnaire or conduct interviews, thoughts on this question should belong to the centre of the research ‘onion’. That is, in order to come to the central issue of how to collect the data needed to answer one’s research questions, there are important layers of the onion that need to be peeled away: the first layer raises the question of the research philosophy to adopt, the second considers the subject of research approach that flows from the research philosophy, the third examines the research strategy most applicable, the fourth layer refers to the time horizon a researcher applies to his research, and the fifth layer is the data collection methods to be used.             Figure 1 shows how the researcher conceptualized the research approach to be applied in this study, in order to come up with the pertinent data needed to answer the research questions stated in the first chapter, as well as to arrive to the fulfillment of this research undertaking’s objectives.  Then again, the research philosophy that is reflected in this study is positivism. With this research philosophy, a researcher prefers to work with an observable social reality in order to come up with law-like generalizations similar to those produced by the physical and natural scientists and in this tradition, the researcher becomes an objective analyst, coolly making detached interpretations about those data that have been collected in an apparently value-free manner. In addition, the emphasis is on a highly structured methodology to facilitate replication and on quantifiable observations that lend themselves to statistical analysis. In here, the assumption is that the researcher is independent of and neither affects nor is affected by the subject of the research.             Meanwhile, the second layer shows that this study has undertaken a deductive approach. Accordingly, this approach has five sequential stages: deducing a hypothesis; expressing the hypothesis in operational terms; testing this operational hypothesis; examining the specific outcome of the inquiry to either confirm the theory or indicate the need for its modification; and finally, modifying the theory in the light of the findings (if necessary). Further, the deductive approach has a number of important characteristics. First, this approach is a search to explain causal relationships between variables, which consequently leading to the development of a hypothesis. Second, it involves the collection of a quantitative data (although it can, as well, use qualitative data), and these data are important to test a hypothesis that has been previously developed. The third characteristic of a deductive approach is that it controls to allow the testing of hypothesis. However, one must remember that with this approach, it is important that the researcher is independent of what is being observed—that is, the researcher should be objective and not subjective—so that the principle of scientific strictness will be pursued, as this approach emphasizes scientific principles.            Also, it is important that concepts are operationalized, which will enable facts to be measured quantitatively. Finally, the deductive approach is generalization (e.g., to be able to generalize about regularities in human social behavior, one must be able to select a sufficient numerical size of samples). Instruments to be used A self-administered questionnaire, or the type of questionnaire that is usually completed by respondents, had been constructed by the researcher to gather the needed data. To further enhance the study on the customer satisfaction, the researcher prepared a survey-questionnaire wherein the respondents graded each statement. Every statement constituted of four levels of responses namely very satisfied, quite satisfied, quite dissatisfied and very dissatisfied. The equivalent weights for the answers were:             Range                                                Interpretation                          3.50 – 4.00                                       Very Satisfied             2.50 – 3.49                                        Quite Satisfied             1.50 – 2.49                                        Quite Dissatisfied                               0.00 – 1.49                                        Very Dissatisfied             The decision was made to use a questionnaire for the data collection for this project due to the sensitivity of the information being obtained.  It is important for the respondents to be open and honest in their responses. The use of the questionnaire provides the researcher with the ability to test the views and attitudes of the patients.             The survey-questionnaires also will use open-ended questions to obtain as much information as possible about how the interviewee feels about the research topic.  Interviews will take between one and two hours. The questions that will be used during the interview will be based on the research questions for this project; they have been reviewed, refined and approved by the project supervisor. The researcher designed a semi-structured interview. Here, the researcher will encourage the interviewee to clarify vague statements and to further elaborate on brief comments. The interviewer did not share his/her own beliefs and opinions.   Validation and Administration of the Instrument For validation purposes, the researcher will initially submit a sample of the set of survey questionnaires and after approval; the initial survey will be conducted to the 50 respondents.  After the questions are answered, the researcher will ask the respondents for any suggestions or any necessary corrections to ensure further improvement and validity of the instrument.  Afterwards, the researcher again will examine the content of the interview questions to find out the reliability of the instrument. The researchers then will exclude irrelevant questions and change words that would be deemed difficult by the respondents, to much simpler terms. The researcher will also tally, score and tabulate all the responses in the provided interview questions.             Apparently, there have been issues on the validation on using self-assessment as against an observer rating. The use of either one will significantly change the result of the findings. This study will opt to use both. While there are strengths of the approach, scholars have also presented future impediments and limitations of using this type of methodology.             Furthermore, the researcher will adopt the three-stage process devised by Saunders et al: The first stage is assessing the overall suitability of data to research questions and objectives. During this stage, the researcher will pay particular attention to measurement validity (measuring / estimating whether the secondary data will result to a valid answer to the research questions and objectives) and coverage (this includes ensuring whether or not the data is wanted and can be included, as well as making sure that sufficient data remain for analyses to be undertaken once unwanted data have been excluded). The second stage is evaluating precisely the suitability of data for analyses needed to answer and meet the research questions and objectives. In this stage, the researcher will make sure of the validity and reliability of the secondary data by assessing how it was previously gathered, who are its sources, and the likes. Also, the researcher will be cautious not to commit measurement bias (which can occur due to deliberate distortion of data or changes in the way data are collected). Finally, the researcher will judge whether to use data based on an assessment of costs and benefits in comparison with alternative sources.   Conducting the Semi-structured Interview             During the interview, the interviewer will encourage the interviewee to clarify vague statements or to further elaborate on brief comments. More importantly, the interviewer will be objective and will not attempt, in any way, to influence the interviewer’s statements. In order to do this, the interviewer will not share his/her own beliefs and opinions. Also, the questions that will be thrown at the interviewees will be phrased clearly, so that interviewees can understand them, and they will be delivered in neutral tone of voice. The researcher will also avoid long questions, or those that are really made up of two or more questions, the tendency to obtain a response for each aspect a researcher wants to explore will be lost. The researcher will also avoid too many theoretical concepts or jargons, as the researcher’s understanding of such terms may vary from that of the interviewees. Also, during the interview, the researcher will be determined to establish trust by not being too assertive and by being attentive to the interviewees’ responses. Finally, the researcher will make sure that the interview will not last too long and will not consume much of the respondents’ time, as this may instigate uncooperativeness from the respondents.   Data Representative and Reliability             To ensure the reliability of interview results, a test-retest will be conducted, or the administration of the same test to the same set of interviewees on two different occasions will be conducted.  This approach assumes that there is no substantial change in the construct being measured between the two occasions.  Thus, two tests will also be conducted: a pretest or a pilot test shall be done and a post-test.  Interviewees will be questioned twice themselves. Furthermore, the proposed approaches, structured interview and telephone questionnaire will be interview-administered in mode.  This part will encourage credibility and accuracy in the interviews. Description of the Data that will be Used in the Study             The study will also utilize secondary data. Secondary data include raw data and published summaries, as well as both quantitative and qualitative data.  Deduced that secondary data fall into three main subgroups documentary data, interview-based data, and those compiled from different sources.             Documentary secondary data, accordingly, are the ones often used in research projects that also use primary data collection data methods, although such data can also be used on their own or be combined with other secondary data. Meanwhile, interview-based secondary data are those data collected by questionnaires that have already been analyzed for their original purpose; usually, such data refer to organizations, people or households and are made available as compiled data tables or as a computer-readable matrix of raw data.   Ethical Considerations             In keeping with the procedures and in the interest of maintaining the integrity of the proposed research, the researcher will make every effort to ensure that the ethical guidelines of the medical profession will be strictly followed.  All data collected from the sites will be kept in a secure location. The names of the medical workers and their scores will not be revealed. The appropriate measures of the data will be obtained with the statistical instruments selected, and all results will be revealed in the study.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Strategy formation regarding operations management Research Proposal

INTRODUCTION As a person with knowledge of various multinational organizations and companies, the author has always brought up to his sup...

Sample Research Analysis on International Migration: Efficient and Effective Implementation of Policies

OBJECTIVES As a person with knowledge of international migration, the author has always brought up to his superiors the viability of strategy formation regarding the analysis of this topic and at times fails to understand the reasons or logic behind certain strategic implementations imposed on it. By delving into this project paper, the author intends to have better insights into how international migration is thought up, formulated and then imparted down. The author hopes to have an in-depth understanding as to how international migration enables countries and nations to compete effectively and profitably in this era of internationalization where competition is extremely intense. In order to reinforce the learning objectives, two key focal issues were focused upon i.e. innovation and diversity. Innovation was discussed with regard to international migration where it was renowned for its developmental capabilities to constantly innovate. Diversity came under strategic thinking and formation as the author considered the diverse culture, political climate, economic surroundings, social environment, technological settings, government policies and legal systems in order to better understand the issues being discussed.     EXECUTIVE BRIEF This essay utilized various international migration depicting films as the models to review its present impacts and how the migrant workers dealt with critical situations. From the analysis, key trends in international migration among the films were then identified, how they worked and their effectiveness in dealing with critical situations was ascertained. The paper then moved on to assess these films with regard to their suitability to critical international migration situations, during which the internal qualities of these films in relation to international migration being followed was determined also. An overall analysis of the performance and effectiveness of these films was also conducted to assess and compare the qualities and impacts of these films with those of others. Gaps in the international migration themes and environment were then identified. Finally, several choices of strategies to improve the image of international migration as effective means in critical situations were recommended and evaluated in terms of appropriateness to the issues reviewed, feasibility in carrying out the options and acceptability within the key stakeholders and decision makers. Several key implementation issues related to managing strategic change were also addressed as well.         INTRODUCTION International migration simply pertains to the transfer of a human being from one international place to another. The distribution of migrant workers all over the globe has led to the efficient and effective implementation of the migration policies and tasks necessary to satisfy their customers, employees, and management. International migration focuses on the careful management of the processes involved in the establishment of policies and services. More often than not, poor individuals don’t really have the capabilities to migrate to other countries. Instead, these people engage in activities that various schools of demography typically associate with international migration. These activities include the attempts to study abroad and applying as migrant workers. However, international migration deals with all operations done within countries and labor organizations. Activities such as the management of human movement, the control of push and pull factors of migration, logistics and evaluations are often related with international migration. A great deal of emphasis lies on the efficiency and effectiveness of processes. Therefore, international migration includes the analysis and management of internal processes. Various films depicting international migration will be the models that will be used in this research.   TITLE: Dirty Pretty Things YEAR OF ORGINAL RELEASE: 2002 DIRECTOR: Stephen Frears   PLOT AND STRUCTURE: Okwe is a Nigerian who earns a living through driving a taxi and being a receptionist at a hotel, even though he is a doctor by profession. Senay, on the other hand, is a Turkish Muslim whose boss is involved in sexual promiscuity. The two immigrants’ paths cross each other, but as Senay gets tired of her usual life she makes up her mind to donate her kidney to have sufficient money to migrate once more. She asks Okwe to do that to her, but Okwe hesitates amidst the pressure. Structurally, the movie can be divided into two distinct parts: the first part of the novel introduces Okwe and Senay’s typical friendship when they were still ordinary immigrant workers, and just as importantly, their growing fondness over each other. The second section portrays Okwe’s struggles to fight the guilt he feels over his hesitation to set Senay free, and ultimately the amazing twist of fate that allows him to redeem himself over his mistakes over the past and thus live a normal life. THEMES:             The movie’s general theme has something to do with the moral value of a person. Because of Okwe’s seeming betrayal over his friend Senay, he seems to have been inconsistent in his efforts to show respect to himself because of the overwhelming guilt he feels. Yet the movie reminds the watchers again and again that Okwe is a majestic person despite his shortcomings. The movie proves that majesty can definitely be a ground for moral respect. SYMBOLISM:             Much of the movie’s symbolic imagery is centered on the status of migrant workers. This representation enables the movie watchers to understand the link between the friendship of Okwe and Senay, and most importantly migration also is the cause of guilt and eventually liberation of Okwe. Migration is the main “architecture” or the “bedrock” of the movie, including its ups and downs. DIRECTOR’S FILMING TECHNIQUES Stephen Frears is able to successfully merge his personality beneath the characters of Okwe and Senay which resulted in another noteworthy movie. The director shows no difficulty reprising the role of Okwe as the “doctor”, who is stronger intellectually than physically, and Senay as the “sweatshop girl”. Also, Frears’ depiction of Okwe battling his guilt is very convincing. Senay’s role, on the other hand, is very powerful as Okwe. Although the movie focuses more on Senay’s performance, it is the sacrifice of Okwe, a man with both love and fear for Senay that brings the movie a notch higher. Solid support roles are provided by Juliette, Sneaky, Ivan and Mohammed. The director does a wonderful job in this movie. His decision to direct the majority of the movie from the point of view of Okwe turns out to be very effective. Through the efficient editing, the viewers are able to gain knowledge on how Okwe goes about fighting the overwhelming feeling of guilt while at the same time experiencing how he becomes victorious and liberated from this feeling. The director’s choices make Okwe’s condition appear more realistic. DIALOGUE: White Englishman: Who are you people? Why haven’t I seen you before? Okwe: We are the people you don’t see: We drive your cabs, we clean your rooms, we suck your cocks. This is a line that everybody remembers from this movie.  This is actually in reference to the typical scene of the movie, when Okwe feels that he is not freed from his lifelong feeling of discrimination as a “black”, but has hope towards a bright future with Senay. GENRE AND CULTURAL / HISTORICAL CONSIDERATIONS:               The story of Okwe and Senay is set against the chaotic events from the fall of the government in Nigeria, and the mass exodus of refugees and immigrants from Turkey. PERSONAL REACTION:                         This movie definitely is one of the best films of all time, at least for me. The fact that this movie is a national hit is just a testament of how brilliant this film was made. But more importantly, this movie inspires people how to battle back from extreme adversity, like guilt. Also, as the theme indicates, people may be haunted by mistakes committed in the past, but still they deserve to be treated with utmost respect and appreciation, and a chance for redemption.   TITLE: La Promesse YEAR OF ORGINAL RELEASE: 1996 DIRECTOR: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne   PLOT AND STRUCTURE: Roger owns apartments that his son Igor manages and allows illegal immigrants to set in, in exchange for their simple services. However, when Igor’s friend Amidou, an illegal immigrant, almost died following a scuffle with an inspector, he issues a promise to Amidou that leads to the conflict of Igor and his father. Structurally, the movie can be divided into two distinct parts: the first part of the novel introduces Roger and Igor’s typical decent life when they were managing their apartments, and just as importantly, their growing compassion over illegal immigrants. The second section portrays Igor’s struggles to fulfill the promise he made to Amidou, and the resulting conflicts that seemingly forces him to commit mistakes that could haunt his life forever. THEMES: The movie’s overall theme tends to be socially conservative. The visual portrayal of illegal immigrants in the movie is more likely conservative in nature. The real meanings of the movie can be ascertained through the instant reflection of the absurd into the “real” which may or may not be further investigated in the rest of the movie. One may try to investigate for the purpose of discovering such ephemeral sequences, and partly with the concept of trying to mend the movie in the minds of the viewers out of the disoriented components. Such an example is very common nowadays, with numerous media organizations and the existence of the remote controls will force individuals to select their favorite channels searching for that particular scene which deviates from the reality. SYMBOLISM: The movie includes automatist outputs and interpretations of illegal immigrants. The movie also reflects people who show their un-appreciation for illegal immigrants and instead involve them into various scams. Not only did the movie focus on this type of symbolic representation, but also to the symbolisms present in unclear relationships among families, such as that of a father and son. DIRECTOR’S FILMING TECHNIQUES Because the movie seems to systematize the directors’ ideas regarding illegal immigration and the themes it presents, some individuals find the movie extremely difficult to comprehend. This idea however is hypothetical in nature. When the movie was edited and directed, the directors based their principles towards freeing the collective states of mind of the public viewers regarding illegal immigrants through tapping the imaginative capabilities of our “unconscious minds”. For us, this principle of altering daily real situations toward one that integrates the concepts of immigration and the unconscious capabilities of the mind have manifested itself for the purpose of releasing the personal, cultural, political and social revolution, sometimes pertained to as a complete evolution of life in terms of independence and emotions. At various instances, we found ourselves coinciding with the beliefs of illegal immigration to enable the progress of wild economic and social developments. PERSONAL REACTION: Because of the movie’s graphic quality, the images can be viewed and taken in quickly, however they resist speedy interpretation and remain ambiguous. They speak to our subconscious and are expressions of our own subconscious. The movie possesses this kind of dialect of clarity and mystery. Quite evidently, the directors decided to take up and incorporate a wide variety of influences in respect with illegal immigration. The combination of contradictory tendencies, together with the directors’ personal styles, in which intellect and feeling, consciousness and the subconscious, objective form and subjective intuition combined to form a single unity, was absolutely fantastic and definitely deserves credit.  More distinctively the movie represents an art that reflects strong feelings and emotions. Illegal immigration may not really be appealing to the viewer’s minds, but it has the capability to touch the viewer through the portrayal of intense emotions and ideas very much reflective of illegal immigration.         CONCLUSION The results of the analysis carried out on the films that tackled the different faces of international migration indicated very significant effects, even amidst the threats of unrest. Therefore, we could conclude that the image of international migration could still be expected to improve faster than average. The review of both film’s capabilities and impacts revealed very little inconsistencies regarding their strategies to educate the public regarding international migration. This is coherent with their traditional inside-out approach. However, the need to reconcile both the inside-out and outside-in approaches becomes imperative now for movie makers. The analysis among the general themes of the films as well as their symbolisms revealed certain gaps, most of which are biased towards international migration. However, these gaps paved the way towards determining a number of recommended strategic options to secure the competitiveness of international migration. Also, we have to find a balance between adherence to internal forces within the government and to the changing forces of the environment in order to implement such strategic options. Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Sample Research Analysis on International Migration: Efficient and Effective Implementation of Policies

OBJECTIVES As a person with knowledge of international migration, the author has always brought up to his superiors the viability of st...

STRATEGY

Strategic Analysis and Choice Introduction             The mobile Industry has been evolving now and then, from the “brick-size” phone to the size of a credit card, what comes next? In the advent of high-end technology, mobile phones become a necessity at the same time a leisure gadget that most teenagers enjoy. What has these phones got into? Well, they not only serve as communication purposes but it has become an icon, a fashion statement due to its complicated high-end features yet the simplicity of its function captures the heart of its consumers. In the words of (n.d.), “the mobile phone industry is certain to continue evolving, with some research suggesting that one day phones will take the place of credit cards and the remote control.” We are given the capacity to personalize our mobile phones in every aspect or features. Much more, with the growing innovation of mobile phones it has likely influenced the desires of every consumer; good news for mobile industries that they would be able to advance to next level. The current fads that the consumer has well appreciated are unlimited video clips, video phone calling, camera, photo message, downloadable ring tones, wallpapers and screen saver and most of all, the mp3 player, if this is now? What comes next? That is what we call the never-ending strategy.              An example of a mobile industry is the Orange Mobile Company. It was launched last April 1994, Orange was the fourth entrant into an already crowded UK mobile phone market, with an ambitious aim: to become the mobile provider of choice by making communications an intuitive and easily accessible part of daily life. Orange enlisted the influential brand consultancy for help in producing a brand identity, name and visual style that would create high awareness … and attract customers. The products and services they offer are: mobile phones where in they work closely with major manufacturers such as Motorola, Nokia and Samsung; the internet where one can go livebox and livemusic. Colour was used simply and confidently, complemented by simple language, short sentences and an easy to read typeface. Words spelt out the customer benefit rather than the technical specification of a product. By the time Orange was sold to Mannesmann AG in 1999 Orange had launched in Switzerland and Belgium and had licensed its brand to companies in Hong Kong, Australia, Israel and India (). In particular, this paper will be concentrating on Orange Mobile Company; one of the leading mobile industries in UK, with regards to its strategic marketing analysis. This paper will be discussing the importance of understanding competitors and how this understanding may facilitate successful planning of marketing activities and analyze these activities to conceptualize a profitable plan. The purpose of this paper is to give the researcher wide knowledge over strategic analysis and apply this knowledge in assessing the strategic analysis of Orange Mobile Company in particular context with its strategic business units , () and in the maintenance of the brand value in competition with other mobile industries (). An in-depth analysis of product portfolio strategy with the use of its method, the Boston Consulting Group Box (BCG Box) is required as to facilitate the researcher in its aims for the paper. Strategy             Strategy as defined by (Exploring Corporate Strategy) as the direction and scope of an organization over the long-term; which achieves advantage for the organization through of configuration of resources within a challenging environment to meet the needs of the market and fulfill the needs of stakeholder expectations. Strategies exist in any areas of an organization from a group of businesses to the individuals working with it. The different levels of a business where in strategy became one of their cornerstones. We have the corporate strategy, business unit strategy and operational strategy. Corporate strategy is concerned with the overall purpose and scope of the business to meet stakeholder’s expectation. When we say, market scope it classifies as to which market a business should compete in and what kind of activities to be involved in the business incorporating the values and expectations of those who have power in and around the business. This level often stated their strategic decision-making through their mission statement. The said mission statement would guide them as to what they should do for the betterment of the business for the years to come. Business unit strategy is concerned on how the business competes successfully in the market. This refers as to what products that shall meet the demands of the customers, necessary skills that are required in gaining advantage over the competitors to further exploit and/or create opportunities. The firm’s operational strategy concerns mainly of the assets, finances, technical competence and the people. Job performance is influenced by the employee’s knowledge, attitude and skills in handling their day-to-day activities and issues. This is by upholding work ethics within the organization and during business affairs. Strategic Management             Strategic Management is showing strategic timing in selling a stock. The diagram shown below clearly pinpoints the corporate, business unit and the operational strategies in the simplified five tasks. Figure 1: Five Task of Strategic Management Source: In order for the said tasks to be realized there must be a thorough coordination with other departments so that strategic decisions answer the mission statement of the organization. It is an on-going process that challenges the organization to convert their mission statement into organizational objectives that pushes the firm to be inventive intentional and focused. In this way they could keep track of the company’s performance thus, error would be prevented and they would be able to dispose parts of their business that cannot generate adequate returns or that does not generate with their business strategy. Strategic Analysis In thorough strategic management process, it has three main components shown in the figure below: Figure 2: Strategic Management Process Source: Strategic analysis by the term itself means it is by using strategic tools in order to methodically assess and analyze the firm’s strength in order to propel company’s ambition to its zenith considering their position or their standing in the competitive market and the influencing environment that might alter or improve their status. The strategic choice would involve the stakeholder’s expectation as their basis in making strategic choices and these choices are screened very well in order to implement these options. Strategic implementation is the crucial and most difficult of the three since; it has to be implemented into an action, and that the organization would act as a whole. Business Portfolio             The Business Portfolio is the collection of business and products that make up the company. The best business portfolio is one that fits the company’s strengths and helps exploit the most attractive opportunities. The company must (1) analyze its current business portfolio and decide which business should receive more or less investment, and (2) develop growth strategies for adding new products and businesses to the portfolio, whilst at the same time deciding when products and businesses should no longer be retained. Methods of Portfolio Planning             The two best-known portfolio planning methods are from the Boston Consulting Group and by General Electricity/Shell. In each method, the first method is to identify various Strategic Business Units (“SBU’s”) in a company portfolio. An SBU is a unit of the company that has a separate mission and objectives and objectives and that can be planned independently from the other businesses. An SBU can be a company division, a product line or individual brands – it all depends on how the company is organized. The Boston Consulting Group Box (“BCG Box”)             It is a means of analysing and categorizing the performance of business units in large diversified firms by reference to market share and growth rates. Four main categories are displayed in a two-dimensional matrix, which seeks to identify those business units that generate cash and those that use it, and then to relate the position of the business units to the formulation of an overall business strategy (; 2002). Resources are allocated to business units according to where they are situated on the grid as follows: Figure 3: The Boston Consulting Group Box Source: Using the BCG Box, a company classifies all its SBU’s according to two dimensions: on the horizontal axis: relative market share – this serves as a measure of SBU in the strength market; on the vertical axis: market growth share rate – this provides a measure of market attractiveness. By dividing the matrix into four areas, four types of SBU can be distinguished: ·  Stars – a business unit that has a large market share in a fast growing industry. Stars may generate cash, but because the market is growing rapidly they require investment to maintain their lead. If successful, they become cash cows ().             In relation, Orange mobile company has made strategic partnerships and alliances with some of the world’s leading suppliers and operators. They established the FreeMove alliance in 2003.  In 2006 they were joined by leading Nordic operator, Telia Sonera. This alliance ensures that customers have access to the same familiar services, like voicemail or customer service, abroad as well as at home. You can now even see who is calling when you roam on member networks. The services they offered are classifies into two: business and individual services. In the business sector – roaming services for international businesses, each with a consistent call rate for calls made and received when users are roaming abroad, and for international calls made from their home countries; also offered, data services including both GPRS and BlackBerry™. In this sector, they have an International customer service with International Business Care group, a multi-lingual team dedicated to providing great service to multi-national organizations. In the individual sector, they have the FreeMove answer, wherein they just have to dial their usual short codes to access voicemail and see whose calling; there is no need to re-programme the saved numbers for them to work internationally (). Aside from it, they join with Cingular Wireless combining okay strengths of coverage, network performance and business support services. These functionalities are the STARS of the Orange mobile company; the joint services offered will attract future customers as well as prospect businesses who would like to venture business with them. Thus, an increase demand of services also increases their sales. ·  Cash Cow – a business unit that has a large market share in a mature, slow growing industry. Cash cows require little investment and generate cash that can be used to invest in other business units (). France telecom acquired the Orange brand last August 2000 in effort to acquire the power of the Orange brand. Most of France Telecom’s mobile businesses were rebranded to Orange. France Telecom’s ambition is to be the first integrated telecoms operator in Europe and leader for convergence, delivering a ‘New Experience of Telecoms’ for its customers. This includes the rebranding of Equant and Wanadoo on 1 June 2006 – forming part of an international strategy to use the Orange brand commercially for mobile, fixed-line, broadband, multi-play and business offerings. This means a simple, single-company experience for customers as well as an exciting new generation of enhanced communications and converged services. The rebranding of the said business added brand value to the Orange brand. Knowing this, those individuals who use the previous brand now use the power name of Orange. This is an example of Cash cow since, the Equant and Wanadoo are already legitimate brands that are already recognized by the mobile market. The effect of rebranding escalated the number of prospect customers thus, Orange Company can generate fund from this to support other businesses that is still fresh in the competitive mobile market or other projects that has promoted the brand value of Orange. For an instance, the collaboration of Orange with PalmSource in the Palm Powered Mobile World Program, the joint forces of the two will bring a cutting – edge Palm Powered smartphones to the market. ·                     Question Marks (or Problem Children) are businesses or products with low market share but which operate in higher growth market share at the expense of more powerful competitors. Management have to think about “question marks” – which one should they invest in? Which ones should they allow to fail or shrink? In this category, these are the probable business units that might not continue to share in the market that will lead to product failure due to poor promotion and advertisement and the price is just costly that people wouldn’t spend a cent; or it might become the Stars and in the long run the Cash cows. The business units I’m referring are of those newly integrated services and products since; it is new there will always be questions that will arise and strategic planning must continue on and on in order, to finalize what particular procedure should be implemented. In addition, it is necessary that management of the marketing function be built upon purposively defined and analytically based marketing strategies. The strategic marketing planning, according to (2006), involves basically three stages: (1) segmenting the market; (2) profiling the market segments; and (3) developing the market segment marketing strategy. Pease refer to Figure 4 for the outline. Considering that globally, it is a competitive market, it is a must that strategic planning must be done before making unnecessary unfit choices. After such strategic choices, strategic analysis is done to further enhance the chance of making it big.                         Figure 4: Strategic Marketing Planning Source:     In strategic analysis, the company must also learn to comprehend the competitors of a business in a given industry and developing methods as to distinguish it from them is a very relevant and critical aspect which influences the development of the competitive strategy of the firm. In addition, it is also an important aspect of the strategic planning process as it (1) facilitates the management to understand their competitive advantage or disadvantages associated to their competitors; (2) creates understanding of the competitors past, present, and future strategies; (3) offer an informed basis to develop strategies to gain and maintain competitive advantage in the future; and (4) to facilitate the firm in forecasting the returns that may be made from future investments (2005).             (2000) notes that understanding competitors is the core to making marketing plans and strategy. A firm has to compare its products, prices, channels of distribution and promotional methods with those of its competitors on a regular basis to make sure that it is not at a disadvantage. The process of the competitor analysis basically constitutes three steps. The first step is to identify the firm’s competitors. As for Orange Mobile Company, it has several competitors such as Vodafone and Cellnet. The second step of the competitor analysis is the assessment of its competitors. This may be done through benchmarking as the firms will first have to determine the objectives of its competitors as well as their objectives, then later on assessing the strengths and weaknesses of its competitors. and (1997) notes that benchmarking sustains organizational growth as well as facilitates world-class competitive status.             Finally, the third step in the competitor analysis is the selection of competitors to avoid or to attack. After the assessment of the firm’s competitors, the firm will have to formulate the specific strategies that will give them the competitive advantage against its competitors.             It must be noted that during the process of competitor analysis and the implementations of its strategies, the firm will have to assess which of the competitors’ strategies that they will have to follow or not. The second stage which allows the company to compare their operations with others will necessitate some degree of change within the organization. Thus it should be very well noted that the company only as to follow the strategies that will apply to their business as every business is unique in their own nature. These strategies will have to be in lined with the company’s philosophies as well. ·                     Dogs are the combination of low growth rate and market share is typical of these businesses and products, which operate in mature markets. Firms frequently face strategic decision regarding whether to continue to support dogs or to implement a divestment strategy. Barriers to exit (factors that make it difficult for a company to leave a make a market that is no longer profitable or that has ceased to provide an acceptable return on capital) would also need to be considered (, 2002). Using the BCG Box to determine the strategy is a way of maximizing the long-run interests of every group. Another is that by balancing properly the interests of major stakeholders, the long-range interests of all will be maximized. However, conventional strategic thinking suggests there are four possible strategies for each SBU: (1) build share: here the company can invest to increase market share like turning the Question mark into a Star (2) hold: the company invest just enough to keep the SBU in its present position (3) harvest: the company reduces the amount of investment in order to maximize the short term cash flows and profits from the SBU. This could be shown by turning the Stars into Cash cows (4) divest: the company can divest the SBU by phasing it out or selling it – on order to use resources elsewhere by investing into more promising Question marks. Conclusion: The mobile industry has already extended throughout the world. Firms that operate within the mobile industry are categorized as a market structure that is highly competitive. Orange Mobile Company and its strategic marketing planning has been the focus of this research is that the Orange mobile Company as a market leader in the mobile industry. The Strategic Management is the process of specifying an organization’s objectives, developing policies and plans to achieve these objectives, and allocating resources so as to implement the plans. There is a need to have a strategy that is concerned with the most important decisions made in an enterprise. The central thrust of these decisions is the future of the organization. In here, strategic planning must be done to “create” more desirable future results by (a) influencing the outside world or (b) adapting current programs and actions so as to have more favorable outcomes in the external environment. This paper has strongly recognized the importance of understanding competitors in strategic marketing planning for the benefits that it gives to the successful planning of marketing activities. These benefits and advantages include the following. First, understanding competitors will facilitate the firm’s management to understand their competitive advantage and disadvantages in relation to their competitors. Second, understanding competitors will also generate understanding of the past, present and future strategies of the firm. Third, it offers the firm an informed basis to develop strategies in order to gain or maintain competitive advantage against their competitors in the future. Lastly, understanding competitors will also facilitate the firm in forecasting or predicting the financial returns that they made from future investments. To further influence the strategic analysis of the Orange mobile Company, we use the BCG – share matrix. The experience curve represents a volume-cost relationship. It is argued that, as the cumulative historical volume of output increases, unit costs will fall at a geometric rate. This relationship is said to result from specialization, standardization, learning, and scale effects. The firm with the largest cumulative output will have lower costs, suggesting a strategy of early and price policies to develop volume. Reference:   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

STRATEGY

Strategic Analysis and Choice Introduction The mobile Industry has been evolving now and then, from the “brick-size” phone ...

ANALYSING STRATEGY

ASDA: ANALYSIS OF CURRENT AND POTENTIAL STRATEGIES   Introduction             Strategy is an integrated and coordinated set of corporate actions that are intended for companies to exploit their respective resources, competencies and competitive advantages to remain competitive or obtain market leadership (,  &  2003 ).  For some industries, however, strategy is closely tied with marketing processes this fragment of an organization is considered their connection to customers.  In this paper, the strategic position of ASDA will be analyzed and alternative strategic policies including their implementation will be discussed with reference to theories on corporate strategy and marketing concepts.    Background of the Current Strategy             ASDA is using two prominent corporate strategies that endeavor to maintain customer loyalty; namely, community involvement and 50-plus recruitment.  Both are adopted to get ahead from a very stiff competition that makes low-pricing, product quality and high product differentiation merely as requisites to enter the supermarket retailing industry.  As observed, there are competitive strategies that should be developed in order for ASDA to minimize the upper-hand of Tesco’s size and advantages being protected by niche retailers.  With this, the second largest UK retailer with 321 stores and 148,000 employees all over the country should implement strategic actions/ responses (A/R) to remain competitive, if not, head-to-head with Tesco ( ).               The purpose of community involvement is to imply marketing processes and non-price competition by helping local communities attain quality of life ().  In addition, the mission statement and values of ASDA is directed towards long-term aims and belief in respect for individual, excellence and customer service which makes community-related activities a reflection of what the company’s want to achieve.  Community programs deal with people, health, education, community and other events specifically hosting blood donation campaigns and solicitation for breast cancer treatment/ awareness.  This strategy complements the motivation that customers, employees and shareholders are searching as customers want companies helping their community, employees gain recognition for their action and shareholders see volunteerism as good business sense.               On the other hand, 50-plus recruitment is the solution ASDA implemented to provide better customer service for the ageing customer base (Age Positive).  According to statistics, forty percent (40%) of the UK’s population are 50 years old and above which lead to the rationalization of the 50-plus strategy.  By having staffs that have same age to customers, the latter needs is more emphasized and addressed.  In addition, ASDA extracts more flexibility as nineteen percent (19%) of its workforce are over 50 years old because these oldies are provided special part-time program which includes Benidorm leaves and seasonal squad.  As a result, recruitment process becomes more efficient due to less need for retraining, reduced turnover and increasing customer satisfaction.    Analysis of Being a Market-Led Organization             As the plan basically involves market and product compatibility, the inability to satisfy customer needs by the available offerings would only result to a futile strategy.  The weakness tends to be contagious since products are not adjusted to the market or vice versa.  However, when a firm is market-oriented, it can easily identify and act in terms of the difference of business-to-customer (B2C) relationships ( 2003 ).  This inclination has critical role in rationalizing, if not classifying, effective programs relating to four Ps of marketing.  For example, B2C relationships emphasize more of the pricing aspect of the product except for high-end, specialty ones.  Market-led cognition makes the firm aware on the extent of the program and its impact to individual as well as group customers including the associated costs and benefits.   Further, as market-orientation is the key in defining the operation of the business ( 2000 ), the purpose, mission and internal analysis parts of the marketing plan are made consistent to what the organization is capable of doing.  In comparing a product- versus market-led description of the nature of business, the “we run an airline” tagline of the former is expanded to “we transport people and their goods anywhere in the world” by the latter.  As observed, the succeeding statement is more particular in highlighting the capabilities of the firm and suggesting where it positions its competitive advantage.  The preceding, however, sounds less valuable and differentiable to customers due to its generalization and standardization implications.  In this respect, the affected initial and core parts of the plan tends to be straightforward that can immediately call for corporate or departmental attention.   On the verge of plan approval, funding requirements to the plan proposals are also resolved by a market-led organization.  Since market-orientation gives the firm the ability to align vertical functions and horizontal processes ( 2003 ), the plan is basically prepared under the conditions of value-creating and cost-saving framework.  This is because when the value chain is made lean but mean, it develops integrated links where knowledge can be shared, quality is standardized and inefficient associate is improved.  On the other hand, similar chains can achieve economies of scale when processes are done in a coordinating manner.  Operational defects, wastes and mediocrity are resolved in a choral manner.  The motivation to do so come from the awareness of every organizational member that the end-result of what they do is intended to satisfy customer needs, boost sales and receive benefits from result outcomes.  This scenario makes the market-led plan financially and strategically feasible.   Relationship marketing (RM) is the source of marketing partnerships, strategic alliances and networks which are methods that enable independent strategies of individual entities to benefit from other benefits brought about by collaboration with other ( 2000 ).  For ASDA, RM can bring the company in a more formidable leadership position in a very competitive retailing environment.  Although most retailers satisfy cost leadership and differentiation issues, absence of RM can result to hostile competition from several companies that may lead to loyalty demise of their customers.  The core idea behind RM is building rapport with customers ( 2000 ) that can lead to customer retention.  Such set-up lead to long-term and loyal customers which are found to be less costly, have willingness to pay premium price of the product and also willingness to engage in word-of-mouth referrals to prospective customers (cited in  2002 ).               However, there are pitfalls in RM and these are much related to implementation rather than RM strategy itself.  One example is the lack of resources and deviation of corporate strategy that makes company efforts to understand RM in the point of view of customers difficult or impossible (cited in  2002 ).  Without such understanding customers may not appreciate the feat and even treat it as completely negative campaigns.  For example, it is indicated that catalogs and direct marketing were favorable to customers but e-mail messages are viewed less favorably (,  2002 ).  Without understanding of customer needs and preference, the communication requirement of RM cannot be met.  As ASDA is plowing deeper in customer relations by applying market-oriented and RM strategies, it may fail to understand what customers really wanted and ASDA would campaign unnecessarily.      Alternative Strategy Direction             To enhance the benefits of community involvement and 50-plus recruitment in the long-term, ASDA must supplement these strategies with customer information platform that can manage data and/ or address customer complaints.  The rationale of this is to mitigate the problems post by the promises of RM, that is, ASDA may have difficulty in implementing its market-led organization due to lack of customer information and data.  Customer service is a source of competitive advantage ( 2000).  According to , quality is an insufficient source of best net value that makes customer service an augmentation of the uncompleted value strategy (cited in  1997 ).  Customer service is highly related to 50-plus strategy but community involvement is more on public relations and promotional efforts of ASDA.               Therefore, ASDA must create a business information system that can balance its internal structure (i.e. 50-plus) and external strategy (e.g. community).  Investing a lot of time and money in community or older workforce and vice versa can result in de-focusing the overall target and direction of ASDA.  With information systems, it can balance their trade-off and put corporate resources on their best destinations.  Database and internet marketing have two different meanings, but when combined, it provides accurate advantages of e-marketing.  ASDA can simply create and maintain a website reflecting its sales and advertising missions; allocate relatively low-cost means of penetrating consumer base and competing against other brands; generate customer message, conduct reviews and provide appropriate actions; and measure the outcome of e-marketing in terms of communication and sales impact.   As a result, the primary goal of direct marketing (DM) of building and maintaining customer relationships ( 2003) can be carried efficiently, that is, allowing huge customer scope and communication at low cost.  The database capability will also allow corporations to collect necessary and real-time information on product performance in the eyes of customers (potential or actual) that could aid them in evaluating the present DM strategies.  On the other hand, the website can take orders, customer complaints and suggestions relevant at the present marketing mix performance making customer relationship management (CRM) at low cost while resolution at faster rate.   Implementation             The first thing to do is to plan strategically.  DM activities should be integrated in a manner that all participating companies contribute and aware of their responsibilities.  Regular meetings should be conducted to construct a comprehensive strategy with time frame that allows individual corporate objectives inputted and reconciled.  This strategy will serve as the platform that will trickle down tactical and operational A/R not the reverse which is exhibited at present.  In this planning effort, DM activities should not be limited to traditional media rather put emphasis to efficiency and CRM potential of digital DM including its adherence to long-run organizational aspirations like increasing profits, expanding customer base and enlarging train routes.               The second step is to implement and control the strategies.  There are possible supplier detachments (e.g. telephone and paper) and downing regimes due to adoption of new technology while there would also be stakeholder relationship extension and enhancement (e.g. network provider, mailing company and computer-based customer service team).  Thus, there is a need to handle stakeholder resistance and new relationships that could lead to societal dissatisfaction to the association.  It is also high time for ASDA to sustain loyalty cardholders by sending them with personalized greeting cards or interesting journals through internet.  Also, non-Great Britain market could be intensively tapped including foreigners by providing them an information gateway that is interactive and low cost without the need of telephone.               Lastly, evaluation of results stemmed in strategies including those from tactical and operational A/R.  The annual marketing objectives and aims can serve as the benchmark to determine improvements on performance from the past.  With this, necessary adjustments of resources can be determined and conducted (e.g. enhanced by customer’s database) efficiently, that is, being flexible due to pro-activeness to identify future problems and customer expectations.  The evaluation stage can also advise the association if there is a need to fine-tune tactics which includes unidirectional media to meet environmental changes or customer shifted preference and even modify strategy (e.g. inserting B2B transactions in the interactive website for institutional customers) depending on the performance of adopted digital DM model.      Conclusion             Digital DM transforms the inefficient and short-term goal-oriented firm into a price competitive and customer-driven one.  This modern DM strategy does not depart from the foundation and purpose of traditional DM observed in face-to-face and direct-intimate mails rather enforced and upgraded it to obtain cost-efficiencies and effective communication benefiting stakeholders in B2C and B2B transactions.  As presented in this paper, it is also found that DM principles that ultimately aimed to build and enhance customer relationships can be personalized by a firm depending on its strategies.  It can use different forms of DM from door-to-door marketing to an interactive website communication.  However, as in the case of ASDA, the latter medium is more appropriate primarily because it is aiming for customer growth and customer loyalty.  Without digital DM, the firm would probably be stocked focusing their sights at short term gains, thus, not supporting core goals which highly relies on CRM.                Bibliography Books Journals   Electronic Sources Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

ANALYSING STRATEGY

ASDA: ANALYSIS OF CURRENT AND POTENTIAL STRATEGIES Introduction Strategy is an integrated and coordinated set of corpora...