Strategic Management Assignment

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Strategic Management Part A The main functional strategies an organization needs include: a financial strategy, production strategy, marketing strategy and a human resource management strategy. A financial strategy helps a firm to streamline its internal and external operations to generate profits. A production strategy enables a firm to plan and execute different tasks that are needed to increase volumes of output. A marketing strategy helps a firm to develop relationships with its customers to serve their needs better (Jiang, 2009, p. 153). Lastly, a human resource management strategy helps a firm to manage its employees to ensure they attain positive results. A firm may resort to a cost leadership strategy by selling its products at a lower price than that of its competitors to sustain its operations. The strength of substitutes in a particular market may encourage a firm to rethink the type of products it sells and the specific needs they serve. A firm may opt to differentiate its products to increase their value in a particular market to make customers more willing to pay higher prices for them (Jiang, 2009, p. 156). A firm may also choose to focus on niche segments to ensure it does not get exposed to risks that result from targeting a broad market. The notion of being ‘stuck in the middle’ occurs when business firms pursue divergent strategies which do not bring positive results to their operations. This notion is not always true because a firm that manufactures a variety of products has to implement different strategies that cater effectively to the needs of diverse target segments. Part B New product development is one of the growth strategies the firm intends to use. The firm intends to strengthen its market position in North America by developing new products that cater to customers’ tastes and preferences. This approach will help the firm to attract new customers who are willing to sample these new products to find out the value they may obtain from consuming them. The firm intends to make its operations more innovative to create new demand for its products in the market (Rue & Byars, 2003, p. 56). This approach will help the firm to diversify its products to increase its revenue streams. Market development is also another strategy the firm intends to implement to ensure that its products are easily available both local and international markets. The firm intends to create new demand for its products in underserved markets to strengthen its reputation in the long run. Through the use of advertising and marketing promotion, the firm intends to develop products that appeal to diverse consumer segments (Rue & Byars, 2003, p. 59). The firm intends to use different marketing channels to make consumers understand specific attributes that define the products it sells and how they appeal to their consumption needs. The firm needs to adopt a market penetration growth strategy by improving the quality of its operations. It needs to make its supply chain procurement processes more efficient to ensure timely production schedules are maintained. The firm also needs to come up with an efficient delivery system that caters effectively to consumer needs and expectations. As a result, the adoption of high quality customer relationship management strategies will help the firm to increase revenues obtained from its operations (Rue & Byars, 2003, p. 63). Part C International expansion will benefit the firm because it is likely to take advantage of opportunities in markets that are not fully served by other firms. The firm may benefit from favorable investment laws in some countries which are likely to reduce the amount of costs it is likely to incur in its operations. International expansion provides an opportunity for the firm to strengthen the quality of its brand and this will beneficial to its long term business outlook (Hisrich, 2010, p. 78). The firm needs to pursue joint ventures with other firms to reduce regulatory and capital barriers that may bar it from operating in various international territories. International expansion may expose the firm to harmful risks caused by stringent regulations. The firm may also be exposed to risks caused by foreign exchange instabilities and this may result in heavy losses for the firm. Poor understanding of consumer behavior in some international markets may cause the firm to manufacture products that do not address the needs of targeted customers adequately (Hisrich, 2010, p. 81). A joint venture may slow down the firm’s operations in international markets due to sluggish decision making processes. Campbell is using a global strategic approach. The firm intends to expand its operations into Asia, North America and Australia by developing new products which attract new forms of consumer demand. The firm also intends to review the manner in which it conducts its operations by encouraging closer collaborations and information sharing between its employees located in various places (Hisrich, 2010, p. 92). Consequently, the firm intends to improve the value of its operations to penetrate different global markets to increase its profit revenues. Part D Small business ventures are business firms which employ less than 50 employees. Many small business firms are owned by women because they do not require a large amount of capital to start. Some small business firms operate as part of informal sectors of the economy because they do not have well defined organizational structures. In many instances, owners of small business ventures are involved in making day to day decisions that determine how operations are run (Gibb, 2000, p. 15). They rely on less costly channels to market their business mainly in form of word of mouth, referrals, social media pages and email marketing. Small business firms are vital in an economy because they help to reduce unemployment. They aid economic growth because they increase a government’s tax revenues. The overall strategic planning of small firms is short term. Since they are led by owners, they are not able to plan growth strategies that can help them attract new consumers to purchase their products (Gibb, 2000, p. 21). Owners are crucial to the success of their firms but they may lack the appropriate skills needed to introduce new systems that make it easy to control and coordinate operations after their business units have expanded. Small business firms encourage more people to be independent and this brings innovation into an economy. They take advantage of opportunities in different sectors and this is beneficial to long term economic growth. They provide owners with opportunities to network and exchange ideas through associations and this improves living standards in a given region. One disadvantage of small businesses is that owners may not be willing to adapt to changes in the industry which increase their profits (Gibb, 2000, p. 27). Capital restrictions may also make it difficult for small business firms to expand and take advantage of opportunities in other markets. References Gibb, A. A. (2000). SME policy, academic research and the growth of ignorance, mythical concepts, myths, assumptions, rituals and confusions. International Small Business Journal, 18(3), 13-35. Hisrich, R. (2010). International entrepreneurship: Starting, developing and managing a global venture. London, U.K.: Sage Publications. Jiang, X. (2009). Strategic management for main functional areas in an organization. International Journal of Business and Management, 4 (2), 153-157. Rue, L. & Byars, L. (2003). Management: Skills and applications. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

Cite this page