Abstract

Use of Strategic Management Tools are one of the best ways to make strategies. In developed
countries almost every organization use different kind of tools to make batter strategies. This
paper is a critical review of the application of strategic management tools in different Multi-
National Companies of Bangladesh. Different companies in Bangladesh are using different
strategic management tools to make strategies and also to test the feasibility of those
strategies. This paper also studies about the culture of the MNCs and the market analyzing
capacity. To make justification I have interviewed some corporate persons from different
multinational companies. This research therefore recommends some actions to increase the
productivity and to introduce new time worthy tools over time.

Declaration of Originality

I hereby certify that this submission, which here is submitted named “An analysis of the
application of strategic management tools in a Multi-National Company (MNC) in
Bangladesh” for assessment as my academic study material is entirely my own work and to the
best of my knowledge it has not been taken from the work of others save and to the extent that
such work has been cited. I also declare that the intellectual content of this paper is the product
of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and
conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.

Name: Amik Saha Durjoy

ID: 1721681630
Date: 13th January, 2021

An analysis of the application of strategic management tools in a Multi-National Company (MNC)

in Bangladesh
 Acknowledgement

First of all, I would like to thank the Almighty in completion of this research paper.
My heartiest gratitude to our teacher Bobby Hajjaj for helping me in every step of
this report.
I would like to thank all the respondents who took participated in the survey I did.
Without their responses, this research couldn’t have been completed.
Finally, we would like to thank our parents, family and friends for their unending
inspiration and encouragement.

13th January, 2021

Amik Saha Durjoy
ID: 1721681630

An analysis of the application of strategic management tools in a Multi-National Company (MNC)

in Bangladesh
Introduction

The economy of Bangladesh is expanding day by day. And on that expansion MNCs are playing
crucial role. But in this dynamic business world, to maintain or expand any business, strategies
are must. And to make effective strategies knowledge of Strategic management and its tools is
necessary. Strategic management is basically analyzing the future, assembling new plans, and
planning for allocating resources to achieve the goal. That is why knowledge about the strategic
management tools, and their use is essential for the growth. I am doing this research to analyze
the use of strategic management tool in Multi-National Companies of Bangladesh and their
succession ration in the real life.

Literature Review

Fleisher, C. S., and Bensoussan, B. E. in their book "Business and Competitive Analysis:
Effective Application of New and Classic Method" said that with time managers become used to
using management tools and formulas to make batter strategies and also to analyze their
competitors. So that their firm can provide their best performance and also can compete with
their competitor. They did different researches on the Strategic Management Tool. Some of the
findings from researches on the Strategic Management Tool are given below.

Mr. Qehaja, A., Kutllovci, E., & Pula, J. had a research named "Strategic Management Tools and
Techniques Usage: A Qualitative Review" (pp.585-600). On that study they wanted to find out
that which industry mostly use tools to make strategic decision. They also tried to find that which
tools is most popular both globally and country-based users. The findings of that studies were,
mostly developed countries use those strategic management tools rather than the developing
countries. And it is also a big issue for the failure of the entrepreneurs of the developing
countries. From this paper another finding was SWOT analysis, benchmarking, PESTEL
analysis, vision and mission statements, Porter's five forces analysis, business financial analysis,
key success factors analysis, etc. are some of the most used tools in strategic management.

Again Mr. Wright, R., Paroutis, S. and Mr. Blettner, D. conducted a research named "How
Useful Are the Strategic Tools We Teach in Business Schools?" (pp.92-125). This research was
conducted on 46 managers who were doing their job and on popular tools which was generally
teach on business schools. The finding was that those managers were not fully satisfied using
those management tools. They find those tools useful in some sectors, but not in every cases.

An analysis of the application of strategic management tools in a Multi-National Company (MNC)

in Bangladesh
Actually their expectation was this tools will provide different view of a problems, will help to
generate new ideas, enable to differentiate than other, will provide connection of thinking etc.

Research Questions

Throughout the study, I have attempted to discover whether Multi-National Companies (MNCs)
in Bangladesh use the strategic management tools or not to make strategies. Therefore, this
research is entirely devoted to getting the answer to the following questions to enrich the whole
research -

 Whether MNCs used strategic management tools to make strategies or not?

 What are the strategic management tools that their organization generally use to make
strategies?
 Whether the culture of Bangladeshi MNCs is preferable to use strategic management tools or
not?
 Whether strategic management tools are successfully helping to make batter strategies in the
real business environment or not?

Hypothesis

This research's initial hypothesis is Bangladeshi MNCs are using strategic management tools;
they will use some regular tools like vision framework, Porters 5 forces, BCG matrix, Four
Parenting Strategies etc.; Bangladeshi culture is very much preferable to use strategic
management tools; and those tools are successfully helping to make batter strategies in the real
business environment.

Research Methodology

An analysis of the application of strategic management tools in a Multi-National Company (MNC)

in Bangladesh
The primary data of this research is accumulated through a structured interview of five
management executives currently working in various MNCs. To get clear and well-diversified
responses, participants were presented with open-ended questions.
This study also contains secondary knowledge from the internet, posts, and journals in
accordance with their credibility and importance.

Data Presentation

In order to justify the initial hypothesis, this study is carried out through a structured interview of
five management executives who are currently employed in different multi-national
corporations. The participants' descriptions are as follows—

Participants Current Designation Mobile

Organization Number
Shuvadip Ghosh Marico Territory Manager, Sales 01709636323
Arnab Roy American & Efird Account Manager, Sales 01847166989
Sukanta Roy Sanofi District Manager 01709992544
Md. Yasin Sarkar Unilever Brand Detailing Supervisor 01713758888
Rajesh Roy CEVA Logistics Business Development 01313084078
Manager

One close ended question and three open-ended questions related to the research subject
were presented to the participants. All the primary responses from survey are presented and
analyzed below-

 My first question to the participants was, Whether MNCs used strategic management
tools to make strategies or not?
In the response of this question three participants have responses yes. Means they use those tools
to establish new strategies. But they also mentioned that they don’t do this in the bookish way.
where the other two have responses that they did not use any tools for making strategies, rather
they mainly focus on only brain storming to make strategies.

An analysis of the application of strategic management tools in a Multi-National Company (MNC)

in Bangladesh
 Management Tool

40%
Use Do not Use

60%

 My second question was what are the strategic management tools that their
organization generally use to make strategies?
To answer this question those three participants has mentioned different tools. Like American &
Efird generally use SWOT to make strategies. And Merico use SWOT, GAP and value chain to
make strategies again CEVA Logistics said that they use tools for RND and testing fusibility.
Again though Unilever use sales force tool to make strategies, they mostly depend on
brainstorming. And Sanofi also didn’t use any tools to make strategies.

 My third question was Whether the culture of Bangladeshi MNCs is preferable to use
strategic management tools or not?
In the response of this question, all the participants have agreed that in Bangladesh this culture
very much preferable on most of the MNCs. Even those two companies, who said that they
didn’t use any tool, said that it is a good way to make strategies. Means most of the MNC
companies are already using those tools or prefer to use those tools to make strategies. But they
also face some trouble to use those tools. Like too much time consuming, in some case costly as
well.

 And in my final question I asked participants Whether strategic management tools are
successfully helping to make batter strategies in the real business environment or not?
And the response of that question was also very positive. All the participants reply that those
tools are successfully helping them to make batter strategies. And their generated strategies also
go with the real business environment of Bangladesh. Means if they make any strategy and then
forecast the sale, it can vary from 10 to 20%. But they can predict this. Here a challenge was also

An analysis of the application of strategic management tools in a Multi-National Company (MNC)

in Bangladesh
mentioned. That those tools are basically man-made tools. And they are totally dependent on
different kind of data. So according to their opinion by providing most relatable data company
can come out with best strategies by using those strategic management tools.

Data Analysis and Discussion

On this research 5 different persons from 5 different MNCs were interviewed over phone call.
The motive of that research was to find out, the ratio of usage strategic management tools in the
Multi-National Companies of Bangladesh. From the presented data we can understand that
most of the companies are used to use strategic management tools to make strategies. They
use those tools to analyze the market stability, to develop new products or to make connection
with one department to another. And for those work they generally use SWOT analysis, Value
Chain analysis, Pestel Analysis, GAP Analysis etc.

Most of the surveyed person use those tools and techniques on their regular work to make
their life easy. But they also face some problems to use those files as well. The actual business
market is very much competitive and complex to execute any strategy. On the study of
Wright, R., Paroutis, S., and Blettner, D. they also find that, almost all the surveyed
executives provide the same answers. For them those strategic tools are useful in certain
scenarios, but not highly effective in every cases. According to their study Organizations
prefer such tools which provide most connected reasoning, different interpretations, allow
consumers to develop creative solutions and diversified ideas, and guide the process of
thinking. (pp.92-125).
In my study participants mentioned that they used concepts, frameworks, and principles of
strategic management to make judgments that could contribute to enhanced success and
performance. Such tools and frameworks enable them to effectively make innovative plans. The
book "Business and Competitive Analysis: Effective Application of New and Classic Method"
also claimed that to obtain better efficiency result, managers often use instruments and strategies.
(2007, by Fleisher and Bensoussan). However, these instruments need more advancements and
dynamism to provide results that could lead to incredible performances.

Qehaja, A., Kutllovci, E., & J, Pula. (2017) illustrate that entrepreneurship is mostly failed in
developing nations rather than the advanced countries. And they mentioned that the reason
behind this is the use of strategic management tools. In developed countries those tools are
mostly used but in developing countries organizations are not much comfortable to use those.
But the findings of my survey didn't comply with this study result completely. In my survey I
found that MNCs in Bangladesh, are using management tools to make strategies. Though all the

An analysis of the application of strategic management tools in a Multi-National Company (MNC)

in Bangladesh
companies are not using those tools but the user rate is much higher. Again the other result
agreed with the responses of the corporate persons. That SWOT analysis, benchmarking,
PESTEL analysis, vision statements, Porter's five forces, and value Chain analysis are some most
used tools (pp.585-600).

So, from this whole discussion we can demonstrate that all the MNCs in Bangladesh are
directly or indirectly using the Strategic Management Tools on their regular activities as well
making strategies. And they after using those tools they are getting close enough results that they
expect or assumed while making strategies. But there are some limitations as well in the real
business field. And for this they expect more advanced tools which will help them to forecast
more accurately. So, I can say that the findings are going to my primary hypothesis that
Bangladeshi MNCs are using strategic management tools; Bangladeshi culture is very much
preferable to use those tools; and those tools are successfully helping to make batter strategies in
the real business environment
.

Recommendation

From this whole analysis for this research, I found that most of the MNCs are using different
tools for making the strategies for different projects. But they are not totally satisfied with the
results of those tools. And that’s why they expect further more modifications and updated tools
in comparison to the new business environment to make batter analysis and strategies for their
projects.
Business world is getting changed day by day. It is becoming more competitive and complex.
But if we focus on the strategic management tool, we will find that most of the popular tools
were invented in the last portion of the 19 th century. And from this time the current scenario of
the business environment has much changed. Again, if we see at the textbook, we will find some
basic and common use of the strategic management tools. So, to improve this situation both in
corporate sector and the education sector should come forward and should work jointly. The
researched should do more research on what corporate persons want from a strategic
management tool. And should develop such models and tools that can be used as a universal tool
which would be much more realistic.
On the other hand, every business should also focus on the use of those tools in their
every single strategy building. Business environment differ from country to country. Local
business may have this knowledge, but for MNCs it is kind of unusual. So those tools can be a
great relief for them. Again Mr. Qehaja, A., Kutllovci, E., & Pula, J. (2017) suggested on their

An analysis of the application of strategic management tools in a Multi-National Company (MNC)

in Bangladesh
research that, Bangladeshi, as a growing economic country, should provide more emphasize on
the using of strategic management tools and concepts day-to-day business judgments.

Conclusion

This research paper on “The application of strategic management tools in a Multi-National

Company (MNC) in Bangladesh” tries to give a vast concept on the present use rate of those
tools and it’s limitations on the use of different MNCs. It also shows that in MNCs culture
executives are interested to use those tools and those tools also provide a realistic view of the
market. So MNCs should focus on the use of management tools and should train their
executives for using those in a most efficient way.

References

Fleisher, C. S. and Bensoussan, B. E. (2007). Business and Competitive Analysis: Effective

Application of New and Classic Methods. Upper Saddle River, NJ: FT Press. Retrieved
from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234820319_Business_and_Competitive_Analys
is_Effective_Application_of_New_and_Classic_Methods
Qehaja, A., Kutllovci, E., & Pula, J. (2017). Strategic Management Tools and Techniques Usage:
A Qualitative Review. Acta Universitatis Agriculturae Et Silviculturae Mendelianae
Brunensis, 65(2), 585-600. Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316603417_Strategic_Management_Tools_and
_Techniques_Usage_a_Qualitative_Review
Wright, R., Paroutis, S. and Blettner, D., (2013). How Useful Are the Strategic Tools We Teach
in Business Schools?. Journal of Management Studies, 50(1), 92-125. Retrieved from
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2012.01082.x

An analysis of the application of strategic management tools in a Multi-National Company (MNC)

in Bangladesh
 Appendix

Business Cards of Interviewed Persons-

Cards Recorded Interviews attachment Link

to the Google Classroom

An analysis of the application of strategic management tools in a Multi-National Company (MNC)

in Bangladesh