Lecture Outline

Chapter 1 & 2

Strategic Management

SM (Strategic Management) is the process of developing a mission and a

vision for the company, setting objectives, formulating and executing
company strategies to achieve those objectives and evaluating performance
for necessary adjustments. In essence, SM spells-out the growth direction for
the firm and helps it achieve the intended growth.

Good strategy and good strategy execution are the most trustworthy
signs of good management

The standards for god management rest to a very great extent on how well
conceived the company’s strategy is and how competently it is executed.

However, good strategy combined with good strategy execution does not
guarantee that a company will avoid periods of so-so or even sub-par
performance due to unexpected shifts in market conditions or uncontrollable
technology delays or unanticipated costs.

It is the responsibility of a company’s management team to adjust to

unexpected conditions by undertaking strategic defences and business
approaches that can overcome adversity. Indeed, the essence of good
strategy making is to build a market position strong enough and an
organization capable enough to produce successful performance despite
unforeseeable events, potent competition, a rash a delays, or cost surprises.

The better conceived a company’s strategy and the more competently it is

executed, the more likely it is that the company will be a standout performer
and exhibit enviable business practices.

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THE FIVE TASKS OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
The strategy-making strategy implementing process consists of five
interrelated managerial tasks :

1. Forming a strategic vision of where the organization is headed-so as

to provide long – term direction, delineate what kind of enterprise the
company is trying to become and infuse the organization with a
sense of purposeful action.
2. Setting objectives – converting the strategic vision into specific
performance outcomes for the company to achieve.
3. Crafting a strategy to achieve the desired outcomes.
4. Implementing and executing the chosen strategy efficiently and
effectively.
5. Evaluating performance and initiating corrective adjustments in
vision, long-term direction, objectives, strategy, or execution in light
of actual experience, changing conditions, new ideas and new
opportunities.

DEVELOPING A STRATEGIC VISION

Management’s views and conclusions about

# What the organization’s long term direction should be

# The technology –product-customer focus it intends to pursue, and its
future business scope constitutes strategic vision for the company.

THE THREE ELEMENTS OF A STRATEGIC VISION

Managers have three discernible tasks in forming a strategic vision and
making it a useful direction-setting tool:

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* Coming up with a mission statement that defines what business the
company is presently in and conveys the essence of “Who we are, what we
do, and where we are now”.
* Using the mission statement as a basis for deciding on a long-term
course, making choices about “Where we are going” and charting a strategic
path for the company to pursue.

* Communicating the strategic vision in clear, exciting terms that arouse

organization wide commitment.
A strategic vision thus reflects management’s aspirations for the organization
and its business, providing a view of “Where we are going” and giving
specifics about its future business plans. It spells out long-term business
purpose and molds organizational identity. A strategic vision points an
organization in a particular direction and charts a strategic path for it to follow.

Strategic visions should have a time ;horizon of five years or more unless the
industry is very new or market conditions are so volatile ;and uncertain that it
is difficult to see far down the road with any decree of confidence.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A STRATEIC VISION AND A MISSION

STATEMENT

A strategic vision portrays a company’s future business scope (“Where we

are going”=. Whereas a company’s mission statement describes its present
business cope (Who we are and what we do”). Thus, mission states
company’s present products and services, types of customers it serves, and
technological and business capabilities it has.

AN EXAMPLE OF VISION STATEMENT

WHO ARE WE ?
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John Deere has grown and prospered through a long standing partnership
with the world’s most productive farmers. Today, John Deere is a global
company with several equipment operations and complementary service
business. These businesses are closely interrelated, providing the company
with significant growth opportunities and other synergistic benefits.

WHERE ARE WE GOING?

Deere is committed to providing genuine value to the company’s

stakeholders,, including our customers, dealers, shareholders, employees
and communities. In support of that commitment. Deere aspires to:

 Grow and pursue leadership positions in each of our business.

 Extend our pre-eminent leadership position in the agricultural
equipment market worldwide.
 Create new opportunities to leverage the John Deere brand globally.

HOW WILL WE GET THREE?

By pursuing the broader corporate goals of profitable growth the continuous

improvement, each of the company’s business is expected to :

 Achieve` world-class performance by attaining a strong competitive

position in target markets.
 Exceed customer expectations for quality and value.
 Earn in excess of the cost of capital over a business cycle.

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Microsoft Corporation

“A computer on every desk and in every home using great software as an

empowering tool”. But the emergence of the Internet and non-PC devices like
handled computers and TV set top boxes as increasingly integral parts of
everyday life prompted Microsoft in 1999 to broaden its vision to “Empower
people through great software anytime, any place and on any device” Bill
Gates observed.” We see a world where people can use any computing
device to do whatever they want to do anytime anywhere. The PC will
continue to have central role ....... but it will be joined by an incredibly rich
variety of digital devices assessing the power of the Internet.”

The Real Payoffs of a Well-Conceived, Well-Worded Vision Statement: A

well-conceived, well-stated strategic vision pays off in several respects (1) it
crystallizes senior exe4cutives` own views about the firm’s long-term
direction (2) it conveys organizational purpose in ways that motivate
organizational purpose in way that motivate organization members to go all
out (3) it provides a beacon that lower-level managers can use to form
departmental missions. set departmental objectives, and craft functional and
departmental strategies that are in line with the company’s overall strategy
(4) it helps an organization prepare for the future. When these five benefits
have been successfully completed.

Developing A Mission

Incorporating What, Who and How into the Mission Statement

A strategically revealing mission statement incorporates three elements:

1. Customer needs, or what is being satisfied.

2. Customer groups, or who is being satisfied.

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 3. The company’s activities, technologies, and competencies, or
how the enterprise goes about creating and delivering value to
customers and satisfying their needs.

Defining a business in terms of what to satisfy, whom to satisfy, and how to

produce the satisfaction identified the substance of what a company does to
create value for its customers.
Technology, competencies, and activities are important because they
indicate how much of the industry’s total production – distribution chain its
operations will span.

Mission should have specific and narrow definition not a board definition like
the following:

Broad Definition Narrow/More Specific Definition

* Furniture business * Wrought-iron lawn furniture
business
* Telecommunications business * Long-distance telephone service
business

Example:

 The business of major international oil companies like Exxon, Mobil,

BP Amoco, and Royal Dutch/shell covers all stages of the oil
industry’s production distribution chain – these companies lease
drilling sites, drill wells, pump oil in their own ships and pipelines to
their own refineries, and sell gasoline and other refined products
through their own networks of branded distributors and service
station outlets.

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  General Motors is a partially integrated company that makes
between 30 and 50 percent of the parts and components used in
assembling GM vehicles; the remainder of the needed parts and
system components come from independent suppliers, and GM
relies on a network of independent, franchised dealers to handle
retail sales and customer service functions.

 PFIZER INC
Pfizer is a research based global pharmaceutical company. We
discover and develop innovative, value – added products that
improve the quality of life of people around the world and help them
enjoy longer, healthier, and more productive lives. The company has
three business segments: health care, animal health and consumer
health care. Our products and available in more than 150 countries.

 The US postal Service successfully operates with a broad definition,

providing global mail-delivery services to all types of senders.
Federal Express, however, operates with a narrow business
definition based on handling overnight package deliver for
customers who have emergencies or tight deadlines.

SETTINGT OBJECTIVES

The purpose of setting objectives is to convert managerial statements of

strategic vision and business mission into specific performance targets –
results and outcomes the organization wants to achieve.

Objective setting is required for all managers. When company wide objects
are broken down into specific targets for each organizational unit and lower-

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level managers are held accountable for achieving them, a result-oriented
climate builds throughout the enterprise.
Objectives :

 Financial
 Strategic

Financial Objectives concern the financial results viz. Earnings growth, an

acceptable ROI, Dividend growth, stock price appreciation, good cash flow
and creditworthiness.

In contrast, Strategic Objectives aim at results that reflect increased

competitiveness and a stronger business position, such as winning additional
market share, overtaking key competitors on product quality or customer
service or product innovation, achieving lower overall coasts than rivals,
boosting the company’s reputation with customers, winning a stronger
foothold in international markets, exercising technological leadership, gaining
a sustainable competitive advantage and capturing attractive growth
opportunities.
Financial performance need to be achieved to satisfy creditors and
shareholders and to finance needed initiatives/ventures Failure to achieve
financial objectives puts the survival at risk.

Strategic objectives are essential to sustain and improve the company’s long-
term market position and competitiveness.

What kind of objectives to Set

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Achieving acceptable financial performance is a must; otherwise the
organization’s financial standing can alarm creditors and shareholders, impair
its ability to fund needed initiatives and perhaps even put its very survival at
risk. Achieving acceptable strategic performance is essential to sustaining
and improving the company’s long-term market position and competitiveness.
Representative kinds of financial and strategic performance objectives are
listed below :

Financial Objectives Strategic Objectives

* Growth in revenues * A bigger market share
* Growth in earnings * Quicker design-to-market
times than rivals (an ability to get
newly developed products to market
quicker).
* Higher dividends * Higher product quality than
rivals.

Strategic objectives versus Financial Objectives: Which Take Precedence?

Strategic performance always takes precedence over financial performance
as it enhances business position and competitiveness.

Even though an enterprise places high priority on achieving both financial

and strategic objectives, situations arise where a trade-off has to be made.

Should a company under pressure to pay down its debt elect to kill or
postpone investments in strategic moves that hold promise for strengthening
the enterprise’s future business and competitive position.”

A company that consistently passes up opportunities to strengthen its long-

term competitive position in order to realize better near-term financial gains
risks diluting its competitiveness, losing momentum in its markets and
impairing its ability to stave off market challenges from ambitious rivals.

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The danger of trading off long-term gains in market position for near-tern
gains in bottom-line performance is greatest when

(1) there are lasting first-mover advantages in being a market pioneer

(many Internet start-us, for example, are incurring big short-term losses in
their rush to stake our leadership positions in fast-emerging “industries of the
future”) and

(2) a profit conscious market leader has competitors who invest

relentlessly in gaining market share, striving to become big and strong
enough to out compete the leader in a head-to-head market battle.

Contrary to the rule:

1) Financial scarcity
2) Strategically beneficial moves would take several years to achieve
the intended goals.
3) Proposed strategic moves are risky and have uncertain bottom line
payoff.
Illustration:

GENERAL ELECTRIC
(Strategic Objectives)

 Become the most competitive enterprise in the world.

 Be number one or number two in each business we are in
 Globalize every activity in the company.

MOTOROLA

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(Financial Objectives)

 Revenue growth of 15 percent annually.

 An average return on assets of 13 to 15 percent.
 An average return on shareholders equity investment of 16 to 18
percent
The need for top-down objective setting:

Objective setting need to be more of a top down than a bottom up process in

order to guide lower level managers and organizational units toward
outcomes that support the achievement of overall business and company
objectives.

Two advantages:

 Produces cohesion among objectives and strategies of different

units of the company.
 Unify internal efforts to move the company along the chosen
strategic course.

Crafting Strategy:

Strategy comprises of competitive moves and ;business approaches adopted

by management to produce successful performance. It is the game plan of
management for strengthening the organization’s position, pleasing
customers and achieving performance targets.

Company strategies concern how to grow the business, how to satisfy

customers, how to out compete rivals, how to respond to changing market

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conditions, how to manage each functional piece of the business and
develop needed organizational capabilities, how to achieve strategic and
financial objectives?

Objectives are the “end,” and strategy is the “means” of achieving them.
A company’s strategies are typically a blend of

(1) deliberate and purposeful actions.

(2) As needed, reactions to unanticipated developments and fresh
market conditions and competitive pressures and
(3) The collective learning of the organization over time – not just the
insights gained from its experiences.

The strategy marking task thus involves developing and intended strategy
(proactive) ; adapting it as events unfold i.e. switching to adaptive/reactive
strategy : and linking the firm’s business approaches, actions and competitive
initiatives closely to as competencies and capabilities. In short, a company’s
actual strategy is something managers shape and reshape as events
transpire outside the company and as the company’s competitive assets and
liabilities evolve in ways the enhance of diminish its competitiveness.

EXAMPLE McDONALD`S GROWTH STRAT6EGY

 Penetrate the market not currently served by adding 1,750

restaurants annually (an average of one every five hours), some
company-owned and some franchised, with about 910 percent
outside the United States, Establish a leading market position in
foreign countries ahead of competitors.

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  Promote more frequent customer visits via the addition of attraction
menu items low price specials. Extra value Meals, and children’s
play areas.

Why Company Strategies Evolve:

Strategy making is an on going process, not a one time event. Every
company encounters occasions in which it needs to adapt its strategy to
shifting industry and competitive conditions.

The America Online – Time Warner Merger represented a quantum strategy

change for both companies.

It is normal, indeed necessary, for a company’s strategy to change

sometimes gradually and sometimes rapidly. Sometimes reactively (when
new developments dictate a response) and sometimes proactively (when
attractive new opportunities are spotted or new capabilities are acquired).
Consequently, Managers are obliged to re-evaluate strategy regularly,
refining and recasting it as often and as much as needed to match the
organization’s changing external and internal circumstance.

Another important facet of strategic change is the need for actions to improve
on how the company is competing today and the need for actions to prepare
for tomorrow’s markets and competitive conditions.

Implementing and Executing the strategy

The Managerial task of implementing and executing the chosen strategy
entails close-to-the-scene administrative task that includes the following
principal aspects:
 Building an organization capable to carrying out the strategy
successfully.

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  Allocating company resources so that organizational units charged
with performing strategy-critical activities and implementing new
strategic initiatives have sufficient people and funds to do their work
successfully.
 Establishing strategy-supportive policies and operating procedures.
 Putting a freshly chosen strategy into place.
 Motivating people in ways that induce them to pursue the target
objectives energetically and, if need be modifying their duties and
job behaviour to better fit the strategy requirements of successful
execution.
 Tying the reward structure to the achievement of targeted results.
 Creating a company culture and work climate conducive to
successful strategy implementation and execution.
 Installing information, communication, and operating systems that
enable company personnel to carry out their strategic roles
effectively day in, day out.
 Instituting best practices and programs for continuous improvement.
 Exerting the internal leadership needed to drive implementation
forward and to keep improving no how the strategy is being
executed.

WHO PERFORMS THE FIVE TASKS OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT?

Ultimate responsibility for leading the tasks of forming, implementing, and

executing a strategic plan for the whole organization rests with the CEO even
though other senior managers normally have significant leadership roles also.
In diversified companies where the strategies of several different businesses
have to be managed, there are usually four distinct levels of strategy
managers:

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  The chief executive officer and other senior corporate-level
executives who have primary responsibility and personal authority
for big strategic decisions affecting the total enterprise and the
collection of individual businesses in to which the enterprise has
diversified.
 Managers who have profit-and loss responsibility for one
specific business unit and who are delegated a major leadership role
in crafting and executing a strategy for that business.

 Functional area managers within a given business unit who have

direct authority over a major piece of the business (manufacturing,
marketing and sales, finance, R&D, personal) and whose role it is to
support the business unit’s overall strategy with strategic actions in
their own areas.

 Managers of major operating units (plants, sales districts, local

offices) who have on-the-scene responsibility for developing the
details of strategic efforts in their areas and for executing their piece
of the overall strategic plan at the grassroots level.

Single-business Enterprises need no more than three of these levels-a

business level strategy manager, Functional area strategy managers, and
Operating-Level strategy managers). Proprietorships, partnerships and
owner-managed enterprises typically have only one or two strategy
managers since in small-scale enterprises the whole strategy-
making/strategy-implementing function can be handled by just a few key
people.

The Strategy-Making Pyramid

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As we emphasized in Chapter 1. strategy making is not just a task for senior
executives. In large enterprises, decisions about what business approaches
to take and that new moves to initiate involve senior executives in the
corporate office, heads of business units and product divisions, the heads
of ;major functional areas within a business or division (manufacturing,
marketing and sales, finance, human resources, and the like), plant
managers, products managers, district and regional sales managers and
lower-level supervisors. In diversified enterprises, strategies are initiated at
four distinct organization levels. There’s strategy for the company and all of
its businesses as a whole (corporate strategy). There’s a strategy for each
separate business the company has diversified into (business strategy). Then
there is a strategy for each specific functional unit with a business (functional
strategy). Each business usually has a production strategy, a marketing
strategy, a finance strategy and so on. And, finally, there are still narrower
strategies for basic operating units-plants, sales districts and regions and
departments within functional areas (operating strategy). In single-business
enterprises, there are only three levels of strategy making (business strategy,
functional strategy and operating strategy) unless diversification into other
businesses becomes an active consideration. Figure 2.1 on page 52 shows
the strategy-making pyramids for diversified and single-business companies.
Illustration capsule

Bank One’s New Internet Banking Strategy

In 1999, after having acquired over 100 banks during the past 15 years and
built an interstate banking franchise Bank One created an independent
Internet bank named Wingspan Bank. com.
Bank One’s initial strategy for Wingspan included the following elements.

 Creating the capability to approve or reject customer applications for

loans in less than a minute.

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  Providing credit cards offering a 5 percent discount on purchases
from selected Internet retailers, such as Amazon.com.

Corporate Strategy

Corporate Strategy is the overall managerial game plan for a diversified

company to establish business positions in different industries and the
approaches used to manage the company’s group of ;businesses. Crafting
corporate strategy for a diversified company ;involves four kinds of initiatives:

1. Making the moves to establish positions in different businesses and

achieve diversification.

2. Initiating actions to boost the combined performance of the business

the firm has diversified in to – Corporate parents can help their ;business
subsidiaries be more successful by financing additional capacity and
efficiency ;improvements by supply missing skills and managerial know-how
and so on.
3. Pursing ways to capture valuable cross-business strategic fits and turn
them into competitive advantage-when a company diversifies into business
with related technologies, similar operating characteristics, common
distribution channels or customers, or some other synergistic factor, it gains
competitive advantage potential not open to a company that diversifies into to
totally unrelated business.

4. Establishing Investment priorities and steering corporate resources into

the most attractive business units – This facet of corporate strategy making
involves channelling resources into areas where earnings potentials are
higher and away from areas where they are lower.

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Corporate strategy is crafted at the highest levels of management.
Major strategic decisions are usually reviewed and approved by the
company’s board of directors.

Business Strategy
The term business strategy (or business-level strategy) refers to the
managerial game plan for a single business.

Crafting a business strategy that yields sustainable competitive

advantage has three facets:

(1) Deciding what product/service attributes (lower costs and prices, a

better products, a wider product line, superior customer service, emphasis
on a particular market niche) offer the best chance to win a competitive edge.
(2) Developing expertise, resource, strengths and competitive, capabilities
that set the company apart from rivals.
(3) Trying to insulate the business as much as possible from the actions of
rivals and other threatening competitive developments.

Functional Strategy

A company’s marketing strategy, for example, represents the managerial

game plan for running the marketing part of the business, A company’s new
product development strategy represents the managerial game plan for
keeping the company’s product line up fresh and in tune with what buyers are
looking for. A company needs a functional strategy for every major business
activity and organizational unit.

Operating Strategy

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Operating Strategy concerns even narrower strategic initiatives and
approaches for managing key operating units (plants, sales, districts,
distribution centers) and for handling daily operating tasks with strategic
significance (advertising campaigns, materials purchasing, inventory control,
maintenance, shipping), A district sales managers needs a sales strategy
customized to the district’s particular situation and sales objectives.

Operating strategies, while of limited scope, add further detail and

completeness to functional strategies delegate lead responsibility to front-
line managers, subject to review and approval by higher-ranking managers.

THE FACTORS THAT SHAPE A COMPANY’S STRATEGY

 EXTERNAL

Societal, Political, Regulatory and Citizenship Considerations.

What an enterprise can and cannot do strategy wise is always constrained by

what is legal, by what complies with government policies and regulatory
requirements, by what is considered ethical and by what is in accord with
societal expectations and the standards of good community citizenship.

Competitive Conditions and Overall Industry Attractiveness

An industry’s competitive conditions and overall attractiveness are big
strategy determining factors. A company’ strategy has to be tailored to the
nature and mix of competitive factors in play-price, product quality,
performance features, warranty etc. A company’s strategy can’t produce real
market success unless I fits the industry and competitive situation.

The Company’s Market Opportunities and External Threats

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 Internal Factors
Company Resource Strengths, Competencies and Competitive
Capabilities. One of the most pivotal strategy-shaping internal
considerations is whether a company has or can acquire the resources,
competencies and capabilities needed to execute a strategy proficiently
Intel’s long-standing global leadership in microprocessors for PCs, servers,
multibillion dollar R&D program, its state-of-the-art chip-making plants, and its
ability to spend $5 billion annually on new chip-making plants and the latest
chip-making equipment.

The Personal Ambitions, Business Philosophies and Ethical Beliefs of

Managers

Both casual observation and formal studies indicate that manager’s

ambitions. values, business philosophies, attitudes toward risk and ethical
beliefs have important influences on strategy. As one expert noted in
explaining the relevance of personal factors to strategy, “People have to have
their hearts in it.”

The Influence of Shared Values and Company Culture on Strategy

An organization’s policies, practices, traditions, philosophical beliefs and

ways of doing things combine to create a distinctive culture. Strong cultural
influences partly account for why companies gain reputations for such
strategic traits as leadership in technology and product innovation, dedication
to superior craftsmanship, a tendency for financial wheeling and dealing, a
desire to grow rapidly by acquiring other companies, having a strong people
orientation and being an especially good company to work for, or unusual
emphasis on customer service and total customer satisfaction.

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LINKING STRATEGY WITH ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Strategy ought to be ethical. It should involve rightful actions, not wrongful

ones otherwise it won’t pass the test of moral scrutiny.
Every business has an ethical duty to each of five constituencies:
owners/shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers and the community at
large. Each of these constituencies affects the organization and is affected by
it.

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