Evolutionists such as Hannan and Freeman (1988) or Oliver Williamson (1991) answer that strategy

in the Classical sense of rational future-oriented planning is often irrelevant. The environment is
typically too implacable, too unpredictable to anticipate effectively. Here the Evolutionists offer
individual strategists a cruel paradox. The dynamic, hostile and competitive nature of markets means
not only that long-term survival cannot be planned for; it also ensures that only those firms that
somehow do hit upon profit-maximizing strategies will survive. Businesses are like species of
biological evolution: competitive processes ruthlessly select out the fittest for survival; the others
are powerless to change themselves quickly enough to ward off extinction. From the Evolutionary
perspective, then, it is the market, not managers, which makes the important choices. Successful
strategies only emerge as the process of natural selection delivers its judgement. All managers can
do is ensure that they fit as efficiently as possible to the environmental demands of the day.

HANNAN M. T. and J. Freeman (1977) The Population Ecology of Organizations. American Journal of
Sociology, pp.82:929-964.

Strategy is the competitive moves and business approaches for growing the business, creating a
market position, attracting and satisfying customers, competing successfully, conducting operation,
and achieving target objectives.

When creating strategy, you can utilize a number of different actions:

Gain sales and market share via lower prices, more performance and features, better quality, or
appealing design

Diversify into new businesses

Strengthen competitive capabilities and shore-up competitive weaknesses
Define how key organizational activities are to be handles by management
Pursue new market opportunities and defend against threats
Create strategic alliances and collaborative partnerships
Establish a Merger or Acquisition with your rival
Enter new product markets
Respond to changing market conditions and external circumstances

The strategy should be aimed at creating a product or service that is distinctive from what the
competitors are offering or at developing competitive capabilities that they can not quite match. A
powerful strategy can make you distinctive which will tilt the playing field in their favor by creating a
sustainable competitive advantage.
Reference Source:
Doreen Mcgunagle (2008) Crafting Strategy For a Competitive Advantage, assessed March 16, 2011
http://ezinearticles.com/?Crafting-Strategy-For-a-Competitive-Advantage&id=1221128

Developing a vision and a mission

The aim of a MISSION STATEMENT is to specify the purpose of the organization, the philosophy and
values that guide it, and the scope of the business. The Mission is the Top management's view of
what the organization seeks to do and become over the long term.

A MISSION STATEMENT must be:

- Short, clear, understandable

- Goal-oriented, provides direction and focus
- Defines firm's domains of operation and criteria for success
- Inspiring and motivational, gives employees a sense of belonging
- Reflects the company's strategy

Example : Microsoft Corporation

"A computer on every desk and in every home"

References:

Jay. B. Barney Wesley. (1997) Gaining and Soustaining Competitive Advantage, Addison-Wesley, UK.

Robert M. Grant (1998) Contemporary Strategic Analysis, 3th edition, Blackwell, UK

A firm achieves a competitive advantage in a given market whenever it outperforms its competitors.
A competitive advantage may result from a lower cost of production, from the ability to provide a
group of customers with higher perceived benefits, or from combination of both. One important
stream, often referred to as the “resourced-based” view of strategy, emphasizes the firm-specific
resources as the fundamental determinants of competitive advantage and performance. It was
define firm resources as all assets, capabilities, competencies, information knowledge and
reputations that are owned or controlled by the firm and that enable the firm to conceive of and
implement strategies that improve its efficiency and effectiveness.

The resource-base view maintains that firms may be heterogeneous with respect to the budle of
resources they control. Furthermore, since some of these resources, such as a firm’s reputation or
other information-based resources, cannot be traded in factor markets and are difficult to
accumulate and imitate, resource heterogeneity may persist over time. This perspective offers
important insights about which resources lie at the heart of the firm’s competitive position, and
therefore are worth protecting and developing the major mechanisms that drive the accumulation
and limitation of resources.

Reference:

A Pettigrew, H Thomas and R Whittington. (2002) Handbook of Strategy & Management, Sage
Publications Inc, London.