2.1 - Business Strategy

Question 1

What is ‘Strategy’?

Answer 1

A course of action, including specification of the resources required, to achieve a specific objective

Question 2

What 4 factors are strategy concerned with?

Answer 2

1. Long term direction
2. Environment of bus ops - external factors/ stakeholders
3. Resources - internal S/W
4. Return - a. dividend to shareholders, b. increase in share price

Question 3

what are Mintzberg’s 5 P’s of strategy?

Answer 3

Plan - intsructions
Ploy - manoeuvre in competitive game
Pattern - pattern of behaviour
Position - how the business fit sin the environment
Perspective - looking at external world

Question 4

Levels of strategy?

Answer 4

Corperate
Business
Functional (operations)

Question 5

LOS - coperate strategy?

Answer 5

long term - 5 - 10 years
external focus
non-financial and financial

Question 6

LOS - Business?

Answer 6

Middle managers
aim to achinve coperate LT goals
and give instruction to operations

Question 7

LOS - operations (functional)

Answer 7

D2D
immediate turnover
internal focus and financial

Question 8

What is strategic managment?

Answer 8

Planning - estab. objectives and formulation, evaluation and selection of policies, strategies, tactics and action required to achieve them. both LT (Stategic) and ST (operational).

Question 9

What is a stategic plan?

Answer 9

part of planning in stategic managment

a statement of LT goals with a definition of strategies and polices - to ensure achievement of these goals.

Question 10

What making STATEGIC DESICIONS what questions must you ask?

Answer 10

What is it good at?
How might the market change?
How can the customer satisfaction be delivered? (marketing orientation)
What might stop the plan of being successful? (competitors,
what should be done to minimise risk?
what actions should be followed?