3.9 STRATEGIC METHODS –HOW TO PURSUE STRATGIES Flashcards
Define ‘streamlining’
Improvement of the efficiency of a certain process
Advantages of streamlining
- Fewer errors and delays
- Increased cost efficiency
- Improved productivity
- Better time management: can meet deadlines
- Minimise risk
Define ‘retrenchment’
Downsizing the scale of a business’ operations
e.g. closing branches / selling off parts of a business / delayering
Reasons for retrenchment
- Restructure to increase efficiency
- Turn around poor performance
- Focus on core business
- Sell off less profitable parts of a business to improve overall performance
Reasons for growth
- Increase shareholder value
- Increase market share
- Reduce average costs
- Fulfil an objective of growth
- Pressure from competitors
Define ‘organic growth’
INTERNAL GROWTH
- Occurs when a business expands in size by opening new stores, branches, functions or plants
Define ‘inorganic growth’
EXTERNAL GROWTH
- Occurs when a business expands in size by either merging with or taking over another business
Define ‘overtrading’
A business has expanded too rapidly resulting in it operating at a level beyond its resources leading to potential liquidity problems
Define ‘liquidity’
How easily an asset can be converted into cash without affecting its market price
Issues with growth
- Diseconomies of scale
- Overtrading
- Harder to communicate
Define ‘synergy’
Potential financial benefit achieved through the combining of companies
Often a driving force behind a merger.
e.g. Ant&Dec not good on their own but good together
Methods of growth
- Mergers
- Takeover
- Ventures
- Franchising
Define ‘integration’
Bringing two or more businesses TOGETHER
Define ‘merger’
When two or more businesses agree to become integrated to form one business under joint ownership
Define ‘takeover’
When one business gains control over another and becomes the owner, can be achieved by buying 51% of shares
What are all of the forms of mergers and takeovers?
- Horizontal
- Vertical
- Conglomerate
Define ‘horizontal’ (mergers/takeovers)
2 businesses at the same stage within a process integrate
Define ‘vertical’ (mergers/takeovers)
2 businesses at different stages within a process integrate
Define ‘FORWARD vertical’ (mergers/takeovers)
Joins with a business at next stage on the process
Define ‘BACKWARD vertical’ (mergers/takeovers)
Joins with a business at an earlier stage in the process
Define ‘conglomerate’ (mergers/takeovers)
2 unrelated businesses integrate
Define ‘joint ventures’
Two or more businesses agree to collectively set up a new business venture with all parties contributing equity to fund the set up and purchase of assets
Advantages of ‘joint ventures’
- Combined expertise
- Build connection with eachother
- Shared risk and control
- Financed through equity not debt
- Greater potential capacity
Disadvantages of ‘joint ventures’
- Shared revenue
- Potential for conflict between stakeholders objectives
- Cultural differences (each business runs differently)
- Difficult to work effectively together
- Loss of control for each business
Define ‘Greiner’s Growth Model’
Predicts the six phases and five crisis that businesses go through as they grow
The move from one stage to the next is usually triggered by a crisis
Businesses that cannot make adjustments get stuck in a difficult place and that hinders their growth
What are the 6 phases of the ‘Greiner’s Growth Model’ ?
Responses to the crisis
- Creativity
- Direction
- Delegation
- Coordination
- Collaboration
- Alliances
What are the 5 crises of the ‘Greiner’s Growth Model’ ?
- Leadership: too big for leader
- Autonomy: new managers demand more power
- Control: more layers to hierarchy
- Red Tape: slow decision making, less aware of external environment - higher costs (too many layers) - overweight and too many managers
- Growth: business runs out of ideas
What are the 5 crises of the ‘Greiner’s Growth Model’ ?
- Leadership: too big for leader
- Autonomy: new managers demand more power
- Control: more layers to hierarchy
- Red Tape: slow decision making, less aware of external environment - higher costs (too many layers) - overweight and too many managers
- Growth: business runs out of ideas
Outline the ‘leadership’ crisis of the ‘Greiner’s Growth Model’
Communication begins to fail as business grows
Business now too big for leader to get involved in everything
To solve a leadership crisis, businesses will appoint someone to drive the business forward
Outline the ‘autonomy’ crisis of the ‘Greiner’s Growth Model’
Business now has functional management
But leader still struggling to let go
New managers may demand more power
Workload can be too excessive which creates an autonomy crisis
Outline the ‘control’ crisis of the ‘Greiner’s Growth Model’
More formal management structures in place
But new layers of hierarchy needed to keep control
Outline the ‘red tape’ crisis of the ‘Greiner’s Growth Model’
Slow decision making as got to pass through multiple layers
Less aware of external environment
Higher costs (too many layers)
Overweight with too many managers
Outline the ‘growth’ crisis of the ‘Greiner’s Growth Model’
Growth slowing as business runs out of ideas
Alliances are sought after (mergers or takeovers)
Suggest the combinations of phases and crisis within the ‘Greiner’s Growth Model’
Creativity + N/A
Direction + Leadership
Delegation + Autonomy
Coordination + Control
Collaboration + Red Tape
Alliances + Growth
Criticism of the ‘Greiner’s Growth Model’
SIMPLISTIC
- Not every growing business will face crisis
- Delegation might also always remain a problem in most businesses, not just at this stage
- Ignores the pace of growth
Contextual example of the ‘Greiner’s Growth Model’ not working
CocaCola has grown steadily over 100+ years and has not experienced crisis to trigger growth
What can we learn from ‘Greiner’s Growth Model’
- Growing a business is rarely easy
- Growth poses many management and leadership challenges (crises)
- Leadership and organisational structure has to evolve as the business changes
- Businesses that don’t adjust will experience lower growth than those that do
Outline the ‘creativity’ phase of the ‘Greiner’s Growth Model’
- Beginning of all growth
- Staff low
- Growth from long working hours
- Informal communication
Outline the ‘direction’ phase of the ‘Greiner’s Growth Model’
- Communication formalised
- Major strategic decisions are made
- Workload can be too excessive which creates an autonomy crisis
Outline the ‘delegation’ phase of the ‘Greiner’s Growth Model’
- Organisational structure expanded
- Head office now required to oversee and coordinate the decisions made
- Identify new markets / spot gaps
Outline the ‘delegation’ phase of the ‘Greiner’s Growth Model’
- Organisational structure expanded
- Head office now required to oversee and coordinate the decisions made
- Identify new markets / spot gaps
Outline the ‘coordination’ phase of the ‘Greiner’s Growth Model’
- Business can now expand
- Isolated departments are now working together for the goal of the business
- Performance related pay introduced and aligned to corporate goals
- Business slow to respond to external changes, so growth opportunities are lost
Outline the ‘collaboration’ phase of the ‘Greiner’s Growth Model’
- Business must now switch management styles
- Functional specialists from different areas will work together in project teams
Outline the ‘alliances’ phase of the ‘Greiner’s Growth Model’
- Most organisation eventually stop growing because they run out of ideas
- To grow again, they will need to form alliances with other businesses
- Mergers, take-overs and joint ventures
What must a business do if a crisis occurs? (‘Greiner’s Growth Model’)
Reorganise if it is to continue growing onto the next phase
Who founded the ‘Greiner’s Model of Growth’ ?
and… IN WHAT YEAR
Larry Greiner in 1972
Advantages of using technology to gather data
- Reduces human error: more accurate
- Quick
- Accurate
- Efficient
- Professional
- Collect consumer opinions worldwide
- Can utilise social media and review sites
- Bigger storage: cloud data
- Can be more secure online
Examples of technology in gathering data
COOKIES
- Shop Wi-Fi: know what you are looking at and where you are in the store
- Loyalty cards: spending habits
- INTERNET: reviews and cookies
- Newsletters
- Social media
- Online surveys
- Search engines
Disadvantages of using technology to gather data
- Staff need educating
- Possible data breaches, if not secure - TWITCH
- More costly: expensive to maintain; fix and upgrade
- Customers may feel violated
What does the ‘experience curve’ suggest?
The more experienced a business has in producing a particular product, the lower its costs are.
Define ‘innovation’
Development of a new idea into a new product or process
Define ‘product innovation’
Changing a product that already exists or developing an invention into a brand new idea.
Ideas, theorises about a potential product
Define ‘process innovation’
Changing a process of production that already exists or putting into practice a brand new production process
Pressures to innovate
- Decline phase
- Stay ahead of dynamic market
- Businesses don’t want to miss opportunities to innovate
- Competitor actions
Advantages of Innovation
- Businesses cannot afford to stand still in a competitive market
- Today’s innovations are later rising stars / cash cows
- Although expensive, alternative risk of losing future markets might be worse
- Benefits economy as a whole, pushing humanity forward
Disadvantages of Innovation
- Other businesses may copy / react with own innovations to compete
- Legal implications often arise with other businesses questioning if production or process is an innovation (‘we did it first’)
- TIME CONSUMING - R&D
Ways of becoming an innovative organisation
- Kaizen
- Research / development
- Intrapreneurship: allows an employee to act like an entrepreneur within an organisation
- Benchmarking
Contextual example of Kaizen
Pizza Hut: Lemon cutting, task changed for waiters to kitchen staff
Define ‘kaizen’
Concentrates on frequent small improvements
Small steps so service becomes more efficient
Define ‘benchmarking’
- Process of identifying best practice normally within the industry
- Comparing to the best and seeing how to improve
e. g. businesses seeing what works for other businesses then copies this
Define ‘intrapreneurship’
Employees in larger organisation act same way as entrepreneurs