Chapter 6 -Strategy Flashcards
Strategy
Comprehensive plan guiding resource allocation to achieve long-term organization goals
- Focuses attention on the competitive environment
- Represents the “best guess”
- Helps achieve a competitive advantage
- Very best ones provide a sustainable competitive advantage
Mission
The organization’s reason for existence in society
- Clear and lofty sense sense of purpose for why you exist
Strategic indent
Focuses organizational energies on achieving a compelling goal
- clear and lofty sense of where you’re going in the future
Strategy provides the plan for reaching a mission and strategic indent
TRUE
Competitive advantage
An ability to outperform rivals
Sustainable competitive advantage
The very best strategies help achieve this
- Achieved in ways that are difficult to imitate for some period
Corporate strategy
Sets long-term direction for the total enterprise
- Provides direction and guides resource allocation for the organization as a whole
Business strategy
Identifies how a division or strategic business unit will compete in its product or service domain
- Focuses on strategic intent for a single business unit or product line
- Includes decisions about product, service mix, facilities locations, new technologies
Functional strategy
Guides activities w/in one specific area of operations to implement higher-level business & corporation strategies
- W/in specific functional area (marketing, finance, HR, manufacturing)
What’s the strategic question for functional strategy?
How can we best utilize resources w/in the function to support implementation of the business strategy
A - Increase operating efficiency, product quality, customer service or innovativeness
What’s the strategic question for business strategy?
How are going to compete for customers w/in this industry & market?
What’s the strategic question for corporate strategy?
In what industries & markets should we compete?
Growth strategies
Involves expansion of the organization’s current operations
Growth by concentration strategies
Seeks expansion w/in an existing business area
- Ex. Chipotle grows more chipotle restaurants
Growth by diversification strategies
Expansions occurs by entering new business areas
- Can be risky
- Can be done thru related diversification: expanding into similar new business areas (ex. Pepsi buying Tropicana)
- Or unrelated diversification: seeking growth in an entirely new business area (ex. Exxon owning Izod)
Growth by vertical integration strategies
Occurs by acquiring suppliers or distributors
- Suppliers –> backward vertical integration (ex. Apple)
- Distributors –> forward vertical integration (ex. Pepsi, Cola)
Retrenchment strategies
Changes operations to correct weaknesses by making radical changes
- Usually when there’s too much growth or diversification
- Most extreme form –> Liquidation
- Less extreme –> Restructuring (downsizing and divestiture)