Strategy Flashcards
Organic development
where a strategy is pursued by building on and developing an organizaitons own capabilities
Methods of growth
- Organic growth
- Mergers & acquisition
- Horizontal acquisition
- Vertical acquisition
- conglomorate acquisition
- asset acquisition - strategic alliance
- non-equity alliance (franchising, licensing)
- equity alliance
- joint venture
Resources
the assets that the organization have - ‘what we have’
Capabilities
the way the assets are used or deployed - ‘what we do well’
Core competencies (3 requirements)
- Deliver customer value
- Differentiate a business from its competitors
Potentially, can be extended and developed, as markets change or new opportunities arise
Where do valuable resources and capabilities reside?
The value chain
How to identify strategic capabilities and potential to create competitive advantage?
VRIO
value, rarity, inimitability, organisational support
Advantages organic growth
- can enhance organizational knowledge and learning
- allows the spreading of investment over time (can be more financially sustainable than the outlay required for acquisition or rapid expansion)
- fewer availability constraints
- strategic independence
- culture management
Disadvantages organic growth
- reliance on internal capabilities can be slow, expensive and risky
- additional resources and capabilities may have limited availability
- hard to deploy existing capabilities, to leaps of innovation, diversification and internationalization
The suitability of the organic growth differs according to circumstances:
- urgency: organic growth is the slowest option, everything needs to be made from scratch
- uncertainty: risks of high financial losses entirely on the company
- types of resources or capabilities: soft (intangible assets of the company -> brand reputaiton, company culture, customer relationship) vs hard (physical things that a company owns, such as factories, machinery, financial capital)
Why certain organic growth strategies fail
- FOcus on existing, most loyal customers, but little room to grow within existing customer segments
- Unable to combine capabilities to create new products or services
- Competitors pursue a faster growth path, gaining significant first-mover advantage
Types of strategic alliances:
- Equity alliance:
An Equity strategic is created when one company purchases a certain equity percentage of the other company, partial ownership.
E.g. Company A buying 40% of the shares of Company B, an equity strategic alliance if formed. - Non-Equity Alliance
A non-equity alliance is created when two or more companies sign a contractual relationship to pool their resources and capabilities together - Joint venture
A joint venture (JV) is established when the parent companies establish a new child company. For example, Company A and Company B (parent companies) can form a JV by creating Company C (child
company). BTR link: company C is the equivalent to a special purpose vehicle (SPV) in finance
Majority owned venture
if Company A and Company B each own 50% of the child company, it is defined as a 50-50 Joint Venture. If Company A owns 70% and Company B owns 30%, the joint venture is classified as a Majority-owned Venture.
Motives for alliances
Sharing resources or activities
Entering new markets
Gaining knowledge
Reducing risk
Lower costs, more bargaining power and sharing risks.
To increase market power. Might be kept secret to evade competition regulations.
Partners provide needed access (e.g.distribution outlets or licenses to brands)
Brings together complementary strengths to offset the other partner’s weaknesses.
Gain market share
Gain access to a restricted market
Maintain market stability (setting product standards)
Try to push out other companies
Pool resources for large capital projects
Gain access to complementary resources
Establish economies of scale
Motives for alliances (4 + drawing)
Scale alliance: Alliances formed to achieve economies of scale, by combining certain aspects of their operations, companies can reduce costs and increase efficiency.
Access Alliance: This type is formed when a company wants to gain access to new markets or resources that are otherwise difficult to access. E.g. Enter a foreign market.
Collusive Alliance: This is a more informal (often illegal) agreement where companies might cooperate in ways that distort the market or restrict competition. E.g. Price fixing
Complementary Alliance: Such alliances are formed when companies with complementary products, services or markets come together to create synergy.
Cons of strategic alliance
- No full control or ownership
- Dependency on others
- Takes time and maintanance
–> When a project is highly uncertain, start with an alliance, buy if proven success
Advantages of alliances
- Can enhance the speed of strategy delivery (by sharing resources and expertise)
- Co-value creation (create additional valye that they could not achieve independently)
- Allows for flexibility, changes collaboration forms and partners over time, explores and extends successes