strategy and implementation

Question 1

What is strategy?

Answer 1

• strategy is the way a business operates in order to achieve its aims and objectives.
• there are two sides to strategy; formulation and implementation
• formulation is constructing the ways in which to achieve an aims/objective
• implementation is putting that plan into practice.

Question 2

What are the four different types of strategy, list in hierarchical order?

Answer 2

• corporate strategy
• strategic strategy
• divisional strategy
• functional level strategy

Question 3

What is corporate strategy?

Answer 3

• corporate level strategy is concerned with the strategic decisions a business makes that affect the entire business.
• At the corporate level, strategy is concerned with setting objectives for overall financial performance, proposed mergers or acquisitions, long term human resource planning and the allocation of resources to different business divisions.

Question 4

What is strategic direction?

Answer 4

• strategic direction is a course of action that ultimately leads to the achievement of the stated goals of the corporate strategy.
• Once the corporate strategy is established then the strategic planning that follows is used to establish the strategic planning i.e sets out in broad terms how the objectives will be achieved.
• The strategic plan created will normally contain a clear mission statement but beyond this describes the businesses’ objectives

Question 5

What is Divisional strategy?

Answer 5

• the next level of business strategy is concerned with directing the divisions (often functional or geographical in structure) within the organisation.
• The overall corporate strategy will be communicated to the divisional managers.
• This information shapes the plans the divisional managers create.
• for example, if the corporate strategy focuses on rapid growth in demand for the company’s products or services, the strategies the divisional managers generate would be tailored to meet this demand.

Question 6

What is functional Strategy?

Answer 6

• Functional strategy relates to a single functional operation such as; production, marketing or HRM and the activities involved within each of these functions.
• The decisions made at this level of strategy are guided and limited by the higher level corporate and divisional strategies and will support these strategies.
• For examples the businesses marketing strategy, which will be a functional strategy, will be guided by objectives established at corporate level and made clear at divisional level.
• It is the responsibility of the functional managers to develop the systems and applications that allow the achievement of corporate and divisional strategies.