Corporate level strategy of General Mills

Week 1
The corporate level strategy of General Mills is the horizontal growth strategy. Imperatively, horizontal growth is accomplished by expanding its business operations into other geographic expanses or by expanding the range of products as well as services being offered in the prevailing market. In this regard, General Mills has expanded its business operations not just in the United States but also internationally and increasing its wide range of products retailed in its stores. The generic Porter strategy followed by General Mills is the differentiation focus strategy. This is in the sense that the company strives to accomplish differentiation in its target segment (Porter, 1985). This is largely owing to the fact that the company deals with different products within its segment including cereals, frozen vegetable, fruit, dry dinners, frozen pizza as well as pizza snacks, and an extensive range of organic products (Forbes, 2018). The strategic choices of General Mills are aligned with the differentiation focus that the company follows. This is for the reason that the international segment of the company encompasses a wide range of products and also the convenience stores as well as food service segment products (Forbes, 2018).
Week 2
The Grand Strategy Selection Matrix is an important tool for strategy formulation. In GSSM, there are four types of quadrants and a firm can lie in one of them. Notably, the basis of the GSSM is two significant dimensions comprising of market growth and competitive position. The first quadrant of Grand Strategy Matrix specifies that the firm has a strong competitive position and there is fast-paced rate of growth in the market. The second quadrant points out that the firm has a weak competitive state and there is fast-paced rate of growth in the market. The third quadrant of the GSSM postulates that the firm has a weak competitive state and the market growth rate is relatively slow. The fourth quadrant of the GSSM points out that the firm has a strong competitive situation and the market growth rate is slow (Wiedemann, 2013). General Mills fits best within the first quadrant. To begin with, General Mills has a competitive position in the market being ranked fourth in the consumer food products market segment. At the same time, the industry is experiencing fast-paced rate of growth owing to the incessantly changing consumer preferences and therefore a need for generating new products.
Response to Classmate
Diversification is a noticeable corporate strategy followed by General Mills. By expanding its business operations into new markets that are untapped and targeting a new set of consumers, the company is able to propagate its consumer base and at the same time increase its revenues. At the same time, the introduction of new products in the market implies that the company is able to have a competitive advantage over its rivals. However, it is debatable whether General Mills uses vertical growth strategy. This is for the reason that by utilizing this strategy, a firm takes part in the value chain of the product by either assuming the role of the distributor or the supplier. The elucidation provided does not completely align to this perspective. Secondly, I agree that General Mills integrate the differentiation and focus strategies in their business model. It is also agreeable that the company follows the cost leadership strategy. This is in the sense that companies in the consumer food processing market retail similar products in the market. For instance, products such as frozen pizza, grain, cereal, frozen vegetables, and refrigerated products are all similar despite the fact that they come from different suppliers. Therefore, in order to attain a competitive advantage in the market, it is imperative for the company to diminish its costs and therefore offer competitive prices in the industry.

References
Forbes. (2018). General Mills: America\'s Best Employers for Diversity. Forbes. Retrieved from: https://www.forbes.com/companies/general-mills/
Porter, M. E. (1985). Competitive Advantage. New York: The Free Press.
Wiedemann, L. (2013). Business strategies and value chain management. New York: AuthorHouse.