What is Strategy?
Strategy represents the development of an advantageous, unique position, entailing diverse activities. An ideally-positioned organization requires no strategy. At strategic positioning’s core is doing activities competitors aren’t. If identical activities proved effective in manufacturing every variety, accessing every client, and satisfying every need, one could conveniently shift between them; further, efficacy of operations would prove to be a performance determinant. Strategy success relies on doing a large number of tasks well and ensuring integration among them. The lack of a fit between activities implies weak sustainability and the absence of a unique strategy. Consequently, management goes back to the easier activity of supervising independent functions, (Porter, 1996).
What does strategy mean to you?
Strategy implies trade-offs within competition. Its crux is deciding what to refrain from doing. In the absence of trade-offs, one requires no alternatives or strategy. All sound notions can be swiftly reproduced. As mentioned earlier, efficacy of operations would prove to be a performance determinant. Competitive strategy deals with being different, purposefully choosing different activities for presenting a unique value mix. Strategic positioning is usually obscure; its discovery necessitates inventiveness and intuition. Quite frequently, fresh entrants stumble upon unique positions at hand that have simply been ignored by established firms. For instance, Ikea identified a poorly-served or neglected client base. Likewise, Circuit City Stores, identifying the demand for used automobiles, introduced CarMax featuring comprehensive automobile refurbishing, no-haggle prices, product guarantees,...
Establishing limits (a key leadership function), and selecting one’s target clients, needs to fulfil, and varieties, prove pivotal to strategy development, as do deciding who to refrain from serving and which needs or services to refrain from offering. Therefore, strategy needs open communication and continuous discipline. A salient function of a well-defined, well-communicated plan is guiding the workforce to make choices arising out of everyday decision- and activity- related trade-offs (Porter, 1996).
Management in several firms has deteriorated to deal-making and planning of operational developments. However, a leader has a much more salient and all-encompassing part to play. General management proves more important as compared to individual task supervision. Its crux is definition of strategy, communication of distinctive corporate standing, developing fit between activities, and establishing trade-offs. Leaders should offer the discipline of deciding industrial changes and which client cluster to serve, simultaneously sustaining corporate uniqueness. Internal distractions ought to be steered clear of. Lower-level management lack the confidence and perspective linked to strategy maintenance. Continuous pressures associated with compromising, copying competition, and relaxing trade-offs will surface. Leaders need to educate their subordinates on the concept of strategy (Porter, 1996).
Business Models
General Motors – Corporate Strategy
The goal of GM is earning clients for life. This goal shapes its…
