As answers, however, frequently are not as concrete as the questions in regard to a business strategy, addressing the following issues, Parnell contends, will likely help a business link a strategy to its particular environments and endeavor/s and environment" (Parnell, ¶ 28). Parnell recommends businesses consider the following information:

Strategy is about making choices...some of which appear to be riskier than others. Environmental scanning is at best an inexact science, and strategic managers are inevitably left with varying amounts of risk associated with each strategic alternative. According to one school of thought, however, top managers should not forego attractive opportunities because of a lack of certainty. A second school contends that risk reduction is the primary responsibility of top management. Executives, therefore, should be skilled at processing information so that risk can be avoided -- or at least severely minimized -- in strategy formulation. Risk, they argue, will inevitably lead to failure. (Ibid)

Business Strategy Types and Innovative Practices in "Business Strategy Types and Innovative Practices," Tim Blumentritt and Wade M. Danis examine a number of ways several firms utilize various strategic orientations to manage their business practices. From their expiration of ways firms with contrasting strategic orientations view particular issues, they note, "One key to successful strategic management is the ability to achieve fit or coherence among a set of competitive factors, both internal and external to the organization, in a manner that facilitates high performance" (Ibid.). According to the strategic choice perspective, organizations do not merely respond to environments; through strategic actions of top managers they dynamically interact with their specific environments.

Mission Statement mission statement 'tells two things about a company: who it is and what it does'" (Williams 2008, ¶ 1) According to Linda Stallworth Williams (2008) in "The Mission Statement: A Corporate Reporting Tool with a Past, Present, and Future," "mission statements still serve as common corporate reporting tools" (¶ 1).

As the introductory statement for this section notes, a mission state also reveals two primary points about a company, basically "who" it purports itself to be, and "what" it accomplishes as a company. Components contributing to a company's mission statement could identify the company's: customers; primary products and/or services; location; basic technology; survival concerns; philosophy; self-concept; vital strengths; competitive advantages; public image considerations; concern for employees (Williams, Content Analysis section, ¶ 2)

All Businesses were Once Small Businesses

Even the most massive business in the world started out as a small business. Businesses start as they offer an improvement to a service for product, and/or fill a unique need.

Fuller points out that if the business's offering proves to be "of significant benefit to many, the business may grow quite large, supported by infusions of funds" (the trajectories section, ¶ 17). As businesses recognise unmet needs and possess freedom to mobilise their activities and resources to meet needs, new businesses will continue to emerge and possess the potential to one day, perhaps diversify and become a major business in the global environment.

Kannan Ramaswamy, Mingfang Li, and Rajaram Veliyath (2002) note the following regarding a business's consideration to diversify in their study,"Variations in ownership behavior and propensity to diversify: A study of the Indian corporate context":

The relationship between ownership and diversification has been the focus of renewed debate between financial economists and strategic management scholars. While financial economists hold that manager-controlled firms tend to reflect higher levels of diversification, strategy researchers argue that ownership and diversification are not systematically related... Findings show that diverse ownership groups adopt different postures in monitoring and/or influencing organizational diversification. While some ownership groups are closely associated with focused strategies, and some encourage diversification, others are quite indifferent. These results suggest that the context-specific variation among ownership groups is germane to our understanding of diversification strategy. (Kannan, Mingfang, and Rajaram)

Other Studies to Be Explored

The following three abstracts reflect a sampling studies the researcher plan to explorer more fully during the course of completing the forthcoming dissertation.

Research on corporate diversification: A synthesis," by Vasudevan Ramanujam and P. Varadarajan (2006):

Diversification has emerged as a central topic of research in strategic management. Although this topic has been widely and intensively studied by scholars from other areas such as industrial organization economics, financial economics, organization theory, and marketing, a synthesis of these diverse streams of research is lacking. This paper attempts such a synthesis with a view to fostering further strategic management research in this area by taking a multi-disciplinary perspective on diversification. A wide-ranging search of the literature led to the development of an overarching...

Proceeding from the framework, a critique of the literature is performed with a particular emphasis on studies by strategic management researchers. Five key conceptual and methodological problems are identified and discussed. Suggestions are offered for future research on diversification. (Ramanujamand Varadarajan)
In "Diversification, Ownership and Control of Swedish Corporations." John a. Doukas, Martin Holmen & Nickolaos G. Travlos (2002), report the following:

We study the short? And long-term valuation effects of Swedish takeovers. Using a sample of 93 bidding firms that acquired 101 targets between 1980 and 1995, we find that diversifying acquisitions lead to a negative market reaction and deterioration of the operating performance of the bidder. Announcement and performance gains in each of the three years following the acquisition occur only when bidders expand their core rather than their peripheral lines of business. Our findings suggest that focused acquisitions lead to greater synergies and operating efficiencies than diversifying acquisitions. Intra-group acquisitions, however, show that bidders do not realise significant gains whether they adopt diversifying or focusing investment strategies by purchasing firms controlled by the Wallenberg and SHB conglomerate groups. Intra-group targets realize significant gains regardless bidder's investment strategy. Finally, the evidence does not support the view that intra-conglomerate acquisitions are associated with expropriation of minority shareholders. However, they appear to enhance the control rights of large shareholders of the bidding firm.

Ithai Stern, and Andrew D. Henderso examine Within-business diversification in technology-intensive industries":

While prior research suggests that corporate-level diversification accounts for relatively little variation in performance, within-business diversification matters a great deal, by influencing which start-ups survive and which firms better cope with rapid environmental change. Specifically, we find that the relationship between within-business diversity and survival is contingent on the amount of environmental change wrought by a firm's competitors as they simultaneously diversify their own product portfolios and innovate technologically. Analysis of the population of U.S. personal computer manufacturers from the industry's founding in 1975 through 1994 supports our premise: Regardless of its effects across businesses, diversification matters a great deal within them.

2.3: Contemporary Issues

Cancer Survivor Challenges

In "A Support Group Intervention to Facilitate Young Adults' Adjustment to Cancer," Cleora S. Roberts, Lori Piper, John Denny, and Gary Cuddeback (1997) purport that studies, as well as numerous clinical observations confirm that when diagnosed with cancer, young adults frequently experience extreme psychological disturbance. One study revealed that young adult cancer survivors regularly encounter at least six of the following life changes and challenges.

A anxiety about health, loss of physical well-being, worry about children, problems in relationships, financial and vocational concerns, and feelings of unattractiveness (www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000452557"Roberts, ¶ 2)

Cancer treatments create life changes that disrupt the normal psychological and social developmental tasks of young adulthood" (www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000452557"Roberts, ¶ 6)

Cancer, a primary, contemporary concern contributing to morbidity, affects more than a quarter of a million individuals in the UK each year as they are newly diagnosed with the disease. Some researchers predict that approximately one in three individuals will develop cancer in some form during his/her life. Researchers have identified approximately 200 various types of cancer, however, only four of these forms: "Breast, lung, large bowel (colorectal) and prostate - account for over half of all new cases," with breast cancer ranking as the most prevalent cancer diagnosed in the UK (Office for national statistics 2004)

Older individuals predominately develop cancer, with 64% of confirmed cancer cases being diagnosed in individuals 65 years old and over. The following statements denote three recent findings from studies in regard to cancer:

Cancer occurs in "less than 1% in children (0-14 years)";

Women in their 30s 40s and 50s possess higher risk factors for developing cancer than men at that same age, primarily due "to their excess risk of breast cancer with it accounting for 50% of the women aged 40-60 years."

Currently, approximately 2% of the UK population (1.2million people), alive in the UK, have received a cancer diagnosis. (Ibid)

Alopecia

Alopecia, hair loss, a common side effect of chemotherapy, contrary to the historical association of luxuriant hair as a symbol of strength, health, and sexual charisma, merits perceptions of the affected individual to be aging; ill and/or losing his/her attractiveness. One recent, comprehensive exploration of the literature regarding hair loss that occurs during cancer chemotherapy, purports: "Historically, shaving of the head has often been associated with mourning or entering a religious order.…