In this lesson you learned about the three generic strategies that every business employs. You learned that a low-cost strategy competes on price whilst a differentiation strategy competes on uniqueness and focus strategy aims at servicing a market niche.
2. Chapter 3. Aligning Strategy
to the Company’s External
and Internal Situation
Lesson 2: Strategic Choices
3. Strategic
choices
Bases of competitive advantage at business level.
Scope of activities at corporate level:
Portfolio (of Strategic Business Units)
Market spread: E.g. international, domestic, state
Directions and methods of development:
Directions: Product/Market
Methods: Internal/organic, M&A, strategic alliances
4. Strategic
choices
Bases of competitive advantage at business
level.
To survive, to be more profitable, and to increase its
market share, company’s must create strategies.
The three generic strategies that every company
employs include one of the following:
Low-cost strategy.
Differentiation strategy.
Focus strategy.
5. Strategic
choices
Bases of competitive advantage at business level.
A low-cost provider’s basis for competitive advantage is
lower overall costs than its competitors.
A low-cost advantage over competitors can translate into
better profitability than a company’s competitor’s cost.
There are two major avenues for achieving low-cost
advantage.
A company can perform value chain activities more cost-effective than
its competitors.
A company can revamp its overall value chain to eliminate or bypass
some cost-producing activities.
6. Strategic
choices
Bases of competitive advantage at business level.
A differentiation provider’s basis for competitive advantage is to
offer unique product attributes that a wide range of buyers find
appealing and worth paying for.
A company can achieve differentiation based on tangible or
intangible attributes.
Intangible attributes could include superior customer services.
Tangible attributes could include better quality or more features.
Successful differentiation allows a company to do one or more of
the following:
Command a premium price for its products.
Increase unit sales because additional buyers are won over by the differentiating
features.
Gain buyer loyalty to its brand because some buyers are strongly attracted to the
differentiating features and develops a relation with the company and its products.
7. Strategic
choices
Bases of competitive advantage at business level.
A focus provider’s basis for competitive advantage is to offer its products
to a narrow piece of the total market.
The target market or niche can be defined by geographic uniqueness, by
specialised requirements in using the product, or by special product attributes
that appeal to only to niche members.
A company can base it competitive advantage by offering its products to a
niche market on the basis of low-cost or differentiation.
A focused low-cost strategy aims at securing a competitive advantage by
servicing buyers in the target market niche at a lower-cost than it competitors.
A focused differentiation strategy aims at offering products designed to appeal
to the unique preferences and needs of narrow, well-defined group of buyers.
8. Strategic
choices
Scope of activities at corporate level.
Corporate level strategy takes a portfolio approach to strategic
decision making. Essentially, its choices.
At corporate level, strategy looks across all of a company’s
business units to determine how to create the most value.
There are several important components of corporate strategy
that leaders of organizations focus on. The main tasks of
corporate strategy are:
Allocation of resources.
Organizational design.
Portfolio management.
Strategic tradeoffs.
9. Strategic
choices
Directions and methods of development.
The means of entering new business can take any of three forms:
Acquisitions
Joint Ventures with other companies
Internal startup
Acquisition is a popular means of diversifying into another industry.
Not only is it quicker than trying to launch a startup but it is also
more effective than trying to scale barriers to entry.
For example. Acquiring technical know-how knowledge.
Entering a new business via a joint venture can be useful in at least
three type of situations:
Pursing an opportunity that is too complex, uneconomical or too complex.
When new opportunities require a broader range of competencies and
know-how.
When new opportunities require having operations in a foreign country.
10. Strategic
choices
Directions and methods of development.
Internal development of new business is an increasingly
important means for companies to diversify and is often
referred to as corporate venturing or new venture
development.
Corporate venturing or new venture development is the
process of developing new businesses as an outgrowth of a
company’s established business operations.
11. “Most strategies are a
combination of intended and
emergent processes.”
Karen | GBC
12. Congratulations! You’ve completed lesson .
Recap: In this lesson you learned about the three generic
strategies that every business employs. You learned that a low-
cost strategy competes on price whilst a differentiation strategy
competes on uniqueness and focus strategy aims at servicing a
market niche.
Awesome work!
Now click Complete and then Next for Lesson 3.