Strategic Positioning Report for [Company Name]

Unit Learning Outcomes

LO1: Analyse the impact and influence which the macro environment has on an organisation and its business strategies.

LO2: Assess an organisation’s internal environment and capabilities.

LO3: Evaluate and apply the outcomes of an analysis using Porter’s Five Forces model to a given market sector.

LO4: Apply models, theories and concepts to assist with the understanding and interpretation of strategic directions available to an organisation.

Scenario

You are the assistant to a business advisor specialising in strategic positioning. You have been approached by a company [of your choice]. It has been nominated for a Business of the Year Award. The company is distinguished for both its financial performance and aggressive expansion strategy through setting itself up as an innovative, nimble business that can thrive in the sector. The company has hired your manager and you to produce a Report that provides an outlook for the company’s strategic direction for the next five years.

Your report should include the following sections:

• Section 1 Macro Environmental Analysis

• Section 2 Internal Environment and its Strategic Capabilities

• Section 3 Competitive Industry analysis

• Section 4 Strategic Plan

Section 1 Macro Environmental Analysis

A firm’s macro environment contains elements that can impact the firm but are generally beyond its direct control. These elements are characteristics of the world at large and are factors that all businesses must contend with; regardless of the industry they are in or type of business they are. In this section of your Report, you are required to include the following aspects.

In order to do receive a strong evaluation, you should:

• first provide detailed information about what the general environment is and why it is important to organisations,

• then analyse the strategic positioning of your chosen organisation,

• finally, critically analyse the macro environment to determine and inform strategic management decision. To be regarded as at least satisfactory by the client, your report must as a minimum;

• analyse the impact and influence of the current macro environment on your chosen organisation and its strategies by applying the appropriate analytical frameworks. You may want to consider among others the following analytical frameworks for the macro environment:

• Strategic positioning: Ansoff’s growth vector matrix.

• Stakeholder analysis: stakeholder matrix, stakeholder mapping.

• Environmental analysis: PESTLE

• Organisational audit: SWOT analysis.

Section 2 Internal Environment and its Strategic Capabilities

Successful firms have a wide range of internal resources and capabilities that they can use to maintain their success and grow into new ventures. A thorough analysis of a firm’s internal situation provides a manager with an understanding of the resources available to pursue new initiatives, innovate, and plan for future success. For your report to be regarding as outstanding by the client, it should therefore;

• critically evaluate the internal environment in order to assess strengths and weaknesses of your chosen organisation’s internal capabilities, structure, skill set, organisational culture, leadership, employees etc. For your work to reach the basic standard expected by the client, it will need to;

• analyse the internal environment and strategic capabilities of your organisation using appropriate frameworks. You may want to consider among others the following elements or frameworks in analysing the strategic capabilities of the organisation:

• Differential firm performance from a resource-based view.

• Role of capabilities in achieving competitive advantage.

• Evaluate the VRIO framework as a means of achieving sustainable competitive advantage.

• Applying McKinsey’s 7 framework to assess the internal capabilities of the organisation.Docklands Academy, London 4

Section 3 Competitive Industry Analysis

Porter’s Five Forces is a tool used to examine different micro-environmental groups in order to understand the impact each group  has on a firm in an industry. Each of the forces represents an aspect of competition that affects a firm’s potential to be successful in its industry.

You are instructed that to be highly rated in this activity you would;

• devise appropriate strategies to improve competitive edge and market position based on your evaluation. Meanwhile, for this further report to be considered at least satisfactory, you must;

• evaluate the competitive forces of a relevant market sector for your organisation, by applying Porter’s Five Forces model.

You may want to consider among other things the following in evaluating and examining the micro-environmental groups affecting the organisation and in devising an appropriate strategy to gain competitive advantage:

• “How much profit potential exists in this industry?” (Five Forces analysis provides an answer to this question. It does this by considering the interactions among the competitors in an industry, potential new entrants to the industry, substitutes for the industry’s offerings, suppliers to the industry, and the industry’s buyers.)

• The Balanced Scorecard to align organisation vision and strategy.

Section 4 Strategic Plan

A strategic plan is a document used to communicate with the organisation: the organisations goals, the actions needed to achieve those goals and all of the other critical elements developed during the planning exercise. Once again your work will receive the highest evaluation if you can;

• produce a Strategic Management Plan, that is based on and applies the analysis you carried out earlier in the previous sections; and that produces a valid strategic direction, objectives and tactical actions for the next five years of the organizations.

As a minimum to succeed in this activity, you are informed that this part of the report needs to;

• interpret and devise strategic planning for your organisation by applying a range of theories, concepts and models.

You may consider among other things the following to include in your strategic plan:

• Business-level strategies, which examine how firms compete in the chosen company’s industry. (Recall that firms derive such strategies by executives making decisions about whether their source of competitive advantage is based on price or differentiation; and whether their scope of operations targets a broad or narrow market.)

• Porter’s generic strategies and how they apply in this case (i.e. cost and price leadership strategy, differentiation strategy, focus strategy.)

• Bowman’s Strategy Clock

• Hybrid strategy

• Diversification (and vertical/horizontal integration).