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What happened to business /industry over the years events

managers dealt with; changes in competitive environment;
managers responses; changes in business or corporate level
strategy; how did companies grow (by acquisition without
much concern for rationale behind their growth and how
growth by acquisition affected their future profitability or
otherwise?); strategic management techniques to solve
business problems
Case study:
o History; Development; Growth of company over time
Chart critical incidents in history to see how a
companys past strategy and structure affect it in
the present most unusual events/ events most
essential for development. Examples of events:
founding; initial products how it makes new
product market decisions; how it developed and
chose functional competencies to pursue; entry
into new businesses; shifts in its main lines of
business
o Identification of companys internal strengths and
weaknesses
Strengths and weaknesses as they have emerged
over time; examination of each of the value
creation functions of the company; functions in
which company is strong/weak- e.g. some weak in
marketing; others strong in R&D
o Nature of external environment surrounding company
Identify environmental opportunities and threats
by applying all concepts on industry and
microenvironments to analysis environment
company is confronting Important at industry
level: Competitive Forces Model (Porters Five
Forces Model); stage of the life cycle use each
factor in turn (e.g. demographic factors) to see
whether it is relevant to company
o SWOT analysis
Balance strengths and weaknesses against
opportunities and threats is company in an
overall strong competitive position? Can it
continue to pursue its current business or
corporate level strategy profitably? What can
company do to turn weaknesses into strengths
and threats to opportunities? Can it develop new
functional, business or corporate strategies to
accomplish this change?
o Kind of corporate-level strategy company is pursuing
Define companys mission and goals

Find lines of business and nature of its subsidiaries

and acquisitions
Do they trade or exchange resources?
Are gains to be achieved from synergy?
Is company just running portfolio of investments?
Related or unrelated diversification or both?
Conclude whether company operates in just one
core business or not
Using SWOT debate merits of this strategy is it
appropriate given Environment Company is in?
Could a change in corporate strategy provide
company with new opportunities or transform a
weakness into strength? Should company diversity
from its core business into new businesses?
How and why has companys strategy changed
over time
What is the claimed rationale for any changes?
Analyze companys businesses or products to
assess its situations and identify which divisions
contribute most/ detract from its competitive
advantage
Explore how company has built its portfolio over
time acquire new business or did it initially
venture its own?
o Nature of companys business-level strategy
If company is single-business company, business
level strategy is identical to corporate level
strategy
If company is in many businesses each business
will have its own business level strategy identify
companys generic competitive strategydifferentiation, low-cost or focus- and its
investment strategy given its relative competitive
position and the stages of the life cycle
Company may market different products using
different business level strategies if it offers low
cost product range and line of differentiated
products
Identify functional strategies that company
pursues to build competitive advantage through
superior efficiency, quality, innovation and
customer responsiveness and to achieve its
business-level strategy- SWOT provides you with
info on companys functional competencies
Investigate production, marketing or R&D
strategies
Pursuing low costs or a differentiation strategy
successfully requires different sets of

competencies has company developed right

ones? How can it exploit them? Can it pursue both
a low cost and differentiation strategy at same
time?
SWOT is important + Poters model if industry
analysis has revealed threats to the company from
environment Can company deal with those
threats? How should it change business level
strategy to counter them?
Strategy implementation or what company strives
to achieve its strategy
o Companys structure and control systems and how they
match its strategy
What structure and control systems company is
using to implement its strategy; evaluate whether
structure is appropriate different corporate and
business strategies require different strategies
Determine degree of fit between companys
strategy and structure does company have right
level of vertical differentiation (right number of
levels in hierarchy or decentralized control?); or
horizontal differentiation? (Does it use a functional
structure when it should be using a product
structure?); is company using right integration or
control systems to manage operations? Are
managers being appropriately rewarded? Are the
right rewards in place to encourage cooperation
among divisions?
Organizational conflict power; politics
Why are problems in these areas occurring? -->
Bad strategy formulations or because of bad
strategy implementations?
Determine whether there is organizational
change has company attempted to alter their
strategies or structures to solve strategic
problems? What is an appropriate action plan for
company to achieve its goals? How should
company alter its business level strategy from
differentiation to focus?
o Recommendations
How company should solve strategic problems and
increase its future profitability
Ways of changing functional, nosiness and
corporate strategies and organizational structure
and control to improve business performance
E.g. increase in spending on R&D; divesting of
certain businesses; change from strategy of
unrelated to related diversification; increase in
level of integration among divisions using task

forces and teams; move to a different kind of

structure to implement a new business-level
strategy
Maybe create timetable that sequences the
actions for changing the companys strategy and a
description of how change at the corporate level
will necessitate changes at the business level and
functional level.