Competitive Strategy Assignment Critically Discussing Various Business Scenarios

Question

Task: The questions to be answered in the competitive strategy assignment are;

Question 1- Week 2.
Which elements of the General Environment are significant to the future of the German luxury car industry?

Question 2.- Week 4.
Discuss how David Jones effectively build relationships with customers.

Question 3. - Week 8
Identify and discuss the 2 major environmental trends Walmart need to consider when entering the China market.

Question 4. - Week 9
What are the major competitive issues General Electric faces when managing cooperative strategies?

Question 5. - Week 7
Starbucks made important acquisitions in the past two decades what would be the 5 (five) most common challenges of a successful acquisition?

Question 6. - Week 11
Identify what you believe are the 5 (five) most important leadership responsibilities and how today’s business leaders develop the skills and charisma to be effective in the role?

Answer

Question 1- Week 2
As mentioned in the present context of competitive strategy assignment. rapid urbanization and technological advancements have paved the way for business organizations in the automotive industry of Germany to cater to the needs of the customers in an effective manner (Balasingham, 2016).The German automobile industry has noticed the rise of brands such as Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz through their innate attribute to provide quality luxury features in automobiles; that has revolutionized the German automobile industry to engage in constant research and development through which such companies can cater to a sense of competitive advantage over the other. One of the key elements of the general environment which is significant to the future of the German car industry is the aspect of transport development and mobility behavior. The population of approximately 6.8 billion has led to passenger vehicle use of nearly 500 million out of which the number of luxury vehicles ranges over 150 million (Förster, 2015). The future of the German automobile industry holds at the base of transport development through which better networking systems can be established and paves the way for luxury cars to operate in wide last-mile areas of the country. The current trend towards mobility behavior is the aspect of ridesharing and electric vehicles for which the luxury automobile brands may have to change their business models in the future through which they develop a more sustainable business model (Weyeret al., 2016).Technological advancements are leading the way for the need for drivers through which the automobiles can drive themselves using artificial intelligence; such aspects change the need for owning a luxury vehicle in the near future with such attributes where the core habit lies in driving cars in a traditional manner where people enjoy the comfort of driving.

Question 2- Week 4
David Jones is one of Australia’s leading retailers and it has grown exponentially due to its enhanced customer relationship management programs. The brand essentially builds an effective relationship with their customers through a one-to-one customer relationship with loyalty program plans (Baran, 2016). The loyalty program established by the brand aims to conduct market research through the customers by understanding the core values and the beliefs that they possess before they engage in the consumer buying behavior process (Laketaet al., 2015). The program also implements providing value to customers through attractive offers in various brands and all kinds of categories which are available on the company’s interface and the aim is to develop interpersonal relations with the customers through customized notifications and offers which helps in the process of retargeting their customers to enhance aspects of incremental revenue and effective customer relationship. David Jones engaged in qualitative research where nearly 3000 customers were taken into account based on behavioral and demographic information along with content-led marketing campaigns (Abtin, 2016). Through the research, David Jones essentially realized that there were more opportunities that lie ahead of the Australian market through which the company can aim to improve its market share and provide a deeper sense of competitive advantage within the market so that it can survive in the long haul. The sole motto for David Jones was to get to know their customers better as the management only viewed their customer database as a single segment (Kasemsap, 2015).

Question 3- Week 8
The law of business within China's economy is constantly evolving and changing for which the management of Walmart needs to understand the complex legal environment of the country. The Government of China regulates foreign investment and getting the positive approval is the first big crucial step that the management needs to adhere to. The management of Walmart must understand the legal aspects by knowing the sectors in which investments are encouraged, restricted, and prohibited. However, the Government has introduced favorable policies that cater to the encouragement of new investment opportunities for foreign companies where they can engage in direct selling, online selling, and distance selling (Gaoet al., 2016). The legal trends that Walmart has to adhere to while entering the market of China is to develop a business model where the company has either a representative office, equity joint venture or cooperative joint venture or whether Walmart aims to be a wholly foreign-owned enterprise within the desired market. The second major environmental trend that needs to be adhered to is the aspect of finding the right local partner through which the company aims to secure its retail supplies and products. The demographics of the country have resulted in enhanced options where there are many substitutes and such aspects affect the decision-making process of the management towards selecting a suitable local partner within the new market (Guan et al., 2018). It is important that the management clearly outline their legal structure of collaboration within the new market so as to avoid any form of future litigation or disagreements (Paul, 2016).

Question 4- Week 9
General Electric (GE) caters to a generic strategy to adhere to a sense of competitive advantage within the energy, oil and gas, transportation, healthcare, and electric lighting industries. While managing cooperative strategies, General Electric relies on the promotion of diversification over the years through which it has actively enhanced its market share and achieved incremental revenues (Sheth, 2015). The ability of the management of the business organization to actively participate in multiple industries generates a sense of competition at advanced levels. Despite changing economic conditions in various markets, General Electric uses intensive strategies through which they can take on competitors on the global market such as 3M and Siemens (Wise, 2020). The major competitive issues are the aspects of growth and diversification while catering to a diversity policy that encourages inclusion activities for individuals and groups of individuals to attain better forms of standard of living. The competitive issues also involve aspects of cost leadership, differentiation leadership, cost focus, and differentiation focus (Hanson et al., 2016). While managing cooperative strategies, the management of General Electric must ensure a way to mass-produce to drive low prices for their services through which the management can gain certain advantages within the competitive global economies (Hittet al., 2016).

Question 5- Week 7
While Starbucks has made some important acquisitions in the past two decades the common challenges that the human resource (HR) management faces during acquisition are the following:

• Identifying and communicating the essential reasons for the acquisition to the employees: Organizational change may be a de-motivating and upsetting factor for some individuals or groups of individuals within the working community through which they find it difficult to adapt to the new business model in which they aim to operate (). The certain managerial changes pave the way for a challenge for the human resources to communicate with the employees within the organization to make them understand as to how the acquisition will benefit the business as well as the employees of the organization as well (Fischer, 2017).
• Understanding corporate cultures: The process of acquisition paves the way for a business organization involved in the process to open themselves up to a wider working audience where there are instances of exchange of work culture and business ethics (Feliciano, 2017). While some of the cultures within the working community dictate a sales-driven mentality whereas the other can pave the way for processes engaging in innovation through which the business can essentially grow and survive in the long haul (Reddy, 2016).
• Facilitating the acquisition leader: A successful acquisition is the end result of the acquisition leader where such leaders can effectively close a situation that meets the demands of the business organization (Yaghoubiet al., 2016). The leaders must be suitable towards any form of managerial change or pave the way for other leaders to emerge after the successful acquisition as it aims to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of the business (Vazirani, 2015).
• Deciding who stays and who goes: One of the key features of an acquisition process is that not all employees can be facilitated within the new business model; hence, the business organizations have to engage in an evaluation process where they decide who stays and who leaves the organization to maintain a proper payroll (Brown, 2019). Efficiency lists are pounded up for the employees in various departmental heads where the human resource management has to let go some of their employees and retain their top talent within the new business structure (Weche, 2015).
• Comparing the pros, cons, and deciding HR policies: While the effective process of acquisition can lead to substantial amount of layoffs, the HR department may undergo several changes in their policies that affect their effective operations within the business organization (Jenter, 2015).

Question 6- Week 11
The 5 most important leadership responsibilities and how today’s business leaders develop the skills and charisma to be effective in the role are the following:

• Self-development: The leaders who aim to bring about a sense of long term orientation and change cater to aspects of being self-aware and self-actualize where it helps the leaders to improve their effectiveness and efficiency within the business organization (Temelkova, 2018). Leaders must always constantly seek for scope for development through which they can aim to establish innovative decision-making activities that empower the business organization and helps the workers to be motivated (Cimiroti?et al., 2017).
• Team-development: Leaders within the business organizations need to develop an ability to form effective team-building strategies that help them to delegate power and implement proper division of labor through which they can meet the goals and objectives of the organization in which they operate (Bolman, 2017). Leaders must have the innate ability to create and develop teams through democratic and resilient leadership styles that help to motivate the team members and establish a form of empowerment that helps the team workers to perform effectively and efficiently without the presence of their leaders from time to time (Saiz-Alvarez, 2017).
• Innovative decision making: Leaders have to engage in strategic thinking and acting where they can aim to implement innovative decisions that help to eliminate any form of exposure, risks, and competition that the business might face (Arainet al., 2017). It is the utmost duty of the leaders of various business organizations to understand and analyze the market in which they operate and make decisions that are beneficial for the business as well as the leader’s teams (Boyd et al., 2017).
• Ethics and cultural acceptance: Leaders are often criticized for the way they operate within a business organization because often the leaders fail to provide a sense of cultural acceptance among the common mindset of the individuals within the working community (Swanson, 2016). Leaders must learn how to develop interpersonal relations among the workers and understand the aspects through which the individuals within the working community operate in different ways due to their differences in cultural acceptance (Moreno-Gómez et al., 2018).
• Motivation:Leaders have to empower their workers where they are motivated to perform effectively and efficiently by laying out proper mission and vision statements through which they can aim to give their all towards the services of the business organization (Becker, 2018). Implementing effective communications is one of the key aspects where the confidence and motivation levels of the workers can be improved and such aspects must be dealt with every leader within a business organization (Pruzanet al., 2017).

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