Strategic Management Assignment: Impact Of Competitive Strategies On Business Organisations

Question

Task:
Prepare a detailed report on strategic management assignment discussing about the impact and usage of strategic management tools using real organisations.

Answer

Background of Strategic Management Assignment
Strategic management is a vital and considerable aspect as it influences to access the different objectives of a brand and performs actions accordingly. It is also responsible for the process of decision making which may help in the achievement of the organisational goals and objectives. This report is detailing the use of strategic management tools with the help of examples of real organisations working in the industry. The technology industry is very dynamic and thus, the organisation required to use different tools and techniques with extended care and intelligence. There are mainly three strategic tools are discussed in this report along with their implications and uses by the management of Apple, Starbucks and Woolworths (Rothaermel, 2016). These include the SWOT analysis of Apple Inc., porter's five forces model analysis of Woolworths, and porter's generic strategy of Starbucks. In the end, a conclusion is provided summarising the main findings of the report.

SWOT Analysis
SWOT is a strategic tool to understand and analyse the potential strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of a brand. This can be used in context with Apple in a below-mentioned manner:

Strengths

• Unique hardware and design
• Powerful marketing campaigns and brand image
• Loyal and strong customer base
• Huge distribution of the retail and wholesale network at the global level (Alexander, 2016).

Weaknesses

• High prices
• High competition in the target market

Opportunities

• Development of the new product lines
• Increase in the number of technology-obsessed customers

Threats

• Availability of similar products at a cheaper price
• Development of new competitors with great potential and low pricing strategy (Gardere, et al., 2018).

The above-conducted SWOT analysis indicates man advantages as well as disadvantages of the brand. The management of Apple is required to develop new strategies to deal with emerging threats and overcome the existing weaknesses. This will also be helpful in developing new products and attracting potential customers. However, SWOT analysis is a very simple tool and the technology industry cannot be decipherable by using this tool to develop all strategies. Thus, this can also be used to get the basic advantages and disadvantages of a brand. This can also be considered as prone to ambiguity as well and thus cannot be considered as perfect to determine the position of a specific organisation in the present target market.

The organisation is able to deal with all the threats due to having some competitive advantages like availability of sufficient financial resources, potential suppliers as well as customers, advanced technology and effective human resource policies to manage its human resources (Sperlich, et al., 2017).

Porter’s Five Forces Model
This model helps in determining the likelihood of profitability and attractiveness within the industry. There are mainly five primary forces including supplier power, competitive rivalry, the threat of substitution, buyer's power, and the threat of the new entrants.

For example, if Woolworths is willing to analyse its target market and retail industry, it can understand its current potion and also forecast the future condition of its products and services (Kibria. Et al., 2017). The supplier's power in the target market is not strong enough to influence the pricing policy of Woolworths as there are a number of quality suppliers in the industry. In addition to this, large operational level of Woolworths enables them to get orders in bulk. Thus, the power of influencing of suppliers is relatively low. The power of competitors is relatively high in the case of Woolworths as it is maintaining a general customer base who can anytime to switch on any other product in case of availability at low or cheaper prices. However, the business practices used in the products of Apple are more advanced and attractive in comparison to any other market player. The buyer's power in the tech industry is low, related to the pricing sensitivity of the products. The buyer's power is relatively moderate to the organisation as they are not able to get the same products from any other retail sector organisation. The threat of substitutes is very high as services of Woolworths are not possible to be copied and thus, it cannot have a large impact on the profitability of the overall organisation. In addition to this, entering into the retail industry at large level is not easy for any of the new market players as it needs a huge investment of sum is needed along with expertise in the technology (Gerard, 2018). This threat of new entrants is also lying between low to a moderate level for Woolworths. It indicates that the organisation is required to focus on its current offerings along with developing the same maintain its present customer base and attract potential customers.

However, at present, it can be seen then there is considerable development in small scale retailers which is affecting the market of retail services and products. This is surely not a good sign for Woolworths and management is required to develop effective policies and strategies to deal with the same.

Porter’s Generic Strategies
The porter's generic strategic states that an organisation may have two major strengths that differentiate it from the other competitors in the target market. For example, the two major strengths of Starbucks include its differentiation strategy and cost advantages. Here, it is also required to be understood that an organisation can either focus on cost leadership or making its products different and unique among all competitors based on the target market it is willing to operate. The cost leadership strategy indicates keeping the prices of products and services low to attract customers. While adopting this strategy, there are high chances of compromising with the quality. Thus, Starbuck is always known for selecting premium pricing policies for ensuring high quality and unique offerings to the target customers.

On the other hand, when it comes to discussing the differentiation strategy, it should be known that it mainly focuses on the uniqueness and differentiative quality of the products (Islami, et al., 2020). Therefore, the products and services of Starbucks are always ahead in terms of up gradations and advancements. Further, innovation and quality leave a big effect product’s uniqueness. This helps in adding corporate value to the organisational reputation. The change in the taste and preferences in one of the major risks associated with this strategy. In the present scenario, Starbuck is facing strong competition from the Caffe Nero and Costa Coffee. It indicates that there is a slight change in the taste of customers in the beverage industry. This change can be resulted due to the lower pricing policies, availability of more products and dishes, and easy availability of the accessories and services of Starbucks products (Hitt, et al., 2016).

For example, brands like Starbucks, are facing success as they are using their potential resources to market strategically. This helps in standing out the brand among competitors at the global level. The main example of using differentiation practices by Starbucks includes the development of a great brand portfolio and the use of teamwork practices to achieve better results. The leadership practices followed at Starbucks are also excellent and forms a part of the success of the organisation. It is making use of tangible as well as intangible resources successfully (Ferlie, et al., 2016). The use of advanced and innovative technologies in the development of the portfolio and management of human resources indicates the effective implementation of the differentiation strategy within the organisation.

Conclusion
Strategic management is one of the most important forces that influence the organisations to set goals and thus to measure success accordingly. This enables the management to reflect on their processes related to development and distribution and thus to undertake appropriate measures in case of finding any deficiency. To define the same context, three major tools of strategic management have been discussed and analysed in this report. These tools also help in analysing the issues that may impact the development and growth of the organisation in short as well as in the long term. Thus, it is not possible to draw a fair and exact picture of future uncertainties. Therefore, it is suggested to adopt the strategic tools as per changing internal as well as the external environment in which the business in working. In this paper, all tools are used to define the strategic management of different and well-known organisation working in different organisations, Apple Inc., Woolworths and Starbucks. Based on the above analysis, it can be recommended that the management of all organisations is required to change its policies as per the changing needs of customers and the conditions of the target market. All information and data are derived from the journal papers and research articles related to the discussed theoretical models and the tech industry as well to maintain the accuracy and reliability of the results.

References
Alexander, M., 2016. Apple Watch Campaign April 22, 2016 Megan Alexander, Sammi Cowger, Brett Haskell, Kylie Leonard, and Abbey Venable. Available at: http://abigailvenable.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Paper4.pdf

Ferlie, E., Crilly, T., Jashapara, A., Trenholm, S., Peckham, A. and Currie, G., 2016. Strategic management in the healthcare sector: the debate about the resource-based view flourishes in response to recent commentaries. International journal of health policy and management, 5(2), p.145. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4737543/

Gardere, J., Sharir, D. and Maman, Y., 2018. Consulting and Executive Coaching on Future Trends: The Need for a Long Term Vision with Apple and Samsung. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 9(3). Available at: https://ijbssnet.com/journals/Vol_9_No_3_March_2018/1.pdf

Gerard, H.T., 2018. The Relevance Of Porter’s Five Forces In Today’s Innovative And Changing Business Environment. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gerard_Bruijl2/publication/326026986_The_ Relevance_of_Porter's_Five_Forces_in_Today's_Innovative_and_Changing_ Business_Environment/links/5c14165c299bf139c7593f03/The-Relevance-of- Porters-Five-Forces-in-Todays-Innovative-and-Changing-Business-Environment.pdf

Hitt, M.A., Carnes, C.M. and Xu, K., 2016. A current view of resource based theory in operations management: A response to Bromiley and Rau. Strategic management assignment Journal of Operations Management, 41(10), pp.107-109. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Christina_Carnes/publication/292342926_ A_current_view_of_resource_based_theory_in_operations_management_A_ response_to_Bromiley_and_Rau/links/56b21f0308ae56d7b06ca456.pdf

Islami, X., Mustafa, N. and Latkovikj, M.T., 2020. Linking Porter’s generic strategies to firm performance. Future Business Journal, 6(1), p.3. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s43093-020-0009-1

Kibria, M.G., Al Amin, M. and Rifat, U.A., 2017. Application of Porter’s Five Forces Model in Battery Manufacturing Industries of Bangladesh. In International Conference on Mechanical, Industrial and Energy Engineering. Retrieved (Vol. 25). Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Usama_Abdullah_Rifat/publication/301694271_Application_ of_Porter's_Five_Forces_Model_in_Battery_Manufacturing_Industries_of_Bangladesh/ links/57231db008ae586b21d69388.pdf

Rothaermel, F.T., 2016. Strategic management: concepts (Vol. 2). McGraw-Hill Education. Available at: https://www.amberton.edu/media/Syllabi/Spring%202020/Graduate/MGT6203_21.pdf

Sperlich, B., Düking, P. and Holmberg, H.C., 2017. A SWOT analysis of the use and potential misuse of implantable monitoring devices by athletes. Frontiers in Physiology, 8, p.629. Available at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2017.00629