Destroy Your Business, Grow Your Business, IS and IT Strategies - Essay Example

Destroy Your Business (DYB), Grow Your Business (GYB), IS and IT Strategies. Destroy Your Business (DYB) versus Grow Your Business (GYB) Strategies. In the late 1990s, businesses concentrated on strategic planning for a better future. This concept came to be known as Destroy Your Business (DYB). The strategy proposed an investigation into chances that can make a business fail and to turn such weaknesses into growth potentials. Business organizations argued that if you do not know your weaknesses, then someone in the industry would identify them and use them against you (Byrne, 1998). The organization discovered a growth gap in dotcom market. They began to use the internet as a platform of business promotion. The idea of using internet was later branded Grow Your Business (GYB) strategy. While DYB focusses on chances of business failure, GYB focusses on the growth gap ahead and do not consider the past or current state of the, which can yield negative effects in the future, it is all about optimism without real time consideration. (Byrne, 1998). While GYB is based on future growth, DYB considers the current position of the business in terms of mistakes, unutilized chances and comes up with a way of handling the problems. This way, the business is able to identify its weakness and strengthen them. As a result, the business is able to compete favorably. DYB provided a better foundation for the two major types of business growth and profit maximization, namely top-line growth and bottom line growth. In top line growth, one identifies lucrative ideas and invests more funds on them to generate more revenues, this can be identified by checking on how the products are doing in market and making decision on where to direct more effort based on DYB results. The bottom line growth involves cutting cost so that profits are maximized; this is the basis of DYB (Byrne, 1998). Generally, DYB have more chances of keeping a business equally competitive to the rest of the firms and is more critical in profit maximization in the long-term period. Cannibalization versus DYB Cannibalization when used in business context refers to deliberate reduction in production, sales and revenue from a product because of introduction of another product from the same producer (Ward & Reiffen, 2005). Virtually, this may seem to be antagonistic to the aims of profit-oriented organization, but if carefully planned may yield more profit and help a company contain competition from rivals. Rather than producing a new product to capture new clients, the company maintains the old clients by swapping demand for the established product with demand for the new product. In essence, two items belonging to the same company competes against each other for the same customers. For instance, Apple Company employed cannibalization strategy when it replaced Macintosh with iPad. This registered a new breed of customers as well as keeping with other firms in the industry. Cannibalization may also be practiced by offering generous discount on one product to promote its sale. Another instance of cannibalization is whereby a firm opens many branches within the same locality, which compete for the same customers (Edwin & Bas, 2005). While cannibalization may be profitable if properly strategized, there are possibilities that the firm can make huge losses if the consumers fails to adapt to the new product or when it seems to be inferior to the established item (Ward & Reiffen, 2005). In addition, the firms compete against itself and for new customers, this have the possibility of keeping the profit margin constant or small as compared to the case of product differentiation. On the other hand, DYB considers chances of failing before making any step hence safer and increases the firm’s ability to win over new customers. Based on these advantages of DYB, it presents more chances for growth, competition and market leadership than cannibalization (Edwin & Bas, 2005). Business strategy and information system Business strategy entails the structure and design of an organization as well as its working procedure and choices. Organization values and beliefs are also entailed in its strategy framework. It answers the question of how the organization will structure itself and deliver its services and product to the people effectively. Organization’s crucial components such as management criterion, culture beliefs and values are entailed in its strategy. IS strategy is the plan that the business employs to divulge information to its clients or customers. It allows the business to implement its strategies and plans (Byrne, 1998). Business strategy is the driving force for all other strategies in a business since the business framework, which entails competitive advantages such as cost leadership, differentiation and focus depends on it and so do the information system. Change in business strategy should call for reassessment of IS since: 1. IS depends on other organization strategies entailed in business strategy 2. Change in IS have consequences in the business 3. IS represents the business capabilities How firms can use IT strategy in line with Organization Strategy and IS strategy Upon the realization of chances of growth based on online presence, businesses have been making steps aimed at making their organization and IS strategies available online. For this dream to be attainable, they need a platform where they can get online audience and this is where IT strategy plays a role. Therefore, they use a number of techniques to process and make available any information they intend to pass to their clients. Here, they consider factors such as developing websites to advertise their products, online ordering of product and online way of placing enquiries or linking with the company (Byrne, 1998). Some business have IT systems that informs the clients if the product they need is in store and in case it the company is out of stock, the IT system sends automated memo to the administration alerting them of the situation. The integrated IT strategy, organization strategies and IS systems are better handled when real time feedback is made possible. Social IT strategies and Business Strategies Collaboration is the art of making people to work voluntarily as a unit in a cognitive manner, it is all about employee’s behavior, habits, culture and business aims. To device a working collaboration formulae, you need to consider interlocking ideas in the operations of the business. Senior management members are the group tasked with devising methods of collaborative strategies (Byrne, 1998). To do this, they need to consider factors such as defining business goals or strategies, business environment and the range of technologies available before settling on one technology. The IT manager together with top management should consider the level of interaction within the business and employee habit then equate it to the IT strategy they wish to implement. Finally, the management should revisit the technology employed to ensure that it is in line with the original business strategies Reference Byrne, J (1998) How Jack Welch runs GE: A Close-up Look at How Americas #1 Manager Runs GE. Online. 8 June 1998. (http://www.businessweek.com/1998/23/b3581001.htm) Edwin, N & Bas, H. (2005). Unraveling Willingness to Cannibalize: A Closer look at the Barrier to Radical Innovation. Technovation, 1400-1409. Ward, M & Reiffen, D. (2005). Branded Generics: As a Strategy to Limit Cannibalization of Pharmaceutical Markets. Working Paper 0502, University of Texas at Arlington, Department of Economics. Read More