GanGo Strategic Planning - Assignment Example

 Cango Analysis Report 1. Strategic planning is an essential part of the planning process and developing a well designed action plan. It comprises of developing well documented and step by step approach towards the fulfillment of the goals and objectives that have been outlined by a person, individual or agency in an attempt to accomplish the short as well as long term objectives that has been designed as an outcome of a group or an individual effort (Mintzberg, 1994, pp. 9-11). A well designed strategic planning starts with the process of designing the vision and mission of the company, which essentially outlines the long term and short term goals of the company. The next phase comprises of conducting an internal and external market study in order to identify the various factors that are currently impacting the market, besides identifying the possible future trends and behavioral patterns of the market as well as evaluating the various internal conditions of the company. The next step comprises of designing a strategic plan which will enable the company to achieve its objectives. The final step comprises of implementing the strategic plan and taking up various steps to analyze the effectiveness of the applied plan (May, 2010, p.2). Talking in terms of the strategic planning approach, the company took towards the online gaming market, it can be said that the approach was quite haphazard in nature while ignoring three very critical aspects. 1. The first one is the absence of a long term vision for the company. 2. The second one is the ignorance of an evaluation of the external market conditions. 3. The third one is the designing of the short term goals in a well planned manner while taking into account the effect of the macro and micro level variables capable of affecting the business environment. 4. The fourth one is about the ignorance of a proper strategic plan, weighing the financial aspects of entering the online gaming market and the relevant rate of returns and profits in order to maintain profitability. 5. The fifth one is the lack of focus to create awareness and thereby trigger the demand for the product. 6. The sixth and the last one that is evidently missing is the process of proper planning of the sales strategy, while putting too much emphasis on the push factor rather than creating and maintaining equilibrium of the push and pull effect for the company’s product deliverables to the customers and clients. 2. It can be said that the strategic management plan that was designed and developed by the team of strategic management of CanGo was more of an emergent nature rather than that of a deliberate nature. It can be said that a strategic management plan that has been deliberately designed would have been more systematic and much more efficient in nature as compared to the current existent one. The deliberate approach would have a much more careful approach of the planning of the strategy while taking into account the various opinions of the team members as well as the advantages and disadvantages related to their decisions. In accounts of CanGo’s approach it can be said that the team was going for a on the need approach and was designing the strategy on the basis of the need faced by the company. Also, the conversation that took place between Clark and Ethel completely showed the fact that the staff was completely unaware of the company’s emerging plans to increasingly venture in to the online gaming market. Another fact that outlined and highlighted the very base that the entire strategy was designed by the top management without proper consideration of the relative advantages and disadvantages of venturing into the online gaming market is the factor concerning the ignorance of the financial implications of the company. Also, the management did not go for a review of the external conditions analysis of the macro environment which is considered a routine method in the application of a deliberate approach towards the planning of a strategy. The prime reason that can be cited in this case for the purpose of following an emergent approach rather than a deliberate one was the fact that the staff was not kept informed from the beginning about the company was looking forward to venture into the online gaming market in the future. Also, it has to be increasingly taken into account, that the top management was more focused and interested on following a top down approach rather than a bottom up approach while going for the decision making process. Also, inefficient and ineffective communication between the staff at various points, along with improper inputs and guidance from the senior members belonging to the top management team led to the fact of the emergence of an emergent kind of a strategic planning rather than opting for a well planned and well designed strategic plan. 3. The Hamilton’s Strategic Management group increasingly talks and provides emphasis on the fact that the process of strategic planning for any company is a continuous and evolving phase and has to be done from time to time in a systematic and periodic manner in an attempt to maintain the level of competitive advantage for the firm. The strategic planning team has a diverse role as mentioned by the Hamilton Management Group. The roles and responsibilities of the team increasingly comprises of the process of continuous reviewing of the market conditions on a macro note, which essentially includes the process of analyzing the trends that are existent in the market place, the various movements made by the suppliers in the market and the relative sector. It also comprises of the factor of evaluating the internal factors that have potential to affect the business prospects for the company (Center for Simplified Strategic Planning) Talking on the guidelines of the Hamilton’s Strategic Management group, there can be a number of recommendations that can be made in an attempt to provide solutions to the already existent issues of the company. 1. Developing a vision of the company which will determine the company’s future growth prospects and the relative strategies. 2. Going for an effective market analysis to understand the current market trends, the level of competition that is existent in the economy. It also increasingly takes into account the various kinds of threats that are currently emerging in a continuous manner and pose a significant threat to the operations of the business. 3. Performing an effective internal analysis of the company to assess the financial capabilities and limitations of the company. 4. Developing an effective strategic plan after a thorough analysis of the internal and external analysis of the company and its relative operating environments. The strategic plan must increasingly take into consideration the various risks that are associated and are currently existent in the market place from the macro as well as the micro perspective 5. The fifth recommendation is the process of designing an effective operation as well as a marketing plan while taking into consideration, the relative financial position of the company. This will enable the company to create the desired infrastructure as well generate awareness and demand amongst the consumers while keeping a significant watch on the financial expenditures of the company that are incurred in the process. 6. The final recommendation is to go for a proper planning of the sales strategy with a proper mix of the push and pull strategy to augment the demand created for the online gaming services. References Mintzberg, H. (1994). Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning. New York: The Free Press. May, G. (2010). Strategic Planning: Fundamentals for Small Business. New York: Business Expert Press, LLC. Center for Simplified Strategic Planning. (2012). Strategic Thinking. Retrieved From: http://www.cssp.com/ Read More