Strategic Management Concept - Coursework Example

Strategic Management Institution Name Date TASK: Strategy is the outcome of a formal strategic planning process from top management. Therefore, it has limited value in providing the organization with a competitive advantage. Do you agree with the view expressed in the quotation? State your position and argue your case. Strategic Management Introduction I disagree with the argument because strategic management process is actively involved in firm’s objective to attain market competitiveness. Businesses use aims and goals to form a business strategy when creating a strategy for their success and survival in the market. When firms carry out this, they are always clear of what objectives they want to achieve. The business focus on how they are going to turn their visions into realities amid the steep local and global competition. Therefore through strategic management businesses come up with specific aims and goals important for the firm to compete favorably on the market. Businesses become aware of why they strive to be different from other businesses operating in the same market. A good example of how a business uses strategic management to stand out of the rest is portrayed by Kellogg. It has a strategy that has been proved to be successful by its unique brand that has been developed by their aims and goals. According to Flint (2008), any firm that wants to be successful in the market uses its brand as a powerful tool to compete. A brand is design that describes the identity of a given product belonging to a certain organization or firm. Holland (2004) points out that the reason to why a brand is important is because whenever a given consumer recognizes a given product or service brand, the brand itself communicates the desired value to the consumer. The consumer makes a decision to purchase basing on the information that the brand communicates. Brand position is acquired through strategic management process. Caster (2009) argues that all departments and all members of staff in an organization are consulted about the kind of design that can communicate the desired message that the consumers would want to get. This is what we refer to product positioning. Flint (2005) suggests that a well delivered product brand makes the consumers differentiate from the rest of the brands. Focusing on Kellogg, aims and objectives have been created to deliver a strategy which has given the company a unique positioning in their consumers minds. In the UK Kellogg has around 42% market share of the total breakfast cereal production which is estimated to be around 1.1 billion pounds per annum. The company has come up with various product ranges for different market segment targeting age groups starting from three. The product ranges include cereal bars and 38 cereal brands. According to the consumers in the UK and around the globe, they perceive Kellogg to be a market leader producing high quality cereals. Kellogg has a differentiated and excellent position within the cereals market. This implies that it has won the confidence of its consumers. Coming up with an aim for business in the current times is a more vital part of a business. According to Gilman (2007), point out that lifestyle has changed and therefore businesses need to restructure their strategies to match with the needs of the people. Kellogg has captured this concept very well. Capturing such a concept does not come from the leaders alone; the staff is also involved to give their opinion. Through strategic management Kellogg has understood the fact that nowadays people want to eat something that will contribute to their bodies being healthy. They therefore adjust their lifestyles to eat a healthy balanced diet. Kellogg took the initiative to give the consumers exactly want they want; a well balanced diet cereals. In order to attain this goal, the Kellogg managers noticed that it was necessary for it to be a part of the debate that was awakening concerning health and lifestyle. It therefore began to promote the awareness of eating healthy. In addition, they also wanted to demonstrate corporate social responsibility. It implies that their aim was to develop the business social responsibility concerning health issues that would be sensitive to the consumers of the Kellogg products. Any business action in a large organization always gives support to a business direction. Gupta (2005) writes that the taken direction is demonstrated in a manner in which a broad statement or objective is outlined and that it guides everyone within the organization. The created aim will also help the not within the organization to be able to understand the principles and the beliefs of the business. Kellogg aimed to reinforce the significance of a balanced lifestyle to make its consumers realize how a balanced diet coupled with exercise would improve their lives. Coming up with business objectives and setting business aims results to plans which set the business on the right direction which can help the business compete successfully with other similar firms. However a successfully aim is supported by business objectives that are specific and that can be measured. Johansson (2007) argues that the set objectives of the Company are designed to put a contribution to a specific aim and goal. Their goal was to encourage and enhance physical activity among all groups of the population. Utilize resources to support activities and manage physical activity focused groups for its consumers and the whole public. They aimed at increasing the association between physical activity among the consumers and Kellogg. They also used their products brands to communicate the message of “balance” to their consumers. Finally, they introduced food labeling that would allow the consumers make the right decision concerning their food intake. Each of their objectives was clear, measurable and specific. It implies that they created the objectives bearing in mind the process of strategic management. They ensured the objectives were specific, measurable realistic and time bound. It implied that the company would know whether any of the objectives had been achieved. Morrison (2005) suggests that the success of any objective has an effect of increasing the awareness of the product brand hence increased consumer base. They considered the objectives to be attainable so they were communicated to the whole staff. This ensured that the staff was willing to adhere to given actions so as to achieve the desired goals. The objectives were time bound in that they were set within duration of three years. It used the objectives to take the business where it was desired to be in a period of three years. Having set the strategy the company then created a series of actions to be followed in the effort of making the objectives achievable. In the part of food labeling the company designed a GDA to its usual packaging of the cereals displaying the desirable Guidelines Daily Amounts. This enabled the consumers understand the nutritious level they may need on every packet of the Kellogg’s cereals. It also introduced a new design of a format that showed the GDA clearly displayed on the brand and the packaging. To prove that there strategic decision was worth competitive other firms like TESCO adopted the strategy to show GDA on their food packaging. Kellogg has long been encouraging people to take part in physical activity, as one of their strategies for management; it is actually social corporate responsibility which has an advantage of creating trust among the consumers. Chen (2006) suggests that consumers will want to buy a product of a company which is actively involved in social responsibility. The company set some long term objectives and began working with the Association for the amateur swimmers in 1997. As a result more than a million people in UK have made a decision to swim regularly. Through swimming the company has managed to create massive awareness of its products. This has enabled it stay ahead in the cereals market in the UK. Kellogg eventually took up major sponsorship of swimming in Britain. This ensured that all swimmers received the best support in the activity. It also took on sponsoring the swimming scheme that sees more that 1.8 swimming award given each year. This association with the swimming activity has helped the company contribute in a noticeable way to how people attain an active lifestyle that is healthy and balanced. This has greatly reinforced the positioning of its brand. Its swimming sponsorship has made it establish links with other bodies and business partners which is geared towards societal development. The Kellogg Company has also provided a wide range of programs in the community which are geared towards people development. McDaniel (2009) writes that effective mode of communication is important for making a business strategy successful. Kellogg communicated well to it consumers by demonstrating all their objectives of the importance of getting the balance right. Different forms of communication were adapted to pas the message to the consumers. Because it is a large organization, Kellogg used communication methods such as using cartoon characters portraying Aimee and Jack to pass out a message that stresses on the need to get the balance right. By using the cartoon characters the organization is able to convince the parents and children the need for taking part in an exercising activity. The characters are shown on the back of the packaging of the cereals. Kellogg has also created a series of leaflets on topics that may be important to the customer. The topic on the leaflets reads calcium for strong bones and eating for a healthy body. The information is also availed on its websites. The employees are also well communicated with through magazines that are distributed to everyone working with the company. The topics tackled in the magazine are still the same as those displayed for the consumers which include the tips on eating healthy. The employees are encouraged to get a food balance and exercise, this way the company communicates its objective to the employees as well. The employees feel to be a part of the business which creates a sense of belonging in them. A happy employee is satisfied with his or her work hence he or she will produce a quality work. Gogh (2006) suggests that strategic management is therefore a process that is vital for employee communication because it is a necessary task to motivate the employees. Establishing strategic management for business success allows a business to develop a competitive advantage over other companies in the similar business line. It implies that by strategically managing its operations a business has a better way of running business than their rivals. Whittington (2008) argues that a business creates differentiation to its products or services hence making their products highly recognizable by the consumers. For instance, Mott MacDonald’s global company deals with consultancy services in engineering, management and development. In its strategy for development it acquired another existing consultancy firm. In 2007, the company bought three more consultancy firms in Netherlands, USA and Romania. Currently the company operates in nearly countries with more than 13,000 employees. The experts are consulted on thousands of various projects throughout the world in various areas. The projects include, transport, buildings, environment, energy, communication, heath and education. A distinct set of skill is required on any consulted project. Most of the consulted projects address the issues of the environment such as protection from floods or waste management. It helps its customers get more sustainable solutions to their projects. Mott MacDonald’s has managed to stay on to of the world consultancy services by designing a strategy that uses the skills of the people to attain its business goal. They have creatively designed a purpose for their business through their mission. Through this mission they have managed to follow the direction of their long-term objective. Hamm (2005) suggests that a business mission has helps a company differentiate itself from the rest of the consultancy firms in the world. Newton (2007) notes that when a company draws its mission statement it becomes a guiding rule for the whole organization which contributes towards long-term company profitability. In their mission, Mott MacDonald’s mission is to deliver satisfaction to their customers, to achieve this strategy they employ world’s best experts across the various market sectors. The company in return value their employees’ efforts to satisfy their customers and attaining its set goals and objectives. Their customers are in both private and the public sector. It works with organizations to provide the needed services to the governments. The world’s largest observation wheel in China is managed by the Mott MacDonald’s, the project is said to be greater than the London eye. They have also managed world’s leading wind farms in the South East of England. They are said to be working on working on thousands of project at any given time. The projects around the world include, transport system in Taiwan, Education planning in the USA and health initiatives in Africa. To aid its staff gain professional excellence, the company encourages learning and development. An employee will deliver excellent results as far as work quality is concerned if he or she has more knowledge concerning his or her work area. Customers are satisfied with quality service or quality products. According to Foss (2007), a company is likely to experience more sales if their products deliver the customers the value for their money. They highly encourage their most valuable experts pass the same knowledge to their junior employees who in return do the same. Besides that the company recognizes the achievements of the employees. They have awards for the outstanding achievements and innovation. This motivates their employees to attain higher achievement and become creative to enable innovation. Robertson (2004) notes that the more the employee will contribute to the success of the business the more profitable the business becomes and the stronger the company becomes to withstand local or global competition. Such a commitment has seen Mott MacDonald acknowledged as the top most consultant firm in the UK’s top Best Companies in 2008 and 2007 as well. The employees have to know whether the company is achieving its goals or not. Hence, the company measures its progression towards customer satisfaction through surveys conducted by to their customers. For every aspect of their services their customers rated them out of ten. This comprise of how well the company responds to the customers’ needs and the overall service quality. A company that has dissatisfied employees and less innovative creativity cannot compete with other firms on the market. Therefore strategic management is necessary to address issues that concern employee motivation and innovation. Conclusion In conclusion, it is worth noting that strategic management contributes towards the competitive advantage of a firm’s performance on the markets. A firm needs specific strategies that will work towards attaining the set goals. A firm becomes more competitive if its goals are achieved within a given time period. Therefore, as a firm sets its strategies they are always geared towards the growth of the company. The growth of the company implies satisfied employees, quality products or services and satisfied customers. References Caster, W. (2009). Three Strategic Framework, Business Strategy Series, 10 (1): 68-76 Chen, J, (2006) of Business Management, A Guide for Management, A Journal of Management Science, 12 (5): 36-41 Flint, D. (2005). Strategic Management Definitions, Comparisons and Pursuit of Advantages. Journal of Business Inquiry 14 (5): 52-59 Foss, J. (2007). The Resource Based Tangle. Towards a Sustainable Explanation of Competitive Advantage. 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