Business models became popular as a result of the internet boom that made many companies to begin relying on web-based models. Companies shifted from the traditional methods that were based on strategy and competence in an attempt to embrace the new trend. The new models came with a promise of substantial profits and efficiency. All the entrepreneurs who bought into the new idea ended up suffering huge loses because they did not implement the models in the right way. The concept of business models therefore did not perform well in the initial stages because many people did not actually understand the concept. The failure of these business models came as a result of misuse and distortion. Many entrepreneurs wasted their capital by investing in flawed models without careful consideration. The new concept of doing business using models is still very applicable in different types of business ventures. A business model should Continue reading
Strategic Management Tools
Ecological Business Strategies
Ecological business strategies consist on the firm’s position vis- Ã -vis the natural environment; they define the firm’s relationship with nature. They describe strategies for use of environmental resources and acceptable environmental impacts of the company’s activities. Ecological strategies try to minimize long-term environmental damages by managing the company’s inputs, throughput’s, and outputs. Just as “Total Quality Management” in corporation demands attention to each stage of the design and production process, a “Total Environmental Management” perspective can optimize the performance of the total system. Every organization requires materials and energy as inputs to its production process. Primary industries such as mining, forest products, pulp and paper, and oil and gas are particularly oriented toward extraction and utilization of raw materials. Secondary (manufacturing) industries such as steel, construction, automobiles, and petrochemicals are important users of materials and energy. Service industries (e.g. health care, education, legal, consulting, etc.) maker fewer demands for materials Continue reading
What is Strategic Innovation?
Innovative thinking can be applied to the strategic planning of an organization to create new opportunities and boost market performance. Strategic Innovation is the creation of growth strategies, new product categories, services, or business models that change the market and generate significant new value for consumers, customers, and the organization. Strategic Innovation takes the road less traveled – it challenges an organization to look beyond its established business boundaries and to create possibilities in an open-minded and creative environment. It has been seen that focusing on the short-term aspects typically yields short-term results, however, firms seeking to make significant breakthroughs identify both, big and innovative ideas. Strategic Innovation calls for a holistic approach that operates on multiple levels. First, it blends non-traditional and traditional approaches to business strategy, deploying the practices of “Industry Foresight”, “Consumer/Customer Insight” and “Strategic Alignment” as a foundation, and supplementing them with more conventional approaches and Continue reading
Strategic Lenses
Organisations strategic issues are commonly analysed from different strategy lenses. Strategic lenses are a concept of strategic management. The lenses are different ways of viewing strategy development. It examines the flow of tasks and information, or how you get things done. Each lens reveals many different traits and qualities. Using the strategic lens, one looks to optimize workflow to meet the goals and objectives of the company. This article a will cover four angles from which strategy can be viewed and implemented on a corporate level; they are strategy as design, strategy as experience, strategy as ideas and strategy as discourse. 1. Strategy as a Design This takes the view that strategy development can be a local process in which the forces and constraints on the organisation are weighted carefully through analytic and evaluative techniques to establish clear strategy direction. This creates conditions in which carefully planned strategy implementation should Continue reading
A New Business Strategy: Familiarity Matrix
Roberts and Berry devised a technique for selecting optimum diversification action plans for firms wishing to enter new product-markets called the familiarity matrix. It helps strategists decide which product-markets to enter and how. Its two axes, familiarity with market factors and technology or service, are both divided into three values: Base, new familiar, and new unfamiliar. The market dimension refers to the amount of knowledge possessed by the diversifying company of various characteristics of the market and the competitors within it. The authors distinguish between the newness of, and the familiarity with, the market for a product-service. Newness of a market is the extent to which the company has previously targeted it. Markets with which the company has prior experience, conceivably by selling old or existing products in it, are called base markets. Markets with which no such prior exposure exists are called new. Whether a new product is base Continue reading
Top 3 Strategy Development Tools in Business
In the business world, strategy refers to the models using to make the right decisions that help organizations achieve set targets. It is, therefore, important that business people invest in understanding the various strategy development tools, their benefits, and their limitations. Having in-depth knowledge about strategy and how to select the right strategy tools, can businesses become more efficient and productive. There are several strategy development tools for use in the business world; what’s important is to know which strategy tool to use in a given circumstance. The main goal of using business strategy tools is to implement strategic plans in companies and help create economic moats. Some of the standard strategy development tools are; PESTEL, Five Forces, Resource-Based View, Cross Impact Analysis, and SWOT Analysis. In this article, only three important strategy development tools will be discussed. These strategy tools include; PESTEL, Five Forces, and SWOT Analysis. PESTEL analysis Continue reading