Handout 4-6 Strat
Handout 4-6 Strat
Handout 4-6 Strat
Example: Dove, a personal care brand, began as a brand Technological Leader. Focuses on pioneering innovation.
solely known for its bars of soap. The company grew to
Example: Nike spends more than most in the industry on Flexible manufacturing systems. In this strategy, parts are
R&D to differentiate the performance of its athletic shoes grouped into manufacturing families to produce a wide
from that of its competitors. As a result, its products have variety of mass-produced items.
become the favorite of serious athletes. This happened even
though Nike simultaneously pursued a low-cost Example: Equipment factories, automobile factories,
manufacturing approach. aerospace, medicine, and construction industries widely use
FMS.
Technological Follower. Deals with imitating the products of
competitors. Dedicated transfer lines. In this strategy, highly
automated assembly lines create a single mass-produced
Example: Face book, founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004, product using little human labor.
is a classic example of a Technological Follower. The social
media platform originated from Friendster, a social Example: Ingersoll Production Systems is an expert in
networking site founded by Jonathan Abrahams in 2002. transfer line design and other industrial automation systems
that handle every production function, including milling,
Open Innovation. A newer approach in which a firm uses drilling, tapping, or boring.
alliances and connections with corporations, governments,
academic labs, and consumers to develop new products and Mass-production system. In this strategy, many low-cost,
processes. standardized goods can be produced.
Example: IBM adopted the open operating system Linux for Example: Mass-produced food products include any food
some of its computer products and systems, drawing on a item made or processed on a large- scale, such as in a
core code base that is continually improved and enhanced by factory. Generally, because these products are made
a massive global community of software developers. industrially, each item is identical or similar.
D. Operations Strategy. It determines how and where a product Mass customization. In this strategy, people, processes,
or service is to be manufactured or delivered, the level of units, and technology reconfigure themselves to give
vertical integration in the production process, deployment of customers exactly what they want when they want it.
physical resources, and relationships with suppliers. It also deals
with the optimum level of technology the firm should use in its Example: Mass customization in the clothing industry where
operations processes. apparel firms use computer- controlled machines to cut
fabrics that match individual body measurements.
A firm's strategy is often affected by the product or service's
popularity. In the case of manufacturing firms, an increase in 2. The operations strategy for service-oriented firms can be
sales means an increase in production volume, which dictates the classified as follows:
appropriate strategy that the firm must employ. Whereas for
service-oriented firms, the level of service can be classified Quality. Service-oriented firms must ensure that they
based on service quality, reasonable price, reliable delivery, and deliver error-free services that match customers' needs
flexibility of the service design. based on standard requirements. It may also pertain to the
quality of the delivery process, which establishes a reliable
1. The operations strategy for manufacturing firms can be image to the clients.
classified as follows:
Flexibility. Service-oriented firms must ensure that their
Job snap. In this strategy, a small manufacturing system
service design can handle the multiple demands of the
handles customized production using skilled labor. Products
clients. They must also anticipate unexpected circumstances
are customized based on customer specifications.
based on changing consumer preferences, which may require
Example: Paint shops, machine shops, and fabrication shops.
adjusting or completely modifying their service design.
Example: Amazon changed the logistics and e-commerce industry The following are the pre-requisites of strategy
by introducing the online application "Amazon Prime Now". It implementation:
offers one-hour delivery in major American cities and even a
series of Wi-Fi-connected buttons that allow consumers to simply 1. Define the strategy framework. The strategy should be
register in the app to order or re- order products. embedded in everything that a company does. It involves
translating organizational conduct, mission, vision, policies,
G. Human Resources Management Strategy. Companies find and strategic plans into general actions that guide an
that having a diverse workforce is a competitive advantage. organization's daily activities.
Research reveals that firms with a high degree of diversity 2. Build a strategic plan. It involves establishing cooperation,
following a growth strategy have higher productivity, employee personnel development, degree of commitment,
satisfaction, and commitment than firms with less diversity. determination, and efficiency within an organization.
Diversity in terms of age and national origin also offers benefits. 3. Define Key Performance Indicators (KPI). Key
performance indicators provide clear information of
Example: McDonald's found that older workers performed as well
progress towards an end-goal and measure factors such as
as, if not better, younger employees. The full-time and part-time
efficiency, quality, timeliness, and performance.
jobs range from entry positions like "crew person," "shift
4. Implement consistent reports. It involves an overview of
manager," and "maintenance" to corporate and management jobs.
how the strategy looks in the present and how it is
Currently, 11% of workers at McDonald's corporate-owned
progressing over time. It must include a comparison period
restaurants are 50 years old or older.
or graphs/charts showing progress to maintain momentum.
H. Information Technology Strategy. Corporations have always 5. Link performance reviews to strategy. It involves
used an information technology strategy to give their business monitoring the progress of the implemented strategy and
units a competitive advantage. Multinational corporations use determining whether it is relevant to the organization's
sophisticated Intranets to allow employees to practice follow- purpose.
the-sun management. Project team members living in one country
Developing Programs, Budgets, and Procedures
can pass their work to team members in another country where
the workday is just beginning. Bamford et al. (2018) stated that strategy implementation
involves establishing programs and tactics to create a series of
Example: When FedEx first provided its customers with
organizational activities, budgets to allocate funds for the
PowerShip computer software to store addresses, print shipping
initiated activities, and procedures to monitor and control the
labels, and track package location, its sales jumped significantly.
progress of the activities as follows:
FedEx continued to push for further advantage by using its Web
site to enable customers to track their packages. FedEx used this A. Programs. A program or a tactic aims to make a strategy
competency in its advertisements by showing how customers could action-oriented. In practice, a program is a collection of tactics,
track the progress of their shipments. and a tactic is an individual action taken by the organization as an
element of the effort to accomplish a plan.