Course Note Essay

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Pages: 11

Business Strategy Study Guide
Chapter 1
A. 3 central questions in strategy
a. Where are we now?
i. What is the company current situation
1. Current financial performance
2. Market standing
3. Competitive resources & capabilities
4. Competitive weakness
5. Changing industry conditions
b. Where do we want to go from here
i. What are you satisfying now and what should you do in the future?
1. What buyer need to try to satisfy
2. Which growth opportunities to emphasize
3. How to change the business make up
c. How are we going to get there  company’s strategy
i. Which competitive moves and business approaches to use in order to:
1. Move company in intended direction
2. Stake out market position
3. Attract and please customers
4. Achieve targeted financial and market performance
a. Short and long term goal
b. How to achieve it
B. Core Concept:
a. Company’s Strategy:
i. Consists of the competitive moves and business approaches management has to attract and please customers, compete successfully, capitalize on opportunities to grow the business, respond to changing market conditions, conduct operations, and achieve performance objectives.
C. 4 main level of strategy
a. Corporate Strategy
i. The highest level strategy
1. In what business or businesses are we or should be
2. Deciding what business they’ll do/ compete.
b. Business Strategy
i. We know what business to compete
1. How should we compete in a particular industry
c. Functional area strategy
i. How do we implement the chosen strategy
d. Operating Strategy
i. The lowest level
1. what specific actions should each operating unit takes ii. Example: How are we going to organize things
D. Business Model
a. How are we going to make money  profit
b. How the company strategy and operating approaches will create value for customers, while at the same time generate ample revenue to cover costs and realize a profit
E. Business Model Elements:
a. Customer value proposition
i. Satisfying buyer wants and need at a perceived good value
b. Profit formula
i. Firm cost structure will allow for acceptable profits given the pricing tied to its cost value proposition
F. Three tests of winning strategies
a. Fit
i. How well does the strategy fit the company’s situation
b. Competitive advantage
i. Is the strategy helping the company achieving sustainable competitive advantage
c. Performance
i. Is it the strategy produce a good company’s performance
1. Gains in profitability and financial strength
2. Advances in the company’s competitive strength and market standing

Chapter 2
A. Strategic Management
a. The process by which managers analyze the internal & external environment in order to formulate, implement and evaluate strategies that will enable their organization to achieve objective
B. Strategic Plan:
a. Lays out its future direction, performance targets, and strategy
C. Key characteristic of strategic management
a. Ongoing in nature
b. Dynamic rather than static
c. Oriented to the present and future
d. Concerned with conditions both inside and outside of the firm
e. Concerned with performing well and satisfying stakeholders

D. Stakeholders
a. Interact with the firm on regular basis
i. Employees  internal ii. Distributors iii. Suppliers iv. Shareholders
v. Creditors vi. Customers
b. Still have influence but nor interact with regular basis
i. General public ii. Government iii. Local communities
c. Shareholders of certain company  everybody
d. Stakeholders of a company  everybody
e. The primary stakeholder  employee
f. The secondary stakeholder  government, public, etc.
E. Strategy Making , Strategy Executing Process
a. External Considerations
b. Internal Considerations
F. SWOT Analysis
a. Internal
i. Strength ii. Weakness
b. External
i. Opportunities ii. Threats
G. Stage 1
a. Vision, Mission, and Values
i. Vision  Company’s future business scope
1. Describe “where