THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVE THINKING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING TECHNIQUES TO IDENTIFY STRATEGIES
TO IMPROVE THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE OF THE BUSINESS ........................................................................3
Possible steps to following during a problem-solving process: ................................................................... 3
THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVE THINKING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING TECHNIQUES TO IDENTIFY STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE THE OVERALL
PERFORMANCE OF THE BUSINESS ........................................................................................................................... 4
PROS AND CONS CHART: .......................................................................................................................... 4
DECISION TREE: ............................................................................................................................................ 4
VALUE CHAIN ANALYSIS: ............................................................................................................................... 4
PESTLE: ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
SWOT ANALYSIS: .......................................................................................................................................... 5
THE DELPHI TECHNIQUE: .............................................................................................................................. 5
RESOURCE- BASED APPROACH: ..................................................................................................................... 6
BALANCE SCORECARD: ................................................................................................................................. 6
THE IMPORTANCE OF CREATIVE THINKING AND PROBLEM-SOLVING TECHNIQUES TO IDENTIFY STRATEGIES
TO IMPROVE THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE OF THE BUSINESS ........................................................................7
GENERIC STRATEGIES.................................................................................................................................... 8
LOW COST STRATEGY:.............................................................................................................................. 8
FOCUS (NICHE MARKET): ......................................................................................................................... 8
DIFFERENTIATION: ................................................................................................................................... 8
CORPORATE STRATEGIES .............................................................................................................................. 8
CORPORATE COMBINATION STRATEGY: .................................................................................................. 8
DECLINE/DEFENSIVE STRATEGY: .............................................................................................................. 9
GROWTH STRATEGY: .................................................................................................................................... 9
INTEGRATION STRATEGIES (IN THE DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL) ...................................................................... 10
FORWARD INTEGRATION: ...................................................................................................................... 10
BACKWARD INTEGRATION: .................................................................................................................... 10
HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION: .................................................................................................................. 10
OTHER STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE THE OVERALL PERFORMANCE OF THE BUSINESS ....................................... 11
REVISE BUSINESS MISSION AND OBJECTIVES: ........................................................................................ 11
ALLOCATE RESOURCES DIFFERENTLY: .................................................................................................... 11
TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT (TQM) AND TOTAL CUSTOMER SATISFACTION: ................................... 11
BENCHMARKING: ................................................................................................................................... 12
FINANCIAL RATIOS: ................................................................................................................................ 12
PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS (360°) AND SELF-EVALUATION: ................................................................. 12
CONTINUOUS SKILLS DEVELOPMENT: .................................................................................................... 12
TEAMWORK: .......................................................................................................................................... 13
, CHAPTER 2
OVERALL ORGANISATIONAL PERFORMANCE
It is important to revise business environments before considering the problems in
the business environment and the strategies which may be implemented to
eliminate/reduce the impact of problems on the business.
Micro Environment
Market Environment
Macro Environment
The Micro Environment: includes the 8 business functions-
Purchasing department
Production department
Financial function
Human resources/human capital function
Marketing department
Public relations
Administrative function
General management
In the Market Environment: Porter’s 6 forces were used to look at the market
environment and the influence of various role players-
Level of rivalry/power of competitors
Threat of new entrants
Threat of substitute products
Power of buyers
Power of suppliers
Threat of complementary products
With the Macro Environment: external business influences were identified using the
PESTLE analysis-