Summary Strategic Management Latest Verified Review 2023 Practice Questions and Answers for Exam Preparation, 100 Correct with Explanations, Highly Recommended, Download to Score A+

Strategic Management Latest Verified Review 2023 Practice Questions and Answers for Exam Preparation, 100 Correct with Explanations, Highly Recommended, Download to Score A+ Lecture 1 Marketing Strategy: introduction and overview Strategic Windows: their nature. The nature and purpose of strategy and how it is formulated. The nature of marketing strategy and how this should take account of the interests of various stakeholders when involving such things as, product/service development and delivery, promotional mix, support services, manufacturing and production processes, R&D, and material purchasing affect the stakeholders. Other factors in the business environment that influence marketing strategy: political, economic, socio-cultural and technological (PEST). Marketing and competitors: how a firm must be able to position itself competitively in the minds of its customers so that its products and services stand out very favourably in important respects in relationship to competitors. Matching the firm’s products / services with opportunities and threats in the market place. The limited periods during which the fit between the key requirements of a market and the particular competencies of a firm competing in that market are at an optimum. Investment in a product line or a market area should be timed to coincide with periods during which a strategic window is open. Correspondingly, withdrawal should be considered where something which was a good fit, is no longer a good fit. Ways in which a market can evolve and how firms might develop a competitive strategy to take advantage of Strategic Windows. Lecture 2 Portfolio Analysis How organisations create their own environments rather than simply adapt to existing ones. How they select the strategic windows of opportunities and threats through which they want to look out into the world and develop and market product and services to meet the needs of what they observe to be required in the face of environmental turbulence. How well the fit between an organization’s products/services meet the needs presented by the windows of opportunities and threats is a fitting start for exploring the subject of strategic marketing. It introduces the many factors that impinge on the firm’s ability to operate in a strategically successful manner. These factors are both internal and external to the organization and form subjects in their own right which will be explored in subsequent lectures. Central to the success or failure of a business is the health of its product (or service) mix. The product life cycle concept is a useful conceptual framework within which to study how firms can vary their marketing strategies. At different stages in the product life cycle certain marketing strategies seem to be more appropriate than others. The life cycle concept also points to the different earning patterns of products or services at various points in time. It indicates that it is necessary to have a balanced portfolio of products services in terms of cash generating capabilities in order to ensure steady-sales and profits at all times. Since products will generate different cash flows and profits over their lives it means that the firm has to constantly review its product mix, prune its product lines and introduce new products from time to time in order to maintain long-run profits and stay in business. Discuss product portfolio models – e.g. the BCG (Boston Consulting Group) matrix and the the Directional Policy matrix. Point to the use and limitations of such models – e.g. that they are useful diagnostic tools but more formal and detailed planning mechanisms are required to evolve and evaluate detailed strategies. Lecture 3 Analysis of the business Understanding a business in depth is the goal of self analysis and is based on detailed current information on sales, profits, costs, organizational structure, management style and other factors. Approaches include: focus on marketing competencies and the resource-based view of the firm which are central to any thinking about self analysis from a marketing perspective. Next there is value chain analysis which examines the elements upon which a competitive advantage can be based. Other useful frameworks include Kay’s distinctive capabilities and the Balanced Scorecard. Then there is shareholder value analysis which provides a financial evaluation of a business. These might be briefly discussed and illustrated. One should also mention sales and profitability analysis along with the need to implement more qualitative measures of analysis which try to ascertain customer perceptions of the organization and its products or services. Creativity in business is an important issue and there is a need be aware of problems associated with negative mind sets and blocks to creativity. Discuss how such problem can be circumvented and illustrate some of the creative problem solving techniques mentioned in the chapter in the book. Note: this is a lengthy chapter in the book with many techniques and topics that can be developed substantially. It may be advisable to have more than one lecture on Analysis of the Business and to spend more time on the various elements involved. Lecture 4 Industry Analysis How understanding the nature of the industry and how it changes is thus crucial to understanding the process of how strategic-windows can be opened and closed by external forces. The difference between industries and markets and whereas markets can be looked upon as groups of customers with similar buying needs, industries are collections of organizations with common products and technologies. How knowledge of markets and industries helps to identify competition. Examine how as industries progress through their life cycles, the nature of competition and consumer demand changes and that this then affects the opening and closure of strategic windows. The strategies and problems that firms adopt or encounter when operating in different stages of the industry life cycle or in different types of industrial settings differ. Emphasize that an understanding the stage of the industry life cycle in which a firm is operating is imperative. Introduce the notion of strategic groups. Illustrate SPACE analysis which summarizes a large number of strategic-issues in a few dimensions. It relates industry strength to competitive advantage and the financial strength of a firm. The Boston Consultancy Group competitive advantage matrix may also be introduced and examined. This recognizes that strategic groups within an industry have different levels of profitability and it helps to classify the competitive environments that coexist within an industry. Lecture 5 Market Analysis Examine the purposes of market analysis to assess its prospects for participants and understand the dynamics of the market. One needs to identify emerging key success factors, trends, threats and opportunities and to develop strategic questions that can guide information gathering and analysis. Measuring the size of the market, identifying the trends and being able to predict how the market is going to develop in the future are critical factors in understanding the state of strategic windows. Long-term forecasts are most useful for medium- and long-term strategic planning purposes, whereas short-term forecasts enable organizations to monitor the effectiveness of earlier long-term forecasts. Illustrate both methods, including qualitative scenario generating approaches for long term forecasting. Market size and projected market growth rates are not the only important dimensions of market analysis. Point to the some of the factors which influence the profitability of a market at its various stages of development. Understanding the key factors which govern a firm’s success take us from simply looking at the profitability of a market to the consideration of cost structures, distribution systems and related trends and developments.