Strategy Analysis and Choice in Management

J. Haoyi, Zhang1
1. Dept. of Industrial Engineering, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa 1. zhy@sun.ac.za

Abstract: Business is a war game, from some angle. Strategy is for setting a goal for an enterprise, but the purpose sometimes is not only for reaching it. That is to say, the goal setting is for the company keeping going forward and making sure its in the right track. Basically, the strategy is the basic principle of operating the company. Key words: strategy, competition, innovation, time requirement, war game.

Introduction
Strategic management is generally acknowledged to be one of the younger sub disciplines within the broader management domain. Such emergent areas are typically characterized by debate, and challenges to existing paradigms. While the latter are frequently couched as theoretical discussions, empirical work plays a critical role in confirming, or challenging, a particular perspective. Developing a marketing strategy is vital for any business. Without one, your efforts to attract customers are likely to be haphazard and inefficient.

To Understand Market
A Company growing is like trees growing. During the process of growth, many branches are not necessary to exist. They share the nutrition which is supposed for the trunk in order to influence the tree growing taller. Before we cut the branches, we just need to distinguish which are branches, which is the trunk. Before getting in the market, the advantage that you have is the key for grab the market share. Usually, there are 4 questions have to think.

Why do they buy? Is there a real need for the product? Adequate and correct marketing research? Is the product sustainable? This is to make sure the targeted market is the correct. It means that is the trunk you focus on. The importance for the pre-reading market is because once the company makes the position in the market; it could be very difficult to change in the future. For instance, Use a low cost product to attract consumers. Once our organization, via our sleazy product, has established a relationship with consumers, our organization will sell additional, higher-margin products and services that enhance the consumer's interaction with the low-cost product or service. The impression has been in the brand strategy. So even you rebuild your marketing target for higher profit, it would take long time to change. And it is also means the strategy you chose at beginning was totally wrong. A marketing strategy is base on market needs, targets and goals. If you are too small and static market share, you will have no future. The strategy you make should consider that how to grab more market share and how fast you could have done it. First of all, indentify

the market needs. Ask your customers, prospects, sellers, or market study units. Use different ways to make sure the information is enough and correct. Secondly, choose market target. Focus on your products and customers Priority on which to focus effects With adequate positioning Exclusive niches (when possible) Thirdly, define market share goals. Allowing the competition exists, but the more market share you have, more priority you hold. Finally, the product in the market must have long-life. For maintaining advantage in the game, the
products have to be keeping innovating.

their innovations. The innovation is all about understanding your strength and weakness. Your strategy must take account of how your business' strengths and weaknesses will affect your marketing. Begin your marketing strategy document with an honest and rigorous analysis, looking at your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It is a good idea to conduct some market research on your existing customers at this point, as it will help you to build a more honest picture of your reputation in the marketplace. Strengths could include:

Environmental Innovation

Reaction

and

personal and flexible customer

service

The environment indicates the situation of a company in the market. The strategy needs to do is not waiting for the feedback from the market. If you are in a strong competition, the feedback sometimes is too late to guide you how to hold the market share. Therefore, we need to predict the reaction before make a decision. This is about how much you know about yourself, the rival and the market. Strategy should be a creative art: It is a frame of mind that requires intuition and intellectual flexibility. If your products in the market have maximum share, which is means the market has been saturated. An innovation is necessary then. Products innovations are as well as process innovations. Products innovations are new-or better-material goods as well as new intangible services. Process innovation is a new way of producing goods and services. They may be technological or organizational. That is also to say, the innovation is whole system innovation. Today even the largest innovation active organizations cannot rely solely on internal sourcing but also require knowledge from beyond their boundaries when developing

special features or benefits that your product offers specialist knowledge or skills Weaknesses could include:

limited financial resources lack of an established reputation inefficient accounting systems

Opportunities could include:

increased demand from a particular market sector using the internet to reach new markets new technologies that allow you to improve product quality Threats could include:

the emergence of a new competitor more sophisticated, attractive or cheaper versions of your product or service new legislation increasing your costs a downturn in the economy, reducing overall demand

In business, do not go head on with a rival that has the benefit of the trends that are developing in the environment. You must know which enemy to choose to fight taking into consideration the market, industry, resources and competitive advantage.

Time Requirement
Choosing strategy or making a strategy also can seem to choosing a right time. In business, before you venture into overseas market, detailed planning is required, especially in the area of marketing. You have to quickly establish a 'beachhead' in the targeted market and try to capture as much market share as possible. If you are not able to capture enough, you might be forced out of business by competitors easily. Many restaurants have to close down soon after they opened. This could partly be blamed on the bad timing of the opening of these restaurants. They were mostly opened during the bad economic times. So you see, bad timing can kill but good timing can make one prospers. We have seen in investing, if we are able to time our purchase and selling of shares well, we would reap the maximum amount of profits, but this is difficult. In business, the timing of entering a new market is also important, for example, when you enter the new market at a time when the consumers are starting to change taste or during bad economic times, you may not be able to gain many sales to sustain your business. But a note must be made here, that there is good and bad timing to execute business decisions. Bad economic times although results in lower sales, it also means lower costs of expansion as well. Your rivals maybe also in the bad time, so the game is still fair. Actually, if your rivals are stronger than you when the time is good, the sale is good and the profit is high, its more difficult time to follow your rivals. However, when the

old market is in recession, all you need to do is faster than your rivals to dominate new demand in the market, and then you increase your marketing share. That is why a swift victory is important. Tiny success but in time can become significant. So how are we able to get the correct timing? There are two aspects, one is knowledge and the other is experience. Knowledge allows us to gauge a range of time when opportunities is about to happen as such we can make preparation to take the opportunity. Now, we can gain relevant knowledge on our own but to be able to grasp the timing correctly, it would greatly depend on experience and attitude. Because timing is like shooting an arrow, you can have knowledge of the wind direction, the bows strength, the angle to shoot at and many more, but when it comes to practical, which is releasing the arrow, it takes experience. As the common phrase said, Practice makes perfect it never says Knowledge makes perfect.

Momentums
One aspect where we can use momentum is advertising. When you are entering into a new market, the first, most important, thing you should do is to set up your marketing campaign correctly. Your marketing campaign must build up momentum, having constant and continuous exposure of your products and brand to the new consumers. Repetition helps consumers to remember your brand and product better. Ways to make the consumers remember your products and brands are logos, jingles, slogans and many more. Many consumers have preferred senses to learn and absorb things. Logos would appeal to people who are more visual in learning, jingles and slogan would appeal more to people who are more auditory. That is reason why most of the marketing campaigns have both. For examples, NIKE, has

JUST DO IT, HSBC has The Worlds Local Bank and many more. Please take note that when creating the logos and jingles and the advertisement, culture of the market you are going into is very important because you do not want to offend your potential prospects. So repetition would create momentum for your advance into a new market. With this momentum, you are able to let yourself be noticed in the new market. Consumers, who are currently disappointed with what is currently offered in the market, would be willing to try your products or services, once they noticed the newcomer. Note here is that, you have to do some research on those competitors who are operating in the new markets you are going into. You have to know whether you are providing any value proposition to the new market at all. If what you are selling is the same, be it the sales process and products, it is unlikely that you are able to maintain the market share that you initially snatch away from your competitors.

to be flexible. No any troop can be always 100% win in the war. The purpose we need is not beat the competitor, its about how to win the game. A company needs to focus the cash flow on the area which could make highest profit, not involving into the battle of price or any other strong competition. Fighting is bad for anybody, so always open mind for finding a partner, though it is your rival right now. If the benefit is the same, cooperation is the better way for both of you to beat other rivals and monopoly the market. Win the game without fight is the best benefit way for firms.

Conclusion
Strategy analysis is about how to position your enterprise and your business rivals. The knowing each other more the mistake you make will less. In the game of business, a successful strategy A good strategy gives a company a clear position in the market, and the position must be the best environment for company growing. Some other opportunities can occur and maybe attractive, but that also can be the branches in the tree. The strategy gives a way of distinguishing those attractive disadvantages for company to make sure the company running on the right track.

Strategic Change
Human has such tendency that once you found something that works for you, you tend use it repeatedly. But in business, you cannot do that. You have to keep on formulating new strategies and tactics, because your rivals will learn from past engagements and formulate their counter strategy to score a victory over you. If you keep on using the same strategy on them, sooner or later, they are going to overtake and win you. So when you are formulating your strategy be it for marketing, research and development or other areas in your business, you have to be like what Sun Tzu said, vary them according to circumstances. Besides varying your strategy, keeping those plans under wrap is also very important as well. Otherwise, a company should have the ability

Reference
Sun, Tzu Sun Zi Art of War. Baker, Michael The Strategic Marketing Plan Audit 2008. Fagerberg, J, Mowery, D. C. and Nelson, R. R. The Oxford Handbook of Innovation, Oxford University Press, 2005. Wiki Chinese, Why Swift Victory is Important, http://www.chinese-wiki.com/Why_Swift_Vic tory_is_Important_%26_How_to_Achieve_it_ in_Business