Foundations of Business Strategy

Week 1

Video Lectures

Intro to Strategy

Discussion of Apple, from near bankruptcy, through the iPod and its current success. Basic definitions of strategy.

Strategic Analysis

Assessing an organizations competitive position and identifying future valuable positions

• Generalist approach (look at all aspects)
• Reasoned (how will other companies respond)
• Grounded in analytics and data
• Apply appropriate tools and frameworks

The Strategists Challenge

Values

• What is our mission?
• What is our scope?
• What do we value?

Using "profits for stakeholders" is not useful because it provides no guidance. A mission should be more targeted.

Opportunities

• What does the market demand?
• Who else offers this value proposition?

Capabilities

• What are our strengths?
• Where might we have a competitive advantage?

When analyzing competitive advantage, the question is not 'what do we do well' but 'what do we do better than others'.

Strategist Toolkit

SWOT Analysis : strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats. SW are internal capabilities and OT are external environment.

Competitor Analysis: collect information about performance, capabilities, objectives and using this to create a strategy for each competitor.

Environmental Analysis: Demographic trends, socio-cultural influences, technological developments, macroeconomic impacts, political/legal pressures and global trade issues.