Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this module, the student will be able to satisfy the following outcomes:
- Case
o Assess how well a company's strategic choices align with firm strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, making recommendations for change in corporate-level strategy.
- SLP
o Demonstrate how CVP analysis may be used in the creation of more effective product pricing strategies.
- Discussion
o Determine which Generic Porter strategy is followed by an organization, using the Grand Strategy Selection Matrix to support choice of strategy.
Module Overview
A good strategy will outline the fundamental steps that an organization needs to take in order to achieve a set of objectives. Management develops a strategy by evaluating options available to the organization and choosing one or more of the available options.
Strategies exist at different levels in an organization, and they are classified according to the scope of their coverage.
Strategies that address which businesses a multi-business organization should compete within, and how resources will be allocated among those businesses, are called corporate strategies. Corporate-level strategies are established at the highest levels of the organization, and they involve a long-range time horizon.
Business-level strategies focus on how a company should compete in a given business. The scope of a business strategy is narrower than a corporate strategy, and it generally applies to a single business unit or strategic business unit (SBU).
A third level of strategy is the functional strategy, which is narrower yet in scope than business strategies. Functional strategies are concerned with the activities of the different functional areas (e.g., production, finance, marketing, and human resources). Usually, functional strategies exist for a relatively short period of time. Although functional strategies must support corporate and business unit strategies, they are primarily concerned with "how-to" issues.
In this module, we will be evaluating the various levels of strategies and the different means for evaluating options.
Background
STRATEGIC CHOICES
In Module 3, we will concentrate our efforts on strategic alternatives at the corporate, business, and functional levels. Companies follow strategies at each of these levels, as well as at the global level.
- At the functional level, strategies are short term in nature, and refer to company functions such as marketing, manufacturing, materials management, customer service, and R&D.
- At the business level, strategies are of medium range. They include the company's market positioning, geographic locations, and distribution channels.
- At the corporate level, strategies are long term, and include options such as horizontal and vertical integration, diversification, strategic alliances, and mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
Assignment Overview
The Case in this course is an ongoing exercise, meaning that we will continue to review one company over the course of our four modules. In Module 3, we will be conducting a strategic analysis of the Coca-Cola Company.
Specifically, the Module 3 Case requires that identify the primary business strategy employed by the Coca-Cola Company. You will also be providing a critical, written analysis evaluating that strategy in the context of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats you identified in Module 2.
Case Assignment
In a 6- to 8-page paper, respond to the following:
1. Which of the four generic (Porter) strategies does the Coca-Cola Company follow, and how do you know?
2. Integrate the strategy you've identified above with the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats you identified in Module 2 (this exercise should provide you with some specific actions the company should be taking relative to its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. These actions are referred to as "strategic choices"). Do the Coca-Cola Company's strategic choices align with the firm's generic strategy? If not, what are the specific points of disconnect? Think critically about this step, as no company achieves perfect alignment of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats with its chosen strategy. As the MBA, it is your job to uncover the discrepancies and problems.
3. How can the Coca-Cola Company leverage its strengths and shore up its weaknesses by altering its strategic choices? How can the company take advantage of environmental opportunities and minimize environmental threats by altering its strategic choices? Be specific.
4. Complete the paper by commenting on how your view of the Coca-Cola Company's vision and mission has changed or has been reconfirmed by this process of strategic analysis. Would you make any suggestions to revise the company's vision, mission, or values statements, or to any of its goals/objectives?
5. Consider the Case as a formal business report that you are developing for the Board of Directors and CEO as the Coca-Cola Company's consultant. This is a professional document. Follow the format below:
o Executive summary: This is a synopsis of the main points, conclusions, and recommendations made in the longer report. If you would like a refresher on writing an executive summary,
o Introduction: State the main purpose of the paper (thesis statement), what you hope to accomplish, and how you will go about doing it.
o Main Body: The "meat" of the paper. Emphasize analysis, not just description. Delineate separate topics or sections with headings.
o Conclusion: Summarize your paper in light of your thesis statement.
Attachment:- Case Instructions.rar