What Is Strategy?
Strategy according to this article is a way of planning on how a business venture will realize its projected growth in terms of profits. This according to the article includes maximizing service delivery to the customers at the minimum costs possible, reducing both production and operational costs and designing prices in a way that will make the business remain competitive in the market.
The business operator in this case is expected to weigh the available options in the market and rest on the option that best suits his or her business. For instance, strategizing helps business operators to decide on whether to sell their products or services directly to the customers or involve middlemen in their chains of distributions. The aim here is to minimize costs and at the same time maximize profits.
In addition, strategizing should be simple for the business operators to implement with ease. It should be done in line with the anticipated changes in the market. These changes include the forces of demand and supply, technological changes or any legal changes that may affect the future operations of the business. As indicated in the article, the aim of strategizing is to ensure growth and prosperity of a business in terms. This is done by defining the company’s current position and planning for its future growth. The success of any specific business according to the article depends on the business’s ability to differentiate its strategies from those of other operators in the market. It should however be noted that a business should be able to sustain its strategic plans in order for it to prosper.
Competing for the Future
The future of any company depends on the present strategic plans adapted by the company managerial team to handle problems. It entails among other thing planning on how to solve managerial problems arising within organization and those posed by the market barriers in the best way possible. As indicated I the article, the aim of strategizing is to ensure that there is company growth future, and in this connection, strategizing becomes very vital in the planning on how top management team would effectively compete for the growth of the company in the competitive market by observing and putting into practice business ethics and morals. The main strategies indentified in the article include downsizing, employee empowerment and portfolio rationalization.
The strategies indentified in this article with the potential of enabling business operators compete for a strategic position in the market include globalization, informationalization and individualization of the business. Globalization requires business operators to shift their future focus from the local to the international market while informationalization requires business operators to take advantage of the modern information technology to market their business ventures.
Modern technology is particularly important in planning for the future of any business venture in that it helps in identification of markets. Individualization on the other hand requires business operators to differentiate their business from those of many operators in the market. This is done through the establishment of the company’s brand.
Planning for future growth of a business requires the business operators to indentify and deal with the barriers facing the business. Barriers to a business venture as indicated in the article are the factors that lead to retardation of the business’ growth. According to the article, failure by business managers to be aggressive in planning for the future growth of their businesses has led to failures. It is only through having answers to the barriers of the business growth that will result to future growth the business venture.
What Effective General Managers Really Do
The responsibilities of ensuring for the future growth of any business venture depend on the commitment of the business’ managers on the affairs of the company. The commitment of managers t the affairs of the company can be measured by considering the amount of time spend by the managers doing the company’s business compared to the time they spend in other businesses. Secondly, managers should involve their time in considering the possible changes of the market in future. By doing so, they will be in a position to strategize on the running of the company. Thirdly, managers should form working networks with other operators. Through these networks, they will get new ideas concerning the management of their business ventures.
Effective managers aim at adding value to both the customers and the employees. This is done in line with the aims and objectives of the business venture, which in most cases is to maximize profits. Effective managers therefore censure a balance between the employees and the company to avoid conflicts of interests as indicated in the article. Managers should ensure that workers perform their duties as expected.
The managers should not dictate the others workers to perfect heir responsibilities but lead by example. Effective managers should ensure effective communication in the work place. Effective communication ensures that duties are done as expected and any barrier to accomplishing specific roles is communicated to the responsible departments for corrections.
By motivating other employees to perform their responsibilities, effective managers organize for workshops where the employees get a chance to discuss on how top improve their performances. Effective managers are also involved in carrying out extensive research on new strategies that may enable their companies grow.
Yellowtail Marine, INC.
How should Robyn spend her first three days on the job? (Prepare a calendar for the morning, afternoon, and evening of each of those days).
Robyn’s calendar for the first three days on the job
Which issue should Robyn prioritize for attention in the next month? Why?
First, Robyn should have a review of the current strategic plan for the organization. This is of importance in knowing where to begin and what should be done when without altering the present or urgent activities that should be accomplished. Second, Robyn needs to come up with a strategic plan for the subsequent months. This requires the integration of day-to-day activities at the workplace.
Having a strategic plan of activities is a priority for enabling her to manage time well in learning more of the organization’s culture. Robyn has to ensure production activities and the distribution of the produced company products continues. This is necessary for the company as it will ensure the organization operations are still kept a live or not stagnated; meaning, the organization will not run into difficulties that will result into near closure of it.
What goals should Robyn set for the next year? For the next five (5) years?
Within a period of one year, Robyn will need to carry out several market based research works related to the company’s products, consumers and competitors in order to the company’s sales volume. For the long term running of the organization, Installation of new production line for recreational products especially cruiser boats will be a better goal, since the current war oriented company’s products are now being considered as obsolete.
Linking the Articles and Yellowtail Concepts to My Internship Experience
As an intern in the corporate publishing international organization (CPI), I was not only lucky to learn, and understand more of the organization’s managerial approaches, but I was also happy to have an opportunity of translating many of managerial theories into practical through the application of numerous concepts acquired from these theories. When I got the opportunity at the CPI, I didn’t think that there were much and many different things of management I had not known before. However, the internship opening at this CPI organization meant a lot in my live, and I believe similar feeling and experiences would be realized by every individual with little passion in the field/ area of management.
On entry to the CPI organization, any one who is keen is his/her observations commences to realize the nature of the relations the organization has with its external or outside world through the maintaining of a clean and tidy compound. The moment I got the sight and the picture of the organization’s compound, an immediately critical thought triggered in my mind concerning the need to observing of the regulatory policies and rules formulated by the government and other bodies with bestowed authority by the government to ensure resources of productions are utilized in the best way to perpetuate production.
While in the CPI, I kept practicing whatever I had learned in my studies, and more especially I kept obeying and following instructions right from welcome session and through the orientation period until the end of presenting my final report project to the organization’s chief executive officer with other noble men of the company.
To accomplish the goals of my internship at the CPI Company, I kept a clear plan of activities including daily, weekly and monthly activities that I had to cover within the period of stay in the organization. This allowed utilizing of my time wisely and positively by having guide enable my time management.
However, despite the fact that the work was involving and demanded much concentration, I maintained flexibility to ensure that attended every department area of the organization, shared and gathered the needed information from senior, junior staff members subordinates members and any other individual who seemed to be in position of having information which will prove valuable in the course of completing the internship report. I engage some of them in humorous discussions while others were directly involved to train me on different task by company’s authority.