THE FIVE GENERIC COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES: WHICH ONE TO EMPLOY?

Assalamualaikum...

For the chapter five, I learn about The Five Generic Competitive Strategic : Which One To Employ? 

Among topic in this topic about the five generic competitive strategies, that are:

• low- cost provider 
•  broad differentiation 
•  focused low-cost 
• focused differentiation 
• best-cost provider 

A low-cost provider's basis for competitive advantage is lower overall costs than competitors. 

Successful low-cost leaders, who have the lowest industry costs, are exceptionally good at finding 

ways to exceptionally good at finding ways to drive costs out of their businesses and still provide a product or service that buyers find acceptable.

A cost driver is a factor that has a strong influence on a firm's costs. Then, a cost driver is a factor

that has a strong influence on a company's costs. 

Cost Drivers: The Keys To Driving Down Company Costs

Otherwise, the essence of a broad differentiation strategy is to offer unique product attributes that a wide range of buyers find appealing and worth paying for.

Other then, a uniqueness driver is a factor that can have a strong differentiating effect.

Uniqueness Drives : The Keys to Creating A differentiation Advantage

Besides that, best-cost provider strategies are a hybrid of low-cost provider and differentiation 

strategies that aim at providing desired quality at providing desired quality/features/performance/service attributes while beating rivals on price.

EVALUATING A COMPANY’S RESOURCES, CAPABILITIES, AND COMPETITIVENESS

Fourth Lecture

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh...

For the fourth lecture, I learn about "Evaluating a Company's Resources, Capabilities and Competitiveness". Firstly, I learn about how well is the firm's  present strategy working. They used specific indicators, that are:

• best indicators of a well-conceived, well-executed strategy
• growth in firms's sales and market share
• acquisition and retention of customers
• strengthening image and reputation with customers
• increasing profit margins, net profits and ROI 
• growing financial strength and credit rating 
• leadership in factors relevant to market/industry success
• continuing improvement in key measures of operating performance

Within, I learn about a company resources, and it is divided into two main categories :

• tangible 
• intagible 

For the organizational capabilitties are more complex entities than resources, which is:

Next, the tool are used for conducting the examination about whether the company is in a position to pursue 

attractive market opportunities and defend against external threats to its future well-being is using SWOT analysis. 

Then, value chain is the primary activities that create and deliver customer value and the requisite related support activities.

Lastly, benchmarking is a potent tool for improving a company's own internal activities 

that is based on learning how other companies perform them and borrowing their "best practices".

EVALUATING A COMPANY’S EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

Third lecture

Alhamdulillah we were study for chapter three about Evaluating a Company's External Envioronment. We learn about PESTEL analysis. It's focuses on the six principal components of strategic significance in the macroenvironment, that are:

• Political factors
• Economic conditions (local to world wide)
• Sociocultural forces
• Technological factors
• Environmental factors (the natural environment)
• Legal or regulatory conditions

Then, the industry have five competitive forces:

• competition from rival sellers 
• competition from potential new entrants
• competition from producers of substitute products
• supplier bargaining power
• customer bargaining power

Next, we learn about strategic group mapping,which is a valuable tool for understanding the similarities, differences, strengths and weaknesses inherent in the market positions of rival companies. The lesson of strategic group mapping is that some positions on the map are more favorable than other. 

         Otherwise, for the industry's key success factors (KFS) are the strategy elements, product and service attributes, operational approaches, resources, and competitive capabilities that are necessary for are necessary for competitive success by any and all firms in an industry. Other then, vary from industry to industry, and over time within the same industry, and in importance as drivers of chance and competitive change.

The Nature of Strategic Management & The Business Vision and Mission

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh...

For the second lecture of strategic management we have learn about The Nature Of Strategic Management.  Strategic Management is the art and science of formulating, implementing, and evaluating cross- functional decisions that enable an organization to achieve its objective. 

Stages of Strategic Managment 

For the first stage of strategic management is strategy formulation. Strategy formulation is developing a vision and mission, identifying an organization’s external opportunities and threats, determining internal strengths and weaknesses, establishing long-term objectives, generating alternative strategies, and choosing particular strategies to pursue. What I understand about the strategy vision is a view of an organizations future direction and business course; a guiding for what the organization is trying to do and to become.The example question for vision is what do we want become?  Otherwise, a  mission statement broadly outlines the organizations future direction and serves as aquiding concept for what the organization is to do and to become. Overriding premise in line with the values or expectations of stakeholders. The question that for the mission is what is our business?

Besides that,strategy implementation is  a firm to establish annual objectives, devise policies, motivate employees, and allocate resources so that formulated strategies can be executed and is often called the action stage. Lastly, for the strategy evaluation is reviewing external and internal factors that are the bases for current strategies, measuring performance, and taking corrective actions. 

Otherwise, external opportunities and external treats refer to economic, social, cultural, demographic, environmental, political, legal, governmental, technological, and competitive trends and events that could significantly benefit or harm an organization in the future. For internal strengths and internal weaknesses is  an organization’s controllable activities that are performed especially well or poorly and are determined relative to competitors.

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