TYPOLOGY OF ALTERNATIVE STRATEGIES 2 : THE BUSINESS AND FUNCTIONAL LEVEL 25 OCT 2017

 BISMILLAHIRAHMANIRAHIM..... 25 OCT 2017  Created by fatihah...

Marketing Functional Strategy

In companies that are marketing oriented, the marketing strategy on a functional level influences the other functions and their strategies. A typical marketing strategy is to determine customer needs in an area where the company has a natural competitive advantage. Such advantages might be in location, facilities, reputation or staffing. Once the marketing strategy has identified the kind of product customers want, it passes the information to operations to design and produce such a product at the required cost. The advertising department must develop a promotional strategy, sales must sell the product and customer service must support it. The marketing strategy forms the basis for the strategies of these other departments.

Other Functional Strategies

The non-marketing functional strategies must support the marketing strategy that, in turn, is a component of the overall business strategy. In a single-business company, those strategies are tightly focused on one industry, but they must also deliver data that allows the corporate strategy to examine possible diversification. Single-business companies are usually either highly ranked in their single business or dominant in their niche. The strategies at the functional level try to maintain such a position but also look for external danger signs. If events outside the company's control lead to a deterioration of its position, strategic components from a functional level must signal to the corporate level that an implementation of alternative strategies is required.

Types of Strategic Alternatives

Most businesses today also develop strategies at two distinct levels. The two general levels are;

Business-level strategy

Business-level strategy is the set of strategic alternatives from which an organization chooses as it conducts business in a particular industry or market.

Such alternatives help the organization to focus its efforts for each industry or market in a targeted fashion.

Corporate-level strategy

Corporate-level strategy is the set of strategic alternatives from which an organization chooses as it manages its operations simultaneously across several industries and several markets.

Companies today compete in a variety of industries and markets.

So; as they develop business-level strategies for each industry or market, they also develop an overall strategy that helps define the mix of industries and markets that are of interest to the firm.

Features of Strategic plans

The following are some of the most important characteristics of strategic plans:

1. They are long-term in nature and place an organization within its external environment.
2. They are comprehensive and cover wide range of organization activities.
3. They integrate guide and control organizational activities for the immediate and long-range future.
4. They set the boundaries for managerial decision making. Since strategic plans are the primary documents of an organization all managerial decisions are required to be consistent with its goals. Strategic plans, thus, set forth the long-term objectives, intermediate objectives and main purpose or basic role of an organization.

Created by fatihah.