In a broad sense, strategy represents the direction or path that the company adopts to adjust to its environment and achieve its objectives.
More precisely, business strategy is defined as the set of actions implemented by the organization's management with the purpose of aligning its resources and capabilities with a dynamic environment, maximizing opportunities and evaluating risks based on goals and objectives.
This is the action plan designed by management to compete effectively and generate profitability, based on a coherent set of strategic decisions.
The concept of strategy is not exclusive to for-profit organizations. Although it is essential for companies that seek profitability, its application is equally crucial in non-profit organizations[1] and other entities that do not pursue economic benefits as their main objective. These organizations must also design, execute and control effective strategies to fulfill their missions, optimize resources and achieve their goals.
In non-profit institutions, objectives are established related to the well-being of their target population. This involves the use of various metrics to measure said well-being. In this context, strategic management focuses on maximizing these metrics. However, these are always linked to the generation of money, either to maintain the trust of funders in NGOs, or to facilitate the population's ability to work and generate taxes in the case of state institutions.
Strategies constitute possible courses of action that require decision-making at the management level and the significant allocation of business resources. In addition, they influence the long-term sustainability of the organization, generally with a horizon of at least five years, which implies a future orientation. These strategies have implications at both a multifunctional and multidivisional level and must consider both internal and external factors that affect the company.
Some business strategies include geographic expansion, diversification, business acquisition, new product development, market penetration, cost reduction, divestiture, asset liquidation, and forming strategic alliances "Strategic Alliance (Business)").[2][3][4].
Other definitions of strategy (according to various authors) are the following:
Basis
Growth strategy
Introduction
In a broad sense, strategy represents the direction or path that the company adopts to adjust to its environment and achieve its objectives.
More precisely, business strategy is defined as the set of actions implemented by the organization's management with the purpose of aligning its resources and capabilities with a dynamic environment, maximizing opportunities and evaluating risks based on goals and objectives.
This is the action plan designed by management to compete effectively and generate profitability, based on a coherent set of strategic decisions.
The concept of strategy is not exclusive to for-profit organizations. Although it is essential for companies that seek profitability, its application is equally crucial in non-profit organizations[1] and other entities that do not pursue economic benefits as their main objective. These organizations must also design, execute and control effective strategies to fulfill their missions, optimize resources and achieve their goals.
In non-profit institutions, objectives are established related to the well-being of their target population. This involves the use of various metrics to measure said well-being. In this context, strategic management focuses on maximizing these metrics. However, these are always linked to the generation of money, either to maintain the trust of funders in NGOs, or to facilitate the population's ability to work and generate taxes in the case of state institutions.
Strategies constitute possible courses of action that require decision-making at the management level and the significant allocation of business resources. In addition, they influence the long-term sustainability of the organization, generally with a horizon of at least five years, which implies a future orientation. These strategies have implications at both a multifunctional and multidivisional level and must consider both internal and external factors that affect the company.
Some business strategies include geographic expansion, diversification, business acquisition, new product development, market penetration, cost reduction, divestiture, asset liquidation, and forming strategic alliances "Strategic Alliance (Business)").[2][3][4].
A strategy consists of a set of interrelated actions that managers implement with the purpose of improving the company's performance. For most, if not all organizations, achieving superior performance relative to their competitors represents the greatest challenge.
When a company's strategies lead to superior performance, it is considered to have achieved a competitive advantage.
Strategy involves differentiating oneself from the competition: carrying out activities that rivals do not perform or, ideally, doing what they cannot replicate. Every strategy must have a distinctive element that attracts customers "Market (marketing)") and generates a competitive advantage.
A company's strategy must respond to fundamental questions such as:
A company is considered to achieve strategic competitiveness when it manages to formulate and implement a strategy that creates value. At the same time, it has a competitive advantage when it applies a strategy that its competitors cannot imitate or whose replication would be too costly.
However, it is essential to understand that no competitive advantage is permanent. How quickly competitors acquire the capabilities necessary to replicate the benefits of a strategy will determine the duration of that advantage.
Therefore, companies must develop strategic flexibility, understood as the set of capabilities that allows them to respond to various demands and opportunities in a dynamic and uncertain competitive environment, that is, develop dynamic capabilities. This involves managing uncertainty and associated risks. To achieve this, strategic flexibility must be applied in all operational areas of the company.
To create exceptional value for its shareholders, a company must learn faster than its competitors and apply that knowledge across the organization more quickly and effectively. Continuous strategic learning provides the company with a set of new and updated skills that allow it to adapt to changes in the environment.
A company's strategic decisions are rarely simple and, in many cases, involve complex modifications. However, this does not justify inaction in the face of the need to define a strategic course.
Likewise, company management must identify and take advantage of a strategic window, that is, a unique market opportunity that is only available for a limited time. The first company to detect and capitalize on a strategic window can position itself in a favorable niche and make it difficult for competitors to enter, as long as it has the necessary internal strengths.[5][3][6].
Business strategies are sometimes known as nonconformity mechanisms. This dissatisfaction prevents employees from feeling satisfied with what has been achieved and produces a different way of seeing the objectives, always aspiring to move forward and be better every day to achieve continuous goals.
Companies develop these strategies with the purpose of breaking with what is established, with the comfort zone. Although they never stop complying with short-term-oriented postulates, they have a greater focus on worrying, managing and producing new ideas for the long term.[7] Companies that implement this strategy spend a lot of time researching and increasing sales percentages, being able to manufacture many more products at a lower price.[7].
Instead of slowness and apprehension of change, the execution of business strategies generates a faster ability to access transformation and grow using new technologies, along with modern learning methods and providing employees with a greater scope of knowledge (e.g., through courses) that makes their companies visionary.[7][8].
Strategy formulation
To formulate the strategy the following methods can be used:.
The strategy is the action plan that the organization's management follows to compete successfully and obtain profits, based on an integrated set of options. They are the plans to achieve the mission and objectives; and for this, strategic policies must be formulated, which provide broad guidelines for decision-making.[10].
Strategy formulation represents management's commitment to undertake a particular set of actions. When choosing a strategy, management actually says: “Among the various ways of conducting and competing available to us, we leaned toward this particular combination of approaches to take the company in the desired direction, strengthen its market position and competitiveness, and improve its performance.
Strategic options: is the set of feasible strategies that have been formulated. Strategic choice involves evaluating different strategies and selecting the most appropriate option. It has been observed that in dynamic organizational environments, the best strategic decisions are not always achieved through absolute consensus. In fact, they often involve intense disagreements and even conflicts. This is especially true for companies that operate in global sectors. Because unresolved conflicts can be emotionally charged, decision makers suggest that strategic managers use “scheduled conflicts” to encourage the presentation of different positions without personal aspects influencing the analysis.
There are two techniques that help avoid the risk of consensual decisions without due questioning, as identified by Alfred Sloan:
Types of strategy
Basic classification
Strategies are commonly classified into four main types: corporate, business, functional and operational.
I) Corporate strategy: this strategy establishes the general direction of the company, determining its approach to the growth and management of its various business lines and products. Generally, corporate strategies are aligned with three fundamental strategic postures: stability, growth and reduction. Its purpose is to optimize the joint performance of the businesses in which the company has diversified its activity. It covers decisions about which businesses to maintain or discontinue, which markets to enter, and what is the ideal form of entry (for example, acquisition, strategic alliance, or franchise). Likewise, it is linked to the scope of the organization, which implies diversification strategies, vertical integration and geographical expansion.
II) Business strategy: at the product or business unit level, this strategy seeks to strengthen the competitive position of a company's goods or services within the industry or in specific market segments. Its objective is to generate responses to changing environmental conditions and carry out actions that allow us to consolidate a competitive advantage, enhance distinctive capabilities, strengthen our position in the market and improve general performance. From an alternative perspective, business strategies can be grouped into two main categories: competitive strategies and cooperative strategies.
III) Functional strategy: this strategy refers to the approach adopted by each functional area of the company in order to achieve corporate and business objectives and strategies, optimizing the use of resources. It focuses on the development of distinctive competencies that give a competitive advantage to the organization or business unit. As examples within the area of research and development (R&D), technological imitation (reproduction of other companies' products) and technological leadership (introduction of innovations) can be mentioned. The main function of functional strategies is to provide a specific level of detail to the business strategy.
IV) Operational strategy: refers to initiatives and actions of a more limited scope aimed at the management of key operational units, such as production plants, distribution centers and purchasing points. It also covers specific strategic units, such as quality control, materials procurement, brand management or online sales. Despite their smaller breadth, these strategies provide details and refinements to both the functional strategies and the company's overall strategy.
In organizations, these four types of strategy coexist simultaneously. The strategic hierarchy defines the levels at which these strategies operate within the company, establishing relationships between them so that they complement and reinforce each other. Operational strategies support functional strategies, which in turn support business strategies, which ultimately contribute to the implementation of corporate strategy.[11][12][13].
Other basic strategy classifications
This classification is based on the relationship between the external opportunities and threats faced by an organization and its internal strengths and weaknesses, generating four types of strategies:
Chaffee wrote that there were 3 strategy models, which were not mutually exclusive:.
Corporate and business strategy
A corporation is defined as a primary business entity that exercises control over several subordinate companies or, alternatively, as a large organization with multiple strategic business units. Instead, a company refers to an individual unit that operates within one or several related product lines, focusing on a single business area.
The strategies can be applied to both the corporation and the company, depending on the specific context. These strategies constitute fundamental approaches to business management.
Corporate strategy, or failing that, company strategy, focuses on three fundamental dimensions that affect the corporation as a whole:
The directional strategy of a corporation is structured around three primary orientations, commonly called master strategies:.
These strategies seek the expansion of the company's operations. Within the corporate sphere, growth-oriented directional strategies are widely used, since their purpose is to increase the sales volume, the amount of assets and the profitability of the organization. In expanding sectors, companies must grow to maintain their competitiveness and viability. Furthermore, sustained growth allows us to take advantage of economies of scale and experience curves that favor the reduction of unit costs and, consequently, the improvement of profit margins.
Within this category, two main types of strategies are distinguished:
These strategies are adopted when the company decides not to make significant changes in its current operations, prioritizing the consolidation of its position in the market. They are appropriate in contexts of uncertainty or when the company has already achieved an optimal position within its industry. They are divided into three main approaches:
When a company faces a decline in performance, it may opt for strategies that reduce its level of activity in order to regain profitability or minimize losses. These strategies include:
Portfolio strategy views product lines and business units as an investment portfolio that must be managed strategically to maximize the return on corporate investment. Its approach is based on evaluating how business units can generate competitive advantages and contribute to the overall performance of the company.
To do this, analytical tools are used such as the BCG matrix and the GE matrix, which help determine the optimal allocation of resources and define investment priorities based on the growth and profitability potential of each business unit.
Key questions in this strategy raise:
This approach views the corporation as a set of resources and capabilities that can generate synergies between business units. Its objective is to create value by optimizing the core competencies of the parent company and efficiently articulating the relationships between the different operating units.
Functional strategy
The functional strategy represents the approach adopted by a functional area with the purpose of achieving the stated objectives, aligning with the strategies of the corporation and the business units to optimize the use of available resources. Its purpose lies in the development and strengthening of a functional capacity that allows generating a competitive advantage for the company or business unit.
Each company or business unit has different departments, each of which implements its own functional strategy. The direction of this strategy is determined by the general strategy of the business unit or the parent company.
It focuses on aspects such as price determination, commercial communication and management of distribution and coverage in various locations.
1- Intensive growth strategy.
There are different strategies aimed at expanding the presence in the market "Market (marketing)") and enhancing the growth of the company:
To execute this growth strategy, an appropriate brand strategy must be defined, which may include the following alternatives:
2- Push and pull strategy.
It refers to promotional and advertising strategies that seek to encourage sales:.
3- Price strategies.
Prices can be set based on factors such as competition, perceived value, or demand. Among the most used strategies are:
4- Distribution strategy.
It defines the route that the product will follow from the manufacturer to the final consumer. Among the most common distribution strategies are:
Evaluates the financial implications of strategic decisions at the corporate and business unit level, with the objective of identifying the most financially beneficial course of action. This strategy creates a competitive advantage by minimizing the cost of funds and ensuring flexibility in raising capital to support business initiatives.
One of the fundamental aspects of the financial strategy is to achieve a balance between the desired level of leverage and the use of long-term internal financing through cash flow.
Some common financial strategies include:.
The R&D strategy focuses on the innovation and optimization of products and processes, considering the appropriate combination of basic, product and process R&D. It also analyzes access to new technologies through internal development, acquisitions or strategic alliances.
Companies can choose to be:.
Nike, for example, invests significantly in R&D to differentiate its products and attract high-performance athletes. In contrast, Dean Foods prioritizes a low-cost strategy, focusing on producing cheaper alternatives without expensive labeling, aligning with customer needs.
Purchasing strategy
The purchasing strategy focuses on the acquisition of raw materials, components and supplies essential for business operations. Its importance lies in the fact that purchased inputs represent approximately 50% of the total manufacturing cost in industries in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Belgium and Finland.
There are three main approaches to purchasing management:
The use of the Internet has revolutionized acquisition processes. Facilitates the search for suppliers and the efficient replenishment of inventories.
Hewlett-Packard implemented an online purchasing system that allowed 84,000 employees to purchase supplies from standardized suppliers.
This optimization reduced acquisition costs in a range of 60 to 100 million dollars annually.[5].
The ARH strategy addresses a key issue:
As jobs become more complex, the second option is more effective, especially in innovative product development projects.
More and more multinational companies adopt this equipment both in their foreign subsidiaries and in local operations.
Studies indicate that teamwork improves quality, productivity and employee commitment.
Companies with quality-based differentiation strategies more frequently use evaluations with feedback from subordinates and colleagues.
The 360-degree assessment, which gathers information from multiple sources, is one of the most used tools for developing new managers in the United States.
Greater racial diversity, combined with growth strategies, has been shown to increase productivity.
Example: Avon managed to recover unprofitable markets in urban areas by hiring African-American and Hispanic managers specialized in these segments.
Diversity in age and nationality also brings benefits:.
DuPont uses multinational teams to expand its products globally.
McDonald's has found that older employees perform as well or better than younger ones.[5].
FedEx was a pioneer in offering its customers software to store addresses, print labels and track packages, which increased its sales.
UPS reacted with its own software to compete.
FedEx then used its website for shipment tracking, which again set it apart until UPS implemented the same service.
Even though the technology has become common, it is still crucial: companies invest more than $2 trillion a year in this sector.
Multinationals use advanced intranets to facilitate collaborative work across time zones.
Sun-following management allows teams from different countries to work in sequence without the need for night shifts.
Instant translation software improves communication in different languages.
History
Contenido
La existencia de una estrategia para la empresa es consustancial a la existencia de las propias organizaciones empresariales, por lo que se remonta a la Revolución Industrial. Pero históricamente, la estrategia primero fue aplicada al llamado arte militar. Mientras ahí es un concepto amplio y vagamente definido en una campaña militar para la aplicación de fuerzas contra el enemigo, a nivel empresarial se puede entender al enemigo como la competencia y las fuerzas se pueden entender como las decisiones tomadas por el empresario para obtener beneficios de las oportunidades. En este contexto, John von Neumann y Oskar Morgenstern publicaron en 1944 el libro Theory of Games and Economic Behavior. Con su teoría de juegos, Von Neumann y Morgenstern iniciaron el uso de la estrategia en el mundo de los negocios. No obstante, en las décadas siguientes, dicha estrategia fue implícita y parcial, hasta llegar a la década de 1980, donde empezó a cobrar mayor consistencia.
game theory
Game theory was originally applied to the analysis of the nuclear confrontation between the superpowers during the Cold War. Thus, it was used in economics to examine competition and cooperation within a group of small businesses. The theory helped provide an approach that models the behavior of irrational actors who operate according to their self-interest. As an example, it is the perverse contrast between good intentions and bad results that makes the prisoner's dilemma relevant to a wide range of business situations. Companies often find themselves in situations where unfettered competition would produce detrimental results for everyone; Cooperation, in such cases, is objectively preferable to fierce competition.
Considering the zero-sum game, in the business field it gives more results to reduce competition (in prices and industries) in a lose and lose situation rather than a win and win situation, putting only customer loyalty as competition. This theory specifically does not provide an exact answer to the questions and problems that arise; Instead, game theory is an assistive tool in the strategy formation process, providing key concepts to help understand dynamic strategic maneuvers vis-à-vis buyers.
The interdependence of each participating agent depends on the pre-established strategies and the objectives of the game.
This type of theory seeks to normalize and impose patterns that regulate the behavior of the agents involved through previously established norms. These factors respond to morality, equity and justice.
This theory focuses on studying the presence of laws and their conflicts, which is why it turns out to be an appropriate analysis tool. Additionally, in the theory of non-cooperative games, there is no interaction or relationship between players to reach an agreement, unless the rules of the game are different. Likewise, the theory is based on recommendations in such a way that none of the players obtain individual benefits.
First planning work
Since the late 1970s and early 1980s, the first works on strategic planning appear, led by authors such as George A. Steiner"), who took the first steps to provide methodology to this area. Although many of their applications and recommendations initially failed, they gave the signal to a path that is increasingly deepened and formalized more and more. These studies were joined by Peter Drucker,[21] father of modern administration,[22] as well as some publications by Michael Porter, Al Ries") and Jack Trout, among others.
In the 1980s, business strategists also realized that there is a great knowledge of thousands of years that they had barely examined, which is why they turned to classic military strategy books for business management. Common examples are The Art of War, by Sun Tzu; On War, by Carl von Clausewitz, and Mao's Red Book, becoming essential works of reference because they examine important topics for marketing such as leadership, motivation, logistics, communications and intelligence from a context other than business.
In these books there is a subjective contemplation of power, where it considers that direct and indirect risks are the two main categories. Direct risks are generally those that an organization has control over or can affect. These risks frequently affect the company's supply chain, workforce, operations, and competitive position. The positioning strategy school is very skillful in managing risks in the market. However, the depth of the analysis depends on the variables considered by the analysts. This risk management process softens the company's focus and unnecessarily expands the cost by defining operational plans every time.
Porter and his positioning school
Part of the structure of business strategy was described in the late 1980s with the so-called positioning school, which includes elements of the design and planning schools. In 1980, Michael Porter published Competitive Strategy: Techniques for the Analysis of the Company and its Competitors, one of the most analyzed books on the subject, and in 1985 he published Competitive Advantage: Creation and Sustainability of Superior Performance, which portrayed the dissatisfaction with the aforementioned schools of design and planning. The prescriptive nature of the first two schools added to the focus on content and substantial research of the positioning school. Thus, there are five premises for the positioning school:
The positioning strategy school is very skillful in managing risks in the market. However, the depth of the analysis depends on the variables considered by it. This risk management process obscures the company's focus and unnecessarily expands the cost by defining operational plans every time. Competitive strategy: Techniques for analyzing the company and its competitors captured the interests of academics and consultants, and made the positioning school dominant. The positioning school considers multiple strategies that differ from the design school that only derives from a single strategy. It provides a set of analytical tools in which it helps strategists discover which strategies work best and where.
With the advances in business strategy, numerous academic programs have been developed to study it. The university with the greatest reputation in this regard is Harvard University, although practically all universities in the world with a focus on business management have programs in this regard, such as the University of Pennsylvania (Warton), the London Business School, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Columbia Business School and the English-speaking MIT. In Spain there are important business schools, such as IE, IESE, ESADE or EADA.
These academic developments were also joined by other works and approaches from consulting firms that expanded the spectrum and gave greater pragmatism to the theories, turning them into successfully applicable tools, such as Booz & Co., Boston Consulting Group, Integra Trust, McKinsey & Company, Arthur D. Little, Shocron Benmuyal & Asoc., Accenture, Strategos, Gallen, etc.
With the arrival of the 1990s, business strategy began to have better tools and structure, the result of collaborations such as those of Henry Mintzberg, Peter Senge, Michael Hammer"), George Yip"), Jan Carlzon and Gary Hamel, among others. At the arrival of the century, a convergence of all currents in strategic management models is observed. On the other hand, business intelligence models and tools such as the balanced scorecard have also been added to it,[24] which has enhanced the results of the business strategy.[25].
Value chain
According to Porter's value chain, several important concepts are obtained:
Criticism of the positioning school
The positioning school bases its criticism on the separation of thinking from acting, the formulation of strategies made by the company's management through conscious thinking based on a formal analysis where its implementation follows a descending order through acting. And strategic learning is excessively deliberate, in addition to the fact that there are dangers in looking at the future by extrapolating present trends, relying excessively on quantifiable information and also over-formalizing the process of developing the strategy.[26].
As can be seen in the other schools, the approach of the positioning school is too broad and does not relate to a specific topic to be able to generate a strategy according to a problem. In this school, the merely economic and quantifiable aspects are taken into consideration without considering that perhaps the social, political and even the non-quantifiable economic aspect show relevant aspects to be able to manage a business or generate a strategy around those data that are being omitted. This behavior became more common in the second wave, when the most important thing was market participation and generating profits for the business.[26].
The positioning school has also been criticized for the context in which it is developed. In this case, the context is as broad as the focus. However, it is a matter of bias regarding the subject of analysis of this school. According to Mintzberg,[26] the context develops around large traditional companies, reducing the effectiveness of this school. In other words, this school of thought biases thinking that large equals stable. Therefore, the fact that this school places external positioning as the main focus of study without taking into account the internal capacity of companies is criticized.
The goal of positioning school is to calculate and analyze before formulating an optimal strategy. The strategist must solve all abstract problems on paper with the goal of closing sales. Von Clausewitz argues that calculation is the most important phase to achieve a competitive advantage.[26] However, the dilemma is how to calculate all possible variables in any problem; this is not possible. Calculating, in some cases, repels the development of creativity and learning, weakening the strategist's personal commitment.
References
[1] ↑ Robbins, Stephen P.; Coulter, Mary (2005). Administración (8a. ed.). Pearson Educación. ISBN 978-970-26-0555-3. |fechaacceso= requiere |url= (ayuda).
[2] ↑ a b Jorge Hermida. Roberto Serra. Eduardo Kastika. Administración y Estrategia: teoría y práctica. Editorial Norma, Argentina. p. 305, ss.
[3] ↑ a b c d e f g Arthur A. Thompson; Margaret A. Peteraf; John E. Gamble; A. J. Strickland III. ADMINISTRACIÓN ESTRATÉGICA. Decimoctava edición. México. McGRAW-HILL/INTERAMERICANA EDITORES, S.A. DE C.V. p. 1 - 200.
[4] ↑ Fred R. David. Conceptos de administración estratégica. Decimocuarta edición. PEARSON EDUCACIÓN, México, 2013. p .11.
[5] ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l L. WHEELEN, THOMAS y HUNGER, J. DAVID. Administración estratégica y política de negocios. Décima edición. PEARSON EDUCACIÓN, México, 2007. p.15- 200.
[6] ↑ a b Michael A. Hitt; R. Duane Ireland; Robert E. Hoskisson. Administración estratégica. Competitividad y globalización.7a. edición, México, 2008. Cengage Learning. p 5 - 15.
[7] ↑ a b c d e f Collins, J.C.; Porras, J.I. (1995). Empresas que perduran: principios exitosos de compañías triunfadoras. Bogotá: Norma.
[8] ↑ Kurb, M. (1980). La consultoría de empresas: guía de la profesión. Ginebra: Organización Internacional del Trabajo.
[9] ↑ «How to Start a Consulting Business». Consulting Business start-up guide. 4ª ed. 2014. Consultado el 27 de febrero de 2015.: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/41384
[10] ↑ WHEELEN, THOMAS y HUNGER, J. DAVID. Administración estratégica y política de negocios. Décima edición PEARSON EDUCACIÓN, México, 2007. p. 137.
[11] ↑ L. WHEELEN, THOMAS y HUNGER, J. DAVID. Administración estratégica y política de negocios. Décima edición. PEARSON EDUCACIÓN, México, 2007. p.15- 200.
[12] ↑ Arthur A. Thompson; Margaret A. Peteraf; John E. Gamble; A. J. Strickland III. ADMINISTRACIÓN ESTRATÉGICA. Decimoctava edición. México. McGRAW-HILL/INTERAMERICANA EDITORES, S.A. DE C.V. p. 1 - 200.
[13] ↑ Arthur A. Thompson; Margaret A. Peteraf; John E. Gamble; A. J. Strickland III. ADMINISTRACIÓN ESTRATÉGICA. Decimoctava edición. McGRAW-HILL/INTERAMERICANA EDITORES, S.A. DE C.V., México, 2012. p. 15.
[14] ↑ Chaffee, E. “Three models of strategy”, Academy of Management Review, vol 10, no. 1, 1985.
[15] ↑ a b Charles W. L. Hill; Gareth R. Jones. ADMINISTRACIÓN ESTRATÉGICA. Octava edición. McGRAW-HILL INTERAMERICANA EDITORES, S.A. de C.V. méxico, 2009.
[16] ↑ a b Charles W. L. Hill; Gareth R. Jones. Administración estratégica. Un enfoque integral. Cengage Learning, Mexico, 2011. P. 160.
[21] ↑ Drucker, Peter F. (2001). La administración en una época de grandes cambios. Buenos Aires: Sudamericana. ISBN 9500715295.
[22] ↑ Drucker, Peter F. (1999). Harvard Business Review: Cómo medir el rendimiento de la empresa. Zalla: Deusto. ISBN 8423420493.
[23] ↑ Mintzberg, Henry; Ahlstrand, Bruce; Lampel, Joseph (1998). «The Planning School». Strategy safari: a guided tour through the wilds of strategic management (en inglés). Nueva York: The Free Press. ISBN 0684847434.: https://archive.org/details/strategysafarigu00mint_0
[24] ↑ Kaplan, Robert S.; Norton, David P. (1997). El Cuadro de Mando Integral (The Balanced Scorecard). Barcelona: Gestión 2000. ISBN 9788498750485.
[25] ↑ Kaplan, Robert S.; Norton, David P. (2001). Cómo utilizar el Cuadro de Mando Integral (The Strategy Focused Organization). Barcelona: Gestión 2000. ISBN 9788498754278.
[26] ↑ a b c d Mintzberg, Henry; Ahlstrand, Bruce; Lampel, Joseph (1998). «The Positioning School». Strategy safari: a guided tour through the wilds of strategic management (en inglés). Nueva York: The Free Press. ISBN 0684847434.: https://archive.org/details/strategysafarigu00mint_0
Other definitions of strategy (according to various authors) are the following:
Basis
A strategy consists of a set of interrelated actions that managers implement with the purpose of improving the company's performance. For most, if not all organizations, achieving superior performance relative to their competitors represents the greatest challenge.
When a company's strategies lead to superior performance, it is considered to have achieved a competitive advantage.
Strategy involves differentiating oneself from the competition: carrying out activities that rivals do not perform or, ideally, doing what they cannot replicate. Every strategy must have a distinctive element that attracts customers "Market (marketing)") and generates a competitive advantage.
A company's strategy must respond to fundamental questions such as:
A company is considered to achieve strategic competitiveness when it manages to formulate and implement a strategy that creates value. At the same time, it has a competitive advantage when it applies a strategy that its competitors cannot imitate or whose replication would be too costly.
However, it is essential to understand that no competitive advantage is permanent. How quickly competitors acquire the capabilities necessary to replicate the benefits of a strategy will determine the duration of that advantage.
Therefore, companies must develop strategic flexibility, understood as the set of capabilities that allows them to respond to various demands and opportunities in a dynamic and uncertain competitive environment, that is, develop dynamic capabilities. This involves managing uncertainty and associated risks. To achieve this, strategic flexibility must be applied in all operational areas of the company.
To create exceptional value for its shareholders, a company must learn faster than its competitors and apply that knowledge across the organization more quickly and effectively. Continuous strategic learning provides the company with a set of new and updated skills that allow it to adapt to changes in the environment.
A company's strategic decisions are rarely simple and, in many cases, involve complex modifications. However, this does not justify inaction in the face of the need to define a strategic course.
Likewise, company management must identify and take advantage of a strategic window, that is, a unique market opportunity that is only available for a limited time. The first company to detect and capitalize on a strategic window can position itself in a favorable niche and make it difficult for competitors to enter, as long as it has the necessary internal strengths.[5][3][6].
Business strategies are sometimes known as nonconformity mechanisms. This dissatisfaction prevents employees from feeling satisfied with what has been achieved and produces a different way of seeing the objectives, always aspiring to move forward and be better every day to achieve continuous goals.
Companies develop these strategies with the purpose of breaking with what is established, with the comfort zone. Although they never stop complying with short-term-oriented postulates, they have a greater focus on worrying, managing and producing new ideas for the long term.[7] Companies that implement this strategy spend a lot of time researching and increasing sales percentages, being able to manufacture many more products at a lower price.[7].
Instead of slowness and apprehension of change, the execution of business strategies generates a faster ability to access transformation and grow using new technologies, along with modern learning methods and providing employees with a greater scope of knowledge (e.g., through courses) that makes their companies visionary.[7][8].
Strategy formulation
To formulate the strategy the following methods can be used:.
The strategy is the action plan that the organization's management follows to compete successfully and obtain profits, based on an integrated set of options. They are the plans to achieve the mission and objectives; and for this, strategic policies must be formulated, which provide broad guidelines for decision-making.[10].
Strategy formulation represents management's commitment to undertake a particular set of actions. When choosing a strategy, management actually says: “Among the various ways of conducting and competing available to us, we leaned toward this particular combination of approaches to take the company in the desired direction, strengthen its market position and competitiveness, and improve its performance.
Strategic options: is the set of feasible strategies that have been formulated. Strategic choice involves evaluating different strategies and selecting the most appropriate option. It has been observed that in dynamic organizational environments, the best strategic decisions are not always achieved through absolute consensus. In fact, they often involve intense disagreements and even conflicts. This is especially true for companies that operate in global sectors. Because unresolved conflicts can be emotionally charged, decision makers suggest that strategic managers use “scheduled conflicts” to encourage the presentation of different positions without personal aspects influencing the analysis.
There are two techniques that help avoid the risk of consensual decisions without due questioning, as identified by Alfred Sloan:
Types of strategy
Basic classification
Strategies are commonly classified into four main types: corporate, business, functional and operational.
I) Corporate strategy: this strategy establishes the general direction of the company, determining its approach to the growth and management of its various business lines and products. Generally, corporate strategies are aligned with three fundamental strategic postures: stability, growth and reduction. Its purpose is to optimize the joint performance of the businesses in which the company has diversified its activity. It covers decisions about which businesses to maintain or discontinue, which markets to enter, and what is the ideal form of entry (for example, acquisition, strategic alliance, or franchise). Likewise, it is linked to the scope of the organization, which implies diversification strategies, vertical integration and geographical expansion.
II) Business strategy: at the product or business unit level, this strategy seeks to strengthen the competitive position of a company's goods or services within the industry or in specific market segments. Its objective is to generate responses to changing environmental conditions and carry out actions that allow us to consolidate a competitive advantage, enhance distinctive capabilities, strengthen our position in the market and improve general performance. From an alternative perspective, business strategies can be grouped into two main categories: competitive strategies and cooperative strategies.
III) Functional strategy: this strategy refers to the approach adopted by each functional area of the company in order to achieve corporate and business objectives and strategies, optimizing the use of resources. It focuses on the development of distinctive competencies that give a competitive advantage to the organization or business unit. As examples within the area of research and development (R&D), technological imitation (reproduction of other companies' products) and technological leadership (introduction of innovations) can be mentioned. The main function of functional strategies is to provide a specific level of detail to the business strategy.
IV) Operational strategy: refers to initiatives and actions of a more limited scope aimed at the management of key operational units, such as production plants, distribution centers and purchasing points. It also covers specific strategic units, such as quality control, materials procurement, brand management or online sales. Despite their smaller breadth, these strategies provide details and refinements to both the functional strategies and the company's overall strategy.
In organizations, these four types of strategy coexist simultaneously. The strategic hierarchy defines the levels at which these strategies operate within the company, establishing relationships between them so that they complement and reinforce each other. Operational strategies support functional strategies, which in turn support business strategies, which ultimately contribute to the implementation of corporate strategy.[11][12][13].
Other basic strategy classifications
This classification is based on the relationship between the external opportunities and threats faced by an organization and its internal strengths and weaknesses, generating four types of strategies:
Chaffee wrote that there were 3 strategy models, which were not mutually exclusive:.
Corporate and business strategy
A corporation is defined as a primary business entity that exercises control over several subordinate companies or, alternatively, as a large organization with multiple strategic business units. Instead, a company refers to an individual unit that operates within one or several related product lines, focusing on a single business area.
The strategies can be applied to both the corporation and the company, depending on the specific context. These strategies constitute fundamental approaches to business management.
Corporate strategy, or failing that, company strategy, focuses on three fundamental dimensions that affect the corporation as a whole:
The directional strategy of a corporation is structured around three primary orientations, commonly called master strategies:.
These strategies seek the expansion of the company's operations. Within the corporate sphere, growth-oriented directional strategies are widely used, since their purpose is to increase the sales volume, the amount of assets and the profitability of the organization. In expanding sectors, companies must grow to maintain their competitiveness and viability. Furthermore, sustained growth allows us to take advantage of economies of scale and experience curves that favor the reduction of unit costs and, consequently, the improvement of profit margins.
Within this category, two main types of strategies are distinguished:
These strategies are adopted when the company decides not to make significant changes in its current operations, prioritizing the consolidation of its position in the market. They are appropriate in contexts of uncertainty or when the company has already achieved an optimal position within its industry. They are divided into three main approaches:
When a company faces a decline in performance, it may opt for strategies that reduce its level of activity in order to regain profitability or minimize losses. These strategies include:
Portfolio strategy views product lines and business units as an investment portfolio that must be managed strategically to maximize the return on corporate investment. Its approach is based on evaluating how business units can generate competitive advantages and contribute to the overall performance of the company.
To do this, analytical tools are used such as the BCG matrix and the GE matrix, which help determine the optimal allocation of resources and define investment priorities based on the growth and profitability potential of each business unit.
Key questions in this strategy raise:
This approach views the corporation as a set of resources and capabilities that can generate synergies between business units. Its objective is to create value by optimizing the core competencies of the parent company and efficiently articulating the relationships between the different operating units.
Functional strategy
The functional strategy represents the approach adopted by a functional area with the purpose of achieving the stated objectives, aligning with the strategies of the corporation and the business units to optimize the use of available resources. Its purpose lies in the development and strengthening of a functional capacity that allows generating a competitive advantage for the company or business unit.
Each company or business unit has different departments, each of which implements its own functional strategy. The direction of this strategy is determined by the general strategy of the business unit or the parent company.
It focuses on aspects such as price determination, commercial communication and management of distribution and coverage in various locations.
1- Intensive growth strategy.
There are different strategies aimed at expanding the presence in the market "Market (marketing)") and enhancing the growth of the company:
To execute this growth strategy, an appropriate brand strategy must be defined, which may include the following alternatives:
2- Push and pull strategy.
It refers to promotional and advertising strategies that seek to encourage sales:.
3- Price strategies.
Prices can be set based on factors such as competition, perceived value, or demand. Among the most used strategies are:
4- Distribution strategy.
It defines the route that the product will follow from the manufacturer to the final consumer. Among the most common distribution strategies are:
Evaluates the financial implications of strategic decisions at the corporate and business unit level, with the objective of identifying the most financially beneficial course of action. This strategy creates a competitive advantage by minimizing the cost of funds and ensuring flexibility in raising capital to support business initiatives.
One of the fundamental aspects of the financial strategy is to achieve a balance between the desired level of leverage and the use of long-term internal financing through cash flow.
Some common financial strategies include:.
The R&D strategy focuses on the innovation and optimization of products and processes, considering the appropriate combination of basic, product and process R&D. It also analyzes access to new technologies through internal development, acquisitions or strategic alliances.
Companies can choose to be:.
Nike, for example, invests significantly in R&D to differentiate its products and attract high-performance athletes. In contrast, Dean Foods prioritizes a low-cost strategy, focusing on producing cheaper alternatives without expensive labeling, aligning with customer needs.
Purchasing strategy
The purchasing strategy focuses on the acquisition of raw materials, components and supplies essential for business operations. Its importance lies in the fact that purchased inputs represent approximately 50% of the total manufacturing cost in industries in countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Belgium and Finland.
There are three main approaches to purchasing management:
The use of the Internet has revolutionized acquisition processes. Facilitates the search for suppliers and the efficient replenishment of inventories.
Hewlett-Packard implemented an online purchasing system that allowed 84,000 employees to purchase supplies from standardized suppliers.
This optimization reduced acquisition costs in a range of 60 to 100 million dollars annually.[5].
The ARH strategy addresses a key issue:
As jobs become more complex, the second option is more effective, especially in innovative product development projects.
More and more multinational companies adopt this equipment both in their foreign subsidiaries and in local operations.
Studies indicate that teamwork improves quality, productivity and employee commitment.
Companies with quality-based differentiation strategies more frequently use evaluations with feedback from subordinates and colleagues.
The 360-degree assessment, which gathers information from multiple sources, is one of the most used tools for developing new managers in the United States.
Greater racial diversity, combined with growth strategies, has been shown to increase productivity.
Example: Avon managed to recover unprofitable markets in urban areas by hiring African-American and Hispanic managers specialized in these segments.
Diversity in age and nationality also brings benefits:.
DuPont uses multinational teams to expand its products globally.
McDonald's has found that older employees perform as well or better than younger ones.[5].
FedEx was a pioneer in offering its customers software to store addresses, print labels and track packages, which increased its sales.
UPS reacted with its own software to compete.
FedEx then used its website for shipment tracking, which again set it apart until UPS implemented the same service.
Even though the technology has become common, it is still crucial: companies invest more than $2 trillion a year in this sector.
Multinationals use advanced intranets to facilitate collaborative work across time zones.
Sun-following management allows teams from different countries to work in sequence without the need for night shifts.
Instant translation software improves communication in different languages.
History
Contenido
La existencia de una estrategia para la empresa es consustancial a la existencia de las propias organizaciones empresariales, por lo que se remonta a la Revolución Industrial. Pero históricamente, la estrategia primero fue aplicada al llamado arte militar. Mientras ahí es un concepto amplio y vagamente definido en una campaña militar para la aplicación de fuerzas contra el enemigo, a nivel empresarial se puede entender al enemigo como la competencia y las fuerzas se pueden entender como las decisiones tomadas por el empresario para obtener beneficios de las oportunidades. En este contexto, John von Neumann y Oskar Morgenstern publicaron en 1944 el libro Theory of Games and Economic Behavior. Con su teoría de juegos, Von Neumann y Morgenstern iniciaron el uso de la estrategia en el mundo de los negocios. No obstante, en las décadas siguientes, dicha estrategia fue implícita y parcial, hasta llegar a la década de 1980, donde empezó a cobrar mayor consistencia.
game theory
Game theory was originally applied to the analysis of the nuclear confrontation between the superpowers during the Cold War. Thus, it was used in economics to examine competition and cooperation within a group of small businesses. The theory helped provide an approach that models the behavior of irrational actors who operate according to their self-interest. As an example, it is the perverse contrast between good intentions and bad results that makes the prisoner's dilemma relevant to a wide range of business situations. Companies often find themselves in situations where unfettered competition would produce detrimental results for everyone; Cooperation, in such cases, is objectively preferable to fierce competition.
Considering the zero-sum game, in the business field it gives more results to reduce competition (in prices and industries) in a lose and lose situation rather than a win and win situation, putting only customer loyalty as competition. This theory specifically does not provide an exact answer to the questions and problems that arise; Instead, game theory is an assistive tool in the strategy formation process, providing key concepts to help understand dynamic strategic maneuvers vis-à-vis buyers.
The interdependence of each participating agent depends on the pre-established strategies and the objectives of the game.
This type of theory seeks to normalize and impose patterns that regulate the behavior of the agents involved through previously established norms. These factors respond to morality, equity and justice.
This theory focuses on studying the presence of laws and their conflicts, which is why it turns out to be an appropriate analysis tool. Additionally, in the theory of non-cooperative games, there is no interaction or relationship between players to reach an agreement, unless the rules of the game are different. Likewise, the theory is based on recommendations in such a way that none of the players obtain individual benefits.
First planning work
Since the late 1970s and early 1980s, the first works on strategic planning appear, led by authors such as George A. Steiner"), who took the first steps to provide methodology to this area. Although many of their applications and recommendations initially failed, they gave the signal to a path that is increasingly deepened and formalized more and more. These studies were joined by Peter Drucker,[21] father of modern administration,[22] as well as some publications by Michael Porter, Al Ries") and Jack Trout, among others.
In the 1980s, business strategists also realized that there is a great knowledge of thousands of years that they had barely examined, which is why they turned to classic military strategy books for business management. Common examples are The Art of War, by Sun Tzu; On War, by Carl von Clausewitz, and Mao's Red Book, becoming essential works of reference because they examine important topics for marketing such as leadership, motivation, logistics, communications and intelligence from a context other than business.
In these books there is a subjective contemplation of power, where it considers that direct and indirect risks are the two main categories. Direct risks are generally those that an organization has control over or can affect. These risks frequently affect the company's supply chain, workforce, operations, and competitive position. The positioning strategy school is very skillful in managing risks in the market. However, the depth of the analysis depends on the variables considered by the analysts. This risk management process softens the company's focus and unnecessarily expands the cost by defining operational plans every time.
Porter and his positioning school
Part of the structure of business strategy was described in the late 1980s with the so-called positioning school, which includes elements of the design and planning schools. In 1980, Michael Porter published Competitive Strategy: Techniques for the Analysis of the Company and its Competitors, one of the most analyzed books on the subject, and in 1985 he published Competitive Advantage: Creation and Sustainability of Superior Performance, which portrayed the dissatisfaction with the aforementioned schools of design and planning. The prescriptive nature of the first two schools added to the focus on content and substantial research of the positioning school. Thus, there are five premises for the positioning school:
The positioning strategy school is very skillful in managing risks in the market. However, the depth of the analysis depends on the variables considered by it. This risk management process obscures the company's focus and unnecessarily expands the cost by defining operational plans every time. Competitive strategy: Techniques for analyzing the company and its competitors captured the interests of academics and consultants, and made the positioning school dominant. The positioning school considers multiple strategies that differ from the design school that only derives from a single strategy. It provides a set of analytical tools in which it helps strategists discover which strategies work best and where.
With the advances in business strategy, numerous academic programs have been developed to study it. The university with the greatest reputation in this regard is Harvard University, although practically all universities in the world with a focus on business management have programs in this regard, such as the University of Pennsylvania (Warton), the London Business School, Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Columbia Business School and the English-speaking MIT. In Spain there are important business schools, such as IE, IESE, ESADE or EADA.
These academic developments were also joined by other works and approaches from consulting firms that expanded the spectrum and gave greater pragmatism to the theories, turning them into successfully applicable tools, such as Booz & Co., Boston Consulting Group, Integra Trust, McKinsey & Company, Arthur D. Little, Shocron Benmuyal & Asoc., Accenture, Strategos, Gallen, etc.
With the arrival of the 1990s, business strategy began to have better tools and structure, the result of collaborations such as those of Henry Mintzberg, Peter Senge, Michael Hammer"), George Yip"), Jan Carlzon and Gary Hamel, among others. At the arrival of the century, a convergence of all currents in strategic management models is observed. On the other hand, business intelligence models and tools such as the balanced scorecard have also been added to it,[24] which has enhanced the results of the business strategy.[25].
Value chain
According to Porter's value chain, several important concepts are obtained:
Criticism of the positioning school
The positioning school bases its criticism on the separation of thinking from acting, the formulation of strategies made by the company's management through conscious thinking based on a formal analysis where its implementation follows a descending order through acting. And strategic learning is excessively deliberate, in addition to the fact that there are dangers in looking at the future by extrapolating present trends, relying excessively on quantifiable information and also over-formalizing the process of developing the strategy.[26].
As can be seen in the other schools, the approach of the positioning school is too broad and does not relate to a specific topic to be able to generate a strategy according to a problem. In this school, the merely economic and quantifiable aspects are taken into consideration without considering that perhaps the social, political and even the non-quantifiable economic aspect show relevant aspects to be able to manage a business or generate a strategy around those data that are being omitted. This behavior became more common in the second wave, when the most important thing was market participation and generating profits for the business.[26].
The positioning school has also been criticized for the context in which it is developed. In this case, the context is as broad as the focus. However, it is a matter of bias regarding the subject of analysis of this school. According to Mintzberg,[26] the context develops around large traditional companies, reducing the effectiveness of this school. In other words, this school of thought biases thinking that large equals stable. Therefore, the fact that this school places external positioning as the main focus of study without taking into account the internal capacity of companies is criticized.
The goal of positioning school is to calculate and analyze before formulating an optimal strategy. The strategist must solve all abstract problems on paper with the goal of closing sales. Von Clausewitz argues that calculation is the most important phase to achieve a competitive advantage.[26] However, the dilemma is how to calculate all possible variables in any problem; this is not possible. Calculating, in some cases, repels the development of creativity and learning, weakening the strategist's personal commitment.
References
[1] ↑ Robbins, Stephen P.; Coulter, Mary (2005). Administración (8a. ed.). Pearson Educación. ISBN 978-970-26-0555-3. |fechaacceso= requiere |url= (ayuda).
[2] ↑ a b Jorge Hermida. Roberto Serra. Eduardo Kastika. Administración y Estrategia: teoría y práctica. Editorial Norma, Argentina. p. 305, ss.
[3] ↑ a b c d e f g Arthur A. Thompson; Margaret A. Peteraf; John E. Gamble; A. J. Strickland III. ADMINISTRACIÓN ESTRATÉGICA. Decimoctava edición. México. McGRAW-HILL/INTERAMERICANA EDITORES, S.A. DE C.V. p. 1 - 200.
[4] ↑ Fred R. David. Conceptos de administración estratégica. Decimocuarta edición. PEARSON EDUCACIÓN, México, 2013. p .11.
[5] ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l L. WHEELEN, THOMAS y HUNGER, J. DAVID. Administración estratégica y política de negocios. Décima edición. PEARSON EDUCACIÓN, México, 2007. p.15- 200.
[6] ↑ a b Michael A. Hitt; R. Duane Ireland; Robert E. Hoskisson. Administración estratégica. Competitividad y globalización.7a. edición, México, 2008. Cengage Learning. p 5 - 15.
[7] ↑ a b c d e f Collins, J.C.; Porras, J.I. (1995). Empresas que perduran: principios exitosos de compañías triunfadoras. Bogotá: Norma.
[8] ↑ Kurb, M. (1980). La consultoría de empresas: guía de la profesión. Ginebra: Organización Internacional del Trabajo.
[9] ↑ «How to Start a Consulting Business». Consulting Business start-up guide. 4ª ed. 2014. Consultado el 27 de febrero de 2015.: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/41384
[10] ↑ WHEELEN, THOMAS y HUNGER, J. DAVID. Administración estratégica y política de negocios. Décima edición PEARSON EDUCACIÓN, México, 2007. p. 137.
[11] ↑ L. WHEELEN, THOMAS y HUNGER, J. DAVID. Administración estratégica y política de negocios. Décima edición. PEARSON EDUCACIÓN, México, 2007. p.15- 200.
[12] ↑ Arthur A. Thompson; Margaret A. Peteraf; John E. Gamble; A. J. Strickland III. ADMINISTRACIÓN ESTRATÉGICA. Decimoctava edición. México. McGRAW-HILL/INTERAMERICANA EDITORES, S.A. DE C.V. p. 1 - 200.
[13] ↑ Arthur A. Thompson; Margaret A. Peteraf; John E. Gamble; A. J. Strickland III. ADMINISTRACIÓN ESTRATÉGICA. Decimoctava edición. McGRAW-HILL/INTERAMERICANA EDITORES, S.A. DE C.V., México, 2012. p. 15.
[14] ↑ Chaffee, E. “Three models of strategy”, Academy of Management Review, vol 10, no. 1, 1985.
[15] ↑ a b Charles W. L. Hill; Gareth R. Jones. ADMINISTRACIÓN ESTRATÉGICA. Octava edición. McGRAW-HILL INTERAMERICANA EDITORES, S.A. de C.V. méxico, 2009.
[16] ↑ a b Charles W. L. Hill; Gareth R. Jones. Administración estratégica. Un enfoque integral. Cengage Learning, Mexico, 2011. P. 160.
[21] ↑ Drucker, Peter F. (2001). La administración en una época de grandes cambios. Buenos Aires: Sudamericana. ISBN 9500715295.
[22] ↑ Drucker, Peter F. (1999). Harvard Business Review: Cómo medir el rendimiento de la empresa. Zalla: Deusto. ISBN 8423420493.
[23] ↑ Mintzberg, Henry; Ahlstrand, Bruce; Lampel, Joseph (1998). «The Planning School». Strategy safari: a guided tour through the wilds of strategic management (en inglés). Nueva York: The Free Press. ISBN 0684847434.: https://archive.org/details/strategysafarigu00mint_0
[24] ↑ Kaplan, Robert S.; Norton, David P. (1997). El Cuadro de Mando Integral (The Balanced Scorecard). Barcelona: Gestión 2000. ISBN 9788498750485.
[25] ↑ Kaplan, Robert S.; Norton, David P. (2001). Cómo utilizar el Cuadro de Mando Integral (The Strategy Focused Organization). Barcelona: Gestión 2000. ISBN 9788498754278.
[26] ↑ a b c d Mintzberg, Henry; Ahlstrand, Bruce; Lampel, Joseph (1998). «The Positioning School». Strategy safari: a guided tour through the wilds of strategic management (en inglés). Nueva York: The Free Press. ISBN 0684847434.: https://archive.org/details/strategysafarigu00mint_0
From this perspective, the umbrella strategy seeks to coordinate shared activities, transfer key skills between business units, and optimize resource allocation to achieve economies of scope, such as purchasing centralization or joint technology development.
Fundamental questions that guide this strategy raise:
Depending on its purpose, the umbrella strategy can take a horizontal approach, if its objective is to generate corporate synergies, or a competitive approach, if its goal is to strengthen the market position of a business unit or product line.
Directional, portfolio and umbrella strategies address three fundamental issues in corporate management: the general orientation of the company, the sectors in which it competes and the internal coordination of its activities and resources. The appropriate combination of these strategies is key to guarantee sustainable growth, operational stability and profitability in the long term.[3][6].
Some authors may consider them tactics:
1- Offensive strategy:.
Its purpose is to strengthen the competitive position in the market and improve the global performance of the company. It becomes essential when opportunities are identified to capture market share at the expense of competitors or when it becomes imperative to erode the competitive advantage of a strong rival. The most effective strategic offensives are based on certain fundamental principles:.
The most effective offensive strategies use the company's key competitive resources to attack competitors' weaknesses, through actions such as:.
Attack objectives:.
Offensive tactics:.
This strategy actually circumvents the competition. It focuses on creating new market segments without direct competition, generating unprecedented demand and ensuring growth and profitability opportunities in spaces not yet disputed.
2- Defensive strategy:.
Its objective is to preserve market position and competitive advantage, through three key actions:.
Defensive approaches can be divided into:
These strategies are only for companies or businesses. The generic competitive strategies stated by Michael Porter are as follows:
In terms of cost reduction, a leading technology company can innovate in lower-cost production design, be the first to reach the lowest part of the learning curve, and develop efficient methods for performing valuable activities. On the other hand, a technology follower company can reduce costs by learning from the leader's experience and avoiding the expenses associated with R&D through imitation.
Regarding differentiation, technological leadership allows us to be a pioneer in the development of unique products that increase value for the buyer and to innovate in various activities to improve the value proposition. In contrast, a follower company can adapt products or delivery systems more precisely to consumer needs, based on the leader's experience.[5].
The operations strategy defines the production processes of goods and services, determining key aspects such as:.
The development of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) has transformed the industry through the implementation of tools such as:
While these innovations increase efficiency and flexibility, they also raise fixed costs and require economies of scale to be profitable.
Production strategy is influenced by the product life cycle, where companies can choose different approaches:
As a product matures and demand grows, it moves from flexible models to more efficient and automated strategies.
The intensification of competition has led companies to migrate from traditional mass production to more dynamic models such as:
Mass customization, used by companies such as Dell, allows products to be manufactured to consumer specifications using flexible and highly coordinated systems.[5].
Mattel has reduced its product development time by 10% by allowing international collaboration in toy design.
IBM uses its intranet for training and collaboration, reducing training and travel costs.
Companies like Lockheed Martin and Whirlpool have strengthened relationships with customers and suppliers through advanced extranets.
General Electric (GE) implemented the Trading Process Network, where suppliers can:.
Download GE Requests for Proposals.
See part specification diagrams.
Communicate directly with purchasing managers.
Thanks to this network, GE has managed to reduce purchase processing time by a third.[5].
From this perspective, the umbrella strategy seeks to coordinate shared activities, transfer key skills between business units, and optimize resource allocation to achieve economies of scope, such as purchasing centralization or joint technology development.
Fundamental questions that guide this strategy raise:
Depending on its purpose, the umbrella strategy can take a horizontal approach, if its objective is to generate corporate synergies, or a competitive approach, if its goal is to strengthen the market position of a business unit or product line.
Directional, portfolio and umbrella strategies address three fundamental issues in corporate management: the general orientation of the company, the sectors in which it competes and the internal coordination of its activities and resources. The appropriate combination of these strategies is key to guarantee sustainable growth, operational stability and profitability in the long term.[3][6].
Some authors may consider them tactics:
1- Offensive strategy:.
Its purpose is to strengthen the competitive position in the market and improve the global performance of the company. It becomes essential when opportunities are identified to capture market share at the expense of competitors or when it becomes imperative to erode the competitive advantage of a strong rival. The most effective strategic offensives are based on certain fundamental principles:.
The most effective offensive strategies use the company's key competitive resources to attack competitors' weaknesses, through actions such as:.
Attack objectives:.
Offensive tactics:.
This strategy actually circumvents the competition. It focuses on creating new market segments without direct competition, generating unprecedented demand and ensuring growth and profitability opportunities in spaces not yet disputed.
2- Defensive strategy:.
Its objective is to preserve market position and competitive advantage, through three key actions:.
Defensive approaches can be divided into:
These strategies are only for companies or businesses. The generic competitive strategies stated by Michael Porter are as follows:
In terms of cost reduction, a leading technology company can innovate in lower-cost production design, be the first to reach the lowest part of the learning curve, and develop efficient methods for performing valuable activities. On the other hand, a technology follower company can reduce costs by learning from the leader's experience and avoiding the expenses associated with R&D through imitation.
Regarding differentiation, technological leadership allows us to be a pioneer in the development of unique products that increase value for the buyer and to innovate in various activities to improve the value proposition. In contrast, a follower company can adapt products or delivery systems more precisely to consumer needs, based on the leader's experience.[5].
The operations strategy defines the production processes of goods and services, determining key aspects such as:.
The development of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) has transformed the industry through the implementation of tools such as:
While these innovations increase efficiency and flexibility, they also raise fixed costs and require economies of scale to be profitable.
Production strategy is influenced by the product life cycle, where companies can choose different approaches:
As a product matures and demand grows, it moves from flexible models to more efficient and automated strategies.
The intensification of competition has led companies to migrate from traditional mass production to more dynamic models such as:
Mass customization, used by companies such as Dell, allows products to be manufactured to consumer specifications using flexible and highly coordinated systems.[5].
Mattel has reduced its product development time by 10% by allowing international collaboration in toy design.
IBM uses its intranet for training and collaboration, reducing training and travel costs.
Companies like Lockheed Martin and Whirlpool have strengthened relationships with customers and suppliers through advanced extranets.
General Electric (GE) implemented the Trading Process Network, where suppliers can:.
Download GE Requests for Proposals.
See part specification diagrams.
Communicate directly with purchasing managers.
Thanks to this network, GE has managed to reduce purchase processing time by a third.[5].