ASSIGNMENT NO.1
Analytical Overview Of Strategies Adapted By Different Organizations.
SUBMITTED BY:
Maimoona Mahboob
2039110
MBA 72
SUBMITTED TO:
Prof. Dr. Shazia Akhtar
COURSE:
Strategic Management.
INTRODUCTION
A business strategy outlines the plan of action to achieve the vision and set objectives of
an organization and guides the decision-making processes to improve the company’s
financial stability in a competing market. In simple words, strategy is a high-level plan of
any business to achieve its goals. The existence of a strategy is a critical success factor
for any business. Essentially, it reflects the strengths and weaknesses of the company and
answers how the company plans to respond to the threats and opportunities in the market
in which it operates. A strategy takes into account the resources at hand and how to best
deploy them to achieve its set objectives. That’s why a strategy is often called the
lighthouse for a company’s management.
Inflexible companies may find it difficult to succeed in a changing business environment.
Creating a barrier between the development of strategies and their implementation can
make it difficult for managers to determine whether objectives have been efficiently met.
While an organization’s upper management is ultimately responsible for its strategy, the
strategies themselves are often sparked by actions and ideas from lower-level managers
and employees. An organization may have several employees devoted to strategy rather
than relying solely on the chief executive officer (CEO) for guidance. Because of this
reality, organizational leaders focus on learning from past strategies and examining the
environment at large. The collective knowledge is then used to develop future strategies
and to guide the behavior of employees to ensure that the entire organization is moving
forward. For these reasons, effective strategic management requires both an inward and
outward perspective.
The two organizations to be analyzed are;
i. Yahoo:Yahoo is an American web services provider. It is headquartered in Sunnyvale,
California and operated by the namesake company Yahoo! Inc., which is 90% owned by
investment funds managed by Apollo Global Management and 10% by Verizon
Communications.It provides a web portal, search engine Yahoo Search, and related
services, including My Yahoo!, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports
and its advertising platform, Yahoo! Native.Yahoo was established by Jerry Yang and
David Filo in January 1994 and was one of the pioneers of the early Internet era in the
1990s. However, usage declined in the late 2000s as it lost market share to Facebook
Groups and Google. 2001 - Terry Semel joined as Yahoo ! CEO. He shifted company's
focus to distributing media and user-generated content through channels such as Yahoo
News, Yahoo Finance and Flickr.Within one year, Yahoo earned $43 million in revenue
($93 million loss previous year). Yahoo increased its revenue nearly nine-fold and
created $30 billion in shareholder value.
II- Harley Davidson
Harley-Davidson, Inc., H-D, or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer founded
in 1903 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Along with Indian, it was one of two major American
motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression. The company has survived
numerous ownership arrangements, subsidiary arrangements, periods of poor economic
health and product quality, and intense global competition to become one of the world's
largest motorcycle manufacturers and an iconic brand widely known for its loyal
following. There are owner clubs and events worldwide, as well as a company-sponsored,
brand-focused museum.
Harley-Davidson is noted for a style of customization that gave rise to the chopper
motorcycle style. The company traditionally marketed heavyweight, air-cooled cruiser
motorcycles with engine displacements greater than 700 cc, but it has broadened its
offerings to include more contemporary VRSC (2002) and middle-weight Street (2015)
platforms. In 1981 Harley Davidson had U.S. market share of 15% and reported a loss of
$15 million. It faced steep competition from Japanese motorcycle manufacturers, such as
Honda. In 1989 Richard Teerlink stepped in as CEO.Harley Davidson recovered its U.S.
market share to 50 percent and posted annual sales of more than $1.7 billion.
III. Apple
Apple Inc has managed to offer unique products in the market, a fact that has enabled the
company to win a significant proportion of the market share. For instance, the company
has managed to provide high quality products when compared to its competitors.
It has also managed to develop a good relationship with its customers, a fact that has
enabled the company to attract and retain a large number of customers. Apple Inc also
consults high performing companies while seeking for outsourcing services, in the
process, the company has managed to retain a significantly high level of performance.
Apple Inc has utilized its available resources maximally, a situation which has also
contributed to its success. For instance, the company has highly productive and
experienced personnel that have significantly contributed to the company’s high level of
performance.
The company also has adequate financial resources; which has supported perpetual
research activities. Continued research has enabled the organization to maintain a high
level of innovation. Through these priorities, Apple Inc has managed to develop a good
reputation for quality products hence attracting many customers.
STRATEGIES
Similarities
1.Top level management was
Difference
Apple
Yahoo
Harley Davidson
changed
2. Innovation.
3. Customer needs were
focused.
Downsizing . Focus of
Turned the company's focus
Redundant
business was
to increasing quality,
units were
shifted
improving service to
closed .
through
customers and dealers.
channels.