Strategy

Definition-fundamental pattern of present and planned objectives, resource deployments

and interactions of an organization with markets, competitors and other environmental
factors.
Specify:
- What: objectives to be accomplished
- Where/Which: industries/product market to focus
- How: resources and activity allocation to each product-market to meet
environmental opportunities and threats and to gain a competitive advantage
Components:
- Scope
- Goals and objectives
- Resource deployment
- Identification of a sustainable competitive advantage
- Synergy
Hierarchy of Strategy
- Corporate
• Managers coordinate the activities of multiple business units
• Main focus: Organization scope, resource deployment
- Business level
• How a business unit competes within its industry
• Major focus: Sustainable competitive advantage
- Functional/departmental

Marketing’s role in formulating and implementing strategies:

Purpose: Identify threats to avoid and opportunities to pursue
- Variation in marketing’s strategic influences
• eg. National culture, R&D, “customer-connecting” capabilities
- Market-oriented management
• not all firms are equally market-oriented
• operate according to the business philosophy known as the marketing concept
• planning and coordinating all company activities around the primary goal of
satisfying customer needs is the most effective means to attain and sustain a
competitive adv and achieve company objectives over time
• willing & able to quickly adapt product and functional program to fit changes in
that environment
• Conduct customer research before design and produce product
• Embrace segmentation by adapting product offerings and marketing programs to
the special needs of different target market
• Adopt a variety of organizational procedures and structures to improve
responsiveness of decision making and environmental changes
- Does customer always know what they want?
• Don’t know what is possible
• Lead the public instead of asking what they want as they do not have the
knowledge
• Customer focus is critical to development
- Does being market-oriented pay?