Moses Acquaah, Ph.D.

377 Bryan Building

Phone: (336) 334-5305
Email: acquaah@uncg.edu
What is Corporate Strategy?
Those strategies concerned with the broad and
long-term questions of
what business(es) the organization is in or wants to be
in & what it wants to do with those businesses
Task involves
Moves to enter new businesses
Actions to boost combined performance of businesses
Ways to capture synergy among related businesses
Establishing investment priorities & steering corporate
resources into most attractive units
Single & Multiple Business
Organizations
Single business organizations
Operates primarily in only one industry (e.g., Coca-
Cola Beverage Industry; Wrigley Jr. Company
Chewing Gum)
Multiple Business Organizations
Operates in more than one industry
Example: PepsiCo Snack Food Industry business
(Frito Lay); & Beverage Industry
Philip Morris Companies Tobacco Industry;
Brewery Industry (Miller Brewery); & Food Processing
Industry (Kraft General Foods).
Corporate, Competitive &
Functional Strategies
Corporate strategy establishes the overall direction
that the organization hopes to go.
Competitive & functional strategies provide the
means or mechanisms for making sure the
organization gets there.
Possible Corporate Strategic
Directions
(1) Moving the organization ahead -- Organizational
Growth
(2) Keeping the organization where it is --
Organizational Stability
(3) Reversing the organizations weaknesses or decline --
Organizational Renewal
ORGANIZATIONAL GROWTH
Growth strategy
Involves the attainment of specific growth objectives by
increasing the level of an firms operations
Typical growth objectives for businesses
Increase in sales revenues
Increase in earnings or profits
Other performance measures
Growth objectives of not-for-profit businesses
Increasing clients served or patrons attracted
Broadening the geographic area
Increasing programs offered
Types of Growth Strategies

Organizational
Growth
Diversification
Related
Unrelated Horizontal
Integration
Vertical
Integration
Backward
Forward
Concentration
International
Concentration Strategy
A growth strategy where the firm
Concentrates on its primary line of business
Looks for ways to meet its growth objectives through
increasing its level of operation in this primary business
When a single-business organization pursues growth,
it is using the concentration strategy
Concentration Strategy
Four concentration strategy options

Products
Customers
Current
New
Current New
Product-Market
Exploration
Product
Development
Market
Development
Product/Market
Diversification
Concentration Strategy
Product-Market Exploration Option
Describes attempts by firm to increase sales of its
current product(s) in its current market(s) by
depending on its functional & competitive strategies
Product Development Option
Firm create new product for use by its current market
(customers)
Concentration Strategy
Market Development Option
When a firm sell its current products in new markets
(additional geographic areas or market segments not
currently served by firm)
Product-Market Diversification Option
Where firm seeks to expand both into new products
& new markets
Single-business firm becomes a multiple-business
firm since it is now operating in a different industry
Concentration Strategy
Advantage
Organization becomes very good at what it does
Drawback
Organization is vulnerable to industry and other
external environmental shifts
Concentration strategy is used by both small-sized
and large organizations
Vertical Integration Strategies
An organizations attempt to gain control of
Its inputs (backward integration) -- supplier
Its output (forward integration) -- distributor
Or both inputs and output
Purpose is to (1) reduce resource acquisition costs, &
(2) deal with inefficient operations
Vertical Integration
Considered a growth strategy because the firms
operations are expanded beyond primary business
Mixed empirical results as to whether strategy helps
or hurt performance
What is the role of outsourcing in achieving same
objective as vertical integration?
Vertical Integration Strategies
Benefits
Reduced purchasing &
selling costs
Improved coordination
of functions &
capabilities
Protected proprietary
technology
Costs
Reduced flexibility as
firm is locked into
products &
technology
Create an exit barrier
due to existence of
assets that are hard to
sell
Difficulties in
integrating various
operations
Financial costs of
acquiring or starting
up
Horizontal Integration
Strategies
Expanding the firm's operations through
combining with competitors operating in the
same industry & doing the same things

It is an appropriate corporate growth strategy as
long as
It enables the company to meet its growth objectives
It can be strategically managed to attain a sustainable
competitive advantage
It satisfies legal and regulatory guidelines
Diversification Strategies
A corporate growth strategy in which a firm expands
its operation by moving into a different industry
Many reasons or motives for diversification
Two major types of diversification
Related (concentric) diversification
Unrelated (conglomerate) diversification
Why Do Firms Diversify?
To Grow
Increase sales & profitability beyond what firms
core businesses can provide
Managerial self-serving behavior -- compensation
Managerial hubris -- pride or status that come
from managing a large business
To more fully utilize existing resources and
capabilities
Skills in sales & marketing, general management
skills & knowledge, distribution channels, etc.
Why Do Firms Diversify?
Risk reduction and/or spreading
Escape from unattractive or undesirable industries (e.g.,
tobacco & oil companies)
Stability of profit flows (CAPM: systematic vs. unsystematic
risks; shareholders & diversified portfolios)
To make use of surplus cash flows
Large cash balances attract corporate raiders
Use cash balances to avoid hostile takeovers
To build shareholder value
Create synergy among the businesses of a firm
Make 2 + 2 = 5: The whole should be greater than the sum of
the parts
Why Do Firms Diversify
Synergy can be obtained in three ways
Exploiting economies of scale
Exploiting economies of scope
Efficient allocation of capital through the use of portfolio
management techniques
Problems that prevent diversified firms from
realizing synergies
A poor understanding of how diversification activities will
fit or be coordinated with existing businesses
Dangers or risks associated with the acquisition of businesses
Problems with the development of internal businesses
Why Do Firms Diversify?
Diversification is capable of increasing shareholder
value if it passes three tests:
The attractiveness test: The industry must be
structurally attractive or capable of being made
attractive
The cost-of-entry test: The cost of entry must not
capitalize all future profits
The better-off test: Either the new unit must gain
competitive advantage from its link with the
corporation or vice versa (i.e. synergy)
Related (Concentric)
Diversification
Related (Concentric) Diversification
Diversifying into a different industry but one thats
related in some ways to the organizations current
operations
Search for strategic synergy, which is the performance
of the sum of the parts is better than the whole
The idea that 2 + 2 = 5
Synergy happens because of the interactions and the
interrelatedness of the combined operations and the
sharing of resources, capabilities, & distinctive
competencies
Related Diversification
Builds shareholder value by capturing cross-business
strategic fits
Transferring skills & capabilities from one business to
another
Sharing facilities or resources to reduce costs
Leveraging the use of common brand name
Combining resources to create new competitive
strengths and capabilities
Related Diversification
Advantages or Benefits
Opportunities to achieve economies of scale and scope
through skill transfers, lower costs, common brand
name, technology, etc.
Opportunities to expand product or service offerings
and preserve unity in businesses
Disadvantages
Complexity and difficulty of coordinating different, but
related businesses (e.g. Philip Morris General Food
and Kraft subsidiaries)
Related diversification is a strategy-driven
approach to creating shareholder value
Unrelated Diversification
Diversifying into completely different industry
from the firms current operations
Firm move into industries where there is
No strategic fit to be exploited
No meaningful value chain relationships
No unifying strategic theme
E.g.: GE; Walt Disney; Sara Lee
Approach is venture into any business with good
profitability prospects
Unrelated Diversification
Targets for unrelated diversification
Firms with undervalued assets

Firms in financial distress

Firms with bright growth prospects but limited capital
Advantages
Business risk spread over different industries
Efficient allocation of capital resources
Stability of profits
Enhanced shareholder value
Unrelated Diversification
Disadvantages
Difficulties of competently managing many diverse
businesses
No strategic fits which can be leveraged into
competitive advantage

Unrelated diversification is a finance-driven
approach to creating shareholder value
Implementing Growth
Strategies
Mergers & Acquisitions
A merger is a legal transaction in which two or more
organizations combine through an exchange of stock,
but only one firm actually remain

An acquisition is an outright purchase of an
organization by another

What is a Takeover?
Implementing Growth
Strategies
Internal Development
Organization chooses to expand its operation by
starting a new business from scratch
Choice between mergers-acquisition and internal
development depends on: (See Table 7-4)
The new industrys barriers to entry
Relatedness of new business to the existing one
Speed & development cost associated with each approach
Risks associated with each approach
Stage of the industry life cycle
Implementing Growth
Strategies
Strategic Partnering
When two or more firms establish a legitimate
relationship by combining their resources, core
competencies, distinctive capabilities for some
business purpose
Arrangement can be used to implement any of the
growth strategies
Vertical Integration
Horizontal Integration
Related Diversification
Implementing Growth
Strategies
Types of Strategic Partnerships
Joint Venture (JV)
Two or more separate organization form an independent
organization for strategic purposes
Partners usually own equal shares of new venture
Used when partners do not want to be legally joined
Long-Term Contract
Legal contract between organizations covering a specific
business purpose
Typically between an organization & its suppliers
Implementing Growth
Strategies
Types of strategic Partnerships (contd)
Strategic Alliance
Two or more firms share resources, capabilities or
competencies to pursue some business purpose

Similar to JVs but no formation of a separate entity

Often pursued in order to

Partners reap benefits of expanded operations
ORGANIZATIONAL STABILITY
A strategy where the organization maintains its
current size and current level of business operations
When is stability an appropriate strategy?
Industry is in a period of rapid upheaval with several
key industry & external forces drastically changing,
making future highly uncertain
Industry is facing slow or no growth opportunities
Many small business owners follow stability strategy
indefinitely
ORGANIZATIONAL STABILITY
When is stability an appropriate strategy?
Organization has just completed a frenzied period of
growth & needs to have some down time in order
for its resources & capabilities to build up strength
again
large firm in large industry at maturity stage of
industry life cycle
Implementation of Stability Strategy
Not expanding organizations level of operation
Should be a short-run strategy