Transcript Slide 1

Chapter 1
What Is Strategy?
1-1
What is a Successful Strategy?
Successful firms achieve a sustainable competitive
advantage
 Businesses achieve competitive advantage by
emphasizing cost, value to the customer, or both.
 A firm’s strategy is found in its investments in resources
and capabilities that



Determine its market position
Defend this position from competitors
1-2
Market Positioning

Attention to the transaction with customers is central to
understanding strategy


In fact, without a customer, the firm produces nothing of value
at all
Two parts of a transaction


Value to the customer minus price – which is what determines
demand for the product
Price minus cost to the firm – which defines the firm’s profit
1-3
The Transaction with the Customer
The benefit the
customer receives from
buying the product
(Value minus Price)
Value that the product
offers the customer
Product price
The profit the firm receives
from producing and selling
the product
(Price minus Cost)
The firm’s cost to
produce and sell the
product
1-4
Protecting the Firm’s Market Position from
Competitors

The firm’s market position is defended by

Retaining customers through


High switching costs
Preventing imitation of the firm’s key resources and
capabilities
Property rights, e.g., patents
 Dedicated assets, e.g., a specialized supplier
 Sunk costs, e.g., investments in R & D
 Causal ambiguity, i.e., the difficulty of copying a key process

1-5
What Determines Firm Profitability?

Macroeconomic factors


National and global fiscal and
regulatory policies

Characteristics of the business

Industry factors





Competition
Entry barriers
Buyer power and tastes
Supplier power
Substitute technologies


Market position
 Value offered to customers
 Cost to produce that value
Isolating mechanisms
 Customer retention
 Prevention of imitation
Adaptability to changing market
conditions
1-6
Origins of Strategy

Origins of strategy include:






Industrial and evolutionary economics
Case studies of exemplary companies
Business and industry histories
Economic and organizational sociology
Strategic planning tools
Institutional economics
1-7
The Origins of Strategy
The firm and
its
immediate
business
context
Business cases
Business cases
Firm evolution
Game theory
Business history
Business history
Strategic planning
Institutional
economics
Institutional
economics
Evolutionary
economics
Focus of
analysis
The
overall
market or
industry
Industrial
economics
Economic and
organizational
sociology
Economic and
organizational
sociology
Industry history
Industry evolution
Industry history
Not necessarily
rationally
Structure/Conduct/
Performance
Paradigm
Rationally
Assumption about how
managers make
decisions
1-8
Strategic Planning


Details the process for developing business strategies
and links them to operational programs and investments
Details the logic behind cash flow forecasts

Provides process for:
Development of the firm’s mission
 Goal setting
 Identification of strategic initiatives
 Program development, scheduling and accountability
 Problem solving and innovation



Not the same as strategy execution
Firms can be successful without a strategic plan
1-9
Strategy Execution

Entails continuous development and improvement of
resources and capabilities

Elements of execution:
Task design
 Incentives and compensation
 Control and coordination systems
 Degree of consistency among a firm’s activities
 Firm’s culture and human resource systems




Effective execution requires each element to reinforce the
others
Not the same as strategic planning
Firms cannot be successful without effective strategy
execution
1-10
Industry Analysis

A firm’s profits are effected by five industry forces:






Competition
 Stronger competition drives prices down
Buyers
 Strong buyers demand higher value and lower prices
Suppliers
 Strong suppliers lower the value delivered and raise prices
Entry
 Easy entry into the industry typically drives prices down
Technological substitutes
 Strong substitutes force firms to raise value and lower prices
Complements are also important (e.g., skis and ski resorts)

Powerful complements raise the product’s value
1-11
Strategy Over Time: Growth and Innovation
Firms must adapt to achieve success or remain successful
 Adaptation involves investment in innovations to improve and
defend the firm’s market position
 Larger firms generally have more resources to make these
innovations in productivity
 Almost all industries go through a life cycle in four stages





Growth
Shakeout
Maturity
Disruption and either decline or rejuvenation
1-12
Relative Productivity
Toyota vs. Other Auto Companies
1965-1998
1
Toyota
0.8
Other Global
Auto Firms
Quality Over
Cost Ratio
0.6
0.4
GM
0.2
0
1970
1980
1990
1-13
Vertical Integration, Outsourcing and
Strategic Alliances
A firm vertically integrates when it decides to produce a product
or service that an outside supplier currently makes
 Outsourcing is the reverse process – shifting production from
the firm to an outside supplier
 A strategic alliance is a type of relationship between a firm and
one of its suppliers in which the firm has more control than it
would in a standard market relationship
 These decisions and their implementation are central to how the
firm executes its strategy

1-14
Global Strategy
 Global
firms rely on both country-specific and firmspecific strengths

Examples of country strengths are
U.S. dominance in media content and production values
 Japanese dominance in automobiles
 Italian dominance in high-end fashion


Dominant global firms that transcend their home countries
include IBM, Seimens, Philips, Procter & Gamble, and Sony
 Sometimes

regions within countries are important
Think of Silicon Valley
1-15
Strategy in Single Business Firms
Offense and Defense

Offense

Develop a strong market position
Value to the customer
 Cost to produce that value


Defense

Build isolating mechanisms against powerful buyers and
competitors
Increase customer retention
 Prevent imitation of key resources and capabilities

1-16
Strategy in Multibusiness Firms

Multibusiness strategy







Manage a portfolio of businesses so that they perform better
together than independently
Provide resources and capabilities—capital, technology,
materials, know how
Contribute management or entrepreneurial skills to the units
Establish and oversee inter-unit transfers
Centralize activities, e.g., distribution, logistics
Build a corporate infrastructure that supports the business
units
Initiate programs that enhance business unit market
positions, e.g., process improvements focused on quality
1-17
Corporate Governance
 Focus

on board of directors
Two major regulatory concerns
Policies that limit shareholder influence on the firm
 Policies that set senior management compensation


Boards have the following general responsibilities
Compliance - financial and compensation reporting
 Succession – CEO and board directors
 Self management – charters, principles of corporate governance,
by-laws
 Advice and counsel to top management
 Executive and director compensation

1-18
Chapter 2
Strategic Planning and
Decision Making
2-19
What Is Strategic Planning?

Strategic planning should:

Be a line management, not staff, activity.

Require evaluation of the contribution of investments to
financial goals—in the context of industry trends and
competitor behavior.

Extend top management leadership and power

Neutralize decision-making biases.

Overcome organizational drift.

Identify what the organization needs to do to improve its
performance.
2-20
What is Strategic Planning?
(cont’d)

Strategic planning should:

Be distinct from strategy execution.

Act as a tool for management decision-making.

Communicate the organization’s strategy without
jargon and in a conceptually coherent format.

Generate commitment from employees.

Motivate the organization’s systems of financial and
operating control.

Be reviewed regularly and in response to unexpected
and significant market changes.
2-21
Decision Making Biases

Myopia


Sunk costs


Weighting short term over long term outcomes, controlling for
a discount rate
Continuing to invest in failing projects in hope of getting back
the original investment
Bias based on whether a decision is framed in terms of
gains or losses

Tending to be risk seeking in terms of losses and risk adverse
to gains, as described by Prospect theory
2-22
Decision Making Biases (cont’d)

Information availability


Valuing and using information simply because it is favored,
most recent, or readily at hand.
Information anchoring

Overweighting information that appears first in the information
flow.
2-23
Planning in a Single Business

Strategic planning elements:

Mission statement





Include a vision if desired
Analysis of industry and firm’s market position
Financial and operating goals
Strategic initiatives
Program planning within each initiative
2-24
Mission Statement





Describes the scope of the business in terms of its
product line and markets served
May include a statement of the strategic intent of the
business
Should be no longer than several sentences
Should be in a clear and unambiguous language
Should convey the purpose and direction for the firm
2-25
Industry Analysis

Is necessary for an effective strategic plan

Identifies how much firm performance is due to
macroeconomic and industry factors

Provides a baseline for goal setting

Should include a detailed estimate of the direct and
indirect competitors’ strategies

May be improved by scenario planning
2-26
Elements of Industry Analysis

What are the key macroeconomic variables that affect profits in
the industry?

What are the current macroeconomic trends?

What are the critical regulatory factors that influence performance
in the industry?

What are the key industry forces (e.g., powerful buyers, strong
substitutes, ease of entry) affecting firm profitability?

What are the trends in these forces?

What are the entry and exit rates in the industry?

What are the trends in these rates?
2-27
Elements of Industry Analysis (cont’d)

Has the industry passed through a shakeout?

Has the industry experienced significant disruption? If so, how
have entrants competed against incumbents?

If not, are there identifiable forces or products that could be
disruptive to the industry?

What are the key value and cost drivers in the industry?

How is the industry structured into strategic groups based on these
value and cost drivers?
2-28
Elements of Industry Analysis (cont’d)

What is the trend in industry revenue?

Which competitors are growing faster in revenue than the industry
trend? Why?

What are the key competitors the firm faces in its major markets?

What are their strategies and performance levels?

What is the trend in industry profitability?

Which competitors are growing faster in profitability than the
industry trend? Why?
2-29
Elements of Competitor Analysis (cont’d)





What new strategic initiatives and programs have key competitors
developed, if any?
How likely is it that these initiatives will improve the market
positions of these competitors?
How aggressive are these firms in growing their market positions?
How aggressively do these firms defend their positions?
Where is the firm located in this competitive landscape in terms of
its value and cost drivers?
How are the resources and capabilities underlying the value and
cost drivers protected from imitation?
2-30
Financial Goals



Setting goals focuses management attention and pushes
the planning team to articulate which investments are
strategically important
Goals force management to be explicit about its
expectations and assumptions
Three key questions in setting financial goals:



What is the planning period?
What are the key financial metrics?
What should the goals be?
2-31
Planning Period

Depends on the volatility of strategic situation



Extended planning period forces management to articulate its
view on how firm’s performance can be improved as
competition and other industry’s forces evolve
With an increase in rate of market change, length of
planning period must shorten
Managerial resistance to long-term goals makes firms
vulnerable to decline
2-32
Financial and Operating Metrics

Common performance metrics for single business planning:






Revenues
Net profits
Return on Investment
Metrics and goals should be centrally related to the firm’s
economic performance in its product market over time
Interplay of financial and operating metrics is critical for setting
robust objectives
Operating metrics


Reflect the value and cost drivers that determine the firm’s market
position.
Measure the source of revenue growth
2-33
Measures of Business Performance

Accounting measures of performance

Widely accepted, but criticized for:
Managerial control over accounting policies
 Poor valuation of intangible assets


Measures of economic performance

Use capital market variables

Firm’s market value


Tobin’s q
Cost of capital

Capital asset pricing model
2-34
Setting Goals

Managers rely upon:


Firm’s historical performance
Performance of competitors
When firm’s trend is below industry average, it is vulnerable in
the long-term
 When firm’s trend tracks industry average, it is highly subject to
industry forces
 When firm’s trend is above industry average, it needs to focus on
staying ahead

2-35
Setting Goals (cont’d)

Stretch goals:


Push management to exceed expected performance targets
based on firm or industry trends
Stimulate a level of innovation beyond what management has
already imagined.
2-36
Strategic Initiatives


Strategic initiatives are the essence of the strategic plan,
acting as an organizing framework for activities
throughout the firm
Initiatives are categorized as projects that:






Improve the firm’s value drivers
Improve the firm’s cost drivers
Raise customer retention rates
Invest in growth
Terminate or turnaround underperforming activities of the firm
Focus on risk management and compliance
2-37
Programs




Are created to achieve specific strategic initiatives
Are the basic units through which the plan is executed
May be ongoing
Should have:


An accountable manager and documented schedule
A means of being valued financially (e.g., NPV, real options
models)
2-38
Program Valuation

Discounted cash flow analysis

DCF includes the identification of the net present value of a
project


Higher the NPV, the greater the project’s value
Real options analysis


Extension of the financial options models
Useful for projects that are uncertain and irreversible
2-39
Sample Program Template: Strategic
Initiative
Table 12.2a
2-40
Sample Program Template: Strategic
Initiative (cont’d)
Table 12.2b
2-41
Planning in a Multibusiness Firm






Allocate financial resources to the business units through
the internal capital market
Manage the portfolio of businesses to improve corporate
profitability
Manage relationships among the units
Centralize activities
Develop top down initiatives
Build an effective corporate infrastructure
2-42
Resource Allocation


Goal of resource allocation is to invest in and support
those businesses within the portfolio whose projects
produce the highest economic return for the firm
One tool is the Marakon profitability matrix:
2-43
Centralization and Transfers

Interbusiness relationships


The plan outlines how transfer policies are aligned with the
business units’ value and cost drivers.
Centralization of activities

The plan articulates how shared or centralized activities
contribute to business unit performance.
2-44
Top-down Initiatives and Corporate
Infrastructure

Top-down initiatives


The plan provides management with a vehicle to state its
intended initiatives, to develop programs to assess their impact,
and to identify where new initiatives are warranted
Corporate infrastructure

The plan offers an overview of how elements of the corporate
infrastructure (e.g., legal, IT, HR) contribute to business unit
performance or effective compliance
2-45