Competitive Strategy Economics of Strategy

Question: Discuss about theCompetitive Strategyfor Economics of Strategy. Answer: Strategy Meaning: Organizations devise a number of strategies in order to emerge as leaders in the market(Yarger, 2012). Strategies enable organizations to extend their core competencies for gaining competitive advantage in the market. Thus, strategies form the key drivers for business growth and development. The scope of the current report evaluates the pertinent discussion on strategy as provided in the video along with a case example of an organization that implements the same. Firstly, in the video the concept of strategy is defined by incorporating for various plans of actions or directions that managers undertake for achieving organizational goals(Burt, 2011). Strategy provides drive for the organization such that it is able to create some uniqueness which can be referred to as value and provides them to customers. Strategies help creating brand identity and brand value for the organization. Various organization might implement various types of strategy as in regards to expansi on, low costs, creating distinctive products, or global expansion, product innovation and so on(Besanko, 2009). Strategy was initially introduced for wars to win them and was proposed by generals, who were to add value and resources to create the final impact. Modern day complex challenges in business can be overcome by managers by implementing strategies. Thus, the scope of strategy is vast and can incorporate various types of measure for creating competitiveness for the organization. In the video an example for IKEA is given which is a Scandavian furniture manufacturer selling all over the world. The key strategic driver for the Company is to create quality furniture at relatively low costs which customers can easily purchase. IKEA is the first furniture dealer to set up retail stores in various parts of the world and due to its scale of operations it has a competitive advantage compared to other local furniture dealers(Czepiel, 2012). Due to the focus on low cost, the Company der ives immense value from it and is able to establish its competitive advantage world over. The complex interdependence process of IKEA is un-imitable by local competitors, as products are manufactured by use of mass production techniques and then packed in flat boxes and shipped in large volumes globally. The final assembly of the products needs to be done by final customers(Ferrell, 2012). Henry Mintberg, a well-respected business strategists distinguished between intended, realized and emergent strategies. An intended strategy might change on the way to do it, and emerge as a separate strategy altogether. Timing is an important factor in strategy, as plans within a strategy might be important but not executing the plan at correct timing might eventually lead to failure of the strategy(de Kluyver, 2010). For successful strategy there are four relevant questions that needs to be answered as; Where to compete? What unique value does the business bring? What are the key resource and capabilities that has to be utilized? How to sustain the value in business? Organization Application: The case example taken for the purpose of analysis for strategic application is Coles Supermarkets based in Australia. Coles was a small retail store provider but post being taken over by Wesfarmers it has grown by leaps and bounds(Cullen, 2009). Coles has expanded its stores and utilizing famers cooperative resources of Wesfarmers the Company has been able to integrate backwards. Coles is a low cost provider of fresh supplies and one of the most trusted brands according to customers. It sources all fresh supplies from farmers cooperative of Wesfarmers and caters to its customers at affordable rates that no other competing companies can supply. Coles have selected Australian markets for competing as it is based from Australia. Competing in home market allows develop of extensive knowledge regarding the area and its consumers. The Company has detailed understanding regarding the various demand levels of consumer which allows it to design and cater to unique c ustomer capabilities. The unique value that Coles offers its customers is the fresh supply of stocks along with other retail products at affordable rates(Casadesus-Masanell, 2010). The Company is capable of sourcing vegetables, fruits, meat and other supplies easily from its local suppliers which allows it to sell it to customers at affordable rates. Further the new app and website allows the customers to purchase products online and then it gets delivered at their home steps. The key resources and capabilities utilized for the purpose of conducting business of Coles is its parent Company of Wesfarmers and valuable supply chain management systems. Coles has a highly sophisticated and integrated supply chain which allows for the Company to cater to customers various products at each stores and on time. Thus, the resources and capabilities acts as the key driver for the Companys strategic growth and development. Due to such prevailing resources and capabilities Coles will be able to s ustain its key values in business and grow to explore other markets as well. As the environmental norms in Australia are very stringent, Coles can resort to catering of value by means of resorting to environmental friendly products at low costs. As there are a number of retail companies in Australia that are competing for providing low costs to their customers, the new initiative of environmentally compliant will provided Coles products a sustainable market for the future. References Lists Besanko, D. D. 2009. Economics of strategy. John Wiley Sons. Burt, G. 2011. Towards the integration of system modelling with scenario planning to support strategy: the case of the UK energy industry. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 62(5), 830-839. Casadesus-Masanell, R. . 2010. From strategy to business models and onto tactics. Long range planning, 195-215. Cullen, J. B. 2009. International business: strategy and the multinational company. Routledge. Czepiel, J. a. 2012. Competitor analysis. Venkatesh Shankar and Gregory S. Carpenter. Handbook of Marketing Strategy, Edward Elgar, 41-57. de Kluyver, C. 2010. Fundamentals of global strategy: a business model approach. Business Expert Press. Ferrell, O. C. 2012. Marketing strategy, text and cases. . Nelson Education. Yarger, H. 2012. Strategic theory for the 21st century: the little book on big strategy. Lulu. com.