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STRATEGY FORMULATION

Strategy formulation guides executives in defining the business their firms is in, the ends it seeks, and the means it will use to accomplish those ends. The approach of strategy formulation is an improvement over that of that traditional long-range planning. As discussed in the next eight chapters—about developing a firm’s competitive plan of action—strategy formulation combines a future-oriented perspective with concern for the firm’s internal and external environments.

The strategy formulation process begins with definition of the company mission, as discussed in Chapter 2. In this chapter, the purpose of business is defined to reflect the values of a wide variety of interested parties. Social responsibility is discussed as a critical consideration for a company’s strategic decision makers since the mission statement must express how the company intends to contribute to the societies that sustain it. Central to the idea that companies should be operated in socially responsible ways is the belief that managers will behave in an ethical manner. Management ethics are discussed in this chapter with special attention to the utilitarian, moral rights, and social justice approaches.

Chapter 3 deals with the principal factors in a firm’s external environment that strategic managers must assess so that they can anticipate and take advantage of future business conditions. It emphasizes the importance to a firm’s planning activities of factors in the firm’s remote, industry, and operating environments. A key theme of the chapter is the problem of deciding whether to accept environmental constraints or maneuver around them.

Chapter 4 describes the key differences in strategic planning and implementation among domestic, multinational, and global firms. It gives special attention to the new vision that a firm must communicate in a revised company mission when it multinationalizes.

Chapter 5 shows how firms evaluate their company’s strengths and weaknesses to produce an internal analysis. Strategic mangers use such profiles to target competitive advantages they can emphasize and competitive disadvantages they should correct or minimize.

Chapter 6 examines the types of long-range objectives strategic managers set and specifies the qualities these objectives must have to provide a basis for direction and evaluation. The chapter also examines the generic and grand strategies that firms use to achieve long-range objectives.

Comprehensive approaches to the evaluation of strategic opportunities and to the final strategic decision are the focus of Chapter 7. The chapter shows how a firm’s strategic options can be compared in a way that allows selection of the best available option. It also discusses how a company can create competitive advantages for each of its businesses.

Chapter 8 extends the attention on strategic analysis and choice by showing how managers an build value in multibusiness companies.




In This Part

STRATEGY FORMULATION

Defining the Company's Mission and Social Responsibility
Chapter Summary
Flashcards
Mixed Quiz
PowerPoint Presentations
PowerWeb Articles

The External Environment
Chapter Summary
Flashcards
Mixed Quiz
PowerPoint Presentations
PowerWeb Articles

The Global Environment: Strategic Considerations for Multinational Firms
Chapter Summary
Flashcards
Mixed Quiz
PowerPoint Presentations
PowerWeb Articles

Internal Analysis
Chapter Summary
Flashcards
Mixed Quiz
PowerPoint Presentations
PowerWeb Articles

Formulating Long-Term Objectives and Grand Strategies
Chapter Summary
Flashcards
Mixed Quiz
PowerPoint Presentations
PowerWeb Articles

Strategic Analysis and Choice in Single- or Dominant-Product Business: Building Sustainable Competitive Advantages
Chapter Summary
Flashcards
Mixed Quiz
PowerPoint Presentations
PowerWeb Articles

Strategic Analysis and Choice in the Multibusiness Company: Rationalizing Diversification and Building Shareholder Value
Chapter Summary
Flashcards
Mixed Quiz
PowerPoint Presentations
PowerWeb Articles








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