Business Strategies and Case Studies

The assignment provided is a detailed analysis of business strategies, featuring case studies from multiple sources. It discusses the implementation of business strategies in various contexts, such as automobile manufacturing, electric vehicles, cloud computing, and service-oriented product development. The document also touches upon the importance of training in business strategies, international business strategy, and sustainable innovation. With its comprehensive coverage of business strategies, this assignment is ideal for students seeking to understand the complexities of business operations.

Business Strategy

Table of Contents
INTRODCUTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Role of business missions, visions, objectives, goals and core competencies in formation
of strategic plans ........................................................................................................................1
1.2 Factors which are needed to be considered in formation of strategic plan...........................1
1.3 Effectiveness of techniques at the time of development of strategic business plans...........1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................1
2.1 Organisational audit of Volkswagen group...........................................................................1
2.2 Environmental audit of Volkswagen group..........................................................................3
2.3 Significance of stakeholder analysis.....................................................................................4
2.4 New strategy for Volkswagen group.....................................................................................5
3.1 Appropriateness of alternative strategies..............................................................................5
3.2 Selection and justification of a strategy...............................................................................7
4.1 Roles and responsibilities of personnel who are charged for strategy implementation........7
4.2 Resources needed for implementing new strategy................................................................8
4.3 Contribution of SMART targets for strategy implementation..............................................8
CONCLUSION ...........................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10
.......................................................................................................................................................11

INTRODCUTION
Evert organisation has some mission and vision which they want to achieve in set period
of time. Business strategy is summary which relates to various plan which help an company in
attaining top spot in operating industry. This report will discuss about role of core competencies
and goals in formation of strategic plan. Some important factors and effective techniques for
business planning will also become part of this file. This assignment also include case of VW
Emission scandal which made huge impact on position and valuation of Volkswagen group. This
project will cover environmental audit and significance of stakeholders. It will also discuss about
strategies for entering a new market. Estimation of required resources and SMART targets will
also become part of this file. Volkswagen is leading a company of automotive industry they have
approximately 340 subsidiary companies and they are operating in more than 150 countries.
TASK 1
1.1 Role of business missions, visions, objectives, goals and core competencies in formation of
strategic plans
Covered in PPT.
1.2 Factors which are needed to be considered in formation of strategic plan
Covered in PPT.
1.3 Effectiveness of techniques at the time of development of strategic business plans
Covered in PPT.
TASK 2
2.1 Organisational audit of Volkswagen group
Cited organisation holds top spot in automotive industry. They are targetting 10 million
sale of vehicle every year in order to maintain their dominance in this sector (Agyapong and
Boamah, 2013). They have resources for this targets but at the same time they also have to face
some serious challenges. Below is the SWOT analyse in order to determine strategic market
position of cited organisation:
Strengths
 No other company in auto-mobile sector has such a wide brand portfolio which this
enterprise have.
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 They are one of the oldest manufacturer of cars, people trust them because they are using
their products from a long period of time. They have high goodwill.
 Their research and development wing is performing beyond expectation. They are doing
work in efficient automation. They are also making future vehicles which will help them
in maintaining their top spot in upcoming time (Aithal, 2016).
 China is one of the fastest growing economy, cited organisation has almost 20% market
share in this region.
Weaknesses
 Their do not has strong presence in emerging market except China.
 They are manufacturing many products which are not environmental friendly. Nowadays
people are aware of various issues relating to environment so they are not buying these
vehicles. Some of their brands like Bugatti, Porsche, etc. are release high amount of
Carbon dioxide and they are fuel inefficient.
Opportunities
 They can increase their investments in emerging markets like Brazil, India. According to
some experts these economies will play crucial role in success or failure of an
organisation in upcoming time because they have capacity to generate high revenue
(Alsoboa and Aldehayyat, 2013).
 They have strong research and development development department, they can improve
use them in order to make products which can be run by electricity. This will give them
some extra edge on their competitors.
Threats
 Cited organisation was planning to invest huge amount on electric and hybrid cars. Due
to high fluctuation in price and less of fuel, their strategic planning is moving in a wrong
direction.
 Their competitors like Toyota, GM are getting more and more strong. They are entering
in developing economies, this move is given them an appropriate head start.
 New and domestic players like Tesla have capacity to make a big hole in their pocket.
They have to make proper strategies in order to face these emerging threats (Ang, 2011).
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2.2 Environmental audit of Volkswagen group
Business environment has capacity to change the decisions taken by top level
management. These external factor should be given high importance at the time of formation of
effective strategic plans. Following is PESTLE analysis of cited organisation:
Political factor – They are running their business in more than 150 countries. It is very
difficult for a company to follow rules and regulations of so many nation because they do not
have similar legal demands. Cited enterprise was going to invest huge amount in some territories
but due to high political instability they changed their decision (Burlton, 2015). Some developing
economies like China and India are ready to provide them some special advantages in taxation
because they need investment in infrastructure which is can only be done by big multinational
corporations like Volkswagen group. This will also solve their problem of unemployment.
Economical factor – Purchasing power of customers in growing economy is increasing.
They are ready to pay more price in order to avail better service. This point should be given
importance at the time of formation of strategic plans. Economic condition of European country
is in a poor shape. They are failing to give desired return in set period of time.
Social factor – Auto-mobile industry also assist other sector like steel and glass. They
provide employment to a large number of people. Unemployment is considered as one of the
biggest problem of this era. They are have to take care about other issues like religion, culture
etc. and introduce and market product accordingly (Champoux and et.al., 2012).
Technological factor – Technology can play crucial role in success of an organisation.
Cited company is investing huge amount of money on hybrid and electric cars because in
upcoming time vehicles sale of vehicles run by petrol and diesel will go down.
Legal factor – A company who has their presence in more than 150 nations faces bigger
challenges at the time of following various kind of legal requirements. They have to deal with
laws relating to labour, intellectual property, taxation, emission.
Environmental – Vehicles made by cited organisation release different kind of harmful
gases which are polluting atmosphere. This can be considered as the main reason that they are
now investing huge amount in research and development department so they can make hybrid
car and vehicles which can be run by electricity (Firnkorn and Müller, 2012).
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2.3 Significance of stakeholder analysis
Every organization has many stakeholder who either have direct or indirect connection
with company. Some of the popular examples are employees, government, shareholders etc.
They can be divided into four parts which is mentioned below:
High power, high interest – Some stakeholders take part in business activity of the
enterprise. They has capability make important decision and decide future of the organization.
Firm should give listen to them on priority basis because they are key players. Director, majority
shareholders are some of its examples.
High power, low interest – Stakeholder who comes in this section do not take much
interest in business activity of the company (Godlevskaja, van Iwaarden and van der Wiele,
2011). An enterprise should send them annual report every year and if they have any query than
they it should be solved in short period of time in order to keep them satisfied.
Low power, low interest – Stakeholders who lies in this segment do not care much about
performance of the organization. They do not have capability to change any decision taken by
top level management. Company should apply the strategy of ''keep them posted'' and put
minimal effort in this area. Shareholders who do not much shares can be considered as its perfect
example.
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2.4 New strategy for Volkswagen group
Cited organization is facing serious trouble because of emission scandal. In upcoming
time, instead of expanding their business in new territories they should save some money for the
penalties which they have to pay in different countries. They have to make sure than an authority
do not charge any extra amount from them, in these cases people like to take advantage of
helpless entity. After solving this issue they should concentrate on two issues, first is gaining
trust of customers and second is production of hybrid cars and vehicles run by electricity. They
should allot more fund to their research and development department so they can speed up the
process of manufacturing (Kernbach, Eppler and Bresciani, 2015). At the same time, they have
to think about threats relating to fluctuation in prices of fuel. According to their current plan,
they will mainly focus on self-driving vehicles and digital transformation. After emission
scandals experts were expecting that financial health of cited organization will get weak but they
proved them wrong an manages to maintain a decent level of sale.
In upcoming time, they have to plan strategies for new competitors like Tesla. New
opponents are capturing significant amount of market share in short period of time because of
their designing and new technology. Cited organization has to make effective strategies so they
can face these future challenges. They have to work of their designing and speed up the
production of car which are run by electricity. Their TOGETHER strategy 2025 looks promising
but they has to concentrate on execution of their set plans. They want to become table leader in
sustainable mobility but they have to analyze strength of their future competitors like Apple,
Google. The era is changing rapidly, earlier mechanical engineer where making cars but now
they can not manufacture a product without help of IT department (Killing, 2012). Technology is
changing swiftly and companies who were operating in other industry are entering in automobile
sector. They should focus on affordable products so they can target more customers and earn
their old reputation.
3.1 Appropriateness of alternative strategies
Following are some strategies which Volkswagen group can adopt in expansion of their
business:
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Market entry strategies
 Organic growth – It can be achieved by developing a new product or increasing current
output. Cited organization can enter in developing economies by doing fixed investment.
This will help them in controlling all the aspects of their business operation.
 Merger – They can merge their company or any subsidiary with a domestic player and
make a new company (Li, Zhou and Si,2010).
 Acquisition – Cited organization has deep pocket. They can acquire an enterprise in the
region where they want to enter. This will save their time in getting a decent amount of
market share.
 Strategic alliance – In this case, more than one company share some assets so they can
achieve their set targets. They can find a powerful partner in the market where they are
trying to enter so they can run their business smoothly.
Substantive growth
 Product development – They can develop new cars with better designing and less
consumption of fuel. In this strategy the have to launch a new product so they can
maintain their current growth and earn more revenue (London and Hart, 2010).
 Vertical integration – In this case, various companies make different parts or provide
their service in a final product. Although cited organization make and sell their own
product but they can think about this option in upcoming time.
 Horizontal integration – Cited company can enhance their production capacity by
utilizing more resources or taken help from external factors like merger or acquisition.
Limited growth
 Market penetration – By using they strategy they can achieve limited growth. In this
point they should focus on increasing their sale by advertising their current product. They
can also attract more customer s by given them discount offers (Pugh and Bourgeois,
2011).
 Market development – In this approach company should target new customers who are
current not buying their products. They can sell their existing product in new market, they
do not have to invest more fund in production of new item.
Retrenchment
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 Turnaround – In this strategy, cited organization can sell one of their business so they
can get some financial stability. They can also take their product out from the market
which will help them in cutting their expenses.
 Liquidation – It is an unattractive where an organization sell of their assets and shut
down their complete business.
3.2 Selection and justification of a strategy
Cited organisation should make two types of strategies, one is for the market where they
have sound presence and other is for developing economies like India, Brazil, South Africa etc.
They should focus on organic growth in the region which is current generating huge amount of
profit (Reinhardt and Stavins, 2010). They should hire more workers and open new plants so
they can increase their production capacity. They can also expand their expenditure in research
and development departments so they can deliver future car in less period of time. In developing
countries, they should concentrate on inorganic growth. They can acquiring domestic player so
they can get a decent head start. They should not invest huge amount in one shot because
uncertainties is high in these regions. But gradually they should change their strategy and move
towards organic growth because these countries have potential to deliver high return in
upcoming time. Purchasing power of people living in these nation is increasing and now they can
afford products of cited organisation (Ross and Blumenstein, 2013).
4.1 Roles and responsibilities of personnel who are charged for strategy implementation
An effective strategic plan do not assure success to an organisation. They have focus on
execution because if this is not followed properly than cited company can face huge loss. People
who are responsible for implementation of pals should provide clear and complete detail about
the task which is allotted to every department. They play crucial role in removing various kind of
confusion which employees can have in their mind. They have to explain them every part of their
job so they can do their work effectively. At the same time they have monitor performance of
worker so they can compare their expected and actual action. This will also create a positive
pressure on staff and they will avoid committing same again more than one time. People who are
responsible for implementation of strategies, should take reviews of managers so they can
improve their current plan. They also play significant role in finding the short comings in current
strategic so they can remove them without facing any severe loss (Segers and Inceoglu, 2012).
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4.2 Resources needed for implementing new strategy
When an organisation try to enter in new market and expand their production capacity in
existing market than they need various types of resources which assist them in execution of their
set plans. Following are some key resources which Volkswagen will be need for implementation
of new strategy:
Financial resources – For attaining organic growth, cited organisation has to buy land and
develop a plant. These activities need huge amount of money resources because they are
considered as fixed investment. They have to recruit new employees in these plans and they have
to pay them salary and incentives. At the time of launching of new product they have to spend
money on its advertising. They are also going to enter in new nations so initially they have allot
more fund to marketing department so they can adopt effective strategies fro sales promotion
(Sluyterman, 2013).
Human resource – Volkswagen group will need more workers in their manufacturing
plant if they want to expand their production capacity. They will also need more employees in
new plants so they can run their manufacturing unit without any hindrance. Besides quantity,
they also have to focus on quality. In new plants they will use latest technology of automation so
they will need skilled workers who have good education and appropriate experience. If they
choose right candidate than they can get desired returns.
4.3 Contribution of SMART targets for strategy implementation
Normally an organisation set some objectives but they fail to achieve them because they
make several mistakes. SMART targets stands for specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and
time based. They help an enterprise in moving towards right direction (Sum, 2011). Following is
SMART targets of Volkswagen and their contribution in implementation of strategy:
Smart – They are targetting 8% return on sale, if they will not have any specific goal than
they will fail to get a stability in business because one year they can get 10% return but next year
they can get 5%. This will assist them in increasing their revenue and achieving their long term
objectives.
Measurable – Most of the companies make goals which can not be measured in figures. If
they can not compare two number than they will face major problem in upcoming time. They
will face to analyse the area where different type of leakages are happening. Cited organisation is
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targeting a sale of 10 million vehicles every years. They can compare their planned and actual
sale (Verbeke, 2013).
Attainable – Sometimes enterprises set a target which is beyond their reach and sometime
they plan some goals which they can achieve with out putting much effort. This Volkswagen is a
leading organisation in auto-mobile industry and they want to retain this spot for along time.
They can implement various strategies in order so they can maintain and repeat their past
performance.
Realistic – The goals which cited organisation is setting is realistic. They are not making
plans which are impossible to achieve. They are not trying to capture 100% market, they are just
trying to hold majority of share by targetting sustainable growth.
Time based – They have set a time period for every goal. If they will not do this than they
will fail to achieve their long term objectives (Wesseling and et. al., 2015). Cited organisation is
planning to reach most of their objectives before 2025.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that all the plans made by an organisation has
some connection with their vision and mission. Their are various type of techniques BCG matrix,
Ansoff matrix, etc. which can provide great assistance in formation of an effective strategic plan.
Organisational and environmental audit can help in determining correct position of an enterprise.
A company has significant number of option for selecting a growth strategy. They should should
consider their external and internal environment because choosing an appropriate plan. People
who are responsible for implementation of these has to some roles and responsibilities which
they should follow otherwise firm may fail to execute their decided strategies.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Agyapong, A. and Boamah, R. B., 2013. Business strategies and competitive advantage of family
hotel businesses in Ghana: The role of strategic leadership. Journal of Applied Business
Research. 29(2). p.531.
Aithal, P. S., 2016. Study on ABCD analysis technique for business models, business strategies,
operating concepts & business systems. Browser Download This Paper.
Alsoboa, S. S. and Aldehayyat, J. S., 2013. The impact of competitive business strategies on
managerial accounting techniques: A study of Jordanian public industrial companies.
International Journal of management. 30(2). p.545.
Ang, L., 2011. Is SCRM really a good social media strategy?. Journal of Database Marketing &
Customer Strategy Management. 18.(3). pp.149-153.
Burlton, R.T., 2015. Delivering business strategy through process management. In Handbook on
Business Process Management 2.(pp. 45-78). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Champoux and et.al., 2012. Corporate Facebook pages: when “fans” attack. Journal of Business
Strategy. 33.(2).pp.22-30.
Firnkorn, J. and Müller, M., 2012. Selling mobility instead of cars: new business strategies of
automakers and the impact on private vehicle holding. Business Strategy and the
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Godlevskaja, O., van Iwaarden, J. and van der Wiele, T., 2011. Moving from product-based to
service-based business strategies: Services categorisation schemes for the automotive
industry. International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management. 28(1). pp.62-94.
Kernbach, S., Eppler, M. J. and Bresciani, S., 2015. The use of visualization in the
communication of business strategies: An experimental evaluation. International
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Killing, P., 2012. Strategies for joint venture success (RLE international business) (Vol. 22).
Routledge.
Li, Y., Zhou, N. and Si, Y., 2010. Exploratory innovation, exploitative innovation, and
performance: Influence of business strategies and environment. Nankai Business Review
International. 1(3). pp.297-316.
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pyramid: New approaches for building mutual value. Pearson Education India.
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(2).pp.172-179.
Reinhardt, F.L. and Stavins, R.N., 2010. Corporate social responsibility, business strategy, and
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Ross, P. and Blumenstein, M., 2013. Cloud computing: the nexus of strategy and technology.
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Segers, J. and Inceoglu, I., 2012. Exploring supportive and developmental career management
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Sluyterman, K.E., 2013. Dutch Enterprise in the 20th Century: Business Strategies in Small
Open Country. Routledge.Tan, A. R., 2010. Service-oriented product development
strategies: Product/Service-Systems (PSS) development. DTU Management.
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Sum, V., 2011. Integrating training in business strategies means greater impact of training on the
firm’s competitiveness.
Verbeke, A., 2013. International business strategy. Cambridge University Press.
Wesseling and et. al., 2015. Business strategies of incumbents in the market for electric vehicles:
Opportunities and incentives for sustainable innovation. Business Strategy and the
Environment. 24(6). pp.518-531.
Online
Business strategy. 2017. [Online]. Available through:<http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/business-
theory/strategy/business-strategy.html>. [Accessed on 12th July 2017].
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