Case Study of Just Toyz Assignment

MANAGING STRATEGY

CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...................................................................................................................................1
COMPARING DIFFERENT STRATGEY SCHOOLS..........................................................................1
STRATEGIC PLAN................................................................................................................................3
Executive summary..............................................................................................................................3
Mission statement................................................................................................................................3
Vision statement..................................................................................................................................3
Goals and objectives............................................................................................................................3
Internal analysis...................................................................................................................................4
External analysis..................................................................................................................................4
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE STRATGEY FOR STRENGTHENING THE MARKET SHARE IN
UK AND JAPAN.....................................................................................................................................6
RECOMMENDATION...........................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Strategic management is referred as the process through which continuous planning,
monitoring as well as evaluation of all the important components of business is being done.
Further, it is being planned for meeting out the desired goals as well as objectives. It is the
best way by which the firm can get the overall direction (Kazmi, 2008). The current research
report also deals with strategic management plan and its related concepts. It is based on the
case study of ‘Just Toyz’ which is a Thai online wholesaler supplying both to UK and Japan.
As a business consultant to the firm, the main aim is to develop a strategic plan of the firm.
With this, the firm will be able to plan, monitor and analyse the progress and can alter their
priorities. The research report will throw on mission, vision and values of the firm and will
also conduct internal analysis of Just Toyz. Different strategy schools and competitive
advantage strategy will be discussed. The final part of the report will include conclusion and
recommendation to the firm related to its short as well as long term goals.
COMPARING DIFFERENT STRATGEY SCHOOLS
Talking in relation with the strategy, it is being referred as a pattern of decisions
related to the policies as well as practices linked with the organizational system. This system
involves all the functional areas and to comprehend these areas, formulation of strategies at
each level of the firm is required. According to Mintzberg, there are ten schools of strategy
which is categorized into prescriptive as well as descriptive schools (Cole, 2013). The former
one includes design, planning and the positioning schools. The later one encompasses seven
types of schools i.e. entrepreneurial, cognitive, learning, configuration, environmental, power
and cultural schools. All of these schools of thoughts impacts the studies related to
organizational behaviour directly and indirectly at the outset.
 Design school – This is being defined as thought process of strategy formulation in
which main attention is being given on conception of ideas. The firm perform SWOT
analysis and carries out operation in stable environment where there is not disturbance
of the competitors. But, the internal analysis is based on the company’s own
knowledge.
 Planning school – It focuses on planning of the entire strategy in a rigorous way to
achieve growth. Plans are being documented and referred as the time of making
decisions. Here, in this school of thought, management gets the direction to move
forward. However, if anything happens beyond planning, the whole plan gets affected
(Alkhafaji, 2011).
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 Positioning school – In this kind of school thought, the management of the firm makes
decision regarding the promotion of the product in the top intellects and then decisions
are made accordingly. Identification of competition prevailing in the market needs to be
done. Tools such as value chain, porter’s five force are being used. Similar to the
design school, this school of thought also assumes the market as it is and does not take
into account alterations in the business environment (Taylor and et.al, 2012).
 The entrepreneurial school – The main emphasis is being given on the chief executing
officer of the firm. Trust is placed on the leaders and whatever decisions he takes, is
followed by the company. CEO needs to have strong leadership skills and must be
visionary. The problem with this type of school is how to search for such leader. For
instance, if marketing strategy needs to be developed than the leader might prove to be
wrong and thus, dynamic personality which is very strong in the business front is
needed.
 The cognitive school – It helps in studying the perception of the people and their
information. The example of this school is Johari window. Further, this thought of
school involves psychological and mental process to know what’s going in the mind of
consumers. However, cognitive school of thought is not practical after certain level.
 Learning school – Under this, the management of the firm overview the things that has
happened in the past and based on that formulates future strategy. It just guides the
business based on the previous road which has gone well for the firm. It certainly not a
right decision because the road can alter anytime (Hill, Jones and Schilling, 2014).
 Power school – People who have the power takes the decisions and they can be anyone
like customer, supplier, stakeholder etc. It is also being regarded as the realistic thought
process as in firms there exist numerous people and power should be given to few of
them. However, if these powerful people does not consider the feedbacks and measures
for improvement, problems soon starts.
 The cultural school – This school of thought of strategy formulation states that a
positive culture within the company can provide effective direction. Such type of
school of thoughts is useful in case of acquisitions and mergers. But, there are chances
of resistance to this thought as people might not unite and line the idea of change.
 Environmental school – In this type of school, emphasis is being given on the
environment. Situational analysis is being regarded as the most important tool.
Nevertheless, it is based totally on situation and therefore, can be used when it is totally
based on environmental factors (Halbert and Ingulli, 2014).
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 The configuration school – This school of thought says that strategy needs to be
configured as it cannot be derived from simple set of values. Stability is being achieved
in the business through different ways under this school of thought.
Based on the current position of Just Toyz in the market and looking into the above
discussion on different schools of thoughts, the design and positioning school of thoughts is
quite suitable for the firm as the firm need to pay attention on conception of ideas and
decision regarding the promotion of the product in the minds of consumers in Japan and UK
(Kourdi, 2015).
STRATEGIC PLAN
Executive summary
Just Toyz is a Thai company engaged into the business of supplying toys online to
both Japan and UK. The firm was established as an internet start-up and in three years it
turned out to be a multi-million company. For achieving further growth and to guide the daily
decisions of “Just Toyz”, strategic planning is being used as an instrument by the firm. It also
helps the firm in evaluating the progress and they can pay attention on changing their
priorities as well. The strategic planning of the firm will involve mission, goals, internal and
external analysis significantly.
Mission statement
The main mission of the firm is to inspire and develop children in order to think
creatively. They should be able to release their potential for shaping their future.
Vision statement
The main vision of the firm is to become of the leading online wholesaler of toys all across
the world.
Goals and objectives
 The goals and objectives of the firm are being defined underneath:
 To become of the leading brand all across the world
 To enhance the sales of the toys by 50 percent in the coming years
 Launching operations in new countries
 Increasing the share in the market by capturing new areas such as France, Germany
and Italy
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Internal analysis
SWOT analysis
Strength
One of the major strength of the firm is its
higher online sales. Further, Just toyz also
has a strong brand image in the market.
Further, the toys being supplied by them
company includes educational features that
helps in facilitating skills development of
children (Jackson, Joshi and Erhardt, 2013).
Weakness
Just toyz is supping toys only to Japan and
some parts of UK and thus, have lower
presence in the global market. Further, there
is huge competition in the market which
makes it difficult for the firm to achieve
more sales.
Opportunities
The main market of operation of the
company is in Japan and UK and thus, they
should expand their business operation in
some of the other prospective markets such
as Germany, France and Asia
Threats
Increasing popularity of the online games
and computer games might result in the loss
of market share of the company. In addition
to this, Just toyz might also face a great
threat from substitute products. Continuous
advancement in information technology in
toy industry is taking place which might
impact the sales of Just toyz (Muhammad,
2015).
External analysis
Porters five force analysis
 Bargaining power of the suppliers – the bargaining power of the suppliers is moderate
in the toy industry. This pertains to the fact that the offering of the company is
dependent on the standardized inputs like plastics and chemicals. Because of the
brand’s high power, the firm is able to retain its supplier’s bargaining power.
 Bargaining power of buyers – The bargaining power of the buyers is quite high in the
global toy market. For the purpose of minimizing this threat, the firm needs to strive
for maintaining reasonable prices for its products. Through this, they can sustain
relations with its valuable customers. Furthermore, Just toyz is also putting in efforts
for developing different promotional strategies for restricting them to make purchase
from the rivalry firms (Dobbs, 2014).
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 Threats from substitute – The threat of substitution is also very high. There are many
firms which are making use of standard technology and selling products in the online
markets with quality services. Further, increasing use of online and computer games
also influencing the buying habits of the consumers. Parents are now desiring that to
make their children more connected with extra-curricular activities such as hobbies
and sports. As children are getting more engrossed in such activities, it has become a
great threat for the toy and gaming industry.
 Threats from new entrants – The threat of new entrant is relatively high which means
that the firm is required to develop large and strong distribution network. Better
technologies need to be developed for establishing as a strong competitor in the global
market. The rivalries of the firm have already taken the best location within the
market and thus, Just Toyz need to compete with those already existing stores at an
accessible market area in order to achieve a competitive edge (Bischoff, 2016).
 Competitive rivalry – The threat pertaining to competitive rivalry is quite low for Just
toyz. This is because of the fact that there are very less online wholesalers that exist in
the global toy industry. Since, the firm has acquired enough amount of loyal
customers in past three years, the competitors of the company is not in a position to
generate sufficient risks for its. Talking in relation with the toy industry, it is
characterized by oligopolistic market wherein limited firms are operating in few
nations all around the world. However, the level of competition is quite intense. Thus,
for the purpose of gaining a huge market in this area, the Just toyz has also started
including incumbents from the electronic sectors. In addition to this, the intensity of
rivalry has helped the firm in determining its value generation by fierce competition
which shows high internal competitiveness for the firm (Cordon and et.al, 2016).
Pestle analysis
Political
 Trade relation of the nation with other nations of the world might
result in some political conflicts (Roos, Victor and Statler, 2014)
 Because of the multi-part culture in UK, the political environment
is quite impressive
 Global financial crisis can influence the operations of the firm
 Toy educational industry is expanding and thus, can be viewed as
an economic stable from past few years
 The market of UK will be a great opportunity for gaining larger
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Economic market share (Van den Bosch and De Man, 2013)
 Profitability of Just Toyz can be harmed by hedging of currency
Social
 Religion might impact the operation of the company
 Rising level of globalization is resulting into mix of varied
cultures
 Increased demand of electronic goods in the market
Technology
 Young population is becoming technology savvy and thus, Just
toyz needs to advance their technology
 With this, company can compete strongly with the other
companies operating in the market (Hamilton and Webster, 2012)
Legal
 Rules and regulations of the market might affect the functioning of
the firm
 Counterfeit products prevails largely in this industry and thus.
copyright laws and patent rules of the nations should be
considered
Environmenta
l
 UK has strict rules and regulations related to environmental
protection
 Product with eco-friendly materials should be used (Bayode,
Adebola and Adebisi, 2012)
 Rising issue of carbon emission and other harmful gases
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE STRATGEY FOR STRENGTHENING
THE MARKET SHARE IN UK AND JAPAN
The major issue for the business strategy is to search a direction for attaining a
sustainable competitive advantage in the market. A competitive advantage is a benefit which
is achieved by providing greater value to the consumers either through low prices or high
prices with greater benefits and services. According to porter, there are four generic business
strategies which can be used for gaining competitive advantage (Freeman, 2010). As per him,
all these strategies relates to the degree of narrowness and broadness of the business activities
along with the degree to which the business is seeking to differentiate its products and
services. Explanation of these strategies are being done below:
 Cost leadership – Seeking help from this strategy Just Toyz can become the lowest
cost producer within the industry. This is a traditional method being used for
achieving the goal to produce large scale. Further, for becoming a lowest cost
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producer, it is vital for the firm to have high capacity utilization, production, use of
technology, effective distribution channels etc.
 Differentiation leadership – In this strategy, the company can target larger market
segment and achieves competitive edge all throughout the industry. One or more than
two criteria is used by buyers in the market and then business is being positioned
uniquely for meeting the demand (Ansoff and McDonnell, 2010).
 Differentiation & cost focus – In this type of competitive advantage strategy, the main
aim of the firm is to differentiate within some of the small target market segments.
Special needs of the customers is considered and helps the company to differentiate it
from its competitors. It is a kind of a niche marketing strategy.
The competitive strategies being suggested by Porter are quite suitable for seeking an
edge over the firms operating in the market. Talking in relation with the differentiation ad
cost leadership strategies, they helps in seeking competitive advantage in a broad range of
market. On the other hand, differentiation and cost focus strategies pays attention towards
narrow industry. In the current case, Just toyz need to expand their market share in UK and
Japan (Freeman, 2010). They want to strengthen their share in both the international markets.
In this regards, differentiation leadership strategy will assist Just toyz to achieve its desired
goals and success. This is because of the fact that differentiation is all about charging
premium price which generally covers the extra manufacturing costs and offer valid reasons
to the customers for preferring the products over the other competing products which are less
differentiated. The firm can achieve this by adopting different ways, though it will not prove
easy for them and will definitely need substantial as well as sustained marketing investment
and this will encompass:
 Offering superior quality of products such as durability, benefits, reliability and
features. Strong branding the markets of Japan and UK, for example, brand loyalty
and strong customer recognition (Andersen, Kragh and Lettl, 2013)
 Need to focus on industry wide distribution all around the major channels. In other
words, the products or the brand company is selling should be stocked by them
 There should be consistent promotional support which is often ruled by sponsorship
and advertising.
RECOMMENDATION
Considering the above discussion and evaluation of the current case of Just Toyz, it is
highly suggested to the firm to focus on its short term as well as long term goals. In regards
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with the short term goals, Just Toyz want to supply educational toy to the people all across
UK and Japan and thus, they should sale creative educational toys. Further, the toys should be
offered as per the taste and preferences of the children and parents. It is also vital to
comprehend the strategies of the competitors before setting up a business or market in UK.
Concerning this, it is highly recommended to the company to have a strong community, as it
is very essential for understanding the taste and preferences of the consumers (Boyne and
Gould-Williams, 2003). More initiatives both offline as well as online should be researched
in order to augment the reaction with children and their parents. This is crucial because, most
of the children like toys of Just Toyz but their parents will going to pay for all this stuffs.
Thus, efforts should be made to persuade them and make them feel that the product is
reliable. Furthermore, online database for parents should be used wherein they can react
along with the other family and can make a community of parents who significantly escalate
the value of endless ideas, innovation and creativity.
Underpinning the discussion further, the long term goals of the firm should include to
become one of the leading toy company in the world, increasing the share in the market and
capturing market through brand. For achieving the long term goals, it is highly suggested to
Just Toyz to become different and reliable from their competitors. This will significantly
reflects the reputation of the company in the market. The firm can open a restaurant with the
main theme of Just Toyz world. There are few opportunities in some of the nations in UK for
kids and parent approach game. Therefore, Just Toyz can become a way to them by
introducing such products. Moreover, they can also earn profits from other services as well
instead of just earning through selling toys. This new concept will being new trend and
innovation for customers. Seeking help from the chain of system, brand value and creative
ideas can be sent to the customers such as dining area, kids play area, toy style decoration,
small museum etc. for making them connect with the unique style of restaurant.
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REFERENCES
Books and journals
Alkhafaji, A.F., 2011. Strategic management: formulation, implementation, and control in a
dynamic environment. Development and Learning in Organizations: An International
Journal, 25(2).
Andersen, P.H., Kragh, H. and Lettl, C., 2013. Spanning organizational boundaries to manage
creative processes: The case of the LEGO group. Industrial Marketing Management,
42(1), pp.125-134.
Ansoff, H.I. and McDonnell, E.J., 2010. Implanting Strategic Management. Europe: Prentice
Hall.
Bayode, O., Adebola, B. and Adebisi, O., 2012. Strategic Environmental Scanning and
Organization Performance in a Competitive Business Environment. Economic Insights
– Trends and Challenges. 24, pp.24-34.
Bischoff, A.L., 2016. Porters Five Forces. Innovation through Business, Engineering and
Design: How does rivalry in a market as well as customer expectations influence the
process of a design concept from a business perspective? Berlin: GRIN Verlag.
Boyne, G.A. and Gould-Williams, J.S., 2003. Strategic Planning and the Performance of
Public Organizations: An Empirical Analysis. Public Management Review, 5(1),
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Cole, A.G., 2013. Strategic Management. Cengage Learning EMEA publications
Cordon, C., Garcia-Milà, P., Vilarino, T.F. and Caballero, P., 2016. Strategy is Digital: How
Companies Can Use Big Data in the Value Chain. Berlin: Springer.
Dobbs, M., 2014. Guidelines for applying Porter's five forces framework: a set of industry
analysis templates. Competitiveness Review, 24(1), pp.32-45.
Freeman, R., 2010. Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. Cambridge University
Press.
Halbert, T. and Ingulli, E., 2014. Law and Ethics in the Business Environment. SAGE.
Hamilton, L. and Webster, P., 2012. The International Business Environment. Oxford
University Press.
Hill, C., Jones, G. and Schilling, M., 2014. Strategic management: theory: an integrated
approach. Cengage Learning.
Jackson, S.E., Joshi, A. and Erhardt, N.L., 2013. Recent research on team and organizational
diversity: SWOT analysis and implications. Journal of management, 29(6), pp.801-830.
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Kazmi, A., 2008. Strategic Management and Business Policy. 3rded. New Delhi: Tata
McGraw- Hill Publishing Company Limited.
Kourdi, J., 2015. Business strategy: a guide to effective decision-making. New Jersey: Public
Affairs.
Muhammad S.C., 2015. A Comparative Study of Strategic Planning Practices of SMEs and
Large Sized Business Organizations in Emerging Economies: The Case of UAE.
Strategic Change, 24(6), pp.553-567.
Roos, J., Victor, B. and Statler, M., 2014. Playing seriously with strategy. Long Range
Planning, 37(6), pp.549-568.
Taylor, W.C., Franzini, L., Olvera, N., Poston, W.S.C. and Lin, G., 2012. Environmental
audits of friendliness toward physical activity in three income levels. Journal of Urban
Health, 89(2), pp.296-307.
Van den Bosch, F.A.J. and De Man, A.P., 2013. Perspectives on strategy: contributions of
Michael E. Porter. New Jersey: Springer Science & Business Media.
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