Business Strategy: Analysis of Sydney Symphony Orchestra's Competition

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO), examining its competitive strategy within the music industry. It begins with a brief overview of the SSO, its history, and its current operations. The report then identifies the core strategic issues faced by the SSO, such as adapting to changing audience preferences and competition from other music genres. It delves into the application of relevant theoretical concepts, including the resource-based view and the knowledge-based theory, to understand the SSO's strategic decisions. The report also discusses the SSO's efforts to attract a wider audience through diverse musical offerings and marketing strategies. The analysis highlights the challenges and opportunities the SSO faces in maintaining its relevance and financial sustainability in a dynamic market. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and offering insights into the SSO's future strategic direction.

Competitive Strategy

Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................3
2. Brief Summary of the case study...........................................................................................4
3. Identification of the core strategic issues...............................................................................6
4. Relevant theoretical concepts.................................................................................................8
5. Conclusion............................................................................................................................11
References................................................................................................................................12

1. Introduction
The strategic development has been one of the most important parts of this study and the
main objective of the study has been to describe the competitive aspects that are included
within the matter. There are many organizations which have implemented the strategic
developmental features and factors for the business growth also have been elaborated in the
study. In this study, the selected business organization is the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.
Thus, the strategic development features and relevant implementations have been discussed
in the study in relation to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO).
It can be observed that a detailed study has been discussed about the business strategies of the
Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) and the core implementation of the theories that are
related with the strategic developments are also being elaborated in this study. The Sydney
Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has been one of the orchestra organizations in the country and it
was first established in the year of 1932, with only 24 musicians and players. The main head
office of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is at Sydney, which has an increasing
population of about 5 million people in the current scenario.

2. Brief Summary of the case study
The strategic developmental roles and functions of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra for
developing their business strategies have been discussed in this segment. It can be observed
that the organization has welcomed the Productivity Commission inquiry for the upgrading
the Workplace Relations Framework and enhancing the net profits of the business entity
within a limited time frame (Hanson et al. 2016). Simultaneously, new business regulations
and methods have also been inducted by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and they have also
maintained the rules of Fair Work Act 2009 that has been issued by the central government of
the country (Sydneysymphony.com, 2019). With the help of this act procedures, the business
for the organization has increased in recent years. On the other hand, it can be recognized that
a specific inquiry in the contexts and the safety nets have been established along with the core
bargaining framework for the customers. The employee protection methods and the
improvement of the workplace relations issues have been also elevated for expanding the
core sphere of the business (Block et al. 2015).
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra has been one of the largest orchestra groups that consist of
over 90 musicians and the present conductor of the orchestra is known as David Robertson.
David Robertson has been one of the famous musicians for the last few years and he has also
a reputation of excellent musicianship. The musicians in the group are also well paid and in
2011, an agreement was established between the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and Adelaide
Symphony players where they both had collaborated with each other for 17 months. At the
same point of time, the Adelaide symphony players had also protested against the wage
difference between the Sydney Symphony Orchestra players and them. On the other hand, it
can be observed that in 2011, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra had 253,398 patrons and there
were 300,000 concerts, where the orchestra had played over. The orchestra had also
performed in the free concerts in many places around the globe (Sydneysymphony.com,
2019)
It can be understood that the per capita income of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has
been much sustainable and there are many middle-class people those who live in the Sydney,
those who can also join the organization at the same time. With the help of the existing
musicians, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has organized a series of 131 concerts
along with 87 programs for expanding their popularity to the other countries as well (Suthers

2017). Within the business strategies of the organization, it can be recognized that for
increasing the standard of the business strategies, the organization has increased its main
stage performances and works. They have recently arranged a series of 26,101 teachers and
managed to conduct a function with 47 schools in the Sydney Opera House. On the other
hand, it can be further noticed that they have regulated the core broadcasting and streaming
revenues, where 59 stage performances of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) have been
broadcasted by the ABC Classic FM and 9 stage works have been broadcasted by the
European Broadcasting Union in the last financial year (Thompson et al. 2015).

3. Identification of the core strategic issues
In the last financial year, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra has erupted some of the important
strategies and frameworks for the future prosperity of the business organization. On the verge
of the core application of technique and methods, the organization has also failed to
implement some of the best strategies for their self-improvement (McNeill 2016). The
internal and external environmental situation of the organization also has been changing and
thus some of the crucial strategic issues have been faced by the company in the previous
accounting year. It is noticed that the classical musical base of the country is based on the
western canon and that was composed only for the middle-class audiences. However, in
modern times, the audiences like to hear something new and charming music from the
Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) for the core refreshment of their mind. Thus, the
situation did not go in favour of the organization and there have been one of the core strategic
issues in the latest years (Noe et al. 2017).
It can be further understood that the in the modern times, the audiences of the core orchestras
managed by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) are fond of the rock concerts, pop or the
jazz concerts (Hanson et al. 2016). The maximum number of audiences are less in age and
they are young, Very fewer audiences and the music lovers are there, who are old and they
are fond of classical music. Due to the wrong strategic implications of the Sydney Symphony
Orchestra (SSO), in many of the concerts, they have received negative feedback from the
audiences and there was less number of people in the show. Thus it can be observed the
senior managers of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has decided to induce new
musicians in the group for making and giving the audiences fun by playing the jazz, rock or
pop music all through the concert (Madsen and Walker 2015).
On the other hand, it can be further observed that along with the introduction of the new
musicians, the ticket price of the concerts or the shows managed by Sydney Symphony
Orchestra (SSO) have also been increased. It is because, in modern times, the musicians take
a huge charge for playing the pop, jazz, pop or the rock concerts to the audiences. According
to Kenny et al. (2018), it has been recognized that the ticket prices for the Sydney Symphony
Orchestra (SSO) concerts have increased, especially the shows that are organized in the
Royal Festival Hall. A few years ago, it has been noticed that the Sydney Symphony
Orchestra (SSO) has faced a huge loss while performing and managing a program in Royal

Festival Hall due to the core arrangements of the classical music. It was a loss of about
a$90,000, however, the tickets are much available for many spectators. The tickets for the
single concerts were being sold from a range from a$95 to a$140 per citizen or the audiences
(Stanhope 2016).
Moreover, it has been observed that in the recent years, for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra
(SSO), there has been a projected deficit of about US$14.5 million that was the 40 per cent
decline in the audiences for the organizations over the last 20 years. It was one of the greatest
problems or the strategic issues that the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) have been facing
for a longer period of time (Hanson et al. 2016). It can be observed that in the year of 1932,
the organization started its journey with 24 musicians and now also descendants are with the
organization. They are of old-fashioned and they play the traditional music for the audiences
as they perform, what they have learned from their forefathers. It can be further observed that
in the past financial year, the managers and the board of directors of the organization have
decided to change the whole organizational structure and they have started recruiting
different kinds of musicians from the city of Sydney and the greater Sydney at the same point
of time (Biba et al. 2018).

4. Relevant theoretical concepts
In case of the core strategic implementations of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, it can be
understood that the company had tried to involve within the vision of the group and thus
receiving the love of the people in the Sydney Opera House. At the same point of time, the
company has also adopted the agreed values of artistry, intensity and unity for giving the best
performance and delighting the audiences consistently in every show and concerts all over
the country (Sydneysymphony.com, 2019). The Sydney Symphony Orchestra has been one of
the oldest orchestra groups of the country and they have also leveraged some of the useful
strategies for earning maximum output from the key factors. The major elements and factors
that have been adopted by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra are
 Adoption of the quality for being the most unrivalled organization in Australia
 The company has also adopted the iconic artistic leadership for the future
development and enhancement (Murphy et al. 2017).
 The managers of the company have also shown their capability in attracting the finest
musicians and soloists along with the music conductors of the world.
 On the other hand, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra has also aligned their future
supporters with the premium brand assets for delivering the best musical piece to the
audiences of Australia and the world (LoTempio et al. 2016).
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra has optimized for the two relevant theoretical concepts for
the growth and development of the organization. The two important theories and models are
the Knowledge-based theory and the Resource-based theory. It can be observed that the
resource-based theory has been one of the important theories that are based on the main
resources of the company. The resource-based theory can be developed with the help of the
human resource, physical assets, and financial assets and with the assistance of the intangible
assets. At the same point of time, the business entity observed that resource-based theories
are limited to their core liability and these resources are not homogenous in nature. Moreover,
it can be understood that these strategies can also be transformed and translated into the core
strategic advancements, which are valuable, inimitable, and rare for the prior exploitation of
the resources (Salter 2018).
Along with the application of the resource-based theories to the business organization, the
organization has also started the application of the knowledge-based theory in a simultaneous

manner for earning future benefits from the external market environment. In case of the
Sydney Symphony Orchestra, the knowledge-based theory is more powerful than that of the
resource-based theory because it is much heterogeneous in nature and it is much difficult to
explain in the external business scenario. At the same point in time, the knowledge-based
theory is also very important for gaining the competitive advantage of the firm for a longer
period of time (Power and Powell, 2016).
Thus, the resource-based theories and the knowledge-based theories are the two most
important theories that are applied by Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) for changing the
past scenarios and thus transforming it into more modern for attracting new customers within
a limited time frame (Mitchell and Benedict 2017).
In case of the core resource-based views, it can be observed that the organization has
increased their core resources and they have inducted over 90 musicians in the group, those
are expert in playing the jazz, pop and the rock concerts at the same point of time. Moreover,
the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has also inducted or recruited the renowned music
arranger David Robertson for his excellent talent and the sense in music. It can be further
noticed that David Robertson has been one of the highly literate fellows of the classical
musicianship and he has also a vast range of experiences, especially in the Australia
Orchestras (Garrido and Macritchie 2018). In the recent past, it can be observed that Adelaide
Symphony players have accepted the new dealings of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO)
and thus they have also done a new enterprise agreement. However, in the first phase of the
agreement, there were some of the wage difference of the 90 new recruitments in the
orchestra group and that was also being protested by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO)
players after the occurrences of the incidents. Thus, due to this particular reason, the revenue
of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has increased from a$13.9 million to a$17.9
million within the gap of last four years (Clouse 2016).
In the case of the Knowledge-based theories, it can be observed that the induction of the
musicians into the group has been one of the core significances of the theories of strategic
development. The recruitment of the Robert Davidson has been one of the most important
happenings within the organizational culture of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) and
thus the organization has been turned on to be the social fabrics or the parts of the Sydney in
the last few years. On the other hand, it can be further noticed that the senior musicians and
the managers of the organization has also induced new music instruments for attracting the

large customer base in the different cities of Australia, as well as in the other countries of
world at the same point of time (Hanson et al. 2016).
With the help of the core knowledge-based theories, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra has
also elevated their management and website system as they have been managing volunteer
system for the past few years. In this manner, the chairman of the company, Terrey Arcus has
connected well with the Sydney Opera House and also stabilized their financial portion in the
most interesting position. The Sydney Symphony Orchestra is one of the organizations in the
country, who have earned significantly more income than the other organizations. In the year
2014, the revenue of the federal government was a$13.9 million, whereas the total tickets
yielded for the shows of Sydney Symphony Orchestra was around a$17.9 million. Thus, in
this manner, the business entity has been stimulating their growth over the years and due to
this reason, they are successful in holding their legacy in the external market phenomenon
(Sydneysymphony.com, 2019).

5. Conclusion
It can be concluded that the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) has been one of the largest
orchestra groups of the world and they have been performing since 1932 in Australia. In the
case study, it has been noticed that a brief study of the summary along with the strategic
issues faced by the organization has been described in an elaborative manner. On the other
hand, the theories for the core strategic development has also been developed and explained
in relation to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO). It can be further observed that senior
managers and the musicians are also very enthusiastic for the further development of the
organization.

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