LSME 501 Strategic Management: IMI's Strategy for Global Markets

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of IMI (Imperial Metal Industries) and its strategic management approaches. It evaluates the purpose of IMI's business strategy, critically analyzing how managing knowledge and skills contributes to its competitive advantage. The report also implements IMI's niche market strategy in light of its competitive advantage and external business environment, using Porter's Five Forces and PESTLE analysis. Furthermore, it recommends three strategic choices for IMI to differentiate its business within global markets to achieve and sustain long-term market leadership objectives, including smart expansion, promotional activities, and alternative planning. The analysis considers political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors affecting IMI's operations and provides recommendations for strategic adaptation.

Strategic Management
Table of Contents

Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Main Body.......................................................................................................................................3
Evaluate the purpose of IMI business strategy, and critically analyse how managing
knowledge and skills to contributeit’s competitive advantage...............................................3
Critically implement the IMI niche market strategy in the light of its competitive advantage
and external business environment.........................................................................................4
Recommend three strategic choices by which IMI might differentiate it’s business within
global markets to achieve and sustain long term market leadership objectives.....................7
Conclusion-......................................................................................................................................8
REFERNCES:..................................................................................................................................9
Books and Journals:................................................................................................................9
Introduction
Today most of the engineering companies aim to provide those devices and software to
industries which will help to gain customer satisfaction by helping them to make their life

easy(Makadok, Burton and Barney, 2018).The same aim is obtained by IMI which stands for
Imperial Metal Industries which is headquartered in Birmingham, England, UK. It was founded
in 1862 by George Kynochwhich was an Scottish entrepreneur. This company basically
manufacture those devices which aims to reduce carbon emissions and improve energy
efficiencies. It manufacture the machines and tools with the help of their skilled engineers. The
following file covers purpose of IMI business strategy, critical analysis of managing knowledge
and skills which contribute it’s competitive advantage. The following report also covers
implementation of IMI niche market strategy, it’s competitive environment and external
environment and recommendations for differentiating their business within global market to
attain sustainable long term market leadership objectives.
Main Body
Evaluate the purpose of IMI business strategy, and critically analyse how managing knowledge
and skills to contributeit’s competitive advantage.
Purpose of IMI business strategy-
 To satisfy their customers by providing them those machines and software which will
make their life easy to live.
 To solve specific industrial problems so that they will work effectively and provide
benefits to their customers(Teece, 2019).
 The most important purpose of IMI is to lead the market by gaining competitive
advantage by reducing the cost of their manufacturing and increasing their profit margin.
This will help them to invest more on research and development department.
 This also essential purpose of IMI where they provide those products to the industry
which is new and their competitors are unable to manufacture them. This can be done by
their innovative ideas. Hence, differentiation is also a important purpose for IMI.
Ways of managing skills and knowledge to contribute it’s competitive advantage-
Every company aims to have competitive advantage in respect of their offering market.
Managing organisation resources in a appreciate way can help a company to achieve this aim.
One of the most essential asset of any company are their employees and their skills and
knowledge which help the company to produce quality products which further help them to
achieve organisation goal. In context of IMI, they hire well skilled and knowledgeable engineers

which help them to provide those software and machines which satisfy their
customers(Chilariand Gribincea, 2021). On the other hand, they also focus to have Innovative
skilled employees as well as entrepreneur spirit people in their organisation which help them to
provide innovative and effective ideas for their organisational growth and the ways to achieve
their main target of gaining competitive advantage. IMI also invest in those employees who are
having commercial knowledge and local market knowledge so that they can help the company to
analyse needs and wants of their customers as well as key trends which are expecting by the
customers.
Secondly, they also focus on innovative skilled employees and motivate them to produce that
idea for software and tools which could not be copied by their competitors. Hence,
differentiation products which provide some new and unique features of products to customers
will help to gain competitive advantage and lead the market by IMI. Their strategic convergence
helps them to gain higher profit margin and create barrier for new companies to enter their
industry by their differentiation products(Veena, Jigeesh and Bhat, 2019). Hence, there are many
wants which can be adopt by companies to manage their skills and knowledge of their employees
to gain competitive advantage in the market.
Critically implement the IMI niche market strategy in the light of its competitive advantage and
external business environment.
To analyse competitive environment for a company to decide their strategic plan to gain
competitive advantage Porter five forces model is used which help to determine the factors
affecting a company while working effectively in their competitive environment. Porter five
forces model of IMI company is given below-
Threat of new entry-Industrial strategies and competitive strategies restricts the entry of new
companies(Khurram, Hassan and Khurram, 2020). In case new companies enter the market with
ineffective competitive strategies then that company have to shut down their business and exit
the market. In context of IMI, their strategic convergence which consist of manufacturing unique
products and software for their customers acts as a barrier for new companies to enter the
market. Hence, the brand image and effective management of their employees helps them to
maintain their high position in the market. Any new company enters their market could not
impact negatively upon them.

Threat of substitute goods-Substitute goods are those goods which can be used in place of each
other due to their similar features and characteristics. In context of IMI, they are having tough
competition and their competitors can produce similar kind of products with low quality as
compared to IMI products and can sold them on low prices which impact negative upon their
profit earning ratio. To defend this threat, they already modified their manufacturing techniques
and adopt to manufacture differentiation products which is having some unique and different
features. Hence, with uniqueness in products can be challenging for their competitors to copy
their products. Hence, they are gaining benefit from their product differentiation technique to
defend this threat.
Bargaining power of customers-It consist of total number of customers and their behaviour to
impact upon a company's earning profit(Melina and Berliana, 2021). The companies which lead
the market are just because of their total number of customers, leader companies are having more
number of customers as compared to their competitors which further help them to earn more
profit and expand their business. In context of IMI, they provide their goods and services to fast
growing economies such as China, Brazil, India and few others. Hence, they are having more
customers from such demanding countries where machines and software development is required
by each industry. Hence, to maintain their position by IMI they must ensure that they will be the
least charging company for their products and services from their customers to gain more
customers which further help them to lead the market.
Bargaining power of suppliers-Suppliers plays an important role for company's success by
providing their quality raw material for manufacturing quality goods. In context of IMI, their
suppliers are loyal and having good reputation in market. Hence, it is beneficial for IMI to
maintain good relationship with such suppliers who will help them to grow well globally. IMI
manufacture ventilators, anaesthesia machines which controls the flow of steam, gas and glued in
heavy industries such as nuclear industry, oil and gas industry. Hence for manufacturing this
items it is essential that the goods will be safe and healthy to utilise in companies because a
single damage can cause huge loss not only by company but it can cause entire area where the
products of IMI is used. Hence, maintaining the quality is most important for them which can be
started from purchasing qualitative raw material from their suppliers.
Competitive rivalry- It consist of total number of competitors and their strategies which
impacted a company(Perera, 2020). In context of IMI, their competitors like Silvercorp Metal

Inc., New Gold Inc., Pan American Silver Corporation and many others are having good brand
image and offer their customers similar goods and services which is offered by IMI. Hence, IMI
must focus on prices of their products and keep lowering the prices as compared to their
competitors to gain competitive advantage in market. On the other hand, quality products with
least or no damage within their manufactured products will also help them to gain competitive
advantage.
Strategic management in context of external business environment of IMI is given below-
Political factors-In context of UK, their government innovative help companies to solve their
issues related to climate change or any particular change in policy. Hence, it is beneficial for IMI
to maintain their effectiveness of operations in any political change in their country. On the other
hand, government of UK has increased the corporate tax which impact negative upon the
company that they have to pay huge amount of tax from their retained earnings.
Economic factor- Current global recession of Covid 19 pandemic is causing a downturn in
demand of IMI products(Song, Sun and Jin, 2017). Hence, it can impact negative upon their
profit. This can be managed by increasing awareness at global level that how their specific
products will help them to develop their economies of scale and also solve their issues related to
Covid pandemic. On the other hand, UK is having high employment rate which help IMI to hire
skilled and experienced engineers for their organisational growth.
Social factor-UK's ageing population is affecting the ability of skills which means that their
skills are not utilised properly due to their old age. In context of IMI, they can hire again their
old employees who get retirement as new position like coach or learner who will help the
company to provide training to new and young employees for effectiveness in organisation. This
strategy will help the company to continue the effective way of working which is given by their
older employees for company growth.
Technology factor-IMI is engineering company whose operations are fully depends upon high
advancement in technology(Pan, Chen and Zhan, 2019). They prepare advance tools and
machines as well as software with the help of their technology to solve industrial issues. Increase
in the use of internet will help the company to analyse their market and compare their
performance with their competitors performance to analyse the gap.

Environmental factor- For providing specialised products, IMI reduce carbon emissions and
improve energy efficiency. This activity by IMI also help them to step forward to protect their
environment and make a sustainable change within their business.
Legal factor- It is essential to follow all legal laws made by the country where the business
operates(Nurmi and Niemelä, 2018). Hence, Health and Safety act of UK lead to increase
training needs in IMI because this law states that employees should provide safe environment to
work and must be trained effectively to reduce uncertainties at work place. Hence, this will also
help IMI to train more to get better performance from their employees which will further help
them to increase their productivity and profitability.
Recommend three strategic choices by which IMI might differentiate it’s business within global
markets to achieve and sustain long term market leadership objectives
 Expand smartly- This is the way where companies adopt smarter ways to expand their
market. It is recommended for IMI to manage their finance effectively to eliminate
unproductive activities from their business which cover huge investment and utilising the
cost which they spend on unproductive activities to shifted toward productive activities
for business growth. Hence, IMI should not only focus to gain competitive advantage
only but they also need to look after the culture and the position of their existing
resources effectively to sustain leadership in global market.
 Promotional activities- Increase in the number of competitors will impact the business
of IMI. Hence, it is recommended for them to investing high in their promotional
activities where they can promote their products and software by mentioning the be edits
of using their products over their competitors. They can also opt social media marketing
to reach to customers at global level. A effective promotional tool can help IMI to attract
more customers and gain competitive advantage.
 Alternative plans-It might be possible for a company that the plans which they made for
various activities in their organisation will be decline ineffective after their
implementation(Reilly, 2021). Hence, it is recommended for IMI that they must have at
least 3-4 alternatives for a single plan so that in case plan number 1 does not work then
they can switch instantly to plan number 2. Therefore, this will save their time and money
to formulate a new plan. This is one of the most effective way to lead the market by
continues working and growing well.

Conclusion-
From the above information it is concluded that employees skills and knowledge plays an
important role to gain competitive advantage in the market. Product differentiation will help to
provide unique and new product to customers which can help to mitigate the challenge of threat
of substitute goods and threat of new entrance. Many external business environment like political
factors, social factors, legal factor and many others impacted the business operations. Hence,
they have to analyse their impacts and formulate strategies to reduce their negative impact and
utilize the opportunities effectively. It is also concluded that to become the leader of the industry
it is essential to make alternative plans, promote well for manufacturing products and expand
smartly by managing finance of organisation effectively.

REFERNCES:
Books and Journals:
Chilari, V. and Gribincea, C., 2021. Skills for smart specialisation in Moldova: understanding
and managing skills as a key resource for growth and competitiveness.
Khurram, A., Hassan, S. and Khurram, S., 2020. Revisiting Porter Five Forces Model: Influence
of Non-Governmental Organizations on Competitive Rivalry in Various Economic
Sectors. Pakistan Social Sciences Review, 4.
Makadok, R., Burton, R. and Barney, J., 2018. A practical guide for making theory contributions
in strategic management.
Melina, F. and Berliana, H.P., 2021. Comparative Analysis between FMCG Industry (PT
Mayora Indah Tbk) and Cosmetics Industry (PT Paragon Technology & Innovation) with
Five Forces Porter Method. Nusantara Journal of Current Economics and Business
Ventures, 1(2), pp.85-94.
Nurmi, J. and Niemelä, M.S., 2018, November. PESTEL analysis of hacktivism campaign
motivations. In Nordic Conference on Secure IT Systems (pp. 323-335). Springer, Cham.
Pan, W., Chen, L. and Zhan, W., 2019. PESTEL analysis of construction productivity
enhancement strategies: A case study of three economies. Journal of Management in
Engineering, 35(1), p.05018013.
Perera, R., 2020. Understanding Porter’s Five Forces Analysis. Nerdynaut.
Reilly, C., 2021. How Pooled Employer Plans Could Transform the Retirement Saving
Landscape--A Road Map From the UK. Benefits Quarterly, 37(3).
Song, J., Sun, Y. and Jin, L., 2017. PESTEL analysis of the development of the waste-to-energy
incineration industry in China. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 80, pp.276-
289.
Teece, D.J., 2019. A capability theory of the firm: an economics and (strategic) management
perspective. New Zealand Economic Papers, 53(1), pp.1-43.
Veena, K., Jigeesh, N. and Bhat, M.S., 2019. Knowledge Management Practices in Managing
Projects and Project People: A Case Study of an Indian IT Company. IUP Journal of
Knowledge Management, 17(1).