LSME 501 Strategic Management: IMI's Global Niche Market Strategy

This case study examines IMI, a global engineering group, and its strategic management approach, focusing on achieving market leadership in niche markets. It analyzes how IMI leverages skills and knowledge to gain a competitive advantage, emphasizing the importance of understanding consumer needs and fostering innovation through employee training and development. The report evaluates IMI's niche market strategy implementation and recommends strategic choices for differentiating its business in global markets, including product differentiation, research and development, and price differentiation. The analysis highlights the significance of aligning business strategies with external factors and tailoring products and services to meet specific consumer demands, ultimately contributing to IMI's success and competitive positioning.

Case Study-
IMI

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................2
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................2
Purpose of IMI business strategy and critically make the analysis of how managing skills and
knowledge can contribute to its competitive advantage.............................................................2
Evaluate the implementation of IMI niche market strategy and make recommendations over
three strategic choices with which IMI can differentiate its business in the global markets......4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7
Books and Journals.....................................................................................................................7
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INTRODUCTION
Strategic management is related with the identification and describing the strategies
which will be helpful to the organisation to achieve good performance and attain competitive
advantage in the market. Any of the company will be attaining competitive advantage because
they are highly profitable then the other similar type of companies which are existing in the
market. Strategic management will cover all the decisions which managers have to take in order
to improve the company performance or to make achievement of the gaols(Okumus and et. al.,
2019). Strategic management is related with making planning of the predictable and unforeseen
challenges which the company might have to face because of the dynamic business environment.
There is always change in the business environment because of which it becomes very important
that the management of a company is making some or the other modifications in development of
their business strategy. Developing the strategies for organisation requires key skills which will
be helpful to the organisation to develop their competitive position in the market. IMI is a global
engineering group which provides different engineering specialities which sells engineering
solutions in over 50 countries in the way to match customer needs. This report will cover
purpose of IMI business strategy and making analysis on how managing knowledge and skills
can contribute its competitive advantage and implementation of IMI nice market strategy with
the recommendation of other strategic choices.
MAIN BODY
Purpose of IMI business strategy and critically make the analysis of how managing skills and
knowledge can contribute to its competitive advantage
The main objective because of which IMI makes their business strategy is that they want
to achieve market leadership in the global niche market which it serves. The niche market is a
small segment of market which often provides the consumers a highly specialised products in
which the competitors which are supplying the products are also few. IMI main purpose of
developing their business strategy is that they want to increase their focus towards their niche
markets globally(Köseoğlu and Parnell, 2020). The other purpose of developing their business
strategy is because they want to make higher investment in new products and have to maintain
the high operating margins and want to make the reduction in the manufacturing cost in their
supply and distribution chain. The management of IMI knows that the objective of a company
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and its business strategy will be achieved only when they will be able to make the identification
of the needs of consumers. It is because this will be helpful to them increasing their customer
loyalty and wants to enhance their competitive position in the market.
IMI always aims to make the use of knowledge and expertise so that they can achieve
competitive position in the market. The company is working in around 50 countries and are
matching their products according to the needs and wants to consumers so that they can provide
the best services(Aguilar and et. al., 2021). The company competitive advantage comes when
they makes the combination of their knowledge and skills of the employees who are having deep
understanding of what the consumers wants and needs. Company knowledge and skills have
always helped in order to boost the efficiency of company in making decisions. The competitive
advantage of IMI can be made only when they are providing employment to people who are
good in numerous skills and which is required by the organisation also. The increase in market
competition has made it really very important that company have to employ people who are good
in knowledge and are having the talent with which company could attain its competitive position.
The IMI has a long history in which they work to provide specialised products and
services to people and this is the main reason why the company is achieving success in the global
market (Abutabenjeh, 2021). The skills and knowledge of IMI are providing products and
services to people which are helping in meeting the needs of consumers and is also helpful to the
company in making their product differentiated. It is because of the skills and knowledge with
which they rely on is helping them to understand the needs and wants of consumers and to gain
clear market leadership and to make the barriers for other existing competitors that they find it
really very difficult to make the entry and compete with IMI. They are offering those products
which cannot be provided by their competitors and because of which the skills and knowledge
for the company becomes very important.
The other factor which is helpful to IMI in contributing to its competitive advantage is
because of the fact that they are helping the company in providing delivery of its strategy and
skills for the competence of a business. For the company it is important that the employees are
having engineering and technical know-how skill but the company is looking for those individual
who also have the entrepreneurial spirit. The company always tries that they provide
employment specially to these kind of people because this will give them the facility to look for
new things and to build a creative way so that they can be able to add value to the customers and
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also to the business. IMI tries that they provide training and development sessions to its
employees so that they can make the overall development but in a innovative way. This is the
only reason because of which company is making the consideration that they employ people who
are having the right skills because the market is becoming competitive and the best way to stay
ahead of the competition is that they build their organisation with talented people. This is the
only way which has helped IMI to work according to the needs and wants of consumers and
which helped them to attain their competitive market position(Ogbechie, 2018).
Evaluate the implementation of IMI niche market strategy and make recommendations over three
strategic choices with which IMI can differentiate its business in the global markets
The implementation of IMI niche market strategy is that to fulfil the needs and wants of
consumers so that they can gain good niche market share globally in which they are working.
The main basis of making the implementation of the IMI market strategy is that they develop the
understanding of the consumers and the market which they require and according to that
company always tries that they are providing the consumers with those customised products and
services(Bogiday, 2019). The management of a company knows that with this, they can gain the
loyalty of consumers and would be able to enhance the competitive position in the market. IMI
knows that there are some of the existing competitors in the market who have the ability to
provide specialised knowledge and can also provide people with fluid engineering solutions. But
the main implementation business strategy because of which they can gain the niche market
share is that they are bringing three aspects in which the first involves the engineering skills
which is required in fluid technology and innovation, the other is market leading positions in the
chosen niche market and exposure to those markets which are getting the benefit from long term
structural growth including the climate change and urbanisation. The main USP of company is
that they are selling the unique features so that their market share can be increased or can make
the lower supply chain cost.
They also make the consideration of the external factors which can make an impact on the
functioning of business(Leiblein, Reuer and Zenger, 2018). These are also the factors which
impacts the business position of the company and also the strategy which the company is going
to select to get a niche market share. This involves the social factors which IMI is making the
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consideration so that they can meet the demands and needs of consumers, the other is the
political factor which covers the initiatives which the government has provided to the business in
its growth.
Recommendation-
The three factors with which IMI can make its business differentiated with the other existing
business have been explained below-
 Product differentiation- Product differentiation is one of the best strategy which can be
used by any of the business which is visible. IMI always makes the consideration of
needs and wants which will be required by consumers so that they can create a goodwill
in the market in which they are differentiating the products in the market. This is the best
strategy which will be helpful to IMI because they employ people who are highly
qualified and are having the right skills for making the research that by which the needs
and wants of consumers will be satisfied (Agha and Dixon, 2021). IMI using this type of
strategy can build good customer base and also larger share of niche market.
 Research and development- The another strategy which will be helpful to IMI will be
the kind of research which they are making in the market because with the type of
research they will be making, they will be delivering the products to consumers on that
basis only. To make the expansion of business in global market and specially in niche
segment it becomes very important that the company is performing shallow research so
that they can find out as what consumers requires (Hutaibat, 2019).
 Price differentiation- This is the another differentiated and most important strategy
which can be used by IMI in order to gain good market share and also success in the new
market. In general, every consumer require that they are taking products at low prices
other then what is being offered to the competitors (Drobyazko and et. al., 2019). They
can provide the product at price which is lower then the other competitors in the market.
When IMI will be able to provide such products and services to people then in this case
they will be to make the differentiation of their business in the global markets.
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CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that the main focus of company is achieve
competitive position in the market in which they main focus is on niche market globally in which
they are providing their products. Their other focus is on making investment in the new products
and to make reduction in the manufacturing cost of the products which they are producing. The
company is working in many other countries in which their main objective is just to maintain
high operating margins but this they do by attracting people who are high ion the requires skills
and talents. The organisation believe that they would be able to achieve success only when they
will be having the expertise and skills to balance up all the factors. The company have always
focused on working with the requirements of consumers as what they want and what are their
needs. It is because they believe that with this, the company would be able to make growth. The
company has to make their focus towards the external factors so that it can become easier to
them in order to achieve their business strategy which can be done only by making monitoring of
the external environment factors which will make them represent about if those factors are
creating opportunities or threats to the business.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Abutabenjeh, S., 2021. Strategic management in state government two servants of the same
master: Procurement and finance. International Journal of Public Administration, 44(7),
pp.607-621.
Agha, N. and Dixon, J.C., 2021. The uniqueness of spectator sport from a strategic management
perspective: The case for spectatoritis. Journal of Global Sport Management, 6(1), pp.7-
29.
Aguilar, R. and et. al., 2021. Flipping the strategic management classroom: Undergraduate
students’ learning outcomes. Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research, 65(6),
pp.1081-1096.
Bogiday, I., 2019. Clusterization of agro-industrial enterprises of Ukraine as the basis of
effective strategic management. Agricultural and Resource Economics: International
Scientific E-Journal, 5(2), pp.86-98.
Drobyazko, S. and et. al., 2019. Factors of influence on the sustainable development in the
strategy management of corporations. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 18,
pp.1-5.
Hutaibat, K., 2019. Accounting for strategic management, strategising and power structures in
the Jordanian higher education sector. Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change.
Köseoğlu, M.A. and Parnell, J., 2020. The evolution of the intellectual structure of strategic
management between 1980 and 2019. Journal of Strategy and Management.
Leiblein, M.J., Reuer, J.J. and Zenger, T., 2018. What makes a decision strategic?. Strategy
Science, 3(4), pp.558-573.
Ogbechie, C., 2018. Strategic Management Practices in Africa. In Indigenous Management
Practices in Africa. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Okumus, F. and et. al., 2019. Strategic management research in hospitality and tourism: a
perspective article. Tourism Review.
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