Strategic Management: Personal Product Report and Analysis

This report presents a strategic self-assessment, positioning the author as a 'product' within the professional landscape. It begins with an executive summary outlining the report's structure and key findings. The discussion section delves into the industry life cycle, applying it to the author's career trajectory, and conducts a thorough SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Resource capabilities are evaluated, followed by the articulation of a personal vision, mission, and strategic approach. The report explores competitive strategies, including the application of the BCG matrix, and examines international strategies and leadership styles, specifically transformational leadership, to approach change effectively. Ethical considerations are also addressed, emphasizing honesty and transparency. The conclusion summarizes key insights and provides recommendations for personal and professional development. The report utilizes relevant sources to support its arguments and provides a comprehensive analysis of the author's skills, competencies, and potential within the business environment.

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

Executive summary
In this report, I have projected myself as a product. Different personal strengths and
weaknesses have been elaborated by providing support with evidence from relevant sources.
In addition to this, personal mission and vision as a product as a product has been described.
Personal expertise, competencies are described well that can increase my value as a product.
Different models like BCG matrix are incorporated to measure market value and future
opportunities. Personal leadership style is also elaborated that can help me to approach
towards a change.
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Table of Contents
a. Introduction............................................................................................................................4
b. Discussion..............................................................................................................................4
1. Industry life cycle...............................................................................................................4
2. SWOT analysis and resource capabilities..........................................................................5
3. Vision, mission, and strategy..............................................................................................6
4. Competitive strategy...........................................................................................................6
5. International strategy..........................................................................................................7
6. Leadership style to approach change..................................................................................7
7. Ethics..................................................................................................................................8
c. Conclusion and recommendations..........................................................................................8
Reference list..............................................................................................................................9
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a. Introduction
In product development, viability means that a product can be purchased and perform well so
that it can be recommended to others. Besides, good performance of a product helps to
increase popularity. Commercially viable product means that a product has the ability to
compete with other products in the market. An employee in and organization can be
considered as a product, which is a sum of experiences, skills, and abilities. Different
strengths and weaknesses can be considered as features of the product. It is essential for the
leaders to utilize the strengths of an employee and devise proper strategies to mitigate the
weakness. In this study, I am considering myself as a product and different attributes have
been discussed in a proper way.
b. Discussion
1. Industry life cycle
Industry life cycle consists of different stages of business operation. As mentioned by
Robertson et al. (2015), an industry life cycle includes five stages including startup, growth,
shakeout, maturity, and decline. In case of different kind of business, these stages remain for
different time spans. At the startup stage, a business faces less expectation of customers. At
this stage, an organization experience lower revenue generation. Similarly, when I will join a
new company, the concerned management will expect less from me. I may not do things
perfectly at that time. However, I will try my best to learn and increase competencies. The
second stage is the growth stage and in this stage, products start attracting a wider segment
of the market and continue growing (Mayerson, 2015). Similarly, an accountant grows
gradually by learning work from seniors and leaders. I will start delivering more accurate
performance and people will start liking my working skills.
The shakeout stage is concerned about the consolidation of the industry. According to
Dubreuil et al. (2016), industry approach maturity and declining rate of cash flow, revenue
and profit can be seen in this stage. Similarly, an employee faces more expectations after
they get experienced over time. I can fail to meet expectations of the organization at a certain
point and it may be useful to work collaboratively with others to meet expectations of
management. I am able to work in a team to help the organization to meet its business goals.
On the other hand, Bakker et al. (2016) have mentioned that business reaches its saturation
point and it is considered as an established business at maturity stage. After a period, my
experience will make me saturated and I will be able to deliver my performance effectively to
meet expectation of my hierarchy. My efforts and skills are potent to help me in getting into
this stage within minimum time. At the decline stage, organizations try to beat their
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competitors to dominate the industry. I, as an employee, will compete with other employees
to get promoted. The competition will be healthy and I am capable to give the best
contribution in reaching organizational goals.
2. SWOT analysis and resource capabilities
Personal SWOT analysis is done here to describe my own strengths and weaknesses.
Strengths Weaknesses
● In-depth knowledge in accounting is
the biggest strength
● I am honest
● Motivation is my biggest strength
● I am comfortable to work in a
diverse team.
● I am skilled to handle advanced
technologies of accounting
● Adaptability, flexibility
● I am unable to solve complex
accounting problems due to less
experience
● Less experience in handling stress.
● I have some negative work habits
like disorganization, short-tempered.
Opportunities Threats
● Need for accountants and auditors is
growing with an increase if industry.
● On job training and educational
classes can increase my skills
● There are many competitors in this
sector.
● Staff shortage can increase my
stress
● Change in economic climate can
impact on demand for accountants.
● Rise of AI can create fewer job
opportunities.
Analysis
Educational qualification, knowledge about modern technologies acts as a big factor while
entering a workforce as a commodity (Stark, 2015). In a large firm, workers come from
diverse cultures with different values and beliefs. It is essential for an individual to get
accustomed to this diverse culture to get success (Johnson et al. 2017). Moreover, my biggest
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strength is motivation that can help me to solve and lead a team during complex situations.
However, negative work habits like late at work, short temperament can impact on work
performance. As said by Bocken et al. (2016), negative work habits decrease competitiveness
of a person in a workforce. Rise of artificial intelligence is a great threat to workforce.
Moreover, recruitment of inadequate staff can increase my stress level and impact on quality
of work.
Resources and capabilities
My personal resources include education, knowledge about the latest accounting software,
creativeness, observation power, and others. On the other hand, hardworking, ability of
continuous learning and thirst of development are my capabilities. The capabilities can be
improved in the workplace by attending regular training and development sessions
(Hinterhuber and Liozu, 2015). My expertise on the latest accounting software and auditing
technique can help me to provide value as a product. Moreover, life experiences like
educational teaching, internships, and others also increase my value as a product.
3. Vision, mission, and strategy
Vision is set for explaining the way that a company is considering to achieve goals
(Karniouchina et al. 2016). My vision is to provide effective service to the organization,
which can help to increase overall productivity of the firm. Moreover, my vision is to achieve
personal goals such as development of new skills.
My mission as a product of workforce is to increase my skills and capabilities, which can
help me to gain opportunities to perform on a big platform in future. For achieving this
mission, it is essential to develop essential skills like communication, technical, problem
solving and learning regularly.
Among the strategies, maintaining clarity is essential. Staff needs to say what is actually
thought and clarity must be maintained during communication process (Schawel and Billing,
2018). Setting boundaries is another essential strategy that can help me to maintain a work-
life balance. Validating co-workers personal feelings before performing an action is another
strategy (Johnson et al. 2017). This can help me to work with a diverse workforce.
4. Competitive strategy
Efficiency of an investment is measured through measuring return on Investment (ROI).
Similarly, in my case, ROI will be high as the organization will get more benefit than its
investment in me. They do not need to train me regarding handling advanced accounting
technologies. I already have knowledge of this aspect and they will get accurate outcomes
from my end. I am not expecting extraordinary remuneration like other accounting experts.
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Rather, I am focusing on my performance and development. Relying on the BCG matrix, it
can be stated that one can consider me as a cash cow. Mayerl et al.(2016) have mentioned
that having a higher market share in a mature marketplace. I am hard-working and I have
knowledge about advanced accounting software. I am a quick learner and I have gathered
prior experience in accounting field. Due to this reason, I am eligible to be considered a cash
cow as I can be fit in a mature workplace.
My skills and urge to learn new things are making me different from others. I will focus more
on work than my salary and will perform my work within deadlines to help the company to
satisfy clients. According to Van Wingerden et al. (2017), identifying a good employee is a
difficult task as there is high competition in every sector. I would like to request my future
hierarchy to monitor my performance regularly to verify whether I am capable to keep my
promises or not. My dedication level will help others to choose me among others for their
own benefit. Hiring me can never be a threat to an organization. Rather, it can be considered
as an opportunity to have me within the company as I am a good choice that can help to
improve business performance of a firm. Based on the Day model, people may invest in me
to have a better return.
5. International strategy
International strategy allows a business to enter into international marketplace. I have
developed a clear understanding of different cultures and I know how to respect people from
other cultural beliefs. These aspects are making me different from others and people can
consider me for dealing with international business operations. On the other hand, they can
put me in a diverse team, where I can get the opportunity to work with people from different
cultural backgrounds. I am comfortable working with people from any country or culture. On
the other hand, I have developed good communication skills that allow me to deal with
international business people. I need to focus on learning different other languages that can
help me to get an opportunity to work in a global firm. I am focusing on improving my
listening skills so that I can listen to people from different countries and understand their
viewpoints. My capabilities and competency level can help me to be accepted in international
business fields. International companies may consider me as a part of their business and I am
ready to give my best effort to satisfy their expectations. I am able to understand the needs of
different kinds of customers from different economical level. This approach can help me in
future to work accordingly to satisfy different needs of customers.
6. Leadership style to approach change
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I follow transformational leadership style, which can help me to approach to a change. As
opined by Nanda (2016). Transformational leadership helps leaders to encourage and inspire
others for innovating and creating change. My cultural experiences have helped to accept any
change and motivate others to accept the change. This can be done by my strengths like the
ability to work in a team. I can work as a part of team and inspire others to accept the change.
Moreover, different personal characters like ability to take risks, honesty, and self-
management can help me to approach to a change. As mentioned by Cooper (2019),
adaptability is another essential character of a transformational leader that helps to cope up
within an adverse situation. I am adaptable to any unknown situation that will help me to
approach to any kind of change.
7. Ethics
In personal strengths, it is mentioned that honesty is one of my strengths. This can help me to
commence my actions in the workplace by maintaining workplace policies. Employees in an
organization need to maintain transparency, which impacts on productivity (Mayerson,
2015). Performing honestly and maintaining transparency can motivate managers to do more
investments of an employee. If a product provides good performance then purchaser makes
further investments to maintain the product. Hence, ethical performance can encourage
organizational managers to do more investment in training and providing rewards.
I will also maintain different common code of ethics like providing equal opportunities to
subordinates, reporting illegal activities to senior management and treating company assets
and information with care. This can help to provide more ROI and satisfaction rate of
recruiters can increase. In addition, I will not get involved in any kind of discriminating
activities, which is not according to ethical policies of the organization.
c. Conclusion and recommendations
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that viability of a product depends on its
quality and characteristics. In this case, I have projected myself as a product, where I will
enter into the workforce as a commodity. Different strengths and capabilities can act as a
positive factor that increases my acceptance as a product. My strengths and competencies
have increased my demand in the market and can be categorized as a cash cow.
However, it can be recommended that regular self-assessment is required to find gaps in
performance. Design a personal development plan can help to mitigate the gaps and will
support increasing capabilities, which can help me to provide more ROI. This plan can be
done by setting proper objectives, timeframes and choose proper resources. Moreover, taking
part in mentorship programs in organization helps in increasing my competencies.
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Reference list
Bakker, A.B., Oerlemans, W.G. and Ten Brummelhuis, L.L., 2016. Becoming fully engaged
in the workplace: What individuals and organizations can do to foster work engagement. The
Fulfilling Workplace (pp. 75-90). Routledge.
Baxter, M., 2018. Product design. CRC Press.
Bocken, N.M., De Pauw, I., Bakker, C., and van der Grinten, B., 2016. Product design and
business model strategies for a circular economy. Journal of Industrial and Production
Engineering, 33(5), pp.308-320.
Cooper, R.G., 2019. The drivers of success in new-product development. Industrial
Marketing Management, 76, pp.36-47.
Dubreuil, P., Forest, J., Gillet, N., Fernet, C., Thibault-Landry, A., Crevier-Braud, L. and
Girouard, S., 2016. Facilitating well-being and performance through the development of
strengths at work: Results from an intervention program. International Journal of Applied
Positive Psychology, 1(1-3), pp.1-19.
Hinterhuber, A. and Liozu, S.M., 2015. Pricing ROI, pricing capabilities and firm
performance. Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management, 14(3), pp.211-228.
Johnson, G., Whittington, R., Scholes, K., Angwin, D.N. and Regner, P., 2017. Exploring
strategy: text and cases. London: Pearson Education
Karniouchina, E., Uslay, C. and Erenburg, G., 2016. The case for product placement. Rutgers
Business Review, 1(1).
Mayerl, H., Stolz, E., Waxenegger, A., Rásky, É. and Freidl, W., 2016. The role of personal
and job resources in the relationship between psychosocial job demands, mental strain, and
health problems. Frontiers in psychology, 7, p.1214.
Mayerson, N., 2015. Characterizing” the workplace: Using character strengths to create
sustained success. Kognition & Paedagogik, 96, pp.14-27.
Nanda, V., 2016. Quality management system handbook for product development companies.
CRC press.
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Robertson, I.T., Cooper, C.L., Sarkar, M. and Curran, T., 2015. Resilience training in the
workplace from 2003 to 2014: A systematic review. Journal of Occupational and
Organizational Psychology, 88(3), pp.533-562.
Schawel, C. and Billing, F., 2018. BCG-Matrix. In Top 100 Management Tools , pp. 41-43
Stark, J., 2015. Product lifecycle management. In Product lifecycle management (Volume 1)
(pp. 1-29). Springer, Cham.
Van Wingerden, J., Derks, D. and Bakker, A.B., 2017. The impact of personal resources and
job crafting interventions on work engagement and performance. Human Resource
Management, 56(1), pp.51-67.
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