Strategic Management: Examining PwC's Business Level Strategies

This essay provides an analysis of PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) strategic management approaches, focusing on the business-level strategies employed by the company to maintain a competitive edge. It highlights PwC's utilization of cost leadership through investments in Research and Development and the blue ocean strategy to create consumer value and upskill employees. The essay also discusses the differentiation strategy, enabled by digital advancements, mobile technology, and data mining, to cater to unique client needs and enhance operational efficiency. Furthermore, it explores how PwC optimizes service channels and fosters collaboration with clients to drive strategic change, emphasizing the importance of soft skills training and flexible mindsets in delivering innovative solutions and achieving higher profitability. A blue ocean strategy is visually represented through a table and figure, comparing PwC with Deloitte across value elements like revenue, number of industries, number of countries, capital generation, and market share.

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Strategic Management
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Week 10
Answer)
PwC uses the business level strategies that can help them in going ahead of the
competitors.PWC makes use of cost leadershipstrategy that helps the company in expanding the
client and the consumer base.The company has made heavy investment in the area of Research
and Development that has helped the company in gaining a high market share.The blue ocean
strategy makes the competitors irrelevant that helps in the creation of consumer value.In the
event of moving the company offshore, the company took recourse to human resource strategy
that has helped it in training the staff in the organization (Pwc.com.au 2019). The blue ocean
strategy can be utilized by PwC in the event of utilizing thee-learning data base that has helped it
gaining the skill set of the employees at that of a low cost. This provides opportunity to the
company in up skilling the employees that can help it in surviving within the competitive
environment. PWC also invests in the arena of soft skills training that ensures the fact that the
staffs are holistic when they are dealing with the clients. The company has utilized advertising
along with capital utilization pertaining to the resources that has helped it in achieving cost
leadership strategy. PwC fosters flexible mindset in the employees that can help the staff of the
company in providing innovative solutions to the clients. PWC makes use of a team that helps it
in determining the needs of the clients that can help it in addressing the needs of the target
market. PwC determines the pricing policies on the basis of the information that is available after
the evaluation of the financial condition of the market (Kurt and Zehir 2016).
PWC uses the differentiation strategy that makes the company take recourse to actions
that can help the firm in achieving success.PWC uses the digital advancements that plays an

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important role in the fostering of collaboration between clients and the commercial partners.
PWC takes recourse to mobile technology that can engage customers and provide the company
with competitive edge in the event of going offshore. PwC makes use of data mining that helps
the company in serving the distinctive needs of the clients (Kim and Mauborgne 2017).
Technological innovations are used by the company that helps it in augmenting operational
efficiency which can provide the customers with a superior experience. It can play an important
role in changing cost structure which can align business with that of operating models. It can be
useful in the aspect of delivery of customer value. It can generate new kinds of revenue streams
from existing or new customers (Wolcott and Lippitz 2017). Digital technology can be beneficial
for the company while they move offshore that can increase efficiency of operations of company.
PwC optimizes the service channel mix by optimizing the existing channels that helps it in
redefining the channel strategy. PWC works with the clients so that they can create framework
that can help in driving change which can help them in achieving the planned strategy. The
company arranges interactive workshop for the clients that help in the building of consensus
pertaining to the existing strategy of the organization.
PwC by making use of Research & Development can produce the high standard of
products at that of a low cost which can help it in achieving cost leadership. The soft skills
training imparted to the employees can help in the arena of product leadership. The use of the
advertising of PwC can help it in achieving higher profitability that can help in the aspect of cost
leadership. The use of the element of service channel mix along with data mining can help the
company in adopting the differentiation strategy.

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Value Element PwC Bloomber
g Reuters Deloitte
Revenue 4 3 2 8
Number of industries 7 4 5 6
Number of countries 5 4 7 8
Capital generation 8 3 7 8
Market share 4 6 4 7
Table: Blue Ocean Strategy of PwC
Source: Created by the author
Figure: Blue Ocean Strategy of PwC
Source: Created by the author

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References
Kim, W.C. and Mauborgne, R.A., 2017. Blue Ocean Leadership (Harvard Business Review
Classics). Harvard Business Review Press.
Kurt, A. and Zehir, C., 2016. The relationship between cost leadership strategy, total quality
management applications and financial performance.
Pwc.com.au (2019). PwC Australia. [online] PwC. Available at: https://www.pwc.com.au/
[Accessed 25 Jan. 2019].
Wolcott, R.C. and Lippitz, M.J., 2017. From Low Cost to Global Leadership: Computime (Hong
Kong) Leads Through Innovation. Kellogg School of Management Cases, pp.1-14.