Strategic Management Report: Self-Assessment as Product

This report presents a strategic management analysis where the author self-assesses as a product within the employment industry. It begins by outlining essential product characteristics, focusing on skills, competencies, experience, and expertise necessary for competitiveness. The report then ev...Read More

Running head: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT 1
Strategic Management
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT 2
Strategic Management
Introduction
Businesses are made up of products and services that are offered to consumers as a way
to meet their needs. It is integral that the products remain appealing to the target customers while
ensuring they meet their needs to become competitive within the market. However, in the event
that the competitors gain a competitive advantage, product redesign is possible to help in the
rebranding and restructuring of the said goods to ensure they are viable and more competitive
within the market industry. The following is a study purposed to present myself as a product in
the employment industry as the business, detailing key activities, skills, competencies,
professions and overall characteristics I should possess to remain competitive within the
industry.
Product Characteristics
Products are characterized by the physical and tangible features that can lead to attracting
potential customers within any given setup. Without some characteristics a product cannot be
called a product (Islam, 2010). Characteristics of a product are key factors which determine
whether the product is good or not. For this specific product, the following are the key
characteristics that should be assessed:
Skills and Competencies
The business setting will evaluate the skills and competencies of the applicant to
determine their overall feasibility within the employment setup. To remain competitive, some of
the essential skills I should posses are inclusive of excellent communication skills, exceptional
research abilities, teamwork capabilities, computer literacy and dependency. Moreover, I should

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be exemplary in both leadership and collaboration with other employees, possess good
knowledge of emotional intelligence practices, have a diversified workplace perspective,
excellent time management skills and the ability to follow company regulations at any time (Ok,
& Vandenberghe, 2016). These are some of the core skills and competencies that I must pose to
ensure any employer within the industry will remain satisfied with the services I offer, thus
offering me with an employment opportunity. When these skills and competence lack, they make
the competition to be high hence the firm may occur a lot of losses which can make it to close
down. For the firm to remain in position of making good profits, the employees must practice the
skills and use them every time to avoid losing the customers.
Experience and Expertise
While having the stated skills and competencies plays an integral part in convincing the
employers, my retention within the workplace is highly dependent on my ability to learn,
expertise and my prior experiences. According to De Gieter, & Hofmans, (2015), having prior
knowledge regarding the specific employment niche is vital towards improving the overall
understanding and capability of handling activities undertaken within the said fields. The
experience I have may vary in nature with regards to my roles as an employee, life experiences
and cultural experiences. The experience may work some time while in other times it may fail.
The duties and responsibilities I need to adhere to are inclusive of time management, proper
reporting, following company policies, and meeting the objectives of the firm so as to be more
productive (Islam, 2010). Life experiences such as solving dilemmas, social interactions,
emotional intelligence, and professional relationships are vital aspects I should understand that
might be helpful within the workplace. Also, cultural experiences such as diverse cultural

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greetings, mutual respect, religious beliefs and other diversity principles may be necessary to
help me cope with the team and management of a given company.
My experience from other employment sectors will play a vital role in guiding me how to
interact with the employees of the firm, collaborate with them, report on any conflicts and
resolve them, communicate with the management and to find intrinsic motivational factors that
might help improve my productivity (Steers, & Lee, 2017). With these aspects borrowed from
the experience I have, it becomes more straightforward to convince the employer about my
position in the business, hence gaining competitive advantage over other workers.
Similarly, expertise in a variety of fields can help improve the competitive advantage
within the employment sector, hence cementing my position within the company. Having
knowledge about the field of practice while possessing academic qualifications to support such
understandings aids in improved learning capabilities, which are vital towards ensuring there is
an excellent rapport between the worker and the management (Easterly III, Warner, Myers,
Lamm, and Telg, 2017). As a result, I quickly gain a competitive advantage over the competing
employees since I am more appealing and are able to meet the business objectives within my
field of practice more efficiently. In the business setup, I am able to meet the consumer needs as
a product, hence growing in rank and thus becoming highly competitive within the market.
Product Evaluation
Just like any other product, there is a need to undertake an evaluation to determine a
series of factors that may or may not be against me within the field of practice. Product
evaluation will help in analyzing if the product is good or not. According to Shields, Brown,
Kaine, Dolle-Samuel, North-Samardzic, McLean, & Plimmer, (2015), the evaluation process

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also helps to ensure that there is an understanding of the product’s shortcomings to help in its
redesign and development in readiness for gaining market advantage. Like the product, there are
a number of factors I can evaluate. One of these tools is the BCG Matrix, which will help in
determining the overall market share I hold within the industry like the product.
BCG Matrix Analysis
The BCG Matrix is a business analysis tool that is used to determine the market share
within a given field of practice and represents the company selected as either of four different
quadrants. My analysis shows that I fall within the dog category, which holds a low market share
within the industry but slowly continues to grow within the market as compared to most of the
competitors. Moreover, as a dog, I tend to learn at the very start of my activities, meaning I will
not be worth investing in at the very first days of employment as I familiarize myself with the
tasks, the environment and the workforce (Hofmans, 2015). However, I grow into the firm
systematically over time, thereby developing properly and becoming highly competitive and
transitioning into a cow over time. At this stage, I am able to counter the competitor moves, are
highly productive, and I have less of the negative cash returns, hence worth investing in as a
product within the industry. I continually improve and become more dependable to handle the
organization’s tasks, thereby having a larger market share within the employment sector in the
facility and ultimately becoming more competitive as compared to the various workers within
the institution.

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Figure 1: BCG Matrix
Financial Analysis
Strong financial viewpoints help to have a higher dependency and increase brand success
within the market. Products that perform well within the industry are highly profitable and grow
in their market share, hence proving challenging to overthrow and strip them of their competitive
advantage. If finances are analyzed well, the product can be very profitable to the business

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because finances are taken good care of. Some of the factors assessed within the financial
perspective are inclusive of the:
Returns on Investment
As the product, I should be productive enough to have high returns on any investment
made on me. The higher the returns, the higher the profitability of the firm. The employer will
invest in me through the provision of tools and resources necessary in completing any tasks
assigned to me by the employer. They will also train and coach me in the same, which means I
must deliver to the business objectives, and if possible, beyond the expectations of the firm thus
making more returns to the business (Islam, 2010). The trained coach helps in training other
employees who join the firm for them to deliver good results for higher returns. Having delivered
beyond these goals means that my return on investment ratio is more than 1, and thus meaning I
am profitable to the firm as their worker. It means that the product is pleasing to the consumers,
thus is meeting their needs and increasing revenues for the given business. For the higher returns
to maintain to be high, I must have discipline in work.
Cost
Costs associated with the product development and maintenance are deducted from the
business profits, and thus if these costs are high, the firm’s overall profitability is low meaning
many losses are incurred within the business. When the business makes losses, it means that they
are not able to pay for anything including the employees (Lee, 2017). As the product, some of
the costs I will be associated with the employees are inclusive of a medical cover, insurance
cover and allowances offered by the firm to reduce some costs. However, I must perform to my
level best to ensure that the value of my input is significantly higher than the value of the costs

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associated with my employment in the firm for higher profitability in the firm. Good
accountability of the cost helps to improve the financial status of the business which helps a lot.
Investments to improve the product
The company can invest in me as the product through a variety of approaches such as
training, provision of additional resources, purchase of company vehicles or computers and other
activities purposed to aid in improving the efficiency of the product in the firm. As a result,
having these resources should be motivational enough to ensure I exceed the customers’ (the
business itself) thus meeting the business expectations. The more I exceed the goals in the
business, the higher the profitability of the firm is, hence meeting all the costs incurred in the
product improvement process. This makes the business too grow as fast as possible.
Competition
Competition is inevitable within the employment industry, and this calls for evaluating
key opportunities and threats for growth that can hinder or promote competitive advantage
(Rodwell, 2019). As the product, some of the opportunities I have are inclusive of:
1. Intrinsic motivators that can help in improving my efficiency
2. Ability to learn and develop within the employment sector
3. The chance for career development and professional growth
However, some of the threats I may encounter in my endeavor are inclusive of;
1. Growing older, thus reduced efficiency compared to the younger workforce
2. Changing technologies, thus the need for continued learning of the new emerging
technologies

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3. Many potential workers with higher experience and academic qualifications
In consideration of these aspects, I believe I offer more opportunities to the employing
company than the threats I may present to them. While employed, I can be used as a tool to
improve diversity within the business, a tool to motivate other workers, and a tool for mutual
growth and career development. By using the tools, the profitability of the company continues to
increase within no time (Plimmer, 2015). . The employer, therefore, will enjoy some of the
benefits I may present to the business, thus leading to positive growth of the firm for future
sustainability. This is because every employee is confident and sure of what he or she is doing
thus doing the best all the time.
Conclusion
The purpose of this study was to present me as a product within the employment industry
with the employer as the business. The research reveals a number of product characteristic I must
possess to fit in and become accumulated within the employment sector. Essential skills and
competencies such as time management and teamwork are outlined with the various financial
and personal assessment that is necessary to determine the profitability I bring to the business. It
is evident that experiences in life, the workplace and within the culture can be helpful towards
enhancing the employment outcomes. The research also examined the market share I can have as
the product through the BCG Model along with the opportunities and threats I have and how they
might affect the workplace. As a product, I can be strategically placed to gain competitiveness
over time and offer the high business profitability by meeting the organizational goals and
objectives.

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References
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Easterly III, R. G., Warner, A. J., Myers, B. E., Lamm, A. J., & Telg, R. W. (2017). Skills
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Fu, W., & Deshpande, S. P. (2014). The impact of caring climate, job satisfaction, and
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McMurray, A. J., Pirola-Merlo, A., Sarros, J. C., & Islam, M. M. (2010). Leadership, climate,
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