Ecco

‘Strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over the long term, which achieves advantage in a changing environment through it’

PEST analysis will be able to be utilized to help detect trends in the external environment that will eventually discover their method into the competitive environment. It gives a relation between the general and competitive environments in that weak signals in the general

Strategy is a set of complicated tactics formulated by the executives of a company directed towards the achievement of company’s goal (Salmela, 2002). It is about all the path ways that a company would follow to reach its ultimate goal. It is a company’s strategy which helps to identify what it does better than the other companies in the industries, which may be different from what it does best. For successful strategy formulation and implementation, a company should know the needs of customers and should have knowledge of its competitors. Through a good strategy a company would identify that opportunity which makes it different from the others (Thompson, 2005).

According to Meyer, (2010), strategy is the action that company can take to achieve its desired goals. When it comes to a company, thinking can be said to be either long-term or short-term. When translated into action, it is what is called operations or projects. However there are differences between operations and

Strategic planning involves making decisions about the organization’s long-term goals and strategies and how the organization decides to implement their goals (Bateman, Snell, Konopaske, pg. 113). Strategies help organizations to have a clear perspective on how to go about accomplishing the goals they have in place. All organizations have a clear vision of what their mission and purpose as a company is, they know how to fulfill the mission, vision, and purpose and they know how to ensure that they accomplish all their goals. However, the route the organization takes to define these things determines how effective they will be.

Strategy is more than mission and vision statements. Mission and vision statements do not offer the productive action or road map on how to achieve the desired

* Stock prices change only when there is new info- cannot be predicted ahead of time

Strategy focuses on the ways to be dynamic with an organised plan to achieve a goal or benefit within a firm/corporation.

Alfred Chandler(1963) defines strategy as ‘ the determination of the long-run goals and objectives of an enterprise and the adoption of courses of action of an enterprise and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for carrying out these goals’. And Michael porter(1996) sees it as ‘Competitive strategy is about being different. It means deliberately choosing different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value’.

Pest Analysis is the framework used to analysis the organisation’s external macro environment that present opportunities or threats to a business (OxLearn, 2013). These are all generally considered to be outside the control of the business although many, business will go to great lengths to try and control them. The PEST analysis particularly identifies key dangers that are taking place which influence the organisation in the future. PEST standing for Political, Economic, Social and Technological.

For an organization to be successful, it must employ good strategies in the running of its business. Strategies are needed to achieve the company’s objectives and give it a competitive advantage against its competitors. It determines the direction in which the organization is going in relation to its environment and how the business develops. Strategies are further segregated into corporate or business strategies where the focus is the formulation of plans and ideas to improve and increase its market share, and internal management strategies which

A strategy is said to be a plan that is made for the long term success of a product or brand. It is extremely important to have a strategy in order to figure out a direction towards which any company is able to focus all its resources efficiently and achieve desired outcomes. Formulating effective strategies is a considerably long process in itself that combines analysing several factors, situations and issues that are already present in a company and looking to improve on them alongside trying to implement various innovations and ideas to collectively create a direction towards which they can move and direct the resources available to them.

Johnson, Wittington, Scholes, Angwin and Regnér (2014, p. 3) defines strategy as ‘the long-term direction of an organisation’.

Strategic decisions: This level of decision making comes from the top down. These decisions are long term and involve the vision of the company. This type of decision making is usually made at management level. Long-term forecasts of business turnover set against likely market conditions will help to determine these decisions. These decisions look to the future of the organization and will help the organization grow. Strategic decisions can involve major resources manpower, new premises or expenditure on new technology or equipment. This is why they take time to process.

Ecco is a Danish shoe manufacturer and retailer founded in 1963 by Karl Toosbuy in Bredebro in Denmark. Ecco shoes are sold in more than 90 countries. The company has expanded its operations into markets worldwide.