Strategy Formulation

There has been a large amount of research into what strategy is, since Michael Porter’s perennial work in the 1980s. Studies done on the execution of strategy have been far less numerous. However, there is one major understanding about the execution of strategy. The execution of strategy is a vital part of success in business. A summary of many myths surrounding various strategic executions will be outlined, along with their subsequent analyses.

Watkins, M. D. (2007). Demystifying Strategy: The What, Who, How, and Why. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from

According to Mantere (2013) organizational strategy exhibits a division of linguistic labour, where responsibility for key concepts is assigned to particular individuals or organizational functions. Such linguistic experts oversee the proper use and maintenance of strategy language. The language-based view helps to understand linkages between institutional, network, organizational, and micro level views on strategy. It also problematizes widely held intuitions regarding the relationship between strategy and organizational outcomes. When both of them are executed well an organization will achieve best possible outcome. In business, the Structure follows strategy, which means that a corporate structure is created in order to implement a given corporate strategy. For example in the middle of operational and choice making levels numerous layers makes it difficult to see the week signs identifying with business sector opportunities and dangers which brings about wrong

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).

Chapter 6 – Strategy Formulation: Situation Analysis and Business StrategyChapter 7 – Strategy Formulation: Corporate StrategyChapter 8 – Strategy Formulation: Functional strategy and Strategic Choice

Strategy formulation has been acknowledged as one of the most crucial factors of ensuring the long-term growth of the business. However, the manner in which strategy is formulated, and most importantly, the nature of the strategy chosen for the company determines its future position in the marketplace (Grant, 2005).

This paper begins with a summary view to develop the concept of strategy and why its implementation is difficult. The following sections then cover the core discussion of this paper to support the aforementioned

In everything that we do, we have used some kind of strategy (plan). From driving to the store, which street to take to get there the fastest, to selecting that perfect item at the high tech store, the newest digital gadget. It is in our nature to formulate this kind of behavior when we are given a choice. In an organization it is much harder to accomplish that same behavior because there is more than one individual in the process, but still possible to do. Strategy is a guide by which an organization moves from a current state of affairs to a future desired state. In this paper I will explain the strategy implementation concept of the basic model of strategic management that we can use to make this happen. Strategy implementation is the process

The purpose of this Case Study Analysis is to implement the knowledge that was gained during the course MBA 555 Business strategy. In the first part of the analysis will be described the history of the company, its products, the key success factors and the changes that were

“Competitive strategy involves positioning a business to maximize the value of the capabilities that distinguish it from its competitor’s” (Porter 1980:47). A successful business plan requires first and foremost the formation of an appropriate strategy. Through the implementation of a suitable strategy, the company is able to obtain its own industry niche and gain an understanding of its customers (Porter 1985). Whichever strategy is adopted it must be adequately integrated within the firms goals and missions to achieve a competitive advantage (Parker and Helms 1992).

Concept of strategy was first introduced in fifties in organisational literature by faculty of Harvard Business School (Snow & Hambrick, 1980). According to the definition given in Oxford dictionary, “Organizational Strategy are the plans of a large organization about development and dealing with changing markets. These plans must originate from company’s main objective which represents key feature about business of the company. For a strategy to work, it should be divided into smaller achievable targets (Johnson, 2016). One more definition of describes organizational strategy as an expression of how an organization needs to evolve over time to meet its objectives along with a

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’.

Changing circumstances and ongoing management efforts to improve the strategy cause a company 's strategy to evolve over time—a condition that makes the task of crafting a strategy a work in progress,

4. This section includes a number of subsections related to defining strategy (e.g., the type of business to operate, how to structure and finance the company, how to convert competences into competitive advantage, etc.); the formulation and implementation of strategy (intended strategy versus realized strategy); alternative research paradigms (i.e., strategy as an outcome of rational choice, as a craft, or as a ritual); how to operationalize strategy (textual description, partial measurement, multidimensional measurement, and typologies); strategic variables (organizational types - defenders, prospectors, and analyzers); Porter's generic strategies (i.e., cost leadership, differentiation, and focus); conservative (reluctant innovators) versus entrepreneurial firms (aggressive innovators); and strategic missions (i.e., build, harvest, hold, and divest). This rather confusing assortment of terms is made more comprehensible in the graphic below where the various combinations of the dimensions of strategy are indicated as a matrix of choices.

Organizations successful at strategy implementation effectively manage six key supporting factors :     1.  Action Planning