Corporate Strategy

What is Corporate Strategy

corporate-strategyJohnson and Scholes (Exploring Corporate Strategy) define strategy as follows:

"Strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over the long-term: which achieves advantage for the organisation through its configuration of resources within a challenging environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfil stakeholder expectations".

In other words, corporate strategy is about:
  • Where is the business trying to get to in the long-term? (direction)
  • Which markets should a business compete in and what kind of activities are involved in such markets? (markets; scope)
  • How can the business perform better than the competition in those markets? (advantage)
  • What resources (skills, assets, finance, relationships, technical competence, facilities) are required in order to be able to compete? (resources)
  • What external, environmental factors affect the businesses' ability to compete? (environment)
  • What are the values and expectations of those who have power in and around the business? (stakeholders)
Corporate Strategy - is concerned with the overall purpose and scope of the business to meet owner/stakeholder expectations. This is a crucial level since it is heavily influenced by those who have invested in the business and acts to guide strategic decision-making throughout the business. Corporate strategy is often stated explicitly in a "mission statement".

In most organisations strategy will normally have a life cycle consisting of two phases; a dormant phase when the business moves along in a roughly steady state with little or no pressure for change and a development phase when external circumstances or internal developments require senior management to actively consider the business' position in the market place and what options are available to ensure sustainable success

Often senior managers in SMEs are too busy with other aspects of the business to be able to devote sufficient time to developing their Corporate Strategy. Large companies often employ a number of highly qualified staff to develop and monitor the Strategic Management of the business but SMEs cannot afford this either. This is where Menter Business Advisors Limited can provide valuable assistance. We can focus on the task in hand without being distracted by the day to day pressures of running the business and at the same time apply the objectivity which an internal manager/director would find very difficult.

Corporate Strategy Services

Strategy Health Check / Review

Ideally Strategic Reviews should be carried out on a regular basis. Internally this should be done at least every quarter and at least once a year a business should have its strategic direction externally and objectively appraised in order to enusre that profits are being maximised.
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Strategic Planning & Implementation

Strategic planning is at the heart of business success, and at the heart of strategic planning lie key tools such as the Strategy Pyramid encompassing M.O.S.T. analysis.
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Business Planning

An up to date business plan is an invaluable business tool, it is a living document that should be continually revisited, revised and update in the light of changing circumstances and actual performance in order to assist senior managers / directors to effectively manage the business.
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