Essay Example on Competitive advantage can be defined as a Supremacy

Assignment 1 Chapter 1 1 Competitive advantage can be defined as a supremacy achieved by an organization when it can provide same quality products as its competitors at lower price or for premium price by providing greater quality output through product differentiation A company can be a market leader now but to maintain that position it should have strategy planning sharp vision to reach targets and very good business operations All these are required to build sustainable competitive advantage In other words a company seeking competitive advantage must target larger markets differentiate its offerings from others to increase market value and establish brand reputation For example if we consider Honda automobile manufacturer it has gained competitive advantage strong brand name and customer satisfaction by offering reliable vehicles which provide high fuel efficiency quality and excellent value for money in terms of features and specs for the offered price and have good resale value for the same reasons 2 Strategy planning is a process implemented by an organization to develop a strategic plan for achieving long term goals Each organization will have its own approach for strategic planning model based on the situational analysis An organization can adopt multiple strategic planning models in different iterations to reach the goal There is no single strategic planning model that fits for all organizations An organization must Analyze its strengths and weaknesses in internal and external environments Identify opportunities and threats 

A mission statement will be developed by gathering all the facts which projects the organizational vision Based on the mission long term and short term solutions will be proposed to minimize the potential risks and to overcome the weaknesses Strategic planning helps to come up with set of objectives which will be useful as building blocks to reach the goals Stakeholders Managers and Key Resources will be involved in the strategy making process The focus is to ensure that organization's goals are achieved by coming up with a plan to ensure necessary adjustments are made to increase market share Stakeholders will review and approve the existing and new innovative approaches to achieve organizational targets 3 SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool useful to analyze Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats SWOT analysis will help organization in any specific business situation To compete successfully in market this tool can be used to uncover opportunities and threats which are external to the organization Strengths and weaknesses are internal to the organization which can be corrected over the time with proper utilization of SWOT analysis It’s recommended for new businesses to use SWOT analysis as part of the initial business planning whereas existing business can use it at any time Organizing a SWOT analysis meeting at least once a year will help organizations to stay on right track and avoid risks For example if we consider an American Media Broadcasting Company they might have been in the industry for 40 years and have a very good customer base reputation this is a strength 

Same company might not have enough reporters deployed in all parts of the country and miss few exclusive coverages this is a weakness Same company can tie up with independent news service agencies like IANS to provide most up to date information from all over the world which is out of their reach this is an opportunity If there is another media company with equal strengths and power which has taken an initiative to start a live YouTube channel for free of cost it is a threat 4 Depending on the size of the organization the number of levels in management changes The level of management determines a chain of command In most organizations levels of management are classified in three categories Upper level management Roles CEO CFO CTO COO VP Upper level management consists of top executives in the company This level depends on the input from mid level management to determine the direction in which the company is heading Upper level management can make any changes at any time to improve the performance of the company Middle level management Roles Mid Level Managers Regional Managers General Managers Mid level management is responsible to the Upper level management for the functioning of their regional departments 

This level of management will depend on input from low level or first level managers and will act as a bridge between low level management and upper level management Managers from this level of management will also be involved in everyday operations of the company Low Level management Roles Low level Managers Team Track leads Low level management is a supervisory and operational level of management This level of management will usually take care of day to day operations of the company human resource supervise guide subordinates Based on the SWOT analysis upper level management will develop and provide a strategic plan to mid level management Decisions made by upper level management will lead the company in the right direction to achieve strategic objectives Tactical decisions are made by the mid level management Decisions made by mid level management include divisional plans workflows acquisition of resources etc Operational decisions are made by low level management There are no business judgements made in this level These decisions directly relate to day to day operations of the company Chapter 2 1 Industry is the term used to refer a group of companies operating similar primary businesses Business is to produce market and sell products Sector is a part of the economy Industry is a subgroup of the sector Sector is a large group that consists of industries Industry is a group of distinct types of similar businesses