Analyse strategic position

• What is a mission statement?

  A mission statement is a concise statement that describes the purpose and goals of an organisation.
• What are corporate aims?

  Profit, growth, market share, social responsibility (long-term).
• What are corporate objectives?

  Goals or targets set by a company to guide its actions and measure its success (short-term).
• What does SMART mean and what is its purpose?

  • Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound
  • Goal-setting framework
• What is the difference between strategic decision making and functional decision making?

  Scope

  • Strategic decision making: long term decisions made by senior management to form the direction of the business
  • Functional decision making: short term decisions made at a department level for everyday scenarios
• What are some influences on the mission of a business?

  • Stakeholders
  • Values + beliefs of owner
  • Competition
  • Market trends
  • Nature of the industry
• What are some internal influences on corporate objectives and decisions?

  • Company culture
  • Leadership style
  • Organisational structure
  • Finance available
  • Brand image / reputation
  • Firm's lifecycle
• What are some external influences on corporate objectives and decisions?

  • Competition
  • Legal legislation
  • Shareholders
  • Economic conditions
  • Population changes
• What is a SWOT analysis used for?

  Strategic planning - access overall position
• SWOT analysis grid

  Fill in table

  A) Strengths

  B) Weaknesses

  C) Opportunities

  D) Threats

  E) Internal

  F) External

  G) Positive

  H) Negative

  
• SWOT examples

  Strengths: Technological skills, leading brand, distribution channels, customer loyalty / relationships, production quality, scale, management

  Weaknesses: Absence of important skills, weak brands, poor access to distribution, low customer retention, unreliable product / service, sub-scale, management

  Opportunities: Changing customer tastes, technological advances, changes in government politics, lower personal taxes, changes in population age, new distribution channels

  Threats: Changing customer base, closing of geographic markets, technological advances, changes in government politics, tax increase, change in population age, new distribution channels