Do businesses really need a strategy? And can businesses really achieve competitive advantage with a strategy?

Article by staff consultant 2020 BSc MSc 

22/10/21

It depends on whom you talk to most will say yes strategy does matter to your organization if you want it to be financially successful others would say no because they rarely work, we will change direction according to our sales reps' reports. This distinction is further emphasized by (Donaldson, 1985) who argues a primary responsibility of any CEO of any major corporation is to articulate the company’s financial goals as a tangible focus for its business mission and strategies. Evidence from Horwath 2006, claims companies with strategies can outperform companies without them by 945% to margin in total return to shareholders. Firms with strategies can be expected to gain a 65% increase in revenues than those without. This statement makes the point that a company can survive without a strategy, but it can never survive. For example, Godwin, 2019 points out that businesses without an apparent strategy are often older and benefit from barriers to entry often created by regulation and the size of the investments made which are required to enter the market. Strategy matters to a firm if they want to differentiate products from competitors, eliminate bad costs, become a market leader, and gain a competitive advantage. Having a business strategy will help to determine what the business should do next? In his study of strategy, Godwin showed that firms without strategy are more prone to have an unengaged or uninspired workforce and low profitability compared those with a strategy. The existing argument for strategy is it does matter and having one is key to ensuring the long-term success of the business. There are three levels of strategy, corporate, business, and functional, successful implementation into day-to-day business activities incorporates all three. Being critical of your business strategy will ask the question "who are we? What business are we in? What makes us unique and relevant? And how sustainable is our business model? (Harney, 2012). A corporate-level strategy is a large group of people or a company that has a strategic plan of action designed to achieve a long-term overall aim. A corporate-level strategy is a higher level of strategy and is also about diversifying the organization's activities into other activities. (Johnson, 2019-11-29). The second level of strategy is a business-level strategy. A business-level strategy is about how different businesses of different industries conduct their commercial activities. A business-level strategy is also about how the business competes or how they are efficient in their market. The third level of strategy to consider is the functional strategies that are about securing investment. Functional strategies have a special activity, purpose, or task. Functional strategies are designed to be practical and useful rather than attractive and are shaped by corporate and business strategies. These levels of strategies apply commonly to large multinational enterprises but can also apply to organizations in the not-for-profit sector. The three levels of strategy can be applied to many different kinds of organizations and institutions but are typically applied to start-ups, MNE’s and family businesses. They are typically used in the public sector and can be applied to not for profit organizations, ReferencesDoes strategy matter? Mini lecture: 1.1, available at https://vle.aston.ac.uk/ultra/courses/_28865_1. Accessed 28/09/2020. https://hbr.org/1985/05/financial-goals-and-strategic-consequences, business review. Accessed 27/09/2020. https://evolve.ie/q-and-a/business-strategy-important/. Accessed 27/09/2020 https://www.singlestoneconsulting.com/blog/thriving-inside-a-company-that-has-no-strategy/: article. Accessed 27/09/2020. https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/how-to/growth-strategies/2018/02/how-to-find-the-right-financial-strategy-for-your.htm. Journal, Accessed 27/09/2020. James Cunningham & Brain Harney Strategy and Strategist book (2012). Oxford University Press. Exploring strategy: texts and cases Book by Richard Whittington; Patrick Regnér; Duncan Angwin; Gerry Johnson; Kevan Scholes; Jason Evans; Clive Kerridge 2020. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/startup.asp. What is a start-up? Mitchell Grant. Accessed 29/09/2020. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php. Glossary: Multinational enterprise. Accessed 29/09/2020.

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You can edit all of this text and replace it with anything you have to say in your news/topic article. You can also change the title listed above and add new articles as well. Edit your Articles from the Pages tab by clicking the edit button. This is a generic article you can use for adding article content / subjects on your website. You can edit all of this text and replace it with anything you have to say in your news/topic article. You can also change the title listed above and add new articles as well. Edit your Articles from the Pages tab by clicking the edit button. This is a generic article you can use for adding article content / subjects on your website.

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