Question

Strategy Formulation and Implementation (Select any mobile phone operator/automobile/retail banking company)

1. Company Overview (location, product and market information): you must identify/write vision and mission of the organization (1 page) (5 Points)

2. External Analysis: PESTLE and Industry Analysis: At the end of the analysis, you must provide your own opinion/conclusion (why it is conducted and what you found) (maximum 3 pages) (7 Points)

3. Internal Analysis: VIRO analysis: At the end of the analysis, you must provide your own opinion/conclusion (why it is conducted and what you found) (maximum 3 pages) (7 Points)

4. Corporate Strategy Recommendations: What business and/or products/services they will sell in future? (Select on or more from the five different types of growth strategies and justify your answer). (maximum 3 pages) (7 Points)

5. Recommendation (Business Strategy): What Business strategy you think would be appropriate for the company? (among four business strategies, select one and Justify your answer by related to class lectures (i.e., conditions to select different business strategies slides) (maximum 3 pages) (7 Points)

6. Implementation- focus on changes in organizational structure only: What organizational structure organization is following and what they need to follow in future. (maximum 3 pages) (7 Points)

Answer 1

The Company chosen over here is BMW.

About BMW: BMW is a German company abbreviated as Bayerische Motoren Werke. It is headquartered in Munich and was founded in 1916. In 1922 it was renamed to BMW. The company manufacture motorcycles, engines, farm equipment, and railway brakes. Today BMW yields motor vehicles in India, China, Germany, South Africa, the US, Mexico, UK, and Brazil. BMW has always been associated with premium products.The aim of the company is to provide automated driving, electronic and on-demand mobility. BMW is an international that uses latest technological trends. (ref: BMW.com)

BMW's Mission Statement : “The mission statement up to the year 2020 is clearly defined: the BMW Group is the world’s leading provider of premium products and premium services for individual mobility.” (Ref: www.bmweducation.co.uk)

Vision of the company: "Company’s vision is efficient dynamics vehicle that preview tomorrow’s driving pleasure using today’s technology" (Ref: http://www.bmw.com/com/en/insights/technology/efficient_dynamics/phase_2/bmwvision)

PESTAL analysis is referred as (political, economic, socio-cultural and technological) a tool to analyze the macroenvironment factors for the environmental scanning. It is part of an external analysis that gives an overview of the factors to be taken into consideration. It is a tool for understanding market growth or decline, business position, potential and direction for operations.

Political factors: Adapting to carbon emission regulations

Economic factors: A quiet fear of tariffs and currency fluctuations

Social factors: Heavy R&D meets millions of social media followers

Technological factors: The newest luxury gadgets

Legal factors: The need to abide by hundreds of rules at once

Ecological factors: Less CO2 and more hybrid model cars

The VRIO framework is used to determine its competitive advantage over companies in a specific industry. This is used to see what resources a company has and the capabilities that come with those resources.

The VRIO framework stands for the following:

Valuable: "Is the firm able to exploit an opportunity or neutralize an external threat with the resource/capability?"

Rare: "Is control of the resource/capability in the hands of a relative few?"

Inimitable: "Is it difficult to imitate, and will there be significant cost disadvantage to a firm trying to obtain, develop, or duplicate the resource/capability?"

Organized to exploit: "Is the firm organized, ready, and able to exploit the resource/capability?"

BMW’s goal was to reduce emissions while increasing performance of its vehicles. The reason for BMW not wanting to sacrifice performance for reducing emissions was because they wanted to retain the good image they worked so hard to achieve. BMW’s efficient dynamics were made to ensure a reduction in emissions which allowed them to maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. The reason for their sustainable competitive advantage was because the technology they had was valuable, rare, inimitable, and organized to exploit.