Process and Structural of Implementation

Process of Strategy Implementation

  • Building an organization, that possess the capability to put the strategies into action successfully.
  • Supplying resources, in sufficient quantity, to strategy-essential activities.
  • Developing policies which encourage strategy.
  • Such policies and programs are employed which helps in continuous improvement.
  • Combining the reward structure, for achieving the results.
  • Using strategic leadership.

The process of strategy implementation has an important role to play in the company’s success. The process takes places after environmental scanning, SWOT analyses and ascertaining the strategic issues.

Structural of Implementation

Before implementing a new or revised strategy, company leaders must ensure the organizational structure can support the planned activities. After identifying the tasks that the company must perform well to succeed, company executives configure organizational hierarchies to support primary strategic goals and achieve competitive advantages. They also identify areas of weakness that pose risks and devise techniques for handling crises. Successful strategic implementation depends on structuring the organization’s employees so they can most effectively use the tools and resources available to create quality products and services.

Structuring Activities

To prevent their staff from spending time on activities not directly related to achieving companies’ strategic goals, managers identify tasks that can be outsourced to third-party vendors. Structuring work this way allows experts to perform these jobs, typically at a lower cast, while employees focus on their core competencies supporting main businesses. For example, computer manufacturers typically outsource assembly while focusing internally on design, sales and distribution duties.

Aligning Functions to Strategic Objectives

Before corporate leaders can implement new strategyies, they need to ensure that all personnel in the organizational structure possess the necessary skills, knowledge and resources to accomplish the tasks. Work must flow from one function to another so leaders should establish clear processes with policies and procedures that define roles and responsibilities. The strategy must be consistent across all departments, adaptive to changes, competitively advantageous and technically feasible.

Establishing Authority

Successfully implementing a new strategy requires that managers and employees understand what activities require executive approval and which decisions employees have the empowerment to make without further approval. Ideally, decision makers should be those people who are closest to the situation and most knowledgeable about the impact. By avoiding micro-managing the organization, managers streamline operations and eliminate wasteful tasks. If the organization is structured to allow employees the flexibility to make critical decisions, they must also be held accountable for their actions.

Developing Partnerships

Strategic implementations require personnel to work together to achieve specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-constrained goals and objectives. Establishing a common balanced scorecard prevents groups from competing against each other to succeed individually at the expense of the whole company. If company executives foster a cooperative environment between departments, managers share resources, personnel and knowledge effectively. Additionally, the organizational structure should encourage new employees to seek out coaching and mentoring from corporate executives. By encouraging learning and development, company leaders establish a framework for sustainable growth.

Behavioral in Strategic Implementation

It is vital to bear in mind that organizational change is not an intellectual process concerned with the design of ever-more-complex and elegant organization structures. It is to do with the human side of enterprise and is essentially about changing people’s attitudes, feelings and above all else their behavior. The behavioral of the employees affect the success of the organization. Strategic implementation requires support, discipline, motivation and hard work from all manager and employees.

  1. Influence Tactics

The organizational leaders have to successfully implement the strategies and achieve the objectives. Therefore the leader has to change the behavior of superiors, peers or subordinates. For this they must develop and communicate the vision of the future and motivate organizational members to move into that direction.

  1. Power

It is the potential ability to influence the behavior of others. Leaders often use their power to influence others and implement strategy. Formal authority that comes through leaders position in the organization (He cannot use the power to influence customers and government officials) the leaders have to exercise something more than that of the formal authority (Expertise, charisma, reward power, information power, legitimate power, coercive power).

  1. Empowerment as a way of Influencing Behavior

The top executives have to empower lower level employees. Training, self managed work groups eliminating whole levels of management in organization and aggressive use of automation are some of the ways to empower people at various places.

  1. Political Implications of Power

Organization politics is defined as those set of activities engaged in by people in order to acquire, enhance and employ power and other resources to achieve preferred outcomes in organizational setting characterized by uncertainties.   Organization must try to manage political behavior while implementing strategies. They should;

  • Define job duties clearly.
  • Design job properly.
  • Demonstrate proper behaviors.
  • Promote understanding.
  • Allocate resources judiciously.
  1. Leadership Style and Culture Change

Culture is the set of values, beliefs, behaviors that help its members understand what the organization stands for, how it does things and what it considers important. Firms culture must be appropriate and support their firm. The culture should have some value in it. To change the corporate culture involves persuading people to abandon many of their existing beliefs and values, and the behaviors that stem from them, and to adopt new ones. The first difficulty that arises in practice is to identify the principal characteristics of the existing culture. The process of understanding and gaining insight into the existing culture can be aided by using one of the standard and properly validated inventories or questionnaires that a number of consultants have developed to measure characteristics of corporate culture. These offer the advantage of being able to benchmark the culture against those of other, comparable firms that have used the same instruments. The weakness of this approach is that the information thus obtained tends to be more superficial and less rich than material from other sources such as interviews and group discussions and from study of the company’s history. In carrying out this diagnostic exercise, such instruments can be supplemented by surveys of employee opinions and attitudes and complementary information from surveys of customers and suppliers or the public at large.

  1. Values and Culture

Value is something that has worth and importance to an individual. People should have shared values. This value keeps the everyone from the top management down to factory persons on the factory floor pulling in the same direction.

  1. Ethics and Strategy

Ethics are contemporary standards and a principle or conducts that govern the action and behavior of individuals within the organization. In order that the business system function successfully, the organization has to avoid certain unethical practices and the organization has to bound by legal laws and government rules and regulations.

  1. Managing Resistance to Change

To change is almost always unavoidable, but its strength can be minimized by careful advance. Top management tends to see change in its strategic context. Rank-and-file employees are most likely to be aware of its impact on important aspects of their working lives. Some resistance planning, which involves thinking about such issues as: Who will be affected by the proposed changes, both directly and indirectly? From their point of view, what aspects of their working lives will be affected? Who should communicate information about change, when and by what means? What management style is to be used?

  1. Managing Conflict

Conflict is a process in which an effort is purposefully made by one person or unit to block another that results in frustrating the attainment of the others goals or the furthering of his interests. The organization has to resolve the conflicts.

Functional Level Implementation

Functional Strategies are at the heart of competitive advantage of any firm. These strategies are a great help to the implementation of integrated business strategy of the firm. They are as basis for attaining the strategic intent of the firm. Functional strategies are formed in correlation with the changing competitive environment.

Every business firm is built around certain basic functions such as production, marketing, finance, human resources, information system, operational research and development, etc. Many other functions are supporting activities which are significant for the business. Melvin J. Stanford says that for a firm to fulfill its purposes and progress towards it objectives, strategic alternatives within each of these functional areas must be developed, selected and implemented by management.

Functional strategies are the collective activities of day-to-day decisions made by respective functional department heads who are responsible in creating and adding value to the product or service. They are involved in designing product, raising finance, manufacturing the required product, delivering product to customers, and support product or service of each business within the corporate portfolio.

These activities are carried out by efficient utilization of available resources and capabilities; and integrating the activities within the functional area as, for example, coordinating among research in marketing, purchasing, inventory control, promotion, advertising and shipping in production.

Functional strategies are derived from business level strategy. Remember the three generic strategies-low cost leadership; differentiation and focus strategy. For example, take a firm pursuing low cost leadership strategy. When the strategy is implemented, all the functional areas have to be focused on low cost structure.

According to Thompson and Strickland, strategy making is not just a task for senior executives. In large enterprises, decisions about what business approaches to take and what new moves to initiate involve senior executives in the corporate office, heads of business units and product divisions, the heads of major functional areas within a business or division (manufacturing, marketing and sales, finance, human resources, and the like), plant managers, product managers, district and regional sales managers, and lower-level supervisors. In diversified enterprises, strategies are initiated at four distinct organization levels-

These are as follows:

  1. Corporate Strategy

It is a strategy for the company and all of its businesses as a whole.

  1. Business Strategy

It is a strategy for each separate business the company has diversified into.

  1. Functional Strategy

Then there is a strategy for each specific functional unit within a business. Each business usually has a production strategy, a marketing strategy, a finance strategy, and so on.

  1. Operating Strategy

And finally, this is a still narrower strategy for basic operating units — plants, sales districts and regions, and departments within functional areas.

Importance of Functional Strategy

Today, every firm faces challenges in optimizing resources such as finance, production facilities, technology, and marketing opportunities in functional areas. Functional managers need strategies to make the best of opportunities and to identify avenues for growth. They need strategic focus on their decisions in their fields.

The importance of functional strategies is pointed out under the following headings:

  1. Help in Operation of Business Functions

Functional strategies provide operational help in the conduct of various functional activities. For example, a finance manager has to necessarily take decisions on funding opportunities, deploying projects, reducing capital costs, or acquiring another firm. In addition, he has to decide on strategic options to manage working capital, which may be used to decide the various aspects of receivables management, factoring, payables management, inventory strategy, and treasury management.

Similarly, to manage human resource function, a number of strategic initiatives can be deployed by a firm. Managers need strategic focus on various functions. The production and operations management function also involves a number of strategic issues.

  1. Managerial Road Map

Thompson and Strickland write, “A company needs a functional strategy for every major business activity and organizational unit. Functional strategy, while narrower in scope than business strategy, adds relevant detail to the overall business game plan. It aims at establishing or strengthening specific competencies calculated to enhance the company’s market position. Like business strategy, functional strategy must support the company’s overall business strategy and competitive approach. A related role is to create a managerial road map for achieving the functional area’s objectives and mission.”

  1. Help in Implementation of Grand Strategy

Pearce and Robinson state that “functional strategies must be developed in the key areas of marketing, finance, production, R&D, and personnel. Functional strategies help in implementation of grand strategy by organizing and activating specific subunits of the company to pursue the business strategy in daily activities.”

  1. Decisional Guides to Action

Functional strategies guide and translate thought into action designed to accomplish specific annual objectives. Thus, functional strategies may be regarded as decisional guides to action that make the strategies work. They clarify many conflicting issues and problems, giving specific short-term guidance to operating managers and employees.

  1. Improves Effectiveness and Efficiency and Creates Super Profitability

It should be noted that functional strategies aim at improving the effectiveness of a company’s operations and thus its ability to attain superior efficiency, quality, innovation, and customer responsiveness. It is important to keep in mind the relationships of functional strategies, distinctive competencies, differentiation, low cost, value creation, and profitability.

We can note that functional-level strategies can build resources and capabilities of a firm that enhance superior efficiency, quality, innovation. These in turn, create low cost, value and superior profitability.

  1. Builds Competitive Advantage

Functional strategies can improve the efficiency, reliability (quality), and consumer responsiveness of its service. Thus, they can be used to build a sustainable competitive advantage. Functional strategies can increase efficiency of activities and thereby lower their cost structure. In fact, functional strategy is concerned with developing and nurturing a distinctive competence to provide a company or business unit with a competitive advantage.

Types of Functional Strategy

  1. Marketing Strategy

The definition of marketing strategy can be given, as: “A marketing strategy is a practice that allows an organization to focus on the available resources and turn the opportunities into productivity to increase sales and achieve justifiable competitive lead.” Marketing strategies provide detailed information to the necessary plans to be taken, to carry out the marketing program.

By using an effective marketing plan an organization may go for capturing a large share of existing market, develop a new market for its current products, or develop new products for its existing market or even go for total diversification strategy that mean developing a new product for an entirely new market.

The marketing strategy based on building an organization that revolves around customer satisfaction helps the organization in achieving fast growth rate. It describes how the organization is going to engage customers, identify the prospects, and the competition in the market.

  1. Financial Strategy

The financial strategy deals with the availability or sources, usages, and management of funds. It focuses on the alignment of financial management with the corporate and business objectives of an organization to gain strategic advantage. It emphasizes on the aspects such as – how much fund is required. When the fund is required? How the funds should be raised? In addition, by what are the means to use and manage the funds?

  1. Operations Strategy

According to Slack and Lewis, operations strategy can be defined as: “the total pattern of decisions which shape the long term capabilities of any type of operations and their contribution to the overall strategy, through the reconciliation of market requirements with operations resources.” One must not be confused between two terms that are “operations” and “operational”.

However, the words are similar but have different meaning. ‘Operations’ refers to those parts of business which deals with producing goods and services. ‘Operational’ means short term and limited plans. For example, a marketing strategy defines the procedures and approaches to be used by an organization to position its business in the market.

  1. Human Resource Management Strategy

Human resource management (HRM) strategy assists in implementing the specific function of human resource management to any organization. Human resource management strategy provides a practical framework of managing human resource in line with the organization’s corporate objectives.

It involves a four-way approach:

  • Developing a strategic framework
  • Generating HR mission statement
  • Applying SWOT analysis
  • Making HR planning decisions

Business Policy, Meaning, Nature and Importance

Business Policy is the study of the principles and practices that guide an organization’s decision-making and strategic direction. It defines the framework within which business decisions are made to achieve organizational goals efficiently and ethically. Business policy integrates various functional areas like marketing, finance, operations, and human resources to ensure coordinated action. It involves setting objectives, formulating plans, and aligning resources with long-term goals. Business policy provides guidelines for problem-solving, resource allocation, and responding to environmental changes. It ensures consistency in actions, promotes organizational coherence, and serves as a foundation for effective strategic management and corporate governance.

Nature of Business Policy:

  • Directive in Nature

Business policy serves as a guiding framework that directs managerial decisions and organizational actions. It helps managers understand what actions are acceptable and what are not, thereby eliminating confusion in day-to-day operations. Policies ensure consistency and alignment across departments by providing clear rules and expectations. By acting as a reference point, business policy reduces reliance on individual judgment and ensures that decision-making is structured, predictable, and goal-oriented. This directive nature helps organizations maintain strategic focus and discipline across all levels of management.

  • Integrative in Approach

Business policy integrates various functional areas of management—such as marketing, finance, production, and human resources—into a unified whole. It ensures that all departments work cohesively toward the organization’s overall objectives. This integration promotes coordination, eliminates duplication of effort, and enhances efficiency. By aligning different business functions, business policy creates synergy, allowing the organization to respond effectively to internal challenges and external changes. It also ensures that strategic initiatives are implemented consistently and harmoniously across the entire organization.

  • General and Broad Framework

Business policy is broad and general in nature, unlike operational rules which are specific and detailed. It provides a macro-level framework that sets the boundaries within which strategies and decisions are made. Rather than dictating specific actions, it defines principles, values, and directions to be followed. This allows managers the flexibility to adapt their decisions to changing conditions while still aligning with the company’s core objectives. The general nature of business policy makes it applicable across all levels and departments within the organization.

  • Long-Term Orientation

Business policy is primarily long-term in scope, focusing on sustained growth, profitability, and competitive advantage. It lays down the foundational guidelines that influence strategic planning and major decision-making processes. These policies are designed to withstand short-term market fluctuations and emphasize stability, consistency, and future-oriented thinking. By looking beyond immediate results, business policy ensures that the organization remains focused on its mission and vision over time. This long-term orientation also aids in risk management, resource allocation, and navigating uncertainties in the external environment.

  • Top-Level Function

Formulating business policy is the responsibility of top-level management such as the Board of Directors, CEO, or strategic planning committee. These individuals have a comprehensive understanding of the organization’s goals, environment, and stakeholders. Since policy formulation involves setting the tone, vision, and culture of the organization, it requires authority, experience, and a wide perspective. Once framed, these policies are communicated to middle and lower levels for implementation. Thus, business policy is a top-down process that provides direction and governance throughout the enterprise.

Importance of Business Policy:

  • Provides Direction and Clarity

Business policy offers a clear framework that guides employees and management in decision-making and goal-setting. It defines the organization’s vision, mission, and objectives, ensuring everyone works toward common goals. With a well-defined policy, there is less confusion and ambiguity, which leads to faster and more consistent decisions. It also prevents departments from working in silos by aligning individual efforts with the overall strategic direction of the business. This unified focus enhances productivity, organizational coherence, and operational efficiency, especially in complex and competitive business environments.

  • Facilitates Effective Decision-Making

Business policy simplifies the decision-making process by offering a set of predefined guidelines and principles. It ensures that decisions are consistent with organizational values, long-term objectives, and legal or ethical standards. Managers at all levels can use policies as a reference point, reducing delays and uncertainty. This leads to faster, more confident, and better-informed decisions across the organization. Furthermore, consistent decision-making helps avoid conflicts and reinforces a culture of trust and responsibility among employees, contributing to a stable and well-governed business environment.

  • Enhances Coordination and Integration

Business policy helps integrate various functional areas like finance, marketing, HR, and operations under a common strategic umbrella. This alignment ensures that all departments work together harmoniously toward shared objectives. Policies reduce duplication of efforts, streamline communication, and promote coordination among units and levels of management. When every department is clear on its role and how it contributes to the broader goals, overall efficiency and performance improve. This integration also helps organizations adapt quickly to changes, as coordinated responses are easier to implement across the enterprise.

  • Aids in Strategic Planning

Business policies form the foundation of strategic planning by providing direction, boundaries, and priorities for long-term growth. They help top management analyze internal strengths and weaknesses and assess external opportunities and threats. With policy as a reference, strategies can be formulated that align with the organization’s mission and stakeholder expectations. Moreover, well-framed policies ensure continuity in strategic planning even when leadership changes. They reduce ad hoc or reactive planning by establishing a structured approach that helps the business remain focused, competitive, and proactive in a dynamic environment.

  • Ensures Consistency and Stability

A well-structured business policy ensures consistency in actions and behavior across the organization. Whether it’s customer service, employee conduct, or financial reporting, consistent practices help maintain a uniform corporate image and build stakeholder trust. Stability in internal processes also makes it easier to manage large and complex organizations. With clear policies in place, organizations can maintain order during change or crisis, reducing confusion and resistance. Furthermore, stable practices improve employee morale, as everyone knows what is expected and how to perform within the organization’s framework.

Strategy, Definition, Meaning and Features

Strategy is a comprehensive plan formulated by an organization to achieve its long-term goals and gain a competitive advantage. It involves setting objectives, analyzing internal and external environments, allocating resources, and implementing actions to meet business goals effectively. Strategy provides direction and guides decision-making to respond to dynamic market conditions. It integrates organizational strengths with opportunities, while minimizing threats and overcoming weaknesses. Strategic management includes formulating, implementing, and evaluating strategies. Overall, strategy is crucial for aligning the organization’s mission with its environment, ensuring sustainability, profitability, and growth in a competitive business landscape.

Definition of Strategy:

  • Alfred D. Chandler (1962)

“Strategy is the determination of the basic long-term goals and objectives of an enterprise, and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for carrying out these goals.”

  • Michael E. Porter (1980)

“Strategy is the creation of a unique and valuable position, involving a different set of activities.”

  • Igor Ansoff (1965)

“Strategy is a rule for making decisions determined by product-market scope, growth vector, competitive advantage, synergy, and resource allocation.”

  • Henry Mintzberg (1994)

“Strategy is a pattern in a stream of decisions.”
(He also proposed the 5 Ps of strategy: Plan, Ploy, Pattern, Position, and Perspective.)

  • William F. Glueck (1980)

“Strategy is a unified, comprehensive, and integrated plan designed to ensure that the basic objectives of the enterprise are achieved.”

  • The Oxford Dictionary of Business (2002)

“Strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim.”

Features of Strategy:

  • Long-Term Orientation

Strategy is fundamentally long-term in nature. It focuses on setting and achieving goals that may span several years, guiding an organization toward sustained growth and competitive advantage. Unlike operational decisions, which are short-term and tactical, strategy aims to shape the future by preparing the organization to deal with changes in the external environment. It influences the direction of the company by setting priorities and allocating resources accordingly. Strategic thinking considers trends, uncertainties, and risks, ensuring the organization’s relevance, survival, and success over time. This long-term view helps in making informed decisions for future sustainability.

  • Direction and Scope

Strategy provides a clear direction and defines the scope of an organization’s activities. It answers the fundamental questions: What business are we in? Where do we want to go? And how will we get there? By identifying specific markets, products, services, and customer segments, strategy aligns the organization’s efforts toward common objectives. It ensures that all departments and units work toward a unified vision. This clarity in direction and scope enables efficient use of resources, facilitates performance tracking, and enhances decision-making across all levels of the organization.

  • Competitive Advantage

One of the key features of strategy is to help an organization achieve and sustain competitive advantage. This involves creating a unique position in the marketplace that allows the business to outperform competitors. It may be achieved through cost leadership, differentiation, or focus strategies. A sound strategy identifies an organization’s core competencies and matches them with market needs in a way that is difficult for competitors to replicate. Competitive advantage leads to higher customer loyalty, increased market share, and improved profitability, thus playing a vital role in long-term success.

  • Environmentally Oriented

Strategy is developed with a strong focus on the external environment, including economic, political, social, technological, legal, and environmental (PESTLE) factors. Strategic planning involves continuous environmental scanning to identify opportunities and threats. By understanding market dynamics, customer preferences, industry trends, and competitor behavior, organizations can craft strategies that are proactive and adaptive. This environmental orientation helps in mitigating risks and exploiting opportunities, ensuring that the organization remains agile and resilient in a rapidly changing business landscape.

  • Integration and Coordination

A good strategy integrates various functions and coordinates activities across the organization. It unifies departments such as marketing, finance, operations, and human resources under a common framework. This ensures that all parts of the organization are aligned and moving toward the same strategic goals. Integration fosters synergy, enhances communication, eliminates redundancy, and promotes efficient use of resources. Strategic management thus bridges the gap between different levels of the organization, enabling better control, execution, and achievement of objectives.

  • Dynamic and Flexible

Strategy is not rigid; it is dynamic and flexible to accommodate changes in the internal and external environment. Businesses operate in unpredictable markets where trends, customer expectations, regulations, and technologies constantly evolve. A successful strategy must be reviewed and revised regularly to remain relevant and effective. Flexibility allows an organization to adapt to unexpected challenges or capitalize on emerging opportunities. This feature of adaptability helps in sustaining long-term performance and competitiveness, especially in volatile or uncertain business conditions.

Process and Level of Strategy

Strategic management process has following five steps:

  1. Mission and Goals

The first step in the strategic management begins with senior managers evaluating their position in relation to the organization’s current mission and goals. The mission describes the organization’s values and aspirations; and indicates the direction in which senior management is going. Goals are the desired ends sought through the actual operating procedures of the organization. It typically describe short-term measurable outcomes.

  1. Environmental Scanning

Environmental scanning refers to a process of collecting, scrutinizing and providing information for strategic purposes and helps in analyzing the internal and external factors influencing an organization. After executing the process, management should evaluate it on a continuous basis and strive to improve it.

  1. Strategy Formulation

Strategy formulation is the process of deciding best course of action for achieving organizational objectives. After conducting environment scanning process, managers formulate corporate, business and functional strategies.

  1. Strategy Implementation

Strategy implementation implies putting the organization’s chosen strategy in to action and making it work as intended. Strategy implementation includes designing the organization’s structure, distributing resources, developing decision making process, and effectively managing human resources.

  1. Strategy Evaluation

Strategy evaluation which is the final step of strategy management process involves- appraising internal and external factors, measuring performance, and taking remedial/corrective actions. Evaluation assure the management that the organizational strategy as well as its implementation meets the organizational objectives.

These steps are carried by the businesses, in chronological order, when creating a new strategic management plan. Present businesses that have already created a strategic management plan will revert to these steps as per the situation’s requirement, so as to make essential changes.

The Three Levels of Strategy

Strategy is at the heart of business. All businesses have competition, and it is strategy that allows one business to rise above the others to become successful. Even if you have a great idea for a business, and you have a great product, you are unlikely to go anywhere without strategy.

Many of the most successful business men and women throughout history have been great strategic thinkers, and that is no accident. If you wish to take your business to the top of the market as quickly as possible, it is going to be strategy that leads the way.

Of course, before you can get into the process of determining your own business strategies, you need to understand what the word ‘strategy’ really means in a business context. Does it involve long-term planning as to the general course of the business? Or is it related to the day-to-day operations and how they are designed in order to achieve success? Well, in practical application, strategy can refer to both of those things and more.

To help you understand strategy in business, this article is going to look at the three levels of strategy that are typically used by organizations. Only when all three of these levels are carefully considered will your business be able to get on the right path toward a prosperous future.

  1. Corporate Strategy

The first level of strategy in the business world is corporate strategy, which sits at the ‘top of the heap’. Before you dive into deeper, more specific strategy, you need to outline a general strategy that is going to oversee everything else that you do. At a most basic level, corporate strategy will outline exactly what businesses you are going to engage in, and how you plan to enter and win in those markets.

It is easy to overlook this planning stage when getting started with a new business, but you will pay the price in the long run for skipping this step. It is crucially important that you have an overall corporate strategy in place, as that strategy is going to direct all of the smaller decisions that you make.

For some companies, outlining a corporate strategy will be a quick and easy process. For example, smaller businesses who are only going to enter one or two specific markets with their products or services are going to have an easy time identifying what it is that makes up the overall corporate strategy. If you are running an organization that bakes and sells cookies, for instance, you already know exactly what the corporate strategy is going to look like – you are going to sell as many cookies as possible.

However, for a larger business, things quickly become more complicated. Carrying that example forward to a larger company, imagine you run an organization that is going to sell cookies but is also going to sell equipment that is used while making cookies. Entering into the kitchen equipment market is a completely different challenge from selling the cookies themselves, so the complexity of your corporate strategy will need to rapidly increase. Before you get any farther into the strategic planning of your business, be sure you have your corporate strategy clearly defined.

  1. Business Strategy

It is best to think of this level of strategy as a ‘step down’ from the corporate strategy level. In other words, the strategies that you outline at this level are slightly more specific and they usually relate to the smaller businesses within the larger organization.

Carrying over our previous example, you would be outlining separate strategies for selling cookies and selling cookie-making equipment at this level. You may be going after convenience stores and grocery stores to sell your cookies, while you may be looking at department stores and the internet to sell your equipment. Those are dramatically different strategies, so they will be broken out at this level.

Even in smaller businesses, it is a good idea to pay attention to the business strategy level so you can decide on how you are going to handle each various part of your operation. The strategy that you highlighted at the corporate level should be broad in scope, so now is the time to boil it down into smaller parts which will enable you to take action.

  1. Functional Strategy

This is the day-to-day strategy that is going to keep your organization moving in the right direction. Just as some businesses fail to plan from a top-level perspective, other businesses fail to plan at this bottom-level. This level of strategy is perhaps the most important of all, as without a daily plan you are going to be stuck in neutral while your competition continues to drive forward. As you work on putting together your functional strategies, remember to keep in mind your higher level goals so that everything is coordinated and working toward the same end.

It is at this bottom-level of strategy where you should start to think about the various departments within your business and how they will work together to reach goals. Your marketing, finance, operations, IT and other departments will all have responsibilities to handle, and it is your job as an owner or manager to oversee them all to ensure satisfactory results in the end. Again, the success or failure of the entire organization will likely rest on the ability of your business to hit on its functional strategy goals regularly. As the saying goes, a journey of a million miles starts with a single step – take small steps in strategy on a daily basis and your overall corporate strategy will quickly become successful.

Good strategy alone isn’t going to automatically lead you to success in business, but it certainly is a good place to start. Once you have sound strategies in place, the focus of the organization will shift toward executing those strategies properly day after day. Of course, your strategies will need to be continually monitored and adjusted as you move forward to ensure you are staying on a path that is consistent with the goals of the business, so always keep the three levels of strategy near the front of your mind as your guide your company.

Strategic Business Unit

Strategic Business Unit (SBU) implies an independently managed division of a large company, having its own vision, mission and objectives, whose planning is done separately from other businesses of the company. The vision, mission and objectives of the division are both distinct from the parent enterprise and elemental to the long-term performance of the enterprise.

Simply put, an SBU is a cluster of associated businesses which are responsible for its combined planning treatment, i.e. the company engaged in a diversified range of businesses, categorises its multitude of businesses into a few separate divisions, in a scientific way. The task may include analysis and bifurcation of a variety of businesses.

It can be a business division, a product line of the division or even a specific product/brand, targeting a particular group of customers or a geographical location.

Characteristics of Strategic Business Unit

  • Separate business or a grouping of similar businesses, offering scope for autonomous planning.
  • Own set of competitors.
  • A manager who is accountable for strategic planning, profitability and performance of the division.

A strategic business unit is specially formed to target a particular market segment, which requires expertise in production or management, not present in the parent company.

Strategic Business Unit Structure

The structure of SBU consist of operating units; wherein the units serve as an autonomous business. The top corporate officer assigns the responsibility of the business to the managers, for the regular operations and business unit strategy. So, the corporate officer is accountable for the formulation and implementation of the comprehensive strategy and administers the SBU by way of strategic and financial controls.

In this way, the structure combines related divisions of business into the strategic business unit and the senior executive is empowered for taking decisions for each unit. The senior executive works under the supervision of a chief executive officer.

There are three levels in a strategic business unit, wherein the corporate headquarters remain at the top, SBU’s in the middle and divisions clustered by similarity, within each SBU, remain at the bottom. Hence, the divisions within the SBU are associated with each other, and the SBU groups are independent of each other. From the strategic viewpoint, each SBU is an independent business.

A single strategic business unit is considered as a profit centre and governed by the corporate officers. It stresses over strategic planning instead of operational control so that the separate divisions of the SBU can respond as fast as they can, to the changing business environment.

Importance of Strategic Business Unit

  1. Responsibility

One of the first role of strategic business units is to assign responsibility and more importantly outsource responsibility to others. With this, the top management has an overview of work being done in each individual unit and they do not have to get involved in day to day activities for these strategic business units.

  1. Accountability

When handling multiple brands or products, it is easier if there are separate business units which are accountable for the success or failure of the business or product. By making these business units accountable, the company can directly take a call when hard decisions are to be taken.

  1. Accountancy

Profit and loss and balance sheets will look more prettier and more manageable if the statements are prepared separately for separate strategic business units. This makes the accountancy more transparent and at the same time, when companies have to make investment decision than this accountancy will come in use for the company.

  1. Strategy

Companies like Nestle have 4 different strategic units. One SBU like Maggi deals in Food products, another deals in Dairy products like Nestle milkmaid, the third SBU deals in Chocolate products like Kitkat so on and so forth. Thus, in the above example, it is very simple to change strategy for each business unit because the strategy for each is independent of the other.

  1. Independence

The managers of the strategic business units get more independence to manage their own unit which gives them the opportunity to be more creative and innovative and empowers them for making decisions. The best thing that can happen for SBU’s are fast decision making which is possible only when these SBU’s are given independence to work by themselves.

  1. Funds allocation

The last but not the least advantage of strategic business units are that funds allocation becomes simpler for the parent company. Depending on the performance of the SBU, funds allocation can be done on priority.

Thus, there are many advantages of having strategic business units and it is highly recommended that any firm which has multiple products adopt strategic business units in its organization structure.

Strategic Intent

Strategic Intent can be understood as the philosophical base of strategic management process. It implies the purpose, which an organization endeavors of achieving. It is a statement that provides a perspective of the means, which will lead the organization, reach the vision in the long run.

Strategic intent gives an idea of what the organization desires to attain in future. It indicates the long-term market position, which the organization desires to create or occupy and the opportunity for exploring new possibilities.

  1. Vision

Vision implies the blueprint of the company’s future position. It describes where the organization wants to land. It is the dream of the business and an inspiration, base for the planning process. It depicts the company’s aspirations for the business and provides a peep of what the organization would like to become in future. Every single component of the organization is required to follow its vision.

  1. Mission

Mission delineates the firm’s business, its goals and ways to reach the goals. It explains the reason for the existence of business. It is designed to help potential shareholders and investors understand the purpose of the company. A mission statement helps to identify, ‘what business the company undertakes.’ It defines the present capabilities, activities, customer focus and business makeup.

  1. Business Definition

It seeks to explain the business undertaken by the firm, with respect to the customer needs, target audience, and alternative technologies. With the help of business definition, one can ascertain the strategic business choices. The corporate restructuring also depends upon the business definition.

  1. Business Model

Business model, as the name implies is a strategy for the effective operation of the business, ascertaining sources of income, desired customer base, and financing details. Rival firms, operating in the same industry relies on the different business model due to their strategic choice.

  1. Goals and Objectives

These are the base of measurement. Goals are the end results, that the organization attempts to achieve. On the other hand, objectives are time-based measurable actions, which help in the accomplishment of goals. These are the end results which are to be attained with the help of an overall plan, over the particular period.

The vision, mission, business definition, and business model explains the philosophy of business but the goals and objectives are established with the purpose of achieving them.

Strategic Intent is extremely important for the future growth and success of the enterprise, irrespective of its size and nature.

Capital flows

Capital inflows from Multi-National Companies (MNCs) refer to inward investment from MNC into European economies.

Capital flows can also involve the purchase of assets, such as property, assets and government bonds.

The effect of these capital inflows involves increased levels of Investment. MNCs inject investment into the economy. This causes several benefits for the economy.

  1. Increased Aggregate Demand As a component of AD, higher Investment will boost AD, causing improved economic growth. This should lead to lower levels of unemployment.
  • However, as a percentage of total Aggregate Demand, inward investment from MNCs are quite small. Therefore, the impact on AD may be quite limited.
  • The effect of increased AD depends on the situation of the economy. For example, when Ireland had low growth and high unemployment, inward investment helped to boost the economy. However, if the economy is close to full capacity, increased AD may cause inflation.
  1. Increased productive capacity. Inward investment will not only increase AD but also increase Aggregate Supply. Investment in new factories increases productive capacity, and AS should shift to the right. This enables an increase in economic growth without inflation.
  2. Technological improvements. MNCs may not only invest in new capacity. They may also introduce new working practices that help increase labour productivity. For example, when Japanese firms invested in the UK, it was said that they helped to improve labour relations and get more out of the workforce. Japanese firms introduced new practices such as ‘Just in time management’ and a less confrontational attitude between workers and managers. Therefore, it can contribute to increased labour productivity.
  3. Surplus on the Financial Account of the Balance of Payments

Capital inflows from abroad can help to finance a current account deficit. Through attracting capital flows, it enables UK households to effectively import more goods and services. Without these capital inflows, a current account deficit would lead to a devaluation in the exchange rate to restore equilibrium in the balance of payments.

  1. Lower Prices for Consumers

Investment from foreign firms offers the chance for goods to be produced more efficiently and could lead to lower prices for domestic firms.

  1. Finance public sector debt

Capital flows which involve foreigners buying UK government bonds means it is easier and cheaper for UK to finance its government borrowing.

Potential disadvantages of capital inflows

Potential Capital outflows. If foreign firms increase their capital holdings in the UK, it means that the UK becomes more dependent on the health of other economies. For example, a severe recession in Japan, may cause Japanese firms to withdraw from the UK economy, leading to job losses.

  • However, in an era of globalisation, it is not really possible to insulate the UK economy from global effects. Also, despite the slowdown in the Japanese economy, most Japanese investment continued in the UK.

Domestic firms may lose out to the new multinational firms. For example, local coffee shops may lose out to bigger chains, such as Starbucks. We can get increase homogonesiation of products

Tax avoidance. An issue is that large multinationals like Facebook, Apple and Google have moved to countries with the lowest corporate tax rates. For example; Amazon Luxumberg, Google in Ireland. This power of multinational companies to choose the lowest corporate tax rates means it encourages tax competition with countries feeling they have to cut corporate tax to remain competitive. As a result, global corporate tax rates have fallen in recent decades putting a bigger burden on consumers and workers.

Distorted asset markets. Capital inflows can also include the purchase of property and assets. Foreign firms and individuals have played a considerable role in buying UK property and investing in new property development – especially in London. On the positive side, we could see this as investment in the UK economy and providing funds for building new property. But, in an overheated property market, it has had the effect of pushing property prices above long-term price to income ratios making them less affordable for average workers. Some have called for limits on the foreign ownership of UK property.

Money laundering. Another concern is that foreign money gained by illegal or semi-illegal ways is effectively laundered by investing in UK property.

Company Deposits

Section 2 (31) of Companies Act and Rule 2(1)(v) DEFINITION OF DEPOSIT ‘Deposit’ includes any receipt of money by way of deposit or loan or in any other form, by a company But does not include;

  • Any amount received from the CG or a SG, or any amount received from any other source whose repayment is guaranteed by the CG or a SG, or any amount received from a local authority, or any amount received from a statutory authority constituted under an Act of Parliament or a State Legislature;
  • Any amount received from Foreign Governments, foreign or international banks,multilateral financial institutions, foreign bodies corporate and foreign citizens, foreign authorities or persons resident outside India subject to the provisions of Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 (42 of 1999) and rules and regulations made there under;
  • Any amount received as a loan or facility from any Bank or FI;
  • Any amount received as a loan or financial assistance from Public Financial Institutions notified by the Central Government in this behalf in consultation with the Reserve Bank of India or any regional financial institutions or Insurance Companies or Scheduled Banks as defined in the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934
  • Any amount received against issue of commercial paper or any other instruments issued under guidelines or notification issued by RBI;
  • Any amount received by a company from any other company (Inter-corporate Deposits);
  • Any amount received towards subscription to any securities, including share application money or advance towards allotment of securities pending allotment, provided that securities are allotted within 60 days from the date of receipt of money failing which, money should be refunded within 15 days after the expiry of 60 days, otherwise it shall be treated as deposit;
  • Any amount received from a person who, at the time of the receipt of the amount, was a director of the company or a relative of the director of the Private company, provided it is not being given out of borrowed funds;
  • Any amount raised by the issue of bonds or debentures secured by a first charge or a charge ranking pari passu with the first charge on any assets referred to in Schedule III of the Act excluding intangible assets of the company or bonds or debentures compulsorily convertible into shares of the company within ten years, provided the amount of borrowing is not more than the market value of such assets assessed by a registered value;
  • Any amount raised by issue of non-convertible debenture not constituting a charge on the assets of the company and listed on a recognised stock exchange as per applicable regulations made by Securities and Exchange Board of India
  • Any amount received from an employee of the company not exceeding his annual salary under a contract of employment with the company in the nature of non-interest bearing security deposit;
  • Any non-interest bearing amount received or held in trust;
  • Any amount received in the course of, or for the purposes of the business of the company, such as an advance for the supply of goods or provision of services accounted for in any manner whatsoever provided that such advance is appropriated against supply of goods or provision of services within a period of three hundred and sixty five days from the date of acceptance of such advance:

Provided that in case of any advance which is subject matter of any legal proceedings before any court of law, the said time limit of three hundred and sixty five days shall not apply;

  • Any amount received in the course of, or for the purposes of the business of the company which are as follows:
  1. as a advance, accounted for in any manner whatsoever, received in connection with consideration for an immovable property
  2. as a security deposit for the performance of the contract for supply of goods or provision of services for supply of capital goods
  3. as an advance towards consideration for providing future services in the form of a warranty or maintenance contract as per written agreement or arrangement, if the period for providing such services does not exceed the period prevalent as per common business practice or five years, from the date of acceptance of such service whichever is less;
  4. as an advance received and as allowed by any sectoral regulator or in accordance with directions of Central or State Government;
  5. as an advance for subscription towards publication, whether in print or in electronic to be adjusted against receipt of such publications

Provided that if the aforesaid amount becomes refundable on account of not getting the requisite approval/permission, then the money should be refunded within 15 days from the date it becomes due for refund, otherwise it shall be treated as deposit;

  • Any amount brought in by the promoters of the company by way of unsecured loan subject to fulfilment of the following conditions, namely:-

a)The loan is brought in pursuance of the stipulation imposed by the lending FI or bank on the promoters to contribute such finance;

b) The loan is provided by the promoters themselves or by their relatives or by both and not by their friends and business associates; and

c) The exemption shall be available only till the loans of financial institution or bank are repaid and not thereafter.

DEPOSITOR RULE 2 (1) (d):

-Any member of the company who has made a deposit with the company u/s 73 of the Companies Act; or

-Any person who has made a deposit with an eligible company u/s 76 of the Companies Act.

ELIGIBLE COMPANY: RULE 2(1)(e)

-A Public company having a net worth of not less than Rs. 100 Cr. or a turnover of not less than Rs. 500 Cr. and which has obtained the prior consent of the company in General Meeting  by means of a Sepcial Resolution and filed the said resolution with the ROC and where applicable, with the RBI before making any invitation to the public for acceptance of Deposits;

Provided that an eligible company, which is accepting deposits within the limits specified u/s 180(1)(c), may accept deposits by means of an ordinary resolution.

KINDS OF DEPOSITS:

  1. Acceptance of deposit from Members: Any company (whether private or public) can accept deposits from its members, subject to the passing of a resolution in general meeting and the commencement of this Act or payment of interest on such deposits. [Section 73].
  2. Acceptance of deposits from the Public: Only a public company, having a net worth of not less than Rs. 100 Cr. OR a turnover of not less than Rs. 500 Cr., can accept deposits from the Public. Such kind of public company, shall be referred to as ‘Eligible Company.

SECTION 73 PROHIBITION ON ACCEPTANCE OF DEPOSIT FROM PUBLIC:

(1) No company shall invite, accept or renew deposits under this Act from the public except in a manner provided under Chapter V. Exceptions:

-A banking company

-Non-banking financial company as defined in RBI Act, 1934 and

-To such other company as the CG may, after consultation with the Reserve Bank of India, specify in this behalf.

(2) Section 73(2) states that a company may, subject to

-The passing of a resolution in General Meeting and

-Subject to such rules as may be prescribed in consultation with the RBI, accept the deposits from its members on such terms and conditions, including the provisions of security, if any, on such repayment of such deposits with interest , as may be agreed upon between the company and its members, Subject to the fulfilment of the following conditions, namely

 a)Issuance of a circular to its members including therein a statement showing the financial position of the company, the credit rating obtained, the total number of depositors and the amount due towards deposits in respect of any previous deposits accepted by the company and such other particulars in such manner as may be prescribed.

  1. b) Filing a copy of the circular along with such statement with the ROC 30 days before the date of issue of the circular;
  2. c) Depositing sum not less than 20% of the amount of its deposits maturing during a FY and the FY next following, and kept in a scheduled bank in a separate bank account to be called as Deposit Repayment Reserve Account;
  3. d) Certifying that the company has not committed any default in the repayment of deposits accepted either before or after the commencement of this act or payment of interest on such deposits and where such default has occurred, the company made good the default and a period of 5 years had lapsed since the date of making good the default.
  4. e) Providing security, if any for the due repayment of the amount of deposit or the interest thereon including the creation if such charge on the property or assets of the company. In case when a company does not secure the deposits or secures such deposits partially, then, the deposits shall be termed as “unsecured Deposits” and shall be so quoted in every circular, form, advertisement or in any document related to invitation or acceptance of deposits.

(3) Section 73(3) states that every deposit accepted by a company shall be repaid with interest as per terms and conditions of the agreement.

(4) Section 73(4) If a company fails to repay the deposit or part thereof or any interest thereon, the depositor concerned may apply to NCLT for an order directing the company to pay the sum due or for any loss or damage incurred by him as a result of such non-payment and for such other orders as NCLT may deem fit.

(5) Section 73(5) The deposit repayment reserve account shall not be used by the company for any purpose other than repayment of deposits.

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