QUESTION 1
(i) Discuss the key activities of the strategic management process. Explain why it is important for managers to recognise the interdependent nature of these activities.
(ii) Many companies have expanded into international markets over the last few decades. (a) Briefly, describe the motivations behind this trend and (b) state the main features of international and global strategies.
QUESTION 2
(i) Complete newcomers in a market have to go to niches or unusual distribution channels at first. New entrants would have to spend heavily to overcome the existing brand loyalties and to build up a brand image of their own. These high start - up losses might deter would be competitors. Use a company of your choice to discuss how the Porter's Five Forces impact on an organisation and how they can be used to create value to the company.
(ii) (a) Briefly, discuss the importance and the impact which the design of an organisational structure has on work processes.
(b) List five vulnerable areas of a firm without a stated company mission.
(c) Presuming the invention of a competitively priced synthetic fuel that could supply 25 percent of the local energy needs within 20 years. Identify the factors in the local firm's external environment which are likely to be affected by this change.
QUESTION 3
(i) Explain the term Position Audit and discuss how it helps an organisation perform better planning.
(ii) The marketing manager of Juicy Drinks Ltd has invited you in for a chat. Juicy Drinks Ltd provides fruit juices to a number of supermarket chains, which sell them under their own label. We've got a large number of products, of course. Our freshly squeezed orange juice is doing fine - it sells in huge quantities. Although margins are low, we have adquate economies of scale to do very nicely in this market. We've got advanced production and bottling equipment and long term contracts with some major growers. No problems there. We as well sell freshly squeezed pomegranate juice: customers loved it in the tests but producing the stuff at the right price is a major hassle: all the seeds get in the way. We hope it will be a winner once we get the production right and start converting customers to it. After all the market for exotic fruit juices generally is expanding fast
Questions:
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix is one of the best-known portfolio planning methods
(1) Using to the Boston Classification, identify sorts of products which are described in the above instance?
(2) Discuss, using examples, the four planning strategies the BCG matrix prescribes with respect to a company's Strategic Business Units (SBUs)
(3) Like all analytical techniques, the BCG matrix has some limitations. Identify these limitations