Contents

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 2
What is strategy? ......................................................................................................................... 2
Corporate strategy ....................................................................................................................... 2
Competitive Advantage .................................................................................................................. 3
External Acquisition versus Internal Development .................................................................... 4
Breaking Away in Rapidly Changing Markets ............................................................................... 5
Framework for strategy development ............................................................................................. 7
Vision for future in operational and market strategies .................................................................... 8
Competitive positioning .............................................................................................................. 9
Conclusions ................................................................................................................................... 10
Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 11



Introduction
What is strategy?
Strategy is what a company does to sustain and grow its business value into the future. Over the
years, strategy has evolved from the traditional financial planning of the fifties to asset
management in the nineties. IBM Business Consulting Services strategy heads, in order to
remain ahead, indulge in refining their approaches to strategy with investing in leadership and
continue to build. Strategic Change characterizes the approach for the new millennium and is
also the name for our strategy practice.
Strategy can be defined as the pattern or plan that integrates an organizations major goals,
policies and action sequences into cohesive whole. Usually it deals with the general principles
for achieving the objectives.
Corporate strategy
Globally, companies are competing with each other in industries, and are only getting fiercer and
difficult with every passing year, with having stronger, bigger and innovative competitors
evolving. In addition, the competition rules are invariably changing with the emergence of
globalization, electronic business, innovation, disruptive technologies and union of industries.
Competitors from other industries also join the bandwagon with new approaches to the market,
technology and strength.
The rules of the competition are simple:
Competitive advantage is short-lived.
Todays competitive advantage is tomorrows competitive requirement.
Zero return can be expected from companies without a competitive advantage.

New flexibility in the implementation of company strategies can be attributed to the deregulation
worldwide, decontrol of financial markets and products and advances in technology. This can be
implemented by managers who are competent and understand the broad strategic issues faced by
each functional area of a company. These managers are able to implement strategies based upon
creating value from cross-functional processes.
An effective strategy development process begins to recreate this general management
perspective and builds a general management learning competency among top executives at
business and enterprise levels.
Corporate strategy is the pattern of decisions which includes all sort of enterprises that
determines and reveals its corporate objectives. The production includes the principal policies
and various plans for achieving those objectives which are consequently allowed to sets the
scope, character and results of activities of enterprise and its parts.
The three core areas of corporate strategy:
Strategic analysis
Strategic development
Strategic implementation
Competitive Advantage
There are certain relationships which were developed based on the cooperation that is differed
during the relationships according to the competition. The relationships are basically built upon
mutual interest which helps to build and support each other that would interact without
constraints and restraints. The relationships are obtained basically between the corporate
organizations which are usually visible for all the outsiders.
According to Mr. Holmlund and Kock, 1998 explains about the small and medium sized
organizations which are commonly lacked through resources. These resources are in need to
certain cooperation to interact with each other and also the same time they have to challenge
their opponents.
These opponents are used to survive according to the relationships which are built according to
the distribution of activities. All these activities and resources are obtained among actors who are
embedded in the same business networks.
External Acquisition versus Internal Development
There are many companies according to KB which are to be developed internally and also based
on the company strategies. These are basically centering according to the company attentions on
acquiring knowledge which is needed from many external resources for example (Mr.
Appleyard, 1998; Bierly and Chakrabarti, 1996; Jones, 2000; Parikh, 2001; Pitt and Clarke,
1999; Steensma, 1996; Zack, 1999a). There are many developing technologies which includes
about the new product or new processes that can be acquired from external resources through the
organization. These types of organizations are obtained through inter-organizational
arrangements or can be developed internally as explained according to (e.g., Appleyard, 1998;
Pitt and Clarke, 1999; Steensma, 1996; Zack, 1999a). The operations related to an extensive
academic body is based on the research which suggests about the large companies are acquiring
new knowledge from the outside.
There are many numbers of issues which are identified according to companies that are in need
to be concerned with. These are explained with an example stating about the completely losing
skill sets, opportunistic risks, difficulty in precisely identifying expected outcomes, etc. There are
certain suggestions where the companies are obtained due to the balance of their dependencies
on external sources with their internal development. According to Mr. Parise and Henderson
(2001) enquired about the find that companies engaged in external knowledge acquisition (or
exchange).
There are many key elements which are held in managing corporate enterprise is an adequately
formulated corporate strategy. The corporate strategy provides a basic link between efficient
business mission and realizing settled portfolio of corporate objectives in the market
environment. These types of emission are held to reduce or eliminate the gap between potential
and real performance of business activities through an adequate relation. The relationship acts
between environment and resource possibilities of enterprise. There are certain aspects which
basically comprise both business portfolio conception and determination and allocation of
sources for creating competitive advantages.
Breaking Away in Rapidly Changing Markets
Consider the future of many established businesses: non-traditional competitors, armed with new
technology and skills, traverse industry, geographical and cultural borders to solicit their
customers with alternative product and service offerings. So how can executives in industries in
transition position their companies to be competitive? Traditional methods of industry analysis
and forecasting cannot anticipate customer demand for products based on technologies that dont
yet exist. A new approach is needed to plan strategically in rapidly changing environments.

Rather than just looking at existing strengths and trends, as is typical of traditional corporate
planning, a new approach we call Scenario Envisioning can help companies develop a new
vision of an industrys possible future. Scenario Envisioning is a future-based vision approach
that allows decision makers to rethink how the driving forces of their industry might combine in
surprising ways. In these new models of the future, executives test their current strategy and
develop and explore other options. They can practice operating and understanding their business
in states that current rivals dont expect, making decisions today that will enhance their
organizations chances of succeeding tomorrow. Many managers expect scenario projects to
begin with prefabricated world visions of economic and geopolitical trends.

In contrast, Scenario Envisioning develops customized pictures of a companys future markets
that are distinctly different from the present, and yet quite possible. These visions form the basis
for developing optimal strategic options.


Framework for strategy development
IBM Business Consulting Services strategy formulation is based on a series of comprehensive
collective work handled, over many years, with senior personnel to develop and implement
better strategies. Every assignment is unique for IBM because of its uniqueness and the
flexibility allowed.
The strategy formulation approach serves as a framework for strategic exploration, decision
making, commitment, action and learning. It is divided into five steps:
1) Mobilization: Utilized preparation and planning to greatly increase the odds of successful
and timely project completion.
2) Situation assessment: Establishes a shared evaluation of the current and future situation
among the senior client team management.
3) Strategy development: Defines strategic options and specifies initiatives which create
significant value for the client
4) Implementation planning: Determines the critical success factors and establishes change
programs to implement the strategic initiatives
5) Learning: Measuring and adapting the strategic management process in real time utilizing
key performance indicators.

Vision for future in operational and market strategies
A useful strategic vision statement is a thorough description of the future state of the company; it
paints a picture in words and numbers of what the business will be at a certain point in time in
the future. It includes a measurable summary financial target which, when attained, assures
strategic success by generating sufficient economic value for the company to remain a desirable
business entity (compared to what investors could achieve by investing in something else).

A successful strategy implementation starts with the selection of the strategy team. This team
should include key decision makers, operators, and those with significant influence over strategy
direction. In addition, management must promote intensive communication of the vision to all
others to influence business performance across the organization. This communication builds
understanding, develops consensus, and encourages commitment.
As the vision is developed and communicated, the process involves key implementation players
at all levels of the organization in developing operating targets and action plans. People come
together in cross functional project teams to specify what the company must do day-to-day to
succeed with the new strategy. They are then positioned to implement their plans using operating
measures and targets to manage against the strategy which they helped create.

Competitive positioning
Where to compete:
Markets (e.g., customer segmentation and targeting; market share targets)
Products (portfolio life cycle management and margin targets)
Channels (value-added channel, e-commerce)
How to compete:
Industry value chain (supplier strategy, company domain, channel strategy)
Financial structure (cash flow strategy)
Internal Capabilities
Culture (set of beliefs held by employees about the company)
Core processes (central set of linked work activities performed by the company to create
value)
People, capital, technology
Systems and technology
Organization structure

Conclusions
The final summarization includes about the corporate strategy evaluation which involves the
assessment of plans and their consequence of plans that matter or affect the basic undertaking of
an enterprise.
The four essential tests a strategy related to the plan must pass are:
1) consistency should be adopted internally,
2) provide for consonance between the company and its environment,
3) be firmly established on the gaining and maintenance of competitive advantage, and
4) Be feasible and flexible of the existing skills and resources.
A strategy which does not pass any one these tests can be thought of possessing serious flaws.
The strategy evaluation is the culmination of activities and events which are firmly shaped by the
company's control and compensation systems, its structure, its information and planning systems
and its history and culture. The performance includes the custom, tied directly to the quality of
the company's strategic management. The current strategy evaluation is a continuing process and
is difficult to differentiate from the usual planning, control, reporting and compensation systems
of the company. Based on this point of view, strategy evaluation is an organizational process.
The companys ability lies in maintaining its competitive position in a world of challenges. The
managers who maintain a view of strategy and strategy evaluation can bring about the necessary
change. They must be willing and recognize the strategy within the muddle of daily routines.
They should also have the ability to build and maintain systems and structures that makes these
strategic factors the purpose of current activity.

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http://www-07.ibm.com/services/pdf/corp_strat.pdf