Opportunities knocking.

Private sector was holding there investment until the conclusion of Copenhagen conference. As the future investment in clean technology was heavily dependent on the outcome of the 15th Conference of Parties (COP 15) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), private sector was anxious to hear the target world leaders would have committed to and the mitigation actions developing countries would have to take.

Prior to the conference major of the countries proposed plans and targets to further reduce their emissions; however, all of those plans were contingent on reaching an international agreement.

With no concrete conclusion deriving of the conference and many developing countries having an opinion that climate change is a moral issue, caused by developed countries and it should be solved at their cost, the counter argument was that developing countries are causing greater extend of damage to the climate due to faster industrialization and deforesting, so owners are with them.

Every one from the industrialist to governments might be relaxed as of now and relaxing on there chairs because if any concreate decision would have arrieved at Copenhagen conference then they could have been in trouble to comply with those commitments. But this is not the time to push back to our seats and relax, instead this is a time to make strategy, (What is strategy : Strategic is nothing but being different in the context one is operating).

This a opportunity knocking at the doorsteps for People/entrepreneurs who are interested in cleaner energy, people who are farsighted and can see the benefits of implementing a Cleaner energy project at this juncture, I Consider this as Value Investing and the investment made today will reap immense profit in the coming future.


Wind, not the sail determine the way we go…

Image source: farmersguardian.com

Celebrity Endorsement.

If a product or service is strategically designed and the customer feels delight after using that product or service and the if the experience is incomparable with the peer competitors than customer marries product/service.

To create and deliver a product/ service which is loved by the customer, the deliverable has to be unique, designed and developed keeping customer interest in mind and should be difficult to be copied/replicated by the competitors. If right strategies are followed for the product design and delivery then the brands can prevented themselves from turning to commodities.

There are lot many similar products (in hot drinks, electronics, sports gear etc), competing for the same customer segment, with there products being identical and compatible to each others in terms of price, quality and customer experiences. To distinguish themselves from there competitors they are forced to endorse celebrities for there marketing campaign as a result of which there final cost of product increases.

A close observation to the brand endorsement will revel that the celebrities keep on changing (take example of legendry golf player) based on the face value. It doesn’t really add much to the quality and deliverable of the product if “xyz” is brand ambassador for that and neither it is affected if “xyz” is replaced by the someone else.

The deliverable of company remains same and neither does it add any value to the customer by endorsing a specific celebrity.

One company (communication Industry) strategically entering into new mode of advertisement by using “zoozoo” (Dummy but live characters) for advertising its products and services. The benefit the company has in long term and short term are:

1. The company need not have to worry for endorsing celebrities as the character can be performed by anyone and everyone.


2. The advertisements are of low budget.


3. The advertisements are highly recognized and are to the target(delivering the message clearly).


4. No voice over effect is used, so dependency to a specific person voice is minimized.


5. Being low cost the company can by additional slots of the advertisement time.
   

You will also like to read Tiger Woods and the Coming Decline of Celebrity Endorsements

What is Strategy

Being strategic is nothing but being different in the context you are operating. Being strategic is nothing but being different – the moment you are not unique, you get copied and you lose your market share.

Strategies exist at several levels in any organisation - ranging from the overall business (or group of businesses) through to individuals working in it.

Corporate Strategy is concerned with the overall purpose and scope of the business to meet stakeholder expectations. This is a crucial level since it is heavily influenced by investors in the business and acts to guide strategic decision-making throughout the business. Corporate strategy is often stated explicitly in a "mission statement".

Business Unit Strategy is concerned more with how a business competes successfully in a particular market. It concerns strategic decisions about choice of products, meeting needs of customers, gaining advantage over competitors, exploiting or creating new opportunities etc.

Operational Strategy is concerned with how each part of the business is organised to deliver the corporate and business-unit level strategic direction. Operational strategy therefore focuses on issues of resources, processes, people etc.

How Strategy is Managed - Strategic Management

In its broadest sense, strategic management is about taking "strategic decisions" - decisions that answer the questions above.

In practice, a thorough strategic management process has three main components, shown in the figure below:

Strategic Analysis

This is all about the analyzing the strength of businesses' position and understanding the external factors that may influence that position. The strategy evaluation and choice depends on the analysis of the following five key factors

1. PREST Analysis - a technique for understanding the "environment" in which a business operates. Political, regulatory, environmental, social and technological analysis


2. ICA: Industry and competitor analysis (includes Five Forces Analysis)


3. RCS: Resource and capability analysis


4. Cultural analysis


5. Stakeholder’s expectation
   

The result of above analysis help in swot analysis

PREST+ICA = Opportunities and Threats
RCA +cultural analysis = Strengths and weakness
Stakeholder analysis = Vision and goals

On the basis of above analysis, strategic options are generated. Strategic options nothing but different business models
1) Customer selection
2) Competition selection
3) Value =P+S+E (Products+ Solution +Experience)
4) Value delivery model i.e. the way value is delivered.

References :
Prof. Ranjan Das Professor IIM-Calcutta
thestrategyacademy.org
&
tutor2u.net

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