Competitive Advantage

versation require for operation. Quality assurance and control: Quality assurance and control is effective elements of operation management as quality consider as important ingredients for production system. Total quality assurance and control ensure service standards, inspection, control of quality , performance testing etc. Production planning and control: The planning of production is the system that specify the procedure of production to obtain the output desire within a given time at optimum cost in conformance with specified quality standard and control is important to make sure that manufacturer takes place in the manner in a plan.

Apart from that some other important elements of operations management is facilities location, plants layout and handling, inventory control, work study and job design that plays effective role within OM. Importance of operational management elements in Microsoft corporations product and service; Within Microsoft corporation elements of operation management plays important role as through OM Microsoft corporation can explores production and distribution of services and goods.

Side by side the importance of OM elements in Microsoft corporation is that; it can ensure significant competition, shorter service and products life cycle, better and quality conscious consumers as well as capability of technology to improve productivity along with high quality service and products. According to Rama (2010) “operation management is important to an organization;s manager for at least two reasons. First, it can improve productivity, which improves an organizations financial health.

Second, it can help organizations meet customers competitive priorities”. so, as a corporation Microsoft should ensure effective use of operational management’s element in order to improve their service by customers priorities and products by improving productivity. 1. 2: The extant that corporation can enhance its competitive capabilities by producing safely, timely, to cost, to quality and within the law: In order to get competitive advantage within the market producing safely, timely, to cost, to quality and within the law help organization in various way.

How these element help business to enhance its competitive capabilities is discussed below; Producing safely: Safe production help business by increasing confidence of customer on organization. If any organization produce their product safely than consumer would more likely to buy their product rather than other company that does not produce their product safely because if organization produce their product safely that means they are following heath and safety rules for both staff and customer. Producing timely: Organization like Microsoft can enhance their brand image by producing timely.

If Microsoft ensure availability of their stock all time than they can retain customer as well as they can increase their brand image. It will help them to get competition advantage. Quality: Another factors that help Microsoft is producing product with high quality. High quality product can ensure high competitive advantage to Microsoft as the kind of product is Microsoft is producing that providing by other similar organization so, in order to enhance the competitive advantage Microsoft can concentrate on their quality of products.

Cost: In order to get competitive advantage cost is effective for Microsoft. By focusing on production cost Microsoft can ensure overall price of product is acceptable for buyers. Following law: The most important factors that help Microsoft to get competitive advantage is following various legislation. If Microsoft do anything that does not meet the requirements of law that the organization will suffer and it also reduce their brand image. . 3: importance of operation management to the corporation’s strategic planning and corporate objectives: Operation management is very important for business or organization as its control the system of organization. There are various importance that operation management have towards Microsoft ‘s strategic planning and corporate objectives and that are discussed below; Improvements of the system:

The importance of operation management is its deals with various design, operation and improvements of the system that helps organization like microsift in order to implement strategic planning as well as achieve corporate objectives by target market. Sustain efficiency and effectiveness: By using OM microsoft can sustain its effeciency and effectiveness within the corporation. Effeciency and effective in microsoft concerned with how good resources such as human expertise and inputs are use in order to achieve purpose they deployed within th ecorporation.

Improve productivity: In order to set strategic planning and achieve corporate objective OM plays important role within microsft corporation. As OM improve overall productivity within corporation so it will help corporation to adopt proper strategic plan as well as achieve corporate objective. Customer competitive priorities: As OM helps organization to ensure customer competitive priorities so that its important for the corporation to implement straegy in effective way to achieve their goal and objectives.

Introduction According to Iliev et al (2004, p. 133), Apple Inc. was selling its products exclusively in America, initially. Nowadays, Apple has expanded significantly beyond domestic market. Apple has so far succeeded to become a multinational organization, selling products and resourcing law materials globally. To minimize the impact of the existing rivalry in the PC industry at the global edge and to maintain competitive advantage, Apple applies non-competition strategies, (Yoffie, 2004).

This section examines the strategies adopted Apple Inc to penetrate and to manage rivalry in the global market. Further, this part looks into the competitive advantages of Apple Inc, which enable it to maintain competitive edge In the PC industry globally. In addition, paper briefly highlights the benefits and shortcomings of the strategies adopted by Apple Inc, giving potential solutions and strategies based on the available data. International strategy According to Iliev et al (2004, p. 133), Apple Inc. ses a combination of product development and product proliferation strategies to achieve and maintain its international competitiveness. Iliev et al notes that, product proliferation strategy is similar to the approaches used in creating barriers to entry. In such an approach, if new niches develop, the leader in a given industry benefits most. For example, Apple got the first mover advantage in the digital music market where it was the first company to provide online music through iTunes and the iPod.

The other companies in the industry started to move into the niche, competition was raised and rivalry decreased Product development on the other hand refers to the process of innovation of new or better products so as to replace the old ones. Apple has managed to lead in the PC industry in innovation and design hence, it has been able to exploit available opportunities and to gain significant market share in the international market. For example, in 2002 and 2003, iTunes and the iPod were made available by Apple at windows version.

As a result, demand for the products skyrocketed and helped to propel revenues for Apple to record high. In fact, today, iTunes account for 70% for global market for digital music downloads, (Jones, 2011). The combination of product development and product proliferation strategies is beneficial to Apple since the perceived value of the products of Apple Inc. generated through innovation and superior design proves to be inimitable competency. Thus, as much as this advantage exists, Apple will continue to lead in the PC industry.

However, the product proliferation strategy adopted by Apple Inc. a major shortcoming. According to Iliev et al (2004, p. 133), this tactic leads to high pressure for cost reduction and for local responsiveness. This makes this approach the most difficult to realize, but if a company succeeds, it can obtain a low cost structure and also considerable level of customer acceptance. According to Iliev et al (2004, p. 133), Apple applies this approach, but, it has not yet attained the optimal point.

As a result, the majority of computer owners in the global market do not know much about Apple’s technology. For Apple to attain appropriately low cost situation, it has to come up with ways to persuade PC users in the global market from the very entry of their innovative and technological superiority. Competitive advantage Apple Inc faces great competition form other companies in the PC industry such as Dell, Compaq and Gateway. This forces Apple to come up with competitive strategies which best fits generic business level strategy in the industry life cycle (Lubeck et al, 2009, p. ). According Lubeck et al, Apple is keen to constantly watch the other players and tries to predict the step that each of them is likely to take in the future in order to be ahead of them. Further, Apple possesses competitive advantage in specific areas resulting from its distinctive competencies. First, Apple enhances the quality of its products through improved product design, (Iliev et al (2004, p. 135). According to Besanko et al, (2009, p. 362) this helps in creating value through functionality and better product quality, thus leading to more pricing options and differentiation.

Moreover, the Human Resource Department of Apple Inc facilitates it to reach superior quality since it recruits high skilled workforce that ultimately leads to better product quality, thereby also leading to more pricing options and differentiation. Also, the Research and Development department of Apple Inc plays an important role as a source of superior innovation and comes up with new brands of products that create more value to the customers and enhances usability. As well, this factor results in more pricing options and to differentiation. Finally, the information systems in Apple Inc enhances internal communication and also, xternal coordination which in turn, optimizes business processes. This helps to reduce costs due to increased efficiency. According to Iliev et al (2004, p. p. 135). Apple adopts a model which acknowledges these distinctive competencies and sets a business model which facilitates it to enforce and to organize its competitive advantage. Therefore, all these above competencies enable Apple Inc to achieve superior level of innovation, enhance quality of its products and increase efficiency in production, hence provide Apple with a competitive advantage.

Conclusion In conclusion, Apple uses product a both product development and product proliferation strategies to achieve and maintain competitiveness in the global market. This approach is beneficial since the perceived value of the products of Apple Inc. generated through innovation and superior design proves to be inimitable competency. However, this approach leads to high pressure for cost reduction and for local responsiveness and hence, it becomes the most difficult approach to realize. As demonstrated in this part, Apple Inc. eeds to come up with ways to persuade PC users in the global market from the very entry of their innovative and technological superiority so as to attain the benefits of the strategy of cost reduction. As noted in the essay, Apple Inc. possesses various competencies including; product design, branding, usability and internal communication and external coordination. These competencies enable Apple to attain a competitive advantage against the competitors. References Besanko, D. , Dranove, D. , Shanley, M. & Schaefer, S. (2009), Economics of Strategy, John Wiley and Sons, New York Iliev V. , Lindinger, A. & Poettler G. , (2004), “Apple Coputer Inc. Strategic audit,” Retrieved from, http://www. andreaslindinger. net/downloads/strategicmgmts-lindingeretal. pdf Jones D. , (2011), “Apple strives for global markets,” Retrieved from, http://online. wsj. com/article/SB10001424052748703302604575294530119152528. html Lubeck, B. , Niltz J. , Danforth, J. & Brannon J. , (2009), Apple Inc. : creating and sustaining a competitive advantage, retrieved from,

My business idea is to have light weight compact exercising equipment that can be move from place to place without taking up too much space or being to heavy to carry. My venture will be to promote good and healthy habits that will include a daily work out with a multi- purpose unit. This unit will be sold in the United States and abroad it will have a reasonable price of fifty dollars per unit it will be advertised on infomercials and online (Barringer, Ireland2006).

The essential components are the needs of the customer, pricing, and value creation proposition, marketing niche and product mix. If the consumer feels that this machine meets, their needs as far as being easy to carry, store and is very convent for a quick work out;out side of a gym then this venture will be a success. When you start a venture, you have to invest lots of money into it so that you can get your venture off the ground. When you keep your over head low, your product is reasonable and people are aware of your product then your cost out of pocket to start will be returned to you in a short period of time.

You will do more than just break even you will start to see profits this will give you an option to afford to maybe invest in a new venture this could be call a venture screening (Davison 2006). A screening of the new venture will identify potential markets abroad competitive advantages are low fixed costs, control over costs and location . An opportunity has been screened for exporting of compact exercising equipment to other countries the venture is promising. New business processes along with new technology will provide exercising equipment to people in many places abroad.

The value of each consignment is about one thousand American dollars plus credit cards payments. All orders will be delivered within seven days of placing order and the retailers will have a grace period with the credit card company. To penetrate the market there will be direct mail, telemarketing, and bilingual staff used to reach those who have no knowledge of the product (Davison 2006). The profile for the market is reachable customers who would like more flexibility when choosing to work out. The economics of this venture is low capital and free cash flow this venture will break even in maybe 12 months.

This venture has a good fit with long term goals one of those goals will be having a bilingual team within two years of the venture. Good customer service will set my company apart from the strategic differentiation of my competitors also use of technology, pricing, and quality products. The entry strategy is creating consumer awareness that it is possible to quickly receive goods from abroad in small quantities at a great price from companies that are new to the market. The essential questions that need to be ask are sales projections realistic and are customers interested in purchasing this product.

The most valuable question is how will staff with good customer service skills be acquired also will the customer be willing to accept the terms of payment? A lot of times when you start a new venture it never occurs to the investor that maybe they are in over there head with start up cost. How will the business maintain until the profits start to come in those profits will help to pay for things that I like to call house whole bills. These have to be paid if your venture is doing well or doing badly in a new venture how will you get the notoriety that you have been looking for.

When I start my new venture with my exercising unit, I want people to know just how well my product works. I will do some advertising but mostly I want word of mouth to promote my business because word of mouth is some times quicker and better than paying for lots of advertisements (Davison 2006). Value proposition can be gain by communication to the retailers about their cost, the low inventory turnover they currently have, and how my venture can help them to increase their inventory value proposition.

This would reduce the amount of their capital in stock the new venture can improve their value proposition by having agents or distributors in certain areas to penetrate the targeted market. In conclusion, having an idea and putting it into action takes more than just words on paper you have to do your home work and hit the ground running so that you can get recognized then you let your products and good customer service do the rest (Davison 2006). The essential components are the needs of the customer, pricing, and value creation proposition, marketing niche and product mix. A creening of the new venture will identify potential markets abroad competitive advantages are low fixed costs, control over costs and location . An opportunity has been screened for exporting of compact exercising equipment to other countries the venture is promising. New business processes along with new technology will provide exercising equipment to small gyms in many places abroad. The economics of this venture is low capital and free cash flow this venture will break even in maybe 12 months. This venture has a good fit with long term goals one of those goals will be having a bilingual team within two years of the venture.

Good customer service will set my company apart from the strategic differentiation of my competitors also use of technology, pricing, and quality products. When I start my new venture with my exercising unit, I want people to know just how well my product works.

Reference:

1. Davison, R. (2006,October 31) Venture Opportunity Screening Retrieved on June 3,2012 russell-davison. blogspot/2006/10/venture-ooportunity-screening
2. Barringer, B. R. , Ireland, R. D. (2006). Entrepreneurship successful launching new ventures Pearson Prentice Hall

What is Strategic Management?

Strategic planning is a process to provide direction and meaning to day-to-day activities. It examines an organization’s values, current status, and environment, and relates those factors to the organization’s desired future state, usually expressed in five- to ten-year time periods.

The organization may be a program, school, school district, public or private agency, or any other institution that wishes to control its future. If the organization existed in a static environment in which no change was necessary or desired, there would be no need for strategic planning. But, our environment is changing -demographically, economically, and culturally.

Thus, strategic planning is both a reaction to, and a tool for adapting to, those changes and creating an organization’s future within the context of change. McCune describes strategic planning as a process for organizational renewal and transformation.

She identifies another difference between long-range planning and strategic planning: in long-range planning, goals and projections are based on the assumption of organizational stability, while in strategic planning; the role of the organization is examined within the context of its environment.

Strategic planning provides the means for an organization to adapt its services and activities to meet changing needs in its environment. It provides a framework not only for the improvement of programs but also for the restructuring of programs, management, and collaborations, and for evaluation of the organization’s progress in these efforts. (1) What Does It Involve? As a process, strategic planning involves an orderly sequence of activities, each vital to the success of the whole.

Strategic planning activities include:

1. Assessing the external environment.
2. Assessing internal capacity.
3. Developing goals and objectives.
4. Implementing the plan.
5. Measuring progress and revising the plan.(1)

The planning process depends on a formal information system. The external and internal assessments provide a reality base on which to build future plans. The vision or mission identifies the organization’s purpose and its desired future state. The process of internal assessment and future visioning may uncover, with in an organization, differing views of its purpose, its current level of effective ness, and its potential for the future. Thus, consensus building may be an important element of these phases.

Once consensus is reached, the practical steps necessary for reaching that future state over a given period of time – the goals and objectives of the organization can be identified and actualized in the implementation phase. Evaluation and revision occur at the end of the planning cycle, but may occur at any stage with in the planning process.

Why Do It?

In the simplest terms, a strategic plan can help improve performance. School staff or members of any organization, can become so bogged down in routine functioning and daily challenges, they can lose sight of the organization’s purpose. A strategic plan cannot only refocus members’ sense of purpose, but can stimulate future-oriented thinking based on a shared sense of mission. Collaboration between members of an organization is more effective when everyone is working with in the same set of assumptions and toward the same goals.

Today’s educational system must cope with changes in demographics, family patterns, and workplace requirements. Many of these changes provide interrelated challenges to the system. Viewing them as a web of problems may be overwhelming; putting them in the perspective of an organized strategic plan allows the organization to deal with them in a coordinated way, addressing pieces of the problems as part of a progression toward a total solution.(3)

This allows the organization to influence its environment and take control of its future, rather than reacting to it. Strategic planning is not an appropriate activity for every organization at all times. When an organization is in crisis, when its very existence is in question, the crisis must be addressed before any other activity is initiated. Strategic planning makes no sense when the organization’s future is in doubt. Developing goals and objectives.

Who, what, when, where, why, and how is not only the mantra of journalists, it is also the guideline for developing goals and objectives. And, the future vision of the organization- the why- is the guiding force in their development.(1) Specific goals, what is to be achieved, are identified to help move the organization from its current state to the desired future state. Goals may be sequential over, for example, a five-year strategic plan, with a completion date specified for each goal.

The objectives may be considered action steps, the accumulation of achievements necessary for attaining each goal. Objectives answer the questions of who is responsible, what specifically will be done, how and where it will be done, and when it will be completed. The goals and objectives must at all times convey a sense of movement toward the desired end state. Pfeiffer and others refer to this stage as strategic business modeling. (3) For them, the strategic business model consists of two parts: the strategic profile, which states the business’ goals in quantified terms; and clear statements saying how each goal will be achieved.(3)

As with goals and objectives, strategic business modeling must be compatible with the organization’s vision for the future. This is the essence of the full strategic plan. As a document, it clearly and concisely outlines the results of the preceding steps. It builds from a statement of the current situation to a description of the desired future situation, with a blueprint of how that future is to be achieved.

Section headings may include: The strategic plan should be the organization’s guiding spirit, providing a common sense of direction and purpose. It need not identify every step in the process; that can be left to the implementation plan. The guideline, however, must be commonly agreed upon and in place before day-to-day activity can have meaningful implementation. Assessing the external environment. There are many ways to assess the external environment.

Trend analysis is a method of examining changes over time in order to anticipate future conditions and events. Trends within the economic, demographic, social, and political arenas, sometimes referred to as the macro-environment, can also be examined in relation to each other to identify patterns that may have implications for the organization’s future. (4) Competition is a factor to be examined in the external environment. Some members of social service and educational organizations think they are outside of the competitive market place, but that is not the case. The competition for limited funding is fairly clear.

The turf problems frequently encountered between agencies are, at heart, competition for clients. An important factor for community educators is assessing current needs and projecting future needs for the community as a whole and for the various constituencies that may be served by the community education program both now and in the future.

Typical questions posed during an external assessment include:

• What is my community like today?
• Are the demographics changing? How?
• What are the implications of today’s trends for the future of my community?
• What other agencies currently serve my community?
• What services do they provide? To whom?
• What needs exist today?
• What needs are anticipated for tomorrow? How Is It Done?

The most basic question to ask before starting a strategic planning process is whether to develop a strategic plan. Unless this question is answered honestly in terms of the organization’s current status and the attitudes of its members and leadership, the planning process may be doomed before it begins.(2)

The question of whether or not to develop a strategic plan may be based on answers to the following questions:

• What purpose will the strategic plan serve?
• How will it help the organization?
• Will it be better than the system we use now?
• Are those in leadership positions committed to strategic planning?
• How much will it cost in terms of time and personnel effort?
• Who should be on the planning team?
• Does anyone have experience with strategic planning?
• Do we think we can do it?

If the answers to these questions support the development of a strategic plan, then the process can be initiated. Strategic planning can be accomplished in as little as four to six two-hour planning sessions. (4) It is important to stay focused on the critical issues. The planning design frequently calls for a small team to direct efforts and develop the written document, but input should come from the entire organization so that each member has a stake in the process and outcome.

Team members should work well together, be committed to the process, and be respected by their peers. Whoever leads the planning team should understand planning well enough to help others through the process. If this is a first-time experience for everyone involved, out side expertise may be useful to provide an initial orientation or a jump-start.

With this in mind, a planning team can work through the steps of the planning process, adapting and adjusting the procedure to fit the organization and its members. Implementing of Strategies. Implementation shifts the organizations focus from developing the strategic plan to acting upon it.

This occurs not only at the organizational level but within each program or unit of the school or organization. The degree to which the plan was developed through honest self-examination, environmental scanning, and stake holder involvement can determine the ease- or difficulty- the organization will experience in moving toward its envisioned future state.

Implementation is, in effect, a reality check on the assumptions and future visioning of the planning process and a test of the organization’s capacity, unit by unit, to achieve its stated goals. Implementation may require greater specificity in the objectives, a detailed description of the steps that must be taken in each unit or program in order to reach the organization’s long-term goals.

The focus here is on the short-term activities that lead to goal achievement. Implementation can also serve as a strategic management tool, providing both a framework for staff development and a solid basis for evaluating progress. Evaluating progress and revising plans. Although listed as a separate set of activities, evaluation and revision are implied in every step of strategic planning.

If continuous evaluation and revision have been an integral part of the strategic plan development process, formal evaluation and revision following implementation are unlikely to involve major changes. The advantages of this are obvious. Each step of the strategic planning process involves a degree of investment by the organization in terms of time, energy, and commitment. (2) The later in the planning process a major revision occurs, the greater retrenchment necessary.(1)

Strategic planning requires a broad base of in formation. It involves stakeholders in order to develop consensus around a future vision for the organization and the specific steps or activities necessary to reach that future. With faulty information or lack of consensus, there is an insufficient base to support the future vision. Thus, evaluation and revision must begin with the first steps of developing a strategic plan to ensure an adequate base for further development.

Additionally, the environment is not static during the development of a strategic plan. Revisions may be necessitated by changing events or changes in personnel, funding patterns, or needs. Summary Some groups of people, or inspired leaders, have a natural ability to respond quickly and effectively to new challenges and opportunities, making strategic planning superfluous. However, for most organizations and most organization members, strategic planning provides a powerful framework.

Developing a strategic plan can be expensive, especially in terms of personnel time and energy. This cost must be considered in relation to the expected benefits. For some organizations or units within an organization, strategic planning is a burden imposed by a higher authority – a funding source or an umbrella organization.

If there is no internal commitment to the plan, and no intent to implement it, strategic planning is a waste of time and energy. In sum, strategic planning is for those who are willing to be honest, who want to focus on revitalization, and who are committed to influencing and creating their future.