Strategic Management

Task

Example of strategic management practices

The organization considered in the report, has set its image as that of a role model for number of fast food chains existing in food industry. Globalization concept of international marketing has enable the cited entity to exploit number of benefits confronted. Effectiveness of unique strategies have been a major reason behind overall performance of Mc Donald. Strategies framed by top most executives, focus on enhancing internal strengths as well as considering impact of strategies followed by competitors. Surviving in competitive business environment requires number of procedures to be carried out for providing higher level of satisfaction to customers by catering their personnel needs.

Industry attractiveness

Mc Donald company is a part of fast food industry providing hamburgers, cheese burgers, french fries and cold drinks, etc, to its customers. Number of customers follow different ideologies and preferences. However, they are assumed to follow a common liking for fast food items. It has therefore exploited the benefits provided by operating in food industry to a greater extent. Considering statistics on global basis, it has been observed that there has been a sudden increase in liking for fast food products by different customer world wide. Food industry of different regional markets has provided ample of opportunities for cited entity to establish number of outlets catering needs of its customers (De Wit and Meyer, 2010). Factors prevailing in industrial environment of food industry have impacted positively for enhancing brand image of number of products served by Mc Donald.

Resource based view

Analyzing availability of required resources, capabilities and core competence of Mc Donald provides a clear picture for highlighting factors behind its current financial stability. Number of resources are required for effectively applying strategies framed by cited organization. It can be included here undoubtedly that Mc Donald has acquired maximum market share of fast food industry by effectively utilizing available resources and carrying out production as well as promotional activities in an appropriate manner. The cited organization has gathered required financial resource on the basis of earning obtained through royalty and franchising fees paid by number of franchisee. It also has a control on bargaining power of suppliers of ingredients required for producing quality assured fast food items that can be relished by customers. Moreover, its uniqueness in producing mouth watering food items including variety of burgers specially, is itself its core competence. Catering different tastes of number of customers, it has been introducing new range of burgers that is one of its core competence. For example, Mc Donald has introduced Mc Spicy Chicken Fillet for its customers in Hong Kong (Barney, 2012).

Competitive Advantage

In common parlance, Competitive Advantage is all about positioning current brand image of cited organization with respect to position of competitors in the market. Michael Porter has provided three aspects for differentiating an organization among number of competitor existing in food industry. Starting with cost leadership, Mc Donald has been providing food products at a very nominal rate so that these can be afforded by medium class customers. Medium class customers dominate the total percentage of customer and the fact has been considered by cited entity. Customers prefer to relish these products during traveling as they can obtain easily on account of drive thru facilities provided to travelers. Another aspect considered is uniqueness of products that differentiates the cited organization from other fast food provider companies in international market. The special crunch provided in french fries along with minimal oil usage have created a liking for other Mc Donald’s product too, as customers are attracted to try them. Lastly, focusing on customization has enabled the organization to create a competitive advantage against its competitors such as KFC, Domino's pizza, etc. It has fulfilled required taste preferences of different customers.

Influence on strategic management practices

Various theoretical concepts explained in above sections have impacted list of strategies followed by the cited organization to a greater extent. Competitive advantage and the manner in which resources are utilized by the cited organization is the blue print of its success in international market. For maintaining a permanent position in food industry, Mc Donald has framed a strategy to deliver quality assured products and services to ensure core competence for leading the market. Analysing strategies and policies of competitors and acting accordingly to pull potential customers requires great deal of focus on effectively using various resources. For managing various activities, Mc Donald considers researching market condition to understand trends prevailing in market using theoretical concepts of management (Gebauer, Gustafsson and Witell, 2011).

Recommendations

McDonald must focus on enhancing effectiveness of promotional strategies applied usually. For surviving in competitive environment, it must increase its level of participation for sponsoring various campaigns and activities to promote brand image. Strategies framed for distribution of financial resources must include investing in functional activities that would enable the cited organization to expand its scope of activities in areas that have not been accessed till date (Wong and Karia, 2010).

Conclusion

It can be concluded here that Mc Donald has attained a super position in fast food industry by applying various theoretical concepts effectively. Moreover, core competence of providing standard products at a very nominal rate has enabled it to provide a strong defeat to number of competitors. Thus, benefits of globalization have been exploited efficiently for securing a position in international business environment.

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References

• Allred, C.R., Fawcett, S.E., Wallin, C. and Magnan, G.M., 2011. A dynamic collaboration capability as a source of competitive advantage. Decision Sciences.
• Barney, J.B., 2012. Purchasing, supply chain management and sustained competitive advantage: The relevance of resourcebased theory. Journal of Supply Chain Management.
• De Wit, B. and Meyer, R., 2010. Strategy synthesis: Resolving strategy paradoxes to create competitive advantage: Text and readings. Cengage Learning EMEA.
• Gebauer, H., Gustafsson, A. and Witell, L., 2011. Competitive advantage through service differentiation by manufacturing companies. Journal of Business Research.
• Kindström, D., 2010. Towards a service-based business model–Key aspects for future competitive advantage. European Management Journal.
• Porter, M.E., 2011. Competitive advantage of nations: creating and sustaining superior performance. Simon and Schuster.
• Thompson, A., Peteraf, M., Gamble, J., Strickland III, A.J. and Jain, A.K., 2013. Crafting & Executing Strategy 19/e: The Quest for Competitive Advantage: Concepts and Cases. McGraw-Hill Education.
• Wagner III, J.A. and Hollenbeck, J.R., 2014. Organizational behavior: Securing competitive advantage. Routledge.
• Wong, C.Y. and Karia, N., 2010. Explaining the competitive advantage of logistics service providers: A resource-based view approach. International Journal of Production Economics.

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