Strategies in Today’s Environment:
Applying E-Business Techniques
• Cost Leadership
– Online activities: bidding, order processing,
inventory control, recruitment, and hiring
• Differentiation
– Internet-based knowledge systems, online
ordering, and customer support
• Focus
– Chat rooms and discussion boards, targeted web
sites
Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins, Mary Coulter, and Nancy Langton, Management, Ninth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education Canada
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Customer Service Strategies
• Giving the customers what they want
• Communicating effectively with them
• Providing employees with customer service
training
Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins, Mary Coulter, and Nancy Langton, Management, Ninth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education Canada
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Innovation Strategies
• Possible Events
– Radical breakthroughs in products
– Application of existing technology to new uses
• Strategic Decisions about Innovation
– Basic research
– Product development
– Process innovation
• First Mover
– An organization that brings a product innovation to
market or uses a new process innovation
Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins, Mary Coulter, and Nancy Langton, Management, Ninth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education Canada
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Exhibit 7.10 First-Mover
Advantages–Disadvantages
• Advantages
• Disadvantages
– Reputation for being
innovative and industry leader
– Cost and learning benefits
– Control over scarce resources
and keeping competitors from
having access to them
– Opportunity to begin building
customer relationships and
customer loyalty
Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins, Mary Coulter, and Nancy Langton, Management, Ninth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education Canada
– Uncertainty over exact
direction technology and
market will go
– Risk of competitors
imitating innovations
– Financial and strategic
risks
– High development costs
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Summary and Implications
• What is strategic management?
– Is that set of managerial decisions and actions
that determines the long-run performance of
an organization
• What are the steps in strategic management?
– Is a six-step process that encompasses
planning, implementation and evaluation
Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins, Mary Coulter, and Nancy Langton, Management, Ninth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education Canada
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Summary and Implications
• What kinds of strategies can managers use?
– Three types of organizational strategy: corporate,
business and functional
• How does today’s dynamic environment affect
strategic management?
– Managers face more uncertainty and risk and greater
change in today’s continually changing environment,
making it necessary to scan the environment more
frequently and adjust strategy accordingly
Chapter 7, Stephen P. Robbins, Mary Coulter, and Nancy Langton, Management, Ninth Canadian Edition
Copyright © 2009 Pearson Education Canada
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