Business Strategy

Vision reflects the dream of the organization. It is a long term goal of the organization. It is achieved within the long period of time. Vision is based on the mission of the organization. Vision is revised after long period of time. Mission

Mission is midterm goal of the organization. Mission reflects why the organization exists in the market. Mission may have various components. If all these components are focused and achieved then the mission is achieved. Mission is dependent on objectives of the organization. Objective:

Objective is a measurable target. It is short term goal of the organization. After achieving the objective the organizational mission is achieved. Goal:
Goal is also a target. It has no time limitations. In fact goal is meant to understand the broad issues of the organization. Objective may have the time frame but the goal has not the anytime barriers to achieve. Core competency:

Core competency is a central feature of the organization. It is strength of the organization that plays the key role to gain the competitive advantages. It is a unique qualities or attributes of the organizational performance. It is quality that no other has in the market. P2 Review the issues involved in strategic planning ( Guidance : consider impact on managers in formulating strategic planning; targets; when to plan; who should be involved; role of planning).Virgin is a megastore chain organization. So it has the strategy to to build a company with estimated annual sales of over US$10 billion by 2007. As a result this organization set the strategy and many measurable objectives.

It focused on the launching new product and mew market segment. Its aim was to find opportunities to grow the business on the basis of what became the Virgin brand name and on the strong reputation of its founder and chief executive. The strategy was to launch t Virgin Bride and Virgin Cola to Virgin Trains and Virgin Mobile telephones. That is why it made contact with the musician to establish the brand name of it as well as to gain the competitiveadvantages. That is why it also wished to launch the airline business. All these are the strategic issues of virgin. Finally the CEO of it focused on the five pillars of business strategy.

P3Explain different strategic planning techniques (Guidance- you should use any two of the following techniques: BCG growth-share matrix; directional policy matrices; SPACE, PIMS)Planning is thinking in advance before doing something. It is blue print for future activities. Strategic planning is very important to start the business or formulate the strategy of the organization. Strategic planning reflects the vision of the organization. So in order to develop the strategic planning the following steps are followed. Identifying the organizational vision mission and objective

Firstly the organizational manager has to identify the vision mission and objective. Organizational strategy is based on the vision, mission and objectives. Vision show the way of moving forward and determine the path of right direction. So it is necessary to identify the vision of the organization and vision focus on the mission and objective of the organization. Analyzing the environment

In this case Virgin should analyze the environment in which it will conduct the business. After analyzing the environment it will find the strength weaknesses, opportunities and threats. In the internal environment it will find the organizational strengths and weaknesses. In the external environment it will find the organizational opportunities and threats. On the basis of the environment analysis, Virgin will formulate the business strategy for it. Formulating the strategy

Here the organization will go for formulating the strategy for it that obviously should be focused on the organizational vision, mission and objectives. It will also depend on the findings of the environment analysis. Implementing the strategy

At this stage Virgin will implement the formulated business strategy and conduct the business activities. In this case the organization uses the different approaches of implementing the strategy. Evaluating the results

Finally Virgin should evaluate the results of implemented strategy. Here it will measure the effectiveness of strategy. If it is succeed then the organization should continue it and if it is somewhat failure then the corrective action should be taken. Here Virgin can use the BCG matrix planning strategy that is developed by (Boston Consulting group. it focus on the following issues. Cash cow: when the low growth rate and high market share.

Stars: when the organization has high growth rate and high market share. Question marks: when the organization has high growth rate and low market share. Dogs: when the organization has low growth rate and low market share. On the basis of these techniques Virgin can formulate the business strategy or planning. Virgin can use the BCG matrix planning strategy that is developed by (Boston Consulting group. it focus on the following issues. Cash cow: when the low growth rate and high market share.

Stars: when the organization has high growth rate and high market share. Question marks: when the organization has high growth rate and low market share. Dogs: when the organization has low growth rate and low market share. On the basis of these techniques Virgin can formulate the business strategy or planning. P4: Produce an organizational audit for Virgin. You should use SWOT analysis; product positions; value chain analysis to conduct the audit for Virgin.Organizational audit is measuring the organizational capacity. It focuses on the organizational product producing capacity and other aspects of gaining the competitive advantages. It focus on the many areas if weaknesses and strengths of the organization. On the basis of auditing Virgin should prepare its organizational strategy. By following these steps Virgin can conduct the internal audit: Prepare current product market profile for it.

Indentifying the sources of competitive advantages in main market segment. Focusing on the organizational capabilities and competencies. Focusing on the core competency according to the strategic importance. Indentifying the key competencies and capabilities.

SWOT analysis
Strengths
Virgin has the following strengths:
Sound organizational strategy
dynamic leadership
higher capacity to provide service
Weaknesses
Huge involvement in making alliance with other organization
Opportunities
Huge investment in business
Higher brand image
Diversified service
Threats
Other competitors’ actions
complexity in producing the effective services
This is the SWOT analysis of the Virgin. It can produce the audit of by focusing on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Value chain analysis

Value chain analysis is process of adding vale value to the products and services. It is a continuous process of adding value or modifying the products features or qualities. The value chain consists of two types of activities one is primary activities and another is support activities. Primary activities include the inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales and service. Support activities include the firm infrastructure, human resource management, technology development and procurement. Virgin can formulate strategy and prepare its audit by focusing on the value chain analysis activities.

P5 Carry out the environmental audit for Virgin using the PESTLE analysis and Porter’s competitive forcesWe can evaluate the environmental audit for Virgin using the PESTLE analysis. And porter’ competitive forces. Before going to discuss we have to know the PESTLE analysis. It refers to political, economical, social, technological, legal and environmental factors. Political

Political factors include the governmental policy, national requirements and institutional policy that factors or restricts the activities of the business. In the case of Virgin here ewe see that the national policy or intuitional policy favors the business policy of it. So is able to make any business decision. Virgin can easily make any alliance or business strategy with other organization and already we have seen this manifestation. Economical

This factor includes the monetary issues. Here in Virgin the management of it invested huge money in its business operations that favors it to move forward in right way. Social

Social factors include the impact of attitude, personality, perception, group demography, norm and vales of the society on the business activity. In this case Virgin can gain positive advantages of the social factors. It creates the awareness among the health conscious people and people took it
positively. So the business can use it and make it more profitable aspects of its business.

Technological
Technology factors include the emerging technology, technological dynamism and it’s up gradation. In the case of Virgin the technological advantages are available. As this business made the alliance with other organizations, they are highly shaped with technology of this business. Virgin can use this opportunity for the business profitability. Legal

Legal factors include the legislation or rules that shape the environment of the business. In the case of virgin the business is getting the advantages of the legal aspects. As it is dong business for the betterment of the society, it will favored by the rules of the country. Environmental

Environmental factors includes the impact of social, national international, political and others aspects. Virgin can gain the advantages of the social, national and political factors in its business operation. It has the brand image and is able to make the relationship with other organization. Porter five competitive forces

It includes the few factors that are given below:
Threats of new entrants
Threats of buyers
Threats of suppliers
Threats of substitute products
Competitive rivalry
Threats of new entrants
In the business ofVirgin the new entrants may accrete the challenge of it. The challenges will be created if the new entrants provide the more facilities or offer to the customers. Threats of buyers

If the buyers ofVirgin are more powerful then it may face the many difficulties in running the business operation. So buyer can shape the business activity. Threats of suppliers
Sometimes the suppliers make an alliance and handicap the producer to hike the price of supplied goods by them. So they can acres the influence on Virgin to conduct the business activity. Threats of substitute products

This is another force that shapes the business activity of theVirgin. The customers find the alternative to take the health related services then Virgin can face the problems in its business strategy and operation. So the substitute service of service can care the problems for Virgin. Competitive rivalry

The competitive environment creates the impact on the business operation. If the completion is denser then the business faces the many challenges produced by the competitors. So ,Virging can face this kind of challenges.

P6Explain the significance of the stakeholders of Virgin’s business scenarioThe stakeholders are the parties who are directly or indirectly concerned with the interest of the business. In the case Virgin stake holders includes the customers, investors, business partners and many other parties. These parties play the significant role in running the business operations. The customers help the Virgin to run the business effectively and they receive the different offers of it. The partners of it associate to run the business activity of Virgin and it can gain the competitive advantages from the market. Then the investors invest the capital in the business and the organization is able make diversification it the product line and the organization maximize the profit in many ways. Thus the many stakeholders of the Virgin play the significant role in its business scenario.

P7 Analyze possible alternative strategies relating to substantive growth, limited growth or retrenchmentVirgin is a megastore chain organization.. It focuses on the many business line to increase the sales volume.. In this case it makes the relationship with different organizations as partner to launch the new product.. So it may formulate the new strategy to develop the new product. In this case it makes the new alliances with the different organizations similar organizations. As a result the brand image of it will enhance hugely in the market. That is why it will also be the part of corporate social responsibility activity. So it should be new business strategy.

P8 Select an appropriate future strategy for Virgin group or any other organization of your choiceVirgin can formulate alternative strategy for it growth in many ways. As it is megastore chain organization. So it builds the relationship with other organization to expand its services and brand image. So it has the ample opportunity to prepare different strategy for its business. In this case the possible alternative strategy may be the followings: Developing the differentiated product to the people.

Producing the recreational product or services or arranging the refreshing event. Developing the internet business to the people..
Making the alliance with other service oriented organization so that it can provide the more service. All these may be the possible alternative strategy can help Virgin to ensure its growth.

P9Compare roles and responsibilities of Senior Management towards strategy implementation Strategy implementation is executing the order or plan of a practice. The success of the business depends on the effective strategy y implantation. So the manger has to be more careful in implementing the strategy. In this case there are many approaches are used to implement the strategy. Basically the strategic leader or manger is responsible for implementing the strategy of the organization. Strategic leader uses the many approaches like commander approaches, change approaches, cultural approaches, collaborative and cresice approaches to implement the strategy.

Thus the manger of Virgin can implement the strategy. P10 Evaluate resource requirements to implement a new strategy for Virgin Group or any other organization of your choice (You may evaluate the resource requirements like Finance, HR, Marketing, etc., and the keys to implement a new strategy of the given or any chosen organization)To implement any strategy the resource is required. As the business expands, the more resources are required. Business organization has to make more investment in its portfolio. In this case Virgin formulates few alternative strategies and takes the new business services. So to implement the new strategy or produce the new services it requires the more resources. It has to make more investment in its additional business line. In this case the organization may supply form the formal and informal fund sources.

P11Discuss targets and timescales for achievements in a given organization to monitor a given strategy (You may propose target and a plan to implement proposed strategy/new strategy based on some assumptions you have made)It is not enough to implement the strategy for the business. The organization has to evaluate the results of implemented strategy to measure the progress of it. Virgin can determine the specific time or duration to evaluate the progress of the strategy on the basis of the scope of the strategy. If the scope or area of the strategy is so huge and complex to achieve the desired outcomes then the time frame of the strategy implementation or monitoring duration should be fixed. Generally a strategy is formulated for 20 years. After this duration the strategy is modified or updated according to the necessity of the business. So in this case Virgin may take the same types of duration to monitor the strategy or achieve the targets.

M1: Submit your Work on time and in appropriate Format.This report is prepared following the required instruction and format. This is professionally prepared and mannered. M2 Identify and apply strategies to find solutions through effective judgmentBasically the strategic leader or manger is responsible for implementing the strategy of the organization. Strategic leader uses the many approaches like commander approaches, change approaches, cultural approaches, collaborative and cresice approaches to implement the strategy. Thus the manger of Virgin can implement the strategy for effective judgment. M3 Select/design and apply appropriate methods/techniques. You are judged on the application of relevant techniques and the justification for their application.Virgin can use the following technique. Porter five competitive forces

It includes the few factors that are given below:
Threats of new entrants
Threats of buyers
Threats of suppliers
Threats of substitute products
Competitive rivalry

M4 Present and communicate appropriate findings. This includes the use of an appropriate structure and approach with coherent, logical development of principles/concepts for the intended audience.This report focuses on the main issue to present or solve. This report includes the appropriate structure, method or principles. in this paper SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis, vaue chain analysis have been used to present the main subject matter. D1Use Critical reflection to evaluate own work and justify valid conclusions including realistic improvements which have been proposed against defined characteristics for success.In this work the conclusion and other relevant information are very relevant and appropriate. if this organization follow the business strategy then it will be effective and will be able to achieve the vision of it. D2Demonstrate convergent/ Lateral/creative thinking by showing evidence on receptiveness to new ideas and effective thinking in unfamiliar contexts.Virgin uses the sound business policy or strategy for its operation it tries to enhance the brand image by making the alliance with similar services oriented business. So we may say that its has the clear vision and business strategy.

D3Take Responsibility for managing and organizing activities including accommodating the unforeseen and recognizing the importance of interdependenceIn this paper it is said that the whole work is completed and covered all the issues that are needed. Conclusion:Business strategy is long term plan of action. The purpose of the strategy is to defeat the competitors in the markets. So, organizational leader should be more aware of the rivalry in the market so that they can formulate an effective strategy for the success of the business. Good strategy formulation depends on the dynamism of the leadership and resource level of the organization.

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