Strategic Management

The SWOT analysis might have indicated that the company’s menu was threatened by the changing consumer trends towards healthy foods. The result of the analysis influenced the company to shorten its name to distance itself from the “fried chicken”. The analysis may have identified the healthy food market segment as an opportunity that KFC could use and maximize its profits. The opportunity, therefore, could have influenced the company to offer “Colonel’s Rotisserie Gold chicken as the ideal alternative to the fried chicken. The aim of the restaurant was to present this new offer as a health conscious product. After the analysis, the company may have realized that the oven roasted chicken offered the best chance for the opportunity offered by the new market segment. Convinced that the product would utilize the health food segment, the company embarked on its promotion.

If the company applied PESTLE analysis to make the decision regarding the “Colonel’s Rotisserie Gold” chicken, it would have identified it as a failure. The social aspect of the analysis would have shown that the fast food market was changing towards new food items that offered health benefits to consumers such as vegetable salads. The decision that KFCmade changed one aspect of the chicken. It eliminated the frying method from their product and wished the customers would have seen it differently. The move to just offer “Colonel’s Rotisserie Gold” chicken was perceived by customers as a marketing strategy to divert their attention from the fried chicken. Therefore, customers did not see any genuine concern by KFC for their health, hence the product was possibly a failure.

 

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The structural changes that have taken place at Nokia are likely to lead to the achievement of its objectives. The different divisions that have been created under the new structure help the company to focus on the different market segments. The press release on 8^th of May differentiated the main areas. These areas included customer relations management, sales force automation, collaborative applications and remote network access. The devices section under the new structure enables the collaboration of employees in an organization. The services and software section will serve businesses by allowing them access to remote networks and provide them with customer relations management applications. The markets section will allow Nokia to access sales force automation, which can assist the efficiency of its supply chain. Therefore, the new structure supports the purposes of the business and serves the needs identified in the 8^th May press release.

Among the organizational structures learned in class, the matrix structure is the closest in resemblance to the one described in the June 20^th press release. The three main functional areas, namely, the markets, services and software and devices have managers responsible for each of them. The structure in the press release groups employees by both product and function. For instance, under the functional grouping of markets, there is an employee in charge of global sales. In addition, the functional services and software section has a manager in charge of community services and entertainment. The structure clearly resembles a matrix structure that pairs functional and product aspects with employees.

The structural changes implemented by Nokia support the six characteristics of strategic thinking. The structural design is intent-focused and able to utilize opportunities. The changes have been created with the intention of maximizing the emerging opportunities in the mobility of businesses. The division of departments into functional areas supports the systems view. According to this perspective, an organization is made up of small subsystems that support the achievement of the entire organizational goals. The chief development officer ensures that each department’s goals are consistent with those of the business. The structure also supports the scientific approach because the measurable financial performance of each department will be included in the financial reports. The company had a long term perspective, as demonstrated by its overhaul of the entire organization. A short term orientation would not have influenced the massive changes in the whole organization. Although the change does not depict any past considerations, it considers the present state of the organization. The company plans to build the internet services and solutions based on its current infrastructures.

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The mechanistic perspective and management views an organization as a machine to be controlled to achieve objectives. Therefore, the management treats employees as tools to achieve its goals, focuses on effective and measurable outcomes. This approach standardizes procedures and allows employee creativity and innovation. A military organization uses a mechanistic focus. The organic focus perceives an organization as a living organism that interacts with its environment to survive. It appreciates the importance of the external environment and how all the different parts lead to the organizational success (Sisaye, 2005). The leaders of the organization empower employees instead of controlling them, allow creativity through autonomy and create a motivating environment. Google is a company example that uses organic focus because it motivates employees and encourages creativity.

Grand strategies are the decisions that determine the long term direction of a corporation (Morden, 2007). For example, a company may decide to become a market leader in the fast food industry. This is a grand strategy. To achieve this long term goal, a firm needs generic strategies, which define specific activities that culminate in the achievement of the long term goals. To ensure the company becomes a market leader in the fast food industry, it can choose differentiation and low cost as its generic strategies.

Vertical growth takes place when a company expands into new operations with the aim of reducing its dependency on other firms for production and distribution functions. When a firm acquires either its suppliers or customers, it leads to vertical growth. A supermarket acquiring the company providing it with freight services results to vertical growth. Horizontal growth happens when a firm expands its existing products into new locations or increase activities within its portfolio. A purchase of one restaurant by another represents horizontal growth.