Tuesday, 1 April 2014

Lesson 2/Week 2 - Examining Environmental Variables


Lesson 2/ Week 2- Examining Enviromental Variables



A.  Consider either your company if you are working or an industry in which you may aspire to work and consider external factors that need to be considered in strategic planning for the business.  Look at the list at the beginning of chapter 2 in your text and consider the variety of factors listed in the second column.  
External factor that could affect the aerospace industry is for example the Malasyan airline airplane accident because it could affect how people perceive plane traveling as safe and it will affect the airline industry. This factor will directly affect airplane order which will consequently change the aerospace industry.

B.  Think about mission.  Look at the missions in exhibit 2.5 of your text on page 31.   


  • Are the missions market/consumer focused?  What is the danger of a product based focus? The danger of product based focus is that products are developed to be the greatest innovation without thinking in the customer.
  • Which do you think are the best? From my point of view customer focus is the best option.
  • Does your company have a mission?  Is it a plaque on the wall or does it really lead the culture of company. Yes, the company that I work for has a mission and it leads the culture of the company.
The following article talks about the importance of customer focus. Specifically customer satisfaction is achieved when it is based on a clear understanding of what the customer wants and needs.
http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/tnt/delivering-a-superior-customer-experience/why-is-customer-focus-so-important.html#axzz2xdSrym1a




C.    Think about 1 or 2 changes in the external environment in culture, technology, politics or some other sphere and  come up with two or more specific examples of a change and its affect on specific industry.  This is fodder for your blog contribution this week.

A great example is the movie rental industry which has changed tremendously in the last couple of years. Blockbuster used to be the market dominant and later on Netflix came with ideas on cutting cost, 2 weeks free trial and providing unlimited access to movies and TV shows. Over the years Netflix became the industry leader and the link below explains Netflix’s strategy.
 

D.  As we read in the article by Levitt, customers buy benefits not products. Think about your company.  What needs do the products of your company satisfy?    
 There are different needs based on the business units, in one of the divisions, Pratt & Whitney has to satisfy fuel efficient to its engine customers.

No comments:

Post a Comment