What is a (successful) business strategy Example of Volkswagen Group Essay

What is a (successful) business strategy Example of Volkswagen Group - Essay Example The description of this research paper will incorporate the integrated nature of the course of development of corporate strategy along with the description of the four key dimensions of a well-developed business strategy.The research paper is a description of the issues related to the development of a business strategy. The analytical discussion will be supported with evidences from the strategic operations of the Volkswagen group.Business strategy is the basis of successful business that helps the organizations achieve the desired strategic goals and objectives that are long term in nature. Besides the prevalence of different types of business strategies to choose from for the organizations, that strategy is considered the best which increases the chances of prevalence of the organizations in an extremely dynamic world, both at present and in the future.The development of corporate strategy revolves around two major aspects such as setting the objectives and reaching the results tar geted. Every business establishes objectives but lacks the desired level of cohesion between the set objectives and the path chosen to be followed for supporting them. The integrated nature of the strategic development helps the organizations in choosing the right direction of fulfilling the objectives. The integrated approach towards the development and implementation of strategy is therefore referred to as bridging of the â€Å"relevance gap†. The vision is that single succinct statement that defines the goals which are medium to long term in nature. .... For example, the vision of the Volkswagen group for the ‘strategy 2018’ is to make the group a leader in the global environmental and economic perspective among the manufacturers of automobile. By the year 2018, it aims to become the world’s most fascinating and successful automaker5. 2.2 Components of Vision The vision is composed of three essential components that form the basis of successful functioning of the organization. The components are the values, purpose and leadership. The importance of value is justified through choosing of the best valued guiding actions and goals of the organization. Purpose is essential because it not only drives a company forward but also helps in building sustainable advantage. Purpose and value, both cannot operate in isolation and thus for making them work, leadership is essential. It helps in sustaining the organization’s values and purposes3. 2.3 Mission A mission describes the present business of a company. The missio ns of a company can be multiple in its nature and it is the vision that guides the formulation of the mission. The mission helps the organization in deciding the planning process that will fulfill the objectives and help to achieve the ultimate goal of the organization. For example, in review to the vision statement of Volkswagen, the following and many more mission statements have been formulated that is aimed towards the achievement of the strategic goals: Preparing for the challenges in the global competitive market Consistent building up of the company’s strengths and targeting new goals Optimization of CSR and management of the sustainability factor Enhancing the compliance of the company with legal requirements and

Is Microsoft a Monopoly Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 1

Is Microsoft a Monopoly - Research Paper Example Before drawing any conclusions about Microsoft being a monopoly, we must first understand what a monopoly really is. A pure monopoly exists when there is a single supplier (Grant). In another definition monopoly is defined as the only supplier of a good for which there are no close substitutes (Perloff). From the above two definitions of monopoly it is safe to assume two characteristics that a firm must possess to be called a monopoly: 1. Sole supplier: variations may exist regarding the context of the sole supplier. In case of a pure monopoly there will be only one firm in the industry, meaning that the firm is the industry. It can also mean that there is one major firm with nearly the whole market power and other small firms have negligible share of the market that they can be ignored. Based on the two definitions I believe that Microsoft is not a monopoly. Firstly we must establish the industry, before labeling Microsoft a monopoly. If we consider the software industry then Microsoft is definitely not a monopoly. The software industry is huge with a diverse range of software ranging from OS software in which Microsoft holds a considerable market share to medical software where Microsoft has no market share. The fact is that before classifying a firm’s position in the industry first the industry needs to be defined. If we consider the first attribute then Microsoft is not the single supplier even in the OS industry, where it holds considerable market share. It faces competition from Android OS for tablet computers, Linux, Oracle, Xerox, DEC, Psion, Apple’s OS which is found in most Apple machines, and iOS, Apple’s OS for iPad and iPhones. There are some other OS that are developed on little known platforms, some of the most notable of these OS are: Haiku for IA-32 platform, RISC OS for ARM platform, MorphOS for Pegasos, EFIKA and Amiga platforms. Although these OS are in the market, Microsoft is the industry