Competitive Strategy

Answer

Competitive Strategy

            Strategy is at the core of every successful business model, brand, and/or process. As the business world transitions to a highly competitive level following transformations fostered by digitization and globalization, organizational leaders are compelled to leverage effective strategies to record success. The present paper provides a multi-perspective discussion on the application and implications of strategic competitiveness in the business arena based on case studies of notable multinational corporations including Cisco, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart China, Qantas Airlines, and Procter and Gamble (P&G). This author is geared by the belief that efficacy on this note allows an organization to stay ahead of its competition while delivering value to the market for a sustainable period.

Cisco’s Organizational Capabilities

            Organizational capabilities are the primary features of a brand that give it competitive advantage over fellow industry participants. Cisco’s consistent investment in mergers and acquisition (M&A) is a major capability that enhances its operations and outcomes. For the sake of this argument, it is important to establish the fact that M&A is among the most favored expansionist business strategies since it allows brands to quickly and seamlessly penetrate into uncharted paths. As evidenced in the case study, this organization has capitalized on mergers and acquisitions to enhance its products (goods and services) as well as its reach into related and unrelated fields. This kind of diversification and expansion enhances the firm’s competitiveness in the sense that it allows the company to offer a plethora of products across diverse domains of practice.

            Sustainability is a crucial dynamic when exploring the value of M&A in building Cisco’s core competencies. The present world is characterized by rampant market disruptions following the emergence of novel innovations, especially in the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector. Such transformations appear beneficial to Cisco’s growth as it continues to acquire innovative brands such as Meraki to facilitate its transition to an ‘all-everything network’. When placed into perspective, Cisco will translate its current strength in M&A deals to promote and safeguard a strong performance in futuristic technology areas including Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, and Virtual Reality for years to come.

Challenges Facing Walmart in the Implementation of an International Strategy

            The assigned reading on Walmart’s internationalization strategy engages its audience in a mind-blowing discourse on the challenges that plague organizations that seek the fruits of globalization. As highlighted, Walmart’s challenges revolve around political, economic, cultural, and geographic differences between foreign nations such as China and its home, the United States (Salomon, 2016). Political challenges that are bound to emerge during the implementation of its internationalization strategy might include high taxes and strict regulations on its monopolistic approaches. When reflecting on its tough time in China, it is fair to take the region’s communist doctrines into consideration. The Chinese political system makes it almost impossible for an organization, whether local or foreign, to emerge as a monopoly without the government’s control of a significant portion of its resources and operations.

Inevitable cultural challenges are also at large, especially since the Chinese people take pride in their high-context traditions and beliefs, which is vastly distinct from that of Americans. The fact that culture is a broad concept makes it even harder for Walmart to fine tune its strategy to serve the needs of people in this foreign land. Like the preceding factors, economic differences present an obvious challenge to Walmart as it pursues its internationalization strategy. Maintaining seamless operations across countries that are not economically at par often drives some organizations out of business as they are highly likely to operate on losses. Such disparities compel the management to find means of promoting a balance on matters pertaining to resource acquisitions and profitability. Geographic factors also seem to be challenging, especially when the foreign location has limited infrastructure: emphasis on transportation, communication, and power supply among others. As evidenced in Walmart’s operations in China, some regions in the country are highly remote to the disadvantage of organizations that depend on seamless logistics.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Qantas’ International Strategy

            After a rigorous exploration of Qantas Group’s global operations since 2016, it is apparent that the management is pursuing vertical diversification as an internationalization strategy. This approach has allowed the brand to optimize its current resources and competencies to record commendable growth. Economy changes always transform people’s spending patterns. Qantas witnessed this transformation in the local Australian transport market, when there was a surge in the number of local-bound flights. Diversification allows the brand to maintain an active portfolio even when a particular line of business is on a decline (Gyan, Brahmana, & Bakri, 2017). Qantas’ approach also enables it to optimize its resources for a strategic purpose. The brand’s entry into the insurance market presents a classic case of resource optimization: Qantas leveraged its financial strengths and the huge body of loyal customers to offer relevant insurance services.

            Unfortunately, diversification has notable disadvantages including mismanagement due to excessive ambition and lack of expertise in the new ventures. For instance, Qantas entry into insurance might prove costly, especially when the brand experiences huge mishaps such as flight accidents and rampant flight delays. Diversification is also believed to impede an organization’s response to market transformations following the broad areas of operations that can destabilize in case of hasty business moves (Gyan, Brahmana, & Bakri, 2017). It does not seem too far-fetched to assert that the company has to reflect on how each move it makes affects its numerous lines of business. Such a scenario is not beneficial for an organization seeking industry dominance.

Ethical Decision-Making at Procter and Gamble (P&G)

            Procter and Gamble’s organic expansion strategy is arguably one of the most sustainable path to growth, but it is often stained by misconduct following the high pressure employees receive from their leadership. Such a strong postulation is deeply ingrained on the fact that such organizations depend on innovativeness and massive sales records to attain and maintain industry dominance. These kinds of pressure tend to manifest as triggers for unethical practice. It is not uncommon to hear of a group of employees tangled up in cases of corporate mismanagement such as selling botched products and defrauding customers. Top managers at P&G can mitigate such occurrences by fostering a culture of integrity. An organization that bases its decisions on integrity often prevails amidst the storms that face businesses (Paine, 1994). The company’s management can steer their human resource towards such a progressive goal by advocating for and implementing systems that promote open communication, accountability, education, and inclusivity in decision-making processes. Such an approach is bound to promote ethical practice within an organization since everyone in the team will bear a shared responsibility with respect to the same.

Coca-Cola Amatil Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

            Coca Cola Amatil (CCA) is currently striving to improve its social impact through strategic partnerships with pro-health organizations such as the National Breast Cancer Foundation to help the public transition into healthier beverage options, such as Mount Franklin’s bottled water. Of course, such a move incorporates a broad range of stakeholders, including consumers, investors, and employees. Consumers are seeking healthy beverage options, so their main expectations revolve around safety, hygiene, and environmental sustainability. They need Coca Cola to offer healthy water in a manner that does not damage the environment. On the other hand, employees expect the organization to safeguard their jobs while offering resources for innovativeness, especially now that packaging has to be transformed to meet environmental sustainability demands. Also known as shareholders, investors are primarily interested in their profits as well as the organization’s reputation. For this reason, this group of stakeholders expect the company to innovate effective means of packaging bottled water to improve the sales rates among environmentally conscious consumers.

Conclusion

            At this juncture, it is fair to remark that competitive strategies go a long way in boosting organizational outcomes. This takeaway point is inspired by the performances recorded by Qantas, P&G, Coca Cola, and Cisco. Walmart’s partial failure in China serves as a cautionary lesson for organizations seeking globalization. It is important to understand that the process is often characterized by intense opportunities and inconveniences that must be carefully analyzed prior to and during implementation.