BUS605: Strategic Project Management

Learning Outcomes

• Explain the concept of competitive advantage.
• Explain the concept of value proposition.
• Explain how strategy relates to the overall management of a business.

Businesses do not exist in isolation. They exist as one element of a complex situation that comprises the social, political, economic, and competitive environment. A firm's strategy is a comprehensive plan to achieve its goals in the face of these conditions. Strategy defines how a firm will achieve long-term success. Determining the strategy is a critical decision for management because it involves a significant commitment of resources and, once initiated, it is very difficult and costly to change.

In the movie The Godfather II, Michael Corleone says: "My father taught me many things. He taught me: keep your friends close, but your enemies closer". This applies in strategy, as well. A company's friends are its customers. Strategy must keep the company aligned with its customers' needs. Its enemies are its competitors. Competitors are firms that provide similar products or services and try to attract the same customers. Competitors are likely to have similar business goals in terms of sales, profitability, and market share. To succeed and achieve its goals, a firm has to "beat" its competitors by constantly striving to improve its offerings to customers and to be better than the competitors' alternatives. In this section we look at how companies address competitors in their strategy.

Source: John/Lynn Bruton and Lumen Learning, https://courses.lumenlearning.com/wm-principlesofmanagement/chapter/the-role-of-strategy-in-management/
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.