Corporate Self-Analysis
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The basic premise of corporate strategy is to analyse:


WHERE ARE WE NOW?

After carrying out market research, you will have found out your business is currently at, together with finding your competitive advantages are. The best way to do this is via PEST, SWOT  and Boston Matrix models as described in the marketing section.

The table below is a simplified model of business analysis, it is based on all the business sections covered in this web-site, take a look at the questions below and try to apply them to your business, go back to the main menu and look at the different sections within this web-site:

GUIDE 

  • Questions 1 to 11 are based on a top down strategic viewpoint to ensure corporate strategy is based on sound logic
  • Questions 12 to 14 are based on departmental strategies.
  • Questions 15 to 17 are concerned with the appraisal of business management.
  • Questions 18 to 25 are concerned with cash flow and debtor management in the business.
  • Questions 25 to 26 are based on sales and purchasing.
  • Questions 27 to 28 are based on operations.

                                         <= YES RESPONSES  =>

  QUESTION NO  LOOKING INTO USING

WORLD CLASS

COMMENTS

1 Does your business have clear short term objectives?             
2 Does your business have clear long term objectives?           
3 Are these objectives mere statements of intent? or are they statistical targets?              
4 Looking at the environment around your business, do your managers understand what is happening?         Political

Economic

Social

Technological

5 What is your business doing in relation to your competitors in the marketplace?           Strengths

Weaknesses

Opportunities

Threats

6 Do the managers of your business understand product life-cycle theory? (if NO go to question 8)         Launch

Growth

Maturity

Decline

7 If your business managers are aware of product life-cycles, do they know where your products currently are?, what are they doing about new and declining products?         Boston

Matrix

8 How often are these strategic objectives reviewed?         Ensure 

Regular

Reviews!

9 Does the business have a sound financial base from which to support it's corporate plans?          
10 Does a mission statement exist for your business?             
11 Have your business managers developed a set of Critical Success Factors by which they see the future direction of the business?              
12 From the mission statement does your business have separate strategies for it's different functions?         Production

Sales

Marketing

Quality

Finance

IT/eCommerce

Logistics

Purchasing

13 Are all these sub-strategies specific to the needs of the business?             Business Plan

Budgets

Media Plan

14 How will these strategies be implemented, reviewed and controlled?           
15 Do your departmental managers achieve their financial targets?          Sales

Budgets

16  Do your managers achieve these targets on a regular basis?            Look

at

Last 5

Years

Figures

17 Do your managers report back and explain variances between target and actual targets?              
18 How is your business cashflow managed?          
19  Is your cashflow regularly reviewed?           
20 How does the business treat debtors?         Credit

Policy

30 days

21 Do you send invoices with despatched products? or afterwards?               
22  How does the business handle it's creditor accounts?          
23 How are bad debts dealt with?          
24 How does the business treat creditors?         Pay after

Debtors

Give

Business

Money 

60 Days

25 How does the business attract additional sales?         Do you

a clear

Sales

Strategy?

26 How does the business purchase materials?         Sales based

Stock based

Capability based

27 Do you have information regarding true business production capabilities?         Operations 
28 Does your business employ continuous improvement methods?         Operations

Manufacturing

Quality

Purchasing 

You should now have a basic understanding of the status of your business.

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WHERE DO WE WANT TO BE?

Having found the position of your business within the marketplace, the next step is to decide where you would like your business to be in say a 3, 5 or 10 year time frame.

Use all your market research and identify the trends in the marketplace, what do your instincts and those of your managers tell you as to which direction your business should move.

Review what your competitors are doing and the state of the marketplace in general.

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HOW DO WE GET THERE?

Having identified where the business is, and where you would like to take it, the next step is to look at how to achieve your strategic aim. It may sound very easy on paper but implementing strategies is very difficult. 

We can say that:

  • From anlaysing the business, a set of critical success factors are derived (please see Marketing section).
  • From the critical success factors we should generate a mission statement for the business.
  • The mission statement will become the overall aim of the business, using such phrases as: 'The aim of our business is to generate a shared and growing prosperity between industry, the community and maintaining the local environment. We are in business to generate year on year increases in profit to reward our stakeholders and the wider environment.'
  • From the mission statement the business will develop more precise strategies and targets for individual sections/departments to achieve, the goal will be for growth in output and profit maximisation with reduction in costs for each department.
  • Make sure departmental strategy targets are achievable, remember Rome was not built in one day, break your long term business objectives into smaller yearly targets which are achievable for your business, targets which are too hard to achieve will simply put everyone off, and decrease morale in your business.
  • It will up to each departmental head, to ensure that they meet the targets set for their individual sections.
  • Make sure all departmental heads are aware of the targets for their departments.
  • Make sure the departmental heads tell their sub-ordinates what is required for the coming year.
  • Constantly review and make changes to your corporate strategy as and when required, make the necessary adjustments.

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