Integrated Strategy

Integrated Strategy

Introduction

Planning and control should be an integrated activity, not two separate activities, which often at the end of the day prove to be unrelated. Walters and Halliday (1997) suggest a planning and control system, which is to be useful for both marketing and financial management, should consider the task(s) of the organisation, its technology and its structure.

Walters (2002) points out that 'focussing on efficiency alone does not build long-term value for customers, nor does it create or extend competitive advantage. Customer-focussed companies create additional value for their customers by building value chains to service customer needs. They create a multi-enterprise organisation that integrates supply chain efficiencies with a demand chain strategy. Strategic operations are an approach that identifies the activities of all organisations in the value chain. It seeks to identify where and who can perform activities to greatest effect to create competitive advantage.

Discussion

Value Strategy

Minzberg and Quinn (cited in Buttery and Richter-Buttery, 1998) adopted the opinion that most definitions of strategy incorrectly assume that a company's strategy is the result of rational planning. They offer five definitions,

“The Five Ps for Strategy: plan, ploy, pattern, position and perspective.

Strategy is a plan or a guideline to deal with a situation. Implicit in this definition is that strategy is developed purposefully, and in advance of any situation.

Strategy is a Ploy or a specific manoeuvre intended to outwit the competitor.

Strategy is a Position or a means of locating on organisation in an 'environment'. Strategy then becomes the mediating force or match between the firm and its environment.

Strategy is a Perspective or a concept, or a 'Weltanschauung' (a way to view the world), or a culture or a driving force. Strategy is to the organisation what personality is to the individual.” (Buttery et al, 1998)

Day (1999) stresses that an effective strategy must be straightforward in both intent and direction. “Too much subtlety and complexity, and the essential ingredients won't be consistently understood or acted upon by the organisation. This is damaging to performance in the market because it sends erratic and confusing signals to customers.” Day goes on to define strategies as a combination of highly interdependent choices or 'directional statements':

“The direction is set by four choices:

Arena: the markets to serve and customer segments to target.

Advantage: the positioning theme that differentiates the business from competitors.

Access: the communication and distribution channels used to reach the market.

Activities: the appropriate scale and scope of activities to be performed”.

(Day 1999, p6) Day's final set of choices involves adapting the strategy both to impending threats and emerging opportunities.

Operations

According to Kotler (2000) the term operations is used for industries that create and provide services, in the same context that the term manufacturing is used to describe industries making physical products. In a restaurant for example, the operations team includes the waiters and waitresses, doormen, somelier etc. With marketing promising various service levels, Kotler explains the importance of these two departments working well together.

Walters et al (1997) suggests that the role of operational marketing is ...