"Business Strategies"  a discussion of M.Azim Ulfati

"Determine the factors that should be evaluated when creating competitive strategy of a business. For each factor, indicate its significance."

Competitive advantage comes about from general elements in competitive advantage and from types of innovation in innovation. The strongest forms of competitive advantage come from business model innovation and management innovation. Below I have determined the factors when creating competitive strategy for business.

Important factors that create competitive strategy for a business, they may be internal or external. The following are key external factors:

Economic conditions. They cover the general health and direction of the economy, inflation and deflation, interest rates, tax laws, and tariffs.

Political conditions. They cover favorable or unfavorable attitudes toward business, political stability or instability, and wars.

Legal environment. This includes antitrust laws, government regulations, trade restrictions, minimum wage laws, product liability laws and recent court experience, labor laws, and patents.

Technology. This can include the rate at which product innovations are occurring, current and future process technology (equipment, materials handling), and design technology.

Competition. This includes the number and strength of competitors, the basis of competition (price, quality, special features), and the ease of market entry.

Markets. This includes size, location, brand loyalties, ease of entry, potential for growth, long-term stability, and demographics. 
The organization also must take into account various internal factors that relate to possible

Strengths or weaknesses. Among the key internal factors are the following:

Human resources. These include the skills and abilities of managers and workers; special talents (creativity, designing, problem solving); loyalty to the organization; expertise; dedication; and experience.

Facilities and equipment. Capacities, location, age, and cost to maintain or replace can have a significant impact on operations.

Financial resources. Cash flow, access to additional funding, existing debt burden, and cost of capital are important considerations.

Customers. Loyalty, existing relationships, and understanding of wants and needs are important.

Products and services . These include existing products and services, and the potential for new products and services.

Technology. This includes existing technology, the ability to integrate new technology, and the probable impact of technology on current and future operations.

Suppliers. Supplier relationships, dependability of suppliers, quality, flexibility, and service are typical considerations.

Other. Other factors include patents, labor relations, company or product image, district- channels, relationships with distributors, maintenance of facilities and equipment, access to resources, and access to markets. 
After assessing internal and external factors and an organization’s distinctive competence, a strategy or strategies must be formulated that will give the organization the best chance of success.

 "Evaluate whether or not the business strategy is dictated by the industry or type of business. Provide an example of an industry and your rationale."

I guess there are some limitation in order to approach to development of strategy and the company strategy is not dictated by constraints of the environment but it is influenced and affected through assessment of how the company can better exploit competencies to the opportunities in an external environment. It is important to keep in mind that every company has its own rules, limitations, strategy and policy, and many companies strategy is dictated by company that its competition of business has been offered to consumers.

"Competition in the Movie Rental Industry, Part 2" discussion of M.Azim Ulfati

"Evaluate Netflix’s current strategy and determine if the strategy is sustainable."

The current Netflix’s strategy is subscription business strategy, which is growing and is consisting of streaming and DVD-by mail content.

In order to keep the customers happy, Netflix uses a customer intimacy strategy and makes it very easy and fast for subscriber to access a wide selection of content on a wide selection of devices.

Subscribers are offered a low price choice of deliver method and platform. This strategy will be very sustainable and effective and has helped grow the company’s resources and make the company to compete in the market with other companies.

"Identify a Netflix strength and suggest how this strength may be leveraged in the marketplace to ensure a competitive advantage."

I think Netflix’s strength is that it entered the market for DVD rentals at a time when there were few other competitors in the market and let them establish their brand name and image for providing unique service. Netflix was the very first company that started offering DVD rental by mail and later on online subscription and offered customers a greater variety of DVDs and movies in the marketplace among the competitors and today Netflix entry has allowed it to maintain a high relative market share in the online DVD rental industry. I think if Netflix wants to be on the top of the company I would suggest that it should try its best to produce the highest quality service and keep its online system subscription updated based on the needs and wants of customers.

"Predict the future of the movie rental industry. Provide support for your prediction."

I will predict that the future of the movie rental industry will be based on competition with rivals, innovation and effective strategy based on the needs and wants of customers. Netflix bundling of DVD rental with streaming movies will enable them to work out and distribute movies digitally while continuing to build a large customer base of subscription. VOD will continue to gain popularity and will eventually unseat DVD and other physical forms of media. Netflix will make its streaming services available under a separate subscription plan of its own. This will happen when the penetration of technology allowing for viewing streaming content on high-end TVs is substantially high. The Apple tv is used to wirelessly connect to one’s computer and retrieve movies downloaded from the iTunes store on to the computer then play those movies on tvs.

I would predict that if Netflix hesitate to enter or does not gain sufficient experience in the VOD market, it will only see diminishing market shares, especially as DVD and other formats may begin to lose popularity in favor of purely digitally transmitted media.

"Competition in the Movie Rental Industry, Part 1" discussion of M.Azim Ulfati

 

"Assess how technology and the changing demands of customers have impacted the movie rental business."

Technology is continuously changing, and so does the customers demands in renting movies and nowhere is this more evident than consumer electronics; we can access it with a growing list of devices at lightning speed. These technologies and others are now beginning to open the door to a new, flexible and fast way we will access a wide range of video entertainment content.

For many years, we have been able to watch movies on our computers - laptops on airplanes, etc. However, the big change is that nearly every new consumer electronics device in our living room is now Internet capable. With a growing set of households with broadband (high speed) internet connections and many with home networks set up, and a new set of internet - connected TVs, video game consoles, Blu-ray players, and other set- top-boxes, the infrastructure is being put in place to consume video over the internet, sitting on your couch in the living room.

The advent of digital entertainment has changed the face of the movie rental Market. The outlook of traditional video stores has changed by adopting new technologies, which help in efficient inventory management and store operations. The online DVD rental industry is driving movie rental services. The movie rental market is a part of the home entertainment industry, which is again sub-categorized into the physical movie rental market and the digital movie rental market.

"Suggest a strategy for Netflix’s to prevent a new entrant into the marketplace and demonstrate its effectiveness. "

Netflix is the world’s largest online movie rental service with millions of members around the world. How ever the new technology has enabled Netflix to provide high quality streaming videos directly to their subscribers’ Pcs but still Netflix needs for a strategy to enter the video on demand Market and then that way, it can also differentiate itself from its competitors and reduce the likelihood of price competition and also it needs a streaming of live movie strategy, it needs strategy to increase its capacity and increase the resolution of the movies to better High Definition (HD) and 3D graphics.

"Evaluate any new products in this marketplace and the potential impact to Netflix’s market share."

A new product in this marketplace will soon be VOD.(Degree of Product Differentiation). It is going to have a great impact to Netflix’s market share. Rivals within the industry are causing price competition. The degree of product differentiation has not occurred with the physical product, but it is the service that is causing price competition and will greatly affect the demand for Netflix shares in the market.

 "Crafting and Executing Strategy" by M.Azim Ulfati

 Introductions

I would like to develop an argument supporting the importance of a strategic plan for the success of a business. I will then create a mission statement for the company explaining how the mission will be essential to the company’s success. I will create a vision statement for the company explaining how the vision statement supports the company’s mission. I will also establish five (5) key objectives for the company encompassing operational, financial, and human resource aspects of the business and justify why each of these objectives is essential to the success of the business. And lastly I will justify how the five (5) key objectives established support the mission and vision statements of the company as defined.

1. "Develop an argument supporting the importance of a strategic plan for the success of the defined business."

            Whole foods Market is the selected business that I would like to discuss upon at its best possible manner. Whole food Market started its work from a local supermarket for natural and health foods in Austin Texas in to the biggest retail chain of natural and organic foods supermarkets. (Thompson & John E, 2009)  Strategic plan in this business is designed to ensure the business to grow and expand appropriately. It guides the business to move on based on a designed plan. With this, it is for sure that things can also be managed at an active pace. I guess strategic planning can be the process that covers up defining strategy, direction and as well as making effective decisions. At the same time, the best possible decisions can be taken to set an allocation of resources. Current situations must be considered as well just as to make use of specific course of action too.

   It is very essential to understand   the value of having a strategy for the company to insure the success of how we plan to operate and be a competitor in the food industry. Perpetual and good communication of a strategic vision from the lower levels of management is very important for a perfect and good strategy of long-term directions that top management has demanded or planned. The company or industry vision’s has to well define in writing that where the company is going and why therefore it can be understood and supported by the members of the organization. The future of the company is required to have a convincing plan so that its members feel that those being there will have some meaning and feel as though they are a part of something.

            Strategic planning is considered very important as it supports in matching strengths of business with marketplace opportunities. Strategic plan also plays a role as a road map for the business. It covers up many diverse areas such as sales, customers, finance, marketing etc. All these areas are cohered so as to make goals achievable. This indicates that the progress and development of strategic plan is very much needed in order to let the foods business to grow (Bryson, 2011).

Executive’s ability to paint an inspiring picture of the company’s journey and destination is an important element of effective leadership and it attains best possible resultants.

Also the foods business may find a better path to better goals and at the same time it supports the business to target an appropriate path in terms with realizing pre planned goals and it can lead to carry its practices accordingly in an effective manner.

            The need of the hour expresses that the situations need to be made controlled and well-versed also. There is a possibility for a big demand and need to go forward for possessing the best possible control upon one or the other related areas. It is a must to go for seeing to it that things are moving on smoothly and efficaciously. It would be very much effective to go for handling situations at its best.

2. "Create a mission statement for the company explaining how the mission will be essential to the company’s success."

            The mission statement is basically designed as to assist the organization to go on forward a better path. Mission statement is usually a short-term goal and objective. It is being designed in a clear and précised order to state the actual motto of the business. With this, the business would get at promising moves so as to make it realized. Mission statement is clearly defined for the sake of stating the essential and basis reason behind the foundation and establishment of the business. It seems to be the best possible move just as to make people know about life and actuality of the business.

            It is an important part of the company to get well familiar with the fact as to what stands to be the real cause behind establishment of the business. So the foods business is made for making its business practices useful. Its mission statement is linked with foods the necessary organic ingredients in a good way. It needs to be very much qualitative and top in its performing. It would also ensure that things are going on smoothly and efficaciously too. Mission statement shall be devised in order to assist or help the business to grow and excel in the best possible way (Olsen, 2011).

The goal needs to increase the clients awareness about the brand and quality of the foods through integrated marketing strategies to control and lead the customers overall marketing efforts.

It is done by offering traditions, customs, social media, cause marketing campaigns, building the brand of identity of our various foods designed for the customer’s business goals. There must be a long-term relationship with the customers, community and the region. Mission Statement is necessary to the agency or industry’s success because it not only distinguishes the company’s performance about who we are and what we do but also it indicated that why we are here. ( Safranski, Ph.D & Kwon, Ph.D Ph.D, 1990)

            This way business is set to mark best possible growth and progression. Basically, the business duly believes to make foods better and the best. With this, it is for sure that customers can be made happy and satisfied as well. It plays a crucial role from the standpoint of ensuring great success and achievement to the business. Business success is very much needed and can also be made out possible by means of mission statement.

3. "Create a vision statement for the company explaining how the vision statement supports the company’s mission."

A vision is a statement of what or how you would like things to be in the long term to help the business stand for a long period of time. A vision statement is a picture of the future you’re working to form to help the business for forming an ideal position as how and, what you want to be when you grow up, what you want your business to become in the world. It would allow the business to go on forward properly and effectively.

It is expected to understand forming based on the situations as to grow on smoothly and perfectly. Without knowing a vision of where you are going, how you develop a plan to get there and how will you know when you have arrived?

We must ensure that the business would move on effectively based on developing our plan to get to our goal, if we don’t know and have not any visions of where we would like to be, we can continue hiking various trails through life, climbing mountain after mountain, ultimately we may find out each time that we have got some where that we don’t really want to be.

Nothing was ever formed without having a vision. It leads us, gives us instructions and goal, and can serve as a powerful motivator for those around us and ourselves. In order to truly guide and motivate a vision must:

First to be aligned with the core values of both the individuals and the foods business and second to be properly communicated to and accepted by everyone involved in the foods business.

            Vision statement of the business is to stand still at the marketplace. Usually mission statement is supported by vision statement in a way that it leads to make things well-versed at company’s part.

            Business so planned out would be made running by devising vision statement. It would play an active role just as to make business growing and expanding. The purpose is to go for adopting far better practices as to mark far better resultants. This greatly wants or asks for seeing to it that the business is managing things effectively or not. Vision statement along with mission adds on growth to the business.

4. "Establish five (5) key objectives for the company encompassing operational, financial, and human resource aspects of the business and justify why each of these objectives is essential to the success of the business."

             Accomplishing key objectives or goals require establishing and achieving several specific objectives

             The five key objectives for the company encompassing operational, financial, and human resource aspects of the business are to get the operational standards, maximizing the output and cutting extra costs, optimizing human resources, devising better strategies just as to attain the goals, controlling the unfavorable areas. All of these mentioned items altogether are considered to be effective so as to let the business to grow and expand accordingly. This tends to be very much effective just as to grow and develop.

The five of these mentioned objectives are considered to be very necessary to the success of the business. This demands for seeing to it that things are going on effectively. Objectives so described above would let the business to generate best possible results. Not only this, business can also be allowed to grow and expand at an incessant manner. It would lead to make things appropriate, managed and arranged according to priority. For instance an objective to a-stated goal can require that the dispatcher develop a route structure capable of providing three-hour service to any area within 20 miles of the city's center, with the service beginning within six months. 
An objective has to fit within a hierarchical network of other objectives that together contribute to the firm's ultimate goals and mission. Another objective can specify expanding employees and staff to drive the additional vehicles and to handle the expected increase in dispatching chores to supply foods or logistics to the customer. This system of setting priorities is called a hierarchy of objectives.

5." Justify how the five (5) key objectives established support the mission and vision statements of the company as defined in the assignment."

                 The five key objectives so established would surely support the mission and vision statements of the company as defined in the assignment. This is so because the objectives stated are connected to the pursuit of mission and vision statement. This greatly demands for seeing to it that things are going on smoothly and efficaciously. Not only this, the business would achieve heightened level of success (Tallant, 2011).

                    The business would be able to get best possible outcomes with respect to arriving at a better position. Food business would be able to mark its entry by means of above stated aspects. This would surely ensure that every thing is testing out to be highly acceptable, appropriate and affirmative at business part. Business would surely be able to realize its goals at its best.

I guess the formulation of a mission, vision statement, goals and objectives is a complex and continual process. It must be developed, processed and implemented to ultimate performance.

References

1-Thompson, J., & John E, G. (2009). Crafting and executing strategy. Whole foods Market in 2008:Vision,Core Values and Strategy,

2-Bryson, J.M. (2011). Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations: A Guide to Strengthening and Sustaining Organizational Achievement. (4th ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

3-Safranski, Ph.D, S., & Kwon, Ph.D Ph.D, I. (1990). Strategic planning for the growing business. Mission Statement,

4-Olsen, E. (2011). Strategic Planning Kit for Dummies. (2nd ed.). John Wiley & Sons.

5-Tallant, J. (2011). Final Strategic Plan - Underwater Turbine Induction System. GRIN Verlag.

"Jet Blue Airways"a discussion of M.Azim Ulfati

• "Evaluate whether or not Jet Blue was effective with executing its strategy of growth. "
• "Assess the risks and rewards of rapid growth within Jet Blue."
• "Recommend a future strategy for Jet Blue to deliver an acceptable return to its stakeholders and demonstrate how this strategy will achieve the goal."

I guess Jet Blue’s main strength is low fare-cost passenger airline that provides high quality customer service primarily on point-to-point routes (customer value oriented) employee oriented and its ability to formulate and execute effective and targeted strategies, enabled the company to rapidly expand its domestic and international market base.

Recently, Jet Blue’s focus on creating shareholder, value and conservative, high liquidity financial management has lead the company to make
profit during the recession of 2009 resulting in a positive cash flow for the first time. Jet Blue’s sound strategy and success in a weak economy makes it likely that the company will continue to succeed. It has been always committed to its customers and never disappoint customers but always result a positive impact by growing and executing an effective strategy and vision.

 Risks of rapid growth-

I think one of the key risks and problems that Jet Blue facing is competition. It has to fight each and every day against all other rivals for the travel purposes. It is dealt with low cost against virgin air line, Delta, Skybus, it is really hard to compete because demand for oil is going up around the world faster than we can increase the supply and will get worse with time.

The other risk is delaying of flights because of the crowded terminal.

The low fares of Jet Blue causes employee turnover.

  Rewards of rapid growth

I think the rapid growth reward is finding and having more resources and ideas, increasing the number of share holders in the stock market, increasing profit in a down turn economy and being a large employer and achieving all positive respect and value among the customers.

I would recommend market development for the Jet Blue airline.

The airline requires adding domestic locations and fly internationally, starts flights to European, Asian countries and Australia.

It needs Market penetration. It has to increase advertising and expanding to other media. Jet Blue does not need to depend only on word mouth but also it needs to advertise on tv, radio and online to gain popularity and boost revenues.

The last strategy that I would like to recommend is related diversification. The airline needs to build partnership travel website so that the users can look up information about various travel destination, and find hotels, restaurants etc.

"Company Direction"a discussion of M.Azim Ulfati

"Consider the company where you currently work, have worked in the past, or patronize on a regular basis. Evaluate the effectiveness of the company’s mission and vision statement, and provide an example of how the mission is carried out in your interaction with the company."
 

  I am very happy that I had the chance to work with one of the best companies. This company that its mission and vision statement had a great clarity for the customers and employees and they can conduct business in a clear and concise method.

Its vision states a great statement of the current and future respect and growth of the company. The vision is stated strongly like this, “ Our vision is to be an agile and responsive growth company that delivers the right talent and solutions, often in the most challenging environments. “

It has clearly identified vision of where the company is headed? How the business will work in the future?

Its mission statement also plays an important role that incorporates profitability, responsibility and services with offering the best quality mission to customers around the world.

The mission statement states linguistic solutions with experts availability, timely accurate communication to mission success, like interpretation and translation, language solutions regarding, military, diplomatic or business affairs with cleared and qualified linguists and as well as it states technical and training solutions globally with expert trainers for the military, civilians, business, and development organizations.

It has described a clear and defined mission and the reasons that the company is in business and the hopes to achieve good quality services from the company and its employees. It has also stated that how each individual effort contribute to the mission.
 

• "Evaluate whether or not the mission and vision has been adequately communicated to employees and customers. Provide examples of support or lack of evidence."

From my point of view there has been outstanding mission and vision communication both to employees and customers. When ever there has been a change or update to the mission or vision of the company first the employees had been informed through emails, mails, phone calls, monthly publications and meetings and second the customers are informed based on the necessity of change and update. The very first time communication was not that strong enough but recently there has been a tremendous improvements through setting and increasing more sub or branch offices and hiring more managers around the world and a 24/7 business center where employees and customers and contractors can contact and ask for their needs and solve their problems either via phone, email, online chat and mail.

"Strategy Planning"a discussion of M.Azim Ulfati

"Many companies invest substantial resources to the strategic planning process only to put the strategy document on a shelf until the process rolls around the next year. Create an argument for a company’s management team to actively communicate and implement the strategy that has been planned."

• "Given that a strategic plan has been established for an organization, suggest when the strategy should be evaluated, modified, or redirected."

First of all let’s discuss about strategic planning and understand what a strategic planning is. Strategic planning is an organizational management activity which is used to set priorities, focus energy and resources, strengthen operations, ensure that employees and other stakeholders are working toward common goals, establish agreement around intended outcomes/results, and assess and adjust the organization's direction in response to a changing environment. It is a disciplined effort that produces fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, who it serves, what it does, and why it does it, with a focus on the future. Effective strategic planning articulates not only where an organization is going and the actions needed to make progress, but also how it will know if it is successful.

I guess the company in which I currently work for, it arranges plans based on a strategic planning and considers the 4 steps that are required in an organizational management and planning to communicate with the organization goals, the actions needed to achieve those goals and all of the other critical elements developed during the planning exercise and also to systematically coordinate and align resources and actions with mission, vision and strategy throughout an organization.

The 4 steps that our company uses in strategic planning and management are analysis or assessment where the company can comprehend and develop the current internal and external environment, second one is strategy formulation, in this strategy the company uses the high level strategy and develops and documents a basic level of strategic plan, the third one is strategy execution where a high level plan is interpreted in to operational planning and action items and the last one is evaluation and management phase, in this corporate culture, tradition, communications, data reporting and all other strategic management is evaluated.