For a company to thrive today, strategists must find ways to increase the organization’s ability to read and react to industry and market changes. They must know their goal to boost the company’s strategic flexibility by recognizing disruptions earlier and responding faster.
The companies chosen for this task vary by industry: a famous automobile manufacturer (Ford) a bank going through a merger (Compass) and a start-up software company (DawningStreams). Emphasis must be placed on their adaptability in strategic analysis and their adaptability in strategic management of business organizations. The organization must have a strategic management model.
Compass Bank is going through a merge and expanding globally; therefore they will need to keep abreast of communication technology. DawningStreams is a software company; they will need to monitor those companies who would be their competition to ensure their product offers better functionality. That is true however; Compass Bank and DawningStreams can plan a strategy to be friendlier to the environment (and their pocketbooks) by practicing paper reduction (through the aforementioned technology). To Ford, legal applies, among other areas, to environmental protection laws and department of transportation safety laws. With help from a new generation of business strategists, companies are pursuing novel ways to hatch new products, expand existing businesses, and create the markets of tomorrow. Some companies are even recreating full-fledged strategic-planning groups. United Parcel Service expects to spin out a new strategy group from its marketing department, where strategic plans are now hatched.
Ford Motor Company – Socio-cultural
Ford Motor Company embraces the socio-cultural changes taking place to allow the company to move in the right direction with respect to attitudes in the society. The growing concern by the public for better fuel economy has influenced the company’s introduction of the Ford Escape Hybrid and Mercury Mariner Hybrid. The environmental scanning by Ford Motor Company has allowed the company to be knowledgeable of the fact that the people in the United States are buying more small cars today than any other type of vehicle segment. Ford Motor Company will continue to use the socio-cultural factors to drive the business and enjoy future success.
Ford Motor Company – Legal –
Ford Motor Company with regard to the Environmental Protection Agency adheres to the legal aspect of environmental scanning. Ford Motor Company accepted an award in March 2007 from the Environmental Protection Agency called the Energy Star 2007 Partner of the Year Award in Energy Management.
The organization is committed to the responsible use of resources and energy efficiency. Due to the environmental scanning that takes place at Ford Motor Company the company will use the information that is collected and continue in this direction.
Ford Motor Company – Technology –
Another environmental scanning tool that Ford Motor Company monitors and uses would be the technological portion. The company has invested $1 billion in the latest technology for flexible manufacturing.
The technological changes that are being embraced by Ford Motor Company through environmental scanning enables the company to experience huge cost savings through new product launches and 50 percent reductions in cycle changeovers along with waste reduction. The environmental scanning of technology that is performed by Ford Motor Company has allowed the company to have positive outcomes in efficiency while remaining a competitive company in the industry through cost savings and continuous improvement.
Compass Bank- Political -
On February 16, 2007, Compass Bancshares, Inc., the parent company of Compass Bank, announced the signing of a definitive agreement under which Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE: BBV Madrid: BBVA) (“BBVA”) will acquire Compass for a combination of cash and stock. Compass will become a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary of BBVA and will continue to operate under the Compass name.
Compass is a $34 billion Southwestern financial holding company that operates 415 full-service banking centers in Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Florida, New Mexico and Texas. Compass provides a broad array of products and services through three primary lines of business – Corporate Banking, Retail Banking and Wealth Management. New laws, regulations, tax programs and public policy create forces and trends, which may provide challenges and barriers or opportunities for any company or organization.
Compass Bank – Technology –
Ford is teaming up with a company called MECCO to implement this process and a trial run of the new system will last for 3 months. Finally, Compass Bank can learn that they need to consider what will be most cost-effective and in the best interest of the company over time. Some, if leveraged by a company within an industry before competitors use it, may even provide a competitive advantage.
Compass Bank – Competition –
Others include the more concrete assets such as available capital, the organization structure, current technologies and information technology infrastructure.
DawningStreams – Competitors –
DawningStreams – Political -
(Bureau of Industry and Security, 2007).
DawningStreams will contain cryptographic functions. Cryptography is a key functionality of DawningStreams. The cryptographic layer of DawningStreams will rely on a dual public-private key system. The private key encryption system will implement Rijndael, the Advanced Encryption Standard (), the public key system will implement RSA and the hashing function will implement the 256 bits version of the Secure Hash Algorithm ( ).
The national security, foreign policy, and law enforcement interests of the United States are protected by encryption export controls. (Bureau of Industry and Security, 2007).
DawningStreams – Technology/Intellectual Property –
The management of organizational strategy requires a comprehensive assessment of the macro environment of the business. The research implies that company size plays an essential part in the way senior management views security. (unknown, 2007)
Some companies are even recreating full-fledged strategic-planning groups. Retrieved March 31, 2007 from Proquest Database. Ford Motor Company (2006). Ford Motor Company. Retrieved March 2007,
from the World Wide Web, Web Site: Ford, S. (2004) Adapted from 13 Skills Managers Need to Succeed, Harvard Business School
Retrieved March 31, 2007 from EBSCOHost Database.
(2006). Ford implements advanced laser marking. Industrial Laser Solutions, 21(4), 6-7. Retrieved March 30, 2007 from EBSCOHost Database.
Strategic Management: Formulation, Implementation, and Control. The McGraw-Hill Companies. Computer Security Update 8 (4). Retrieved March 30, 2007 from EBSCOHost Database. Retrieved March 27, 2007 from the Bureau of Industry and Security Website at Watson, G. (2003) Business Environmental Scans for Intellectual Property Strategy (PowerPoint Presentation). Retrieved March 28, 2007 from the Oklahoma State University website at ,1,Business Environmental Scans for Intellectual Property Strategy
Forces and Trends in Business
Business helps the world go round, and many businesses do even more than.
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