11 Pages
2661 Words
Introduction: Evaluating Competitive Strategies for Almanax Tuition
Strategic management is defined as the implementation of different plans which assist the company in attaining the objectives for which the company is working. This is because when the company operates in the external environment, there are different types of changes that impact the working environment. Thus, for this, they must tend to improve their work by adapting to all these changes, effectively improving their work. The present study is based on Almanax Tuition which is a top-quality tuition agency which focuses on supporting international students who are applying for UK boarding schools. The present study will outline the proposed future strategy which will be assistive to Almanax for effective working and assistance to the students. Along with this, the study will also outline the evaluation of the proposed strategy, that is, whether the strategy is helpful for the company in improving its position or not.
Part 1: Presentation - Future Strategy and Competitive Analysis
Proposed Future Strategy For The Organization
In the present case, Almanax Tuition is a company which offers a different personalised approach to selecting the appropriate tutor for every student. In the current working environment, the company has a major client base including Russian-speaking families who are residing all over the world. The major issue which the company is facing while operating is the intense competition. In the current working environment, the competition is intense and this impacts the working of the company to a great extent. The reason underlying the fact is that many different companies are working in the industries, and they must operate effectively (Fuertes et al, 2020). In addition to this, another major issue or question which needs to be solved by Almanax Tuition is to decide on the new target audience which will be focused on by the company for effective evaluation. Along with this, the company is also planning to increase the digital work of the company. The reason underlying the fact is that when the effective working will be managed then automatically the working will be impacted. Thus, for this, the company must try to improve their work and formulate better strategies so that the work can be improved.
With the evaluation of the position of Almanax Tuition, it is evident that the company need to operate effectively so that it can gain a competitive advantage and as a result of this overall work can be improved. For this, it is recommended that the company that they must go for the business-level strategy. For the business level strategy, the use of blue and Red Ocean will be implemented. This is a type of strategy which includes the formulation of the strategy by the working environment. The Red Ocean strategy is the one which majorly focuses on working with the existing competition only and tries to beat the competition by exploiting existing demand (RED OCEAN VS BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY, 2023). On the other hand, the blue ocean strategy is the one which majorly focuses on creating a new market and new demand so that the existing competition is irrelevant to the company. With the evaluation of the model, it is recommended to Almanax Tuition that they go for the blue ocean strategy. This is particularly a good strategic direction for the company as it will assist in finding a new target audience, and also the competition will be limited because it will be focusing on creating a new market. Thus, operating at the business level strategy will be assistive to the company in improving the overall working and will help in improving the position of the company effectively.
For the effective development of the blue ocean strategy, the use of four action frameworks that as ERRC will be implemented by Almanax Tuition (Collins, 2021). This is a type of framework which will assist the company in developing a new value curve which will help the business improve its position and increase profitability. The different elements of this framework are as follows:
- Eliminate: This is the stage wherein the element which the industry is taking for granted must be eliminated from the working. This is very necessary because when the element which is not working will be eliminated then it will help the company in improving its position. In the current environment, competition is the highest element and for this, it is eliminated by developing a new market and choosing a new target audience.
- Reduce: This is another stage which states that reducing the elements which are below industry standard will be beneficial for improving the working. This is necessary as it will help them in improving the working capability of the company. In the present case, the element which is focused on being reduced includes reducing the competition. This will be reduced by the company by creating a new market that has a new target audience.
- Raise: This is another kind of element within the framework which includes raising the factor above the industry standards. There are many different types of elements which need to be improved above the industry standards as well (Ketchen Jr and Craighead, 2020). In the present case, the target audience and the use of digital platforms need to be raised by Almanax Tuition. This is about the fact that the use of digital technology is very high and it is necessary for the company they effectively comply with all the latest technologies so that the work can be improved.
- Create: This is the last stage of this framework which results in the creation of a new strategy which will help the business operate better within the new and existing market as well. For this, the new strategy created is to focus on students other than those with a Russian background as well (Bogers et al, 2019). This is because when more students with diversified backgrounds are taken into consideration then the consumer base will be increased. In addition to this, it will also include the implementation of all the latest technology, which will assist the company in improving the efficiency of the business.
Porter Five Forces
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Element
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Description
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Bargaining power of consumers
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The bargaining power of buyers is high because the company operates to keep the consumers satisfied, and in case they are not happy,y then their performance will not improve (Borges et al., 2021). Hence, Almanax Tuition must keep the consumers happy and satisfied so that work can be improved.
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Bargaining power of supplier
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The supplier are fewer, and as a result of this, their bargaining power is also very high. This is because the supplier is already low, and for this Almanax Tuition has to comply with their terms and conditions.
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Threat of substitute
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The threat of substitute is very low because there are not any companies which provide a similar kind of services within the industry.
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Threat of new entrants
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The threat of new entrants is also low within the educational industry because the barriers to entry are very high, and because of this, the new companies will not enter the industry for operations.
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Competitive rivalry
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The competition is intense, and this impacts the working of the company to a great extent (Shammi et al.., 2021). This is about the fact that already there are different types of companies operating in the external environment and it is necessary for them to work efficiently.
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Hence, with the help of Porter's five forces, it is evident that the competition is the only major issue which the company faces while operating. This is about the fact that the competition is very high and this impact the overall working of the company to a great extent.
Ansoff Growth Matrix
This is another type of matrix which is used by Almanax Tuition for improving their strategic direction and level of performance. This is about the fact that this matrix assists the company in improving the position of the company in a better and more effective manner. This matrix contains four different types of strategies which the company can use including market development, product development, market penetration and diversification. Thus, according to the problems faced by Almanax Tuition and the business level strategy selected, compliance with a combination of market development and product development will be used. This is particularly because of the reason that when the new market is developed then automatically it will increase the efficiency of the company and the competition will be reduced. Along with this, the product will also be developed by implementing more of the use of technology into practice (Teece, 2019). Thus, it is essential for Almanax Tuition they effectively focus on product and market development so that work can be managed effectively and new products and markets can be developed well. This will assist the company in improving the overall working of the company and this will assist in enhancing the working of the company to a great extent.
Hence, with the evaluation of the above models and framework, it is clear that for the company, it is very necessary to have the appropriate working base for the development of the new market and product. Thus, the single strategic direction for Almanax Tuition will be to implement the latest educational and learning technology to attract the new target market of people belonging to other than the Russia category.
Part 2: Presentation - Evaluating and Justifying Strategy
Evaluation and Justification of The Proposed Future Strategy
After the selection of the appropriate strategy, an effective evaluation of the strategy must take place so that success can be attained (Wenzel, Stanske and Lieberman, 2020). Thus, for the effective evaluation of the strategy of entering a new market and with the latest technology, the use ofthe SAF framework is implemented.
Suitability
The suitability aspect of the Framework assists in evaluating whether the proposed strategy will be able to exploit the opportunities and threats present within the external and internal environment. With the evaluation of the VRIO analysis, it is evident that the resources of the company are effective, and as a result of this,s the current strategy will be suitable for the company to improve its performance (Rietveld, Schilling and Bellavitis, 2019). This is particularly because of the reason that the company is having all type of resources which are necessary to implement the current strategies selected.
Acceptability
Thereafter comes the acceptability criteria, which includes whether the proposed strategy will be liked by these stay holders and other people involved within the company and its operation. In the present case the strategy is of providing digital technology relating to learning and educational facilities and targeting the new audience (Agrawal and Hockerts, 2019). Thus, it will attract all the stakeholders, and customers will also be happy with the strategy. This particular strategy is acceptable because the level of risk is predictable and low, and the return is high. Along with this reactions of all the stakeholders will be positive as the working strategy selected is helpful to everyone.
Feasibility
Feasibility includes the practical implementation of the strategy. With the evaluation, it is evident that the current strategy is visible because it includes all the financial resources which are helpful for the business.
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Suitability
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Does the proposed strategy address the opportunity and threat
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Yes
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Does the proposed strategy take advantage of strengths and weakness of company?
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Yes
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Acceptability
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Risk acceptable
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Yes
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Return acceptable
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Yes
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Reactions
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Positive reaction
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Feasible
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Easily financed
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Yes
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Do people have the skill
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Yes
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Can the required resources be obtained easily
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Yes
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Conclusion
In the end it is concluded that strategic management is very necessary for the success of the business. This is particularly necessary because it helps in outlining a direction for the company to grow and develop. The above study highlighted that the company was facing many different issues and problems, and as a result of this strategic direction relating to the use of digital technology, the new target was evaluated. This was based on the use of different models like the blue and Red Ocean Strategy, Porter 5 forces, the Ansoff matrix and many other different models. In the end, it was evaluated that based on SAF criteria the strategy selected is implementable within the company. This strategy will provide better outcomes as it is suitable by the suitability, acceptability and feasibility framework.
References
Books and Journals
- Agrawal, A. and Hockerts, K., 2019. Impact investing strategy: Managing conflicts between impact investor and investee social enterprise. Sustainability, 11(15), p.4117.
- Bogers, M., Chesbrough, H., Heaton, S. and Teece, D.J., 2019. Strategic management of open innovation: A dynamic capabilities perspective. California Management Review, 62(1), pp.77-94.
- Borges, A.F., Laurindo, F.J., Spínola, M.M., Gonçalves, R.F. and Mattos, C.A., 2021. The strategic use of artificial intelligence in the digital era: Systematic literature review and future research directions. International Journal of Information Management, 57, p.102225.
- Collins, C.J., 2021. Expanding the resource based view model of strategic human resource management. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 32(2), pp.331-358.
- Fuertes, G., Alfaro, M., Vargas, M., Gutierrez, S., Ternero, R. and Sabattin, J., 2020. Conceptual framework for the strategic management: a literature review-descriptive. Journal of Engineering, 2020, pp.1-21.
- Ketchen Jr, D.J. and Craighead, C.W., 2020. Research at the intersection of entrepreneurship, supply chain management, and strategic management: Opportunities highlighted by COVID-19. Journal of Management, 46(8), pp.1330-1341.
- Rietveld, J., Schilling, M.A. and Bellavitis, C., 2019. Platform strategy: Managing ecosystem value through selective promotion of complements. Organization Science, 30(6), pp.1232-1251.
- Shammi, M., Bodrud-Doza, M., Islam, A.R.M.T. and Rahman, M.M., 2021. Strategic assessment of COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh: comparative lockdown scenario analysis, public perception, and management for sustainability. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 23, pp.6148-6191.
- Teece, D.J., 2019. A capability theory of the firm: an economics and (strategic) management perspective. New Zealand Economic Papers, 53(1), pp.1-43.
- Wenzel, M., Stanske, S. and Lieberman, M.B., 2020. Strategic responses to crisis. Strategic Management Journal, 41(7/18), p.3161.
Online
- RED OCEAN VS BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY. 2023. Online. Available through: < https://www.blueoceanstrategy.com/tools/red-ocean-vs-blue-ocean-strategy/>
