Competitive Advantage Social Responsibility -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Competitive Advantage Social Responsibility? Answer: Introduction Strategy refers to the long term plan of the organization whereby it aims to grow and become one of the best companies in the given industry. An organization`s survival without a strategy is nearly impossible because the strategy provides an aim to the organization and serves as a guiding path for development (Hill, Jones and Schilling 2014). The given post includes an analysis of a company who has adopted a long term strategic intent and an example of the company who has not adopted one. It will be analyzing the strategic implication of the analysis and speculate the consequences of the same for Microsoft and JC Penney. Strategic Intent of Microsoft As stated earlier the strategic intent of a company helps in identifying the specific target of the firm and also helps to set the direction of the firm as to where it wants to go in the future. Without specific strategy intent a firm will not be able to survive for long. The strategic intent of Microsoft is very systematic. They aim to become one of the strongest brands in the globe and enrich the experience and goals of both the employees as well as the organization. According to Agnihotri (2013), Microsoft is well aware of the connection between employee goal achievements and organization goal achievement. The primary intent of the company is to harmonize the needs of both the company and the employees in a manner that is unique and beneficial for both. It plans to achieve this by taking out new policies, introducing new updates and products along with creating new programs for the existing employees. The strategic intent of the company will go a long way in defining its future plans and direction. As Microsoft has made it quite clear that it aims to enrich the benefits of both workers and the company, this will be serving as guidance in their future endeavors. The management of the company will be keeping in mind the intent before taking any decisions. Having a strategic intent will hence, have a good effect on the companies: Future product developments Employee performance Global position The company is an American departmental store chain with a large number of locations in the country. Strategic Intent of JC Penney The company is one of the worst performing countries in the history of departmental stores. The given company does not have a strategic intent and aims to go with the flow. This laid back attitude of the company has caused it a huge amount of loss and there has been a drop of 32% in the sales of the company. According to Hamel and Prahalad (2005), there exists a strategic drop back in this drop and its not just related to general operations. The company management does not have a proper strategic plan or intention to become more successful. Without aiming to get somewhere it has just opened new stores and not concentrated on improving the existing stores. The existing stores are quite bland. Due to this lack of a goal in the form of intent, the company has resulted in huge losses and succumbed to competition from competitors. In future, it will not be able to survive amidst the changing business environment without a strategic intent (Porter and Kramer 2006). Conclusion Therefore, it can be stated that Strategy forms an essential part of an organization and that the organizations tend to get a sense of direction from a strategy. The organizations with a well defined strategic intent tend to prosper and do well in the complex business environment whereas the companies like JC Penney who do not have a strategic intent, tend to falter in corporate era. References Agnihotri, A., 2013. Doing good and doing business at the bottom of the pyramid.Business Horizons,56(5), pp.591-599. Hamel, G., and C. K. Prahalad, 2005. Strategic Intent, Harvard Business Review, 83 (7/8) pp.148161. Hill, C.W., Jones, G.R. and Schilling, M.A., 2014.Strategic management: theory: an integrated approach. Cengage Learning. Porter, M., and M. Kramer, 2006. Strategy and Society: The Link between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility. Harvard Business Review, 84 (12) pp.7892.