Critical analysis of strategic models: case study on Nokia
Introduction
Strategic management provides an opportunity to the companies to set appropriate mission and vision as well as develop effective strategic planning so that the organisational objectives can be achieved (Hill, Jones and Schilling, 2014). The aim of this paper is to analyse the strategic models with respect to the company Nokia to identify the external environment of the business and propose appropriate strategic planning so that the organisation can run their business activities successfully and improve high competitive advantage in the international industry. Nokia is a multinational consumer electronics, telecommunication and information technology company whose aim is to gain high competitive advantage over other competitive firms in the Smartphone and electronics industry across the globe such as Sony mobile, BlackBerry, Motorola, Apple and Samsung. The products of the company include smart phones, tablets and camera through which the company focuses at securing sustainable development in near future. Through the strategic models such as McKinsey 7s model and Ansoff matrix, it is possible to analyse the internal and external environment of doing business of Nokia as well as develop effective strategic planning through which the organisation can expand their business across the international Smartphone industries.
Critical analysis of McKinsey 7s model
The McKinsey 7s model is an effective strategic management tool for facilitating organisational change and implementing new strategies to meet the mission and vision of the company (Refer to appendix 1).
Strategic planning is one of the main critical success factor through which the company Nokia can gain competitive advantage over other competitive firms like BlackBerry, Samsung, Apple, Motorola and Sony. The strategy of maintaining transparency and managing quality of the organisational products and services are helpful for Nokia to increase market share in the international Smartphone industry (Jurevicius, 2013). The company also aims at improving the skill of the human resource so that it is possible to achieve the mission and vision of the company. Resources and skill of the staff members are also other important factors which enhance the performance of the business and provide a scope to the company to achieve growth. In this regard, the company Nokia focuses in research and development and invest more for more innovation and creativity so that it is possible to retain more customers across the globe with their product innovation and creativity.
Efficient human resource and retaining the technical expertise are also advantageous for the company to enhance the overall organisational performance in long run (Hill, Jones and Schilling, 2014). Through staff motivation and specialised executives, the company tries to retain the employees for long run and encourage for more creativity and technological innovation so that new products can be developed which can meet the customer’s requirements. In order to enhance the skill of the staff members, the company focuses on providing training and development so that their technical skill can be improved and they can maximise their performance to meet the organisational mission. In addition to these, as per the style, the company Nokia focuses on supportive leadership and developing leadership skill to communicate with all the staff members and lead them towards achieving success. Transformational leadership in this regard is helpful to enhance staff motivation and improve harmony among the employees which further improve the organisational culture and ensure growth in near future. For sharing values, the company focuses on consistency, transparency and customer oriented framework in order to satisfy all the stakeholders of the company.
For improving internal system of the company, the leaders and managers focus at budget, information system and enhancing security to satisfy the customers and run the business activities strategically. Delegating power and horizontal structure of Nokia are helpful top manage the organisational activities successfully and achieve growth by operating the activities systematically. The leaders and managers are cooperative and enhance the employee’s performance through communication, sharing information, training and development, encouraging employee’s creativity and empowering them in the organisational decision making practice (Buganza et al., 2015). Hereby, appropriate structure and system of Nokia are beneficial to manage the competitive advantage in the global Smartphone industry. Apart from that, resources, skill and experienced staff members are advantageous to develop innovative products with latest advanced technology which further provides an opportunity to satisfy the customers and retain more global corporate clients.
Critical evaluation of Ansoff matrix
Ansoff matrix is effective to identify effective strategies for market development and penetration so that the company can expand their business with innovation and creativity (Refer to appendix 2). For market development, the company focuses at advertising through which it is possible to promote the brand and launch the products at effective market place (Hill, Jones and Schilling, 2014). In addition to these, for diversification, the company needs to focus on the product mix strategy through increasing the organisational product line so that it is easy to target all the segment of the customers in the market. In order to enter into new international market, the best strategy for Nokia is to product development and diversification which provides an opportunity to develop innovative products which can meet the requirements of the customers (Wheelen et al., 2017). On the other hand, for market penetration, the company focuses on distribution channel as strengthening the supply chain network of the company can be useful for distributing the organisational products across the international countries.
Strategic evaluation
Both the strategic model of McKinsey 7s model and Ansoff matrix are useful in order to identify the strategic plan of Nokia and the ways the company can expand their business globally for gaining high competitive advantage over other competitive consumer electronics firms such as Apple, Samsung, BlackBerry, Motorola and Sony (Jurevicius, 2013). The mission of the company Nokia is “Shaping the future of technology” and the vision of the organisation is “To expand the human possibilities of the connected world” (Nokia, 2018a). The objective of the organisation is to become a leading network infrastructure with IP and optical networks for optimising the best possible ways to serve the customers efficiently. Through the McKinsey 7s model, it is possible to understand that the company has the critical success factors for achieving the above stated mission and vision of the company. High reputation and innovation further provides an opportunity to utilise the skilled workforce of the company and meet the customer’s requirements which is the main motive of doing the business of Nokia (Nokia, 2018b). The McKinsey 7s model is also effective to evaluate the success factors of the company such as brand image, product line of the company, employee’s base, skilled workforce and proper managerial and leadership style which further provides a scope to the company to expand their business and gain high competitive advantage over other competitive firms in the market.
The Ansoff matrix is also effective to identify the possible strategic planning through which the organisation can promote the brand at international level. In this regard, the company Nokia needs to utilise their resources and increase their capabilities to choose the product diversification strategy. Adopting new technology and improving the skills of the employees are useful to launch new product which can met the recent trend in the Smartphone industry (Vuori and Huy, 2016). In addition to these, the strategy of setting low cost and focusing production diversification is also beneficial for the company to expand their business across the globe. Moreover, market penetration and product growth also provides a scope to enhance business performance and create brand image in the market where the managers can strengthen their customer’s base by delivering though quality products according to the needs and preferences of the clients and satisfying the customers (Buganza et al., 2015). Hereby, organisational growth can be possible through market penetration and product diversification where the company Nokia can utilise the employee’s base, skill of the staff members, technological innovation, organisational resources and managerial skill.
Conclusion
The strategic model such as McKinsey 7s model and Ansoff matrix are beneficial for the strategic developer in the organisation to analyse the external and internal business environment of the company Nokia and develop effective strategies for running the business proficiently. In this regard, the Company Nokia needs to focus on product diversification and market penetration o target the customers in the market and enhance business performance to gain high competitive advantage. Through the McKinsey 7s model, it is possible to identify the structure, system, staff and strategy of Nokia and the Ansoff matrix provides a scope o develop the tactics of market penetration and product diversification for running the business of Nokia sustainably.