The global business strategy is referred to as a guide for the organisations that lead to globalisation. The plans and functions of an organisation are directed to expand the company on a global scale (Bettis, 2016). The report focuses on the global business strategy that is adopted by a transport and logistics company. The company in focus is United Worldwide Logistics situated in the UK. The concept of strategic development is provided and the manner in which it affects an organisation is also discussed. The influence of history on the strategic positioning of a company and the effects of culture on the implementation of the strategy is also provided.
United Worldwide Logistics is a transport and logistics company located in Glamorgan. The company was incorporated in July 2007. It is a private limited company that deals with freight road transport. It is one of the independent and experienced multi-model logistics and transport providers in the country. Currently, the company has over 360 networks spanning throughout the UK and the rest of the world. The providers are selected in a manner so that it suits the budget of the customers. United Worldwide Logistics covers all medium for the transportation of goods and services. The positive point of the company is that it provides cost-effective services of products ranging from bags or full trailer loads (Unitedwl.com, 2017).
Strategic planning is referred to as an organisational process that defines and plans certain techniques that help in attaining the objectives of the organisation. Development of strategy follows a certain process that is incorporated into every organisation (Certo, 2016). The processes are based on the internal as well as the external factors that affect an organisation. Factors such as political position, economic situation, technical advancement and number of turnover and so on affect the decisions of an organisation. The strategic plans of an organisation take into account these factors and maintain the strategic process. The reason for following a process to formulate a strategy includes maintaining a contingency plan. An organisation formulates a particular strategy based on the trial and error methods. In this regard, it can be said that organisations need to follow five processes in order to in order to identify and implement the best strategy. The process includes:
Intended strategy: This includes formulating a strategy that every organisation develops initially. The initial development of strategy is based on insufficient knowledge about the internal and external factors. This strategy does not get implemented owing to the changes that take place in the business environment.
Deliberate strategy: This is an intended strategy that is actually implemented by an organisation (David, 2015). This is done after a proper analysis of the business factors and environment and ensuring that the implementation of the strategy brings about profitability in the organisation.
Realised strategy: Realised strategy includes the strategies that an organisation pursues. This includes analysing the strategies of the competitors and setting up the benchmark. This can be considered as one of the goals of the organisations for the coming future.
Unrealised strategy: This strategy includes the formulation of plans and developments that an organisation does not intend to use. This can be considered as an alternative strategy that a company can use in the future (Eden, 2013). During the formulation of such strategies, an organisation takes time to analyse every factor.
Emergent strategy: This can be considered as strategies that are developed over time and changes have been made according to its requirements. These are basic strategies that an organisation needs to implement in order to survive in the business.
Hence, it can be said that after analysing the process of strategies, an organisation such as United Worldwide Logistics needs to follow the process in order to remain competitive in the market. However, there are different approaches regarding the nature and the development of strategies (Ethiraj, 2016). One such approach is the perspective approach in which the implementation of strategies begins with questions and the objectives are defined in advance. In order to adopt this approach, an organisation such as United Worldwide Logistics needs to be developing the main elements of the strategies before implementing it. The other type includes the emergent approach. This is a simple form as it deals with the emergence of corporate strategies based on the needs of the employees (Frynas, 2015). This approach develops based on the resources and capabilities and objectives cannot be developed due to lack of a proper plan. Hence, it can be suggested that United Worldwide Logistics can use the perspective approach as the needs of the customers are one of the main goals of the company. The objectives of the company can be determined in advance and based on it the managers can formulate the strategies.
However, it needs to be kept in mind that the development of strategies needs to consider the history and culture of an organisation (Gold, 2011). Organisations with a good reputation in the market need to formulate strategies that define the purpose of the company. Deviation from the history of products and services can cause dissatisfaction among the customers. Hence, it can be said that United Worldwide Logistics also need to remain true to the type of products and services they provide to the customers. The organisational culture of putting “customers’ first” need to be maintained while formulating strategies that is important to the organisational success.
Strategic positioning of an organisation refers to the future positioning of an organisation. The strategic positioning is done based on the analysis of the internal as well as the external factors. These factors are analysed by using models that identify each element of a business environment. The strategic positioning determines the contents as well as the activities that an organisation undertakes. The strategic positioning helps an organisation to identify the improvements it needs to implement in order to remain competitive and improve the position of the organisation (Helfat, 2015). For a company like United Worldwide Logistics, strategic positioning can help in determining the changes that are required in the company. However, it needs to be kept in mind that decisions regarding a change in strategies are based on the present environment as well as the past experience of an organisation. This can be analysed by using certain theories that help link organisational culture with strategic positioning.
Path dependency theory explores the idea behind the continuous use of a product or service. It has been seen that most customers prefer to remain loyal to a certain type of Logistics Company based on the history it has with the customers (Hill, 2014). The managers refer to early events and develop a policy path that has a lasting effect on the decisions of the company. Despite the introduction of new and more efficient products and services, customers judge an organisation based on the past performance. Hence, it needs to be kept in mind that every manager must refer to past incidents before formulating a decision. This can also help to rectify any major errors that were conducted in the past. The future of an organisation depends upon the paths that are laid down in the past. Path dependence provides an explanation about the circumstances of some decisions made in the present with that of the past performance of an organisation.
Keeping this in mind it can be said that United Worldwide Logistics need to analyse its past before implementing any strategies. The historical contribution of the company in terms of providing products and services need to influence the growth of the business. It needs to be noted that path dependency theory does not rely on the technical expertise of a company (Mahoney, 2012). Irrespective of the technical or equipment development that United Worldwide Logistics undergoes, the customers may keep in mind the origin and the past of the company. Path dependency theory also makes it simper for most organisations to continue production and services based on the current path. The creation of new paths may lead to excessive cost that may be unbearable for an organisation. In order to continue and implement this technique, United Worldwide Logistics need to ensure that the company have a rich history behind it.
The theory is also useful in analysing the mistakes of the past (Morden, 2016). Some organisations believe that the past method of providing services needs to continue in order to maintain the tradition of the organisation. In other words, changing some of the processes require more cost and may indulge dissatisfaction from the employees. United Worldwide Logistics is a recently established company. Hence the company possess the technical prowess that is required in the modern world. Apart from this, the company is not an old establishment that can be judged based on the past performances during the days of less technological advancements (Morschett, 2015). Hence, this can be an advantage for the company while formulating strategies that can help it to map a proper position in the market. The effectiveness of maintaining the history can help United Worldwide Logistics to develop into a successful business entity (Peppard, 2016). Thus, path dependency theory is used to ensure a better future keeping the past in mind. United Worldwide Logistics, however, aims to eliminate the past and focus more on developing the future of the organisation by improving continuously. The organisational culture that it contains also influences the strategic decisions.
Organisational culture is the values and behaviours that an organisation possesses. This helps to brand the value of an organisation in terms of the expectations that of the customers. Most of the times it is assumed that organisational culture depends upon the culture of the nation and the society in which it operates. This is a false assumption as the organisational culture represents the collective values, beliefs and thought a process of the people (Peteraf, 2014). It guides the organisations and defines the strategies that need to be adopted in order to gain success in the business market. Thus, developing a strategy need to be based on the type of culture an organisation possesses. It has been observed that five principles provide the ultimate guide for managing organisational culture. These include:
It has been seen that the history and culture of an organisation affect the strategies it undertakes (Rothaermel, 2015). This is because every people develop a perception that is based on the background and past performance and likewise develops opinions. In order to understand and analyse the effectiveness of culture in the strategic development of an organisation, Cultural Web model is used. This model was developed by Johnson and Scholes which provides various factors that lead to the growth of an organisational culture. These factors include:
Stories: These include the organisational stories, in other words, the history of an organisation. Newcomers at the organisation are given a briefing about the structure and methods adopted in the organisation. In the case of United Worldwide Logistics, the success, as well as the failure stories, is depicted that highlight the changes and mistakes that were made by the company. This helps in formulating strategies that are based on the combination of success as well as failures (Slack, 2015).
Symbol: This signifies the resources that an organisation represents. The resources include the objects, resources and the acts undertaken by the people. It identifies the link with the historical development of an organisation. It can be said that in an organisation like United Worldwide Logistics, logo and the behaviour of the people are important to formulate strategic decisions.
Power structure: This involves the authority of one or more executive of a company may possess. These people have a greater influence on the decision-making activities of organisations (Stead, 2013). In United Worldwide Logistics, the managers of the company have more power in undertaking the decisions of the company. For example, the employees are not consulted while formulating strategies regarding possible routes to be taken for transportation of a material.
Organisational structure: This includes the defined structure that is broadly presented in order to help the employees understand the authorities. It also includes the power and influence in order to understand the value of the contributions of the employees. Thus, it can be said that for a company like United Worldwide Logistics, the hierarchical organisational structure defines the culture of the organisation (Trigeorgis, 2017).
Control systems: This refers to the manner in which organisations are controlled. The controlling figures are identified and based on this the culture is defined. The controls may also include leadership techniques that may affect the motivation factors of the employees working in United Worldwide Logistics.
Ritual and routines: This defines the behaviours and actions of the people working in the organisation (Wheelen, 2017). The ethical considerations and the beliefs of the employees define the culture of the organisation. In the case of United Worldwide Logistics, the behaviour of the people is important to formulate the positioning of the organisation.
Conclusion
Hence, after the analysis of the importance of obtaining a strategic position of an organisation, it can be said that United Worldwide Logistics need to analyse the internal and external factors that may affect the business. It is important for the organisation to draw inspiration from the past and ensure that the mistakes are not repeated in the future. The culture of the organisation is based on the behaviour of the people and the ways by which the employees are treated by the managers. Hence, implementing the theories related to strategic planning and development is essential in order to formulate an effective strategy for the growth of the company.
Bettis, R. A. (2016). Creating repeatable cumulative knowledge in strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 257-261.
Certo, S. T. (2016). Sample selection bias and Heckman models in strategic management research. Strategic Management Journal, 2639-2657.
David, F. &. (2015). Strategic Management: A Competitive Advantage Approach. Concepts and Cases, 90-100.
Eden, C. &. (2013). Making strategy: The journey of strategic management. Sage.
Ethiraj, S. K. (2016). Replication in strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 2191-2192.
Frynas, J. G. (2015). Global strategic management. Oxford University Press.
Gold, A. H. (2011). Knowledge management: An organizational capabilities perspective. Journal of management information systems, 185-214.
Helfat, C. E. (2015). Managerial cognitive capabilities and the microfoundations of dynamic capabilities. Strategic Management Journal, 831-850.
Hill, C. W. (2014). Strategic management: theory: an integrated approach. Cengage Learning.
Mahoney, J. T. (2012). he resource?based view within the conversation of strategic management. Strategic management journal, 363-380.
Morden, T. (2016). Principles of strategic management. Routledge.
Morschett, D. S.-K. (2015). Strategic international management. Springer.
Peppard, J. &. (2016). The strategic management of information systems: Building a digital strategy. John Wiley & Sons.
Peteraf, M. G. (2014). Essentials of strategic management: The quest for competitive advantage. McGraw-Hill Education.
Rothaermel, F. T. (2015). Strategic management. McGraw-Hill Education.
Slack, N. (2015). Operations strategy. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Stead, J. G. (2013). Sustainable strategic management. ME Sharpe.
Trigeorgis, L. &. (2017). Real options theory in strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 42-63.
Unitedwl.com. (2017, December 2). Retrieved from Unitedwl.com: https://www.unitedwl.com/services/uk-domestic/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIr-qAoL3q1wIVJ769Ch1v3gstEAAYAyAAEgIIBPD_BwE
Wheelen, T. L. (2017). Strategic management and business policy. Pearson.
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download