TO: Wilford, Steve
FROM: Weir, Gaeun
DATE: 17 March 2022
SUBJECT: Feedback on Draft 10-year Strategy
Mr. Wilford,
Please see below to find my feedback on your draft 10-year strategy
that you shared with me on Friday. The following feedback is written
with the ideas of the five Ps that define strategy which I learned from
my class. The five Ps include position, perspective, plan, ploy, and
pattern (University of Maryland Global Campus, n.d., "Mastering
Strategy: Art and Science, p. 7).
A. There is nothing wrong with the current strategy, but the following
can be considered for improvement.
The current strategy written is lack of "Position" perspective of
strategy. Strategy as the position involves both the firm and the
competitors (University of Maryland Global Campus, n.d., "Mastering
Strategy: Art and Science, p. 7) which shows where the company
stands within the current market. The current strategy can be written
better by including the company's current position among its
competitors which can lead to developing more detailed strategy that
can put the company in a more competitive position in the market.
Another aspect that could be added is "Perspective". As the owner of
a company, you may include your general perspective on new
competitors, along with how you would react to any changes in the
market.
B: There are areas that are well-written with the ideas of the five Ps
in strategy.
First, "Plan" perspective of strategy. The current strategy does correctly
cover the core purpose of the company. The company exists to
provide tires and minor vehicle repairs to its customers which will
continue unless the business decides to make a major change to the
core function of the business. Therefore, it is good that the current
strategy includes the plan for the next 10 years of the company. aa
Next, the "Ploy" perspective of strategy means ways that a company
can use to disguise its competitors (University of Maryland Global
Campus, n.d., "Mastering Strategy: Art and Science, p. 9). aa The current
strategy is well-written to show how the business is aware of its
competitors, along with the ways to compete in the market.
Lastly, with the perspective of "Pattern" in the current strategy, it is
assumable that the company is doing a sustainable job in selling tires
and doing minor vehicle repairs as they will stay in the current
strategy for the next ten years. This shows consistency as the
company has been doing well with the current operation/strategy and
will be so in the next 10 years.
C: Based on the current strategy, the company's current competitive
advantage comes from lowest priced tires, vehicle repairs, exceptional
customer service, and the quality work that is being offered to
customers. The current strategy successfully reflects ways to achieve a
competitive advantage in a current market. Although, the sustainment
of competitive advantage will be heavily influenced by external
environmental factors such as new technologies or new market trends.
For instance, if there is a company with modern technology that can
provide cheaper tires or saves customers' time dramatically, the
chances of Paul's Discounted Tires & Repairs sustaining the competitive
advantage would be considerably low. In order to prevent such to
happen, the strategy must be revisited often. It is because continually
reinventing competitive strategies can bring the greatest potential for
gaining long-term financial rewards (Goldsmith, 2013).
D. Current strategy can be improved with the articulated plan which
refers to “where” the company is heading to, and, “why”
(Virtualstrategist, 2017, 1:20). The current strategy talks about how the
company's current operation concepts will continue in the next ten
years. However, it is not discussing about where the company will be
heading to in the next ten years, nor it talks about "why" it will be
following the strategy in the next ten years. The current strategy
should include the mission - which is what the company's end-goal is,
along with how the company is planning to achieve it. With the
“where” and “why” concepts of articulated planning, the strategy will
provide more in-depth understanding of the business itself along with
much more detailed course of action in achieving its goals.
Thank you.
References
Goldsmith, D. (2013, July/August). Rethinking the Company's
Competitive Advantage.
https://learn.umgc.edu/content/enforced/625295-001153-01-2222-OL3-
7389/Rethinking%20the%20Company's%20Competitive%20Advantage.pdf
?_&d2lSessionVal=UwxWJ4wBaNcPVzqnL8aCejsCB
University of Maryland Global Campus. (n.d.). Mastering Strategy: Art
and Science, archived at
https://leocontent.umgc.edu/content/dam/equellacontent/bmgt495/Chapt
er_1Mastering_Strategy.pdf
Virtualstrategist. (2017, September 08). What is Strategic Planning?
How to Develop a Process [Video]. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gcNK-1IaiQ
