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RUNNING HEAD: PRELIMINARY STRATEGIC AUDIT

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PRELIMINARY STRATEGIC AUDIT

Strategic Issues

Module 3 Assignment 2

Argosy University Online

​Strategies employed by an organization are crucial in influencing the ability of the organization in remaining competitive in the modern, sophisticated and competitive market. An organization, which fails to streamline its strategies in undertaking its operations facing the risk of being outmatched by rivals and new entrants in the industry in future performances. Thus, it is crucial for the management of Johnson & Johnson organization to review strategic issues the organization is facing to cushion undue future effects. A strategic issue implies an issue, which must be resolved by the management of an organization in ensuring the mission of the business is achieved effectively. Accordingly, a number of strategic issues Johnson & Johnson organization depicts have been analyzed. In addition, recommendations on the tactics of resolving the identified strategic issues have been given.

​One of the major strategic issues facing the Johnson & Johnson organization is employee diversity. Even though the organization has established its operations in different parts of the world, diversity of employees in the respective operational regions has not been observed optimally. The organization has the tendency of deploying senior managers from its country of origin in leading operational units in the different regions that it has started business. The diversity of the top leadership in coming from diverse backgrounds is constrained. Employee diversity in the contemporary globalized industry is crucial in promoting the decisions made by the organization in facing the market. The diversity of employees help in enhancing the decision-making process due to the diverse experiences the group has in facing different problems (Crawley, Swailes, & Walsh, 2013). Thus, the weak employees’ diversity in Johnson & Johnson organization is a strategic issue due to its effect in hindering optimal decision process. It is recommended for the organization management to consider integrating local employees in the different regions, it has started business in a senior leadership position. The move will assist the organization to generate a diverse leadership team, which is vital in enriching the decisions made.

​Another strategic issue Johnson & Johnson organization is facing currently is managing strategic mergers and alliances in expanding its operations across the border. Expanding business operations across the border is crucial for Johnson & Johnson organization due to the added advantage of cost reduction and maximizing consumer reach ability. One of the targets of Johnson & Johnson organization in expanding its business across the border is the emerging and developing economies due to the huge market population and growing consumer purchasing power. The ability of Johnson & Johnson to penetrate the emerging and developing economies effectively depends on the merger and alliances strategies it will employ due to the unique characteristics of consumers in the targeted economies compared to developed economies’ consumers (Hill & Jones, 2012). However, the strategy been employed by Johnson & Johnson management in entering the merging and developing market is weak, because it is forming alliances with foreign firms. The decision to form alliances with foreign firms entering the market is relatively a poor strategy due to the poor and low information the firms may be possessing on the market behaviors. Thus, the alliances are likely to mislead the organization in starting feasible business operations in the targeted markets. Consequently, it is recommended for the management of the Johnson & Johnson organization to consider forming mergers and alliances with local firms in the foreign countries while expanding their operations. The local businesses have an advanced knowledge on the market trends and an established market infrastructure (David & David, 2013). As a result, the strategic mergers and alliances with the local businesses will help the organization to penetrate the market effectively. 

​Product development of Johnson & Johnson organization has become a strategic issue in its attempt to enter the emerging and developing markets. Even though Johnson & Johnson organization has been credited for its superior product development, its strategy in developing products targeting the new markets in developing and developing economies seems to be relatively weak. Developing and emerging economies have a different taste and preference of the products consumers are willing to buy from the developed economies due to the cultural factors of the two economies. However, Johnson & Johnson organization has been generalizing the products it produces for the developed economies in supplying to the emerging and developing economies. Consequently, the reception of the products by the consumers has not been positive as forecasted. Furthermore, the generalization of the product development has seen the price of the products have been the same in developed and developing economies. The high price of the organization’s products has seen rivals outmatching Johnson & Johnson organization. Thus, the management of Johnson & Johnson needs to differentiate the product development of the developing economies from the developed economies. The product differentiation will help in responding to the diverse taste and preference, and price capability of the consumers (Chary, 2009).

​Information and technology system of Johnson & Johnson organization is another strategic issue requiring resolution. Information and technology in the modern competition environment has become a crucial internal dimension in determining how an organization is able to connect with the consumers in the market. Accordingly, the information and technology system of Johnson & Johnson organization is strategic issue due to its failure to connect with targeted consumers effectively. In the contemporary competition, social media has become a vital information and technology system helping organizations to connect with consumers efficiently and responding to their concerns timely (Grant, Hackney, & Edgar, 2009). Therefore, the Johnson & Johnson’s social media accounts are poorly managed in reflecting new products by the company and responding to the consumers’ complain. The information and technology system of the company is failing in enhancing the ability of the company to attract and retain loyal consumers in the competitive market. Thus, the management of Johnson & Johnson organization needs to upgrade the information and technology system by advancing its social media accounts for efficient communication with the targeted audiences (Grant, Hackney, & Edgar, 2009).

References

Chary, S. N. (2009). Production and operations management. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill.

Crawley, E., Swailes, S. & Walsh, D. (2013). Introduction to International Human Resource Management. London: Oxford University Press.

David, F. R. & David, F. R. (2013). Strategic Management: A Competitive Approach. New York: Pearson Education. 

Grant, K., Hackney, R., & Edgar, D. (2009). Strategic information systems management. Andover: Cengage Learning.

Hill, C., & Jones, G. (2012). Strategic Management Theory: An Integrated Approach. New York: Cengage Learning.