Strategic Plan Part 2: SWOT Analysis Paper
Running head: STRATEGIC PLAN PART 1 1
STRATEGIC PLAN PART 1 2
Strategic Plan Part 1
Sharitza Bailey
Prof. Linda McKee
BUS/475
Strategic Plan Part 1
For Amazon.com Inc., having a strong set of mission, vision, and values, has seen the organization scale the heights of success, to become the leading online retail company, on a global level. With headquarters in Seattle, Washington, Amazon.com Inc. has grown from the online bookstore that it started out as, to what is now the leading company in electronics commerce, and cloud computing services (Spector, 2000). This American company is able to serve many countries, diverse in terms of region, and products provided, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, China, Ireland, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Mexico, India, Italy, Brazil, Australia, and many others.
This product is very customer focused since it will give the consumers service options that surpass the older interaction methods where customers would have to reach the company after a lot of struggle. For instance the phone interactions. This product is also customer focused as it is designed with the customer’s best interest in mind. The product will allow the consumers to use channels of their liking to interact with the company through the website. The product will increase the customers’ satisfaction as well as decrease stir up and the outcomes in an extensively low per interaction service charge. This product will bring new kind of customer engagement through the website. The product will integrate both web based support channels and the mobile phone with vigorous communication abilities to make possible the delivery of a new form of customer experience; one that will transform the activities of customer service from line item costs into more revenue generating and profitable interactions for the company.
With the knowledge that the main aim of developing a strategic plan is to build for the company a competitive advantage. Competitive advantage refers to the set of factors that differentiates the company from its competitors and offers it a distinctive position in the market that is superior to that of the competitors. If we look at it from a strategic perspective, the key to the success of a business is to come up with a competitive advantage that is distinct, one that offers value for customers and is hard for the competitors to copy (Simerson, 2011). The division achieves a competitive advantage through its core competencies. Core competencies are a distinctive set of abilities that a company comes up with in its key areas of customer service that is of superior quality, responsiveness, flexibility and innovation that enables the company to be ahead of the competition. Just as the name suggests, these factors are core to the ability of the company to compete successfully and are normally as the result of noteworthy lessons and skills that a company has acquired over time.
The web technology that Amazon will present includes the set of tools that permit customers to control the Web to construct business and social connections, collaborate on projects and share information. These tools comprise of affluent Internet applications, wikis, blogs, social networking, mashups and other online societies; use of avatars or virtual assistants and virtual worlds. This technology will fill the company to customer interactions in addition to usual customer to customer interactions. This set of tools is very innovative and it will enrich the experience of the customer while using the website. This product will allow new manners of bringing customer service all through the company, thereby achieving two things: First, the product will make possible simpler communications between the customers. As these different exchanges take place, the interrelationships among all stakeholders deepen and customer service and experience becomes intertwined with the new product.
Another way in which this division will offer a competitive advantage is through widgets and portable applications that will enable the delivery of online services to the consumers without needing them to have any software to their computers or change their recognized ways of working. This, in turn, builds a more flawless customer experience. These two factors, combined, have the ability to change customer interactions those traditional customer service channels that were less responsive and did not offer the consumer great shopping experience. Less expensive to operate (Mintzberg & Quinn, 1996).
Customers today yearn for companies which they can be able to conduct business with, that have the ability to interact with them all through. This web technology product that will be introduced in the new internet solutions division will address the needs of the customers by giving the consumers service options that surpass the older interaction methods where customers would have to reach the company after a lot of struggle. The product will also address the needs of the customers by allowing them to use channels of their liking to interact with the company through the website. This will increase the customers’ satisfaction as well as decrease stir up and the outcomes in an extensively low per interaction service charge. This product will also bring new kind of customer engagement through the website. The product will integrate both web based support channels and the mobile phone with vigorous communication abilities to make possible the delivery of a new form of customer experience; one that will transform the activities of customer service from line item costs into more revenue generating and profitable interactions for the company.
The vision of this new division will be to become a leading department, in its ability to ensure customer satisfaction, by aligning their needs, with their wants, and then finally making their dreams come true. The business model for the new division is going to be a platform business model. This business model will consist of three elements. The first element is the tool box which will create a connection by simplifying it for other people to log into the platform. The other element is the magnet that builds a pull to attract people to the platform (Ovans, 2015). The other element is the matchmaker which will promote the flow of value through connections between the consumers and suppliers.
Amazon has a strong set of mission, vision, and values, has seen the organization scale the heights of success, to become the leading online retail company, on a global level. Amazon is also committed to offering its customers with the best experience in their shopping experience. The company’s vision statement is; to become Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy, from an online platform. Its mission statement is to offer customers with the lowers possible prices, the best selections available, and do all this, at the utmost convenience of the customers. The mission of the new division is to enrich the customer experience, as they go through the company website, by providing them with fast and reliable internet connections. The vision of this new division is to become a leading department, in its ability to ensure customer satisfaction, by aligning their needs, with their wants, and then finally making their dreams come true.
The mission of the new division is aligned with the mission of the company in that it aims to improve the experience of customers as they navigate through the website through reliable and fast internet. The mission of the company also aims to offer the customers the best customer experience with utmost experience. The vision of the new division is also aligned with that of the company as it seeks to be the best division in its capability to make sure that the customers are satisfied by aligning the needs of the company and their wants and making their dreams come true. This vision is in line with that of the company as the vision of the company is to be a customer-centric company, where customers can discover and realize anything they may want to buy, from an online platform.
The vision, mission and the values of this new division guide the strategic dimension of the division in that the three work towards achieving a division that will be able to satisfy the customers by aligning their wants and needs to ensure they realize their dreams. This division has the strategic plan of enhancing the experience of the customers in manners that can be measured back to the company by utilizing a number of tools. The vision mission and values of this division aim to improve the satisfaction of the customers which is the strategic direction of the division.
The new division will be guided by a number of values and guiding principles which are accountability speedy connections, customer satisfaction and accountability above everything else. Accountability will guide the ethics context in that every person will be willing to take responsibility for their actions. In the social context, the guiding principle of customer satisfaction in that the division through its vision and mission by ensuring that customers get satisfied for their wants and needs.
References
Spector, R. (2000). Amazon. Com: Get big fast. Harper Information.
George, G. & Bock, J. (2011). The business model in practice and its implications for entrepreneurship research. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 35(1): 83-111.
Mintzberg, H. & Quinn, J. (1996). The strategy process: concepts, contexts, cases. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall.
Ovans, A. (2015). What Is a Business Model? Harvard business review. Retrieved from: https://hbr.org/2015/01/what-is-a-business-model
Simerson, B. (2011). Strategic planning: a practical guide to strategy formulation and execution. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger.