Business policy & strategic management

Assignment - A

1. What is the importance of writing a Mission statement? Does it hold any impact on the Profitability, Growth and Market Leadership of a company?    
Answer:- 

2. Discuss the use of VRIO Framework for analysing Resources and Capabilities    
Answer:- 

3. What does it take to maintain a Strategic Position of Leadership in Cola Wars? Comment, why Coke and Pepsi are often engaged in the offensive frontal attack?
Answer:- 

4. Differentiate between Concentric and Conglomerate Diversification while enumerating relevant examples    
Answer:- 

5. Central to any successful marketing strategy is an understanding of customers and their needs at first. Cite some relevant Customer centric Marketing Industry.
Answer:- 
6. What are the recent trends of Liberalisation, Privatisation and Globalisation of Indian Economy in different sectors? Also throw some light on e-governance?    
Answer:- 

7. Discuss strategic planning & business system which is used across organizations worldwide to align business activities to the vision & improve the performance for more effective results?    
Answer:- 

8. What are the barriers to entry that may be defined for the New Entrants to combat future competition? Discuss the other 5 Forces as suggested by M. Porter in context of Indian Airline players.    
Answer:- 

Assignment - B

Case Detail: 
After a dismal 2009, Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), India’s largest consumer company by revenue, has seen volume growth return to double digits in three successive quarters this calendar year. This comes after volume either fell or grew marginally in the corresponding year-ago quarters. It also broke a run of 40 quarters during which volume didn’t expand by more than single digits. A year ago, the maker of Lux, Wheel, Dove and Knorr seemed to be floundering, caught in a spiral of price cuts and shrinking margins.
The comeback has taken place amid a pitched battle with Procter and Gamble Home Products Ltd (P&G), which also spilled over from the retail shelves into the courts as they fought over claims made in advertisements.
That fight is reminiscent of its campaign in the 1980s to tackle Nirma, which was making inroads at the lower end of the market, by launching Wheel, now India’s largest detergent brand with 18% market share. It also brings to mind the 2004-05 laundry war with P&G, during which both the companies took a hit on their margins, but eventually HUL emerged stronger.
Keeping pace: Consumer products on display at a supermarket in Delhi. Close to 90% of HUL’s portfolio is fresh—either a new product or one that’s been relaunched over the last 12 to 18 months.
The Indian arm of the Anglo-Dutch Unilever Plc, which has been present in the country since 1933, did several things that seem to be working for it. The company completely revamped the product range, cut prices to keep the competition on its toes, tweaked advertising to better position the offerings, reduced its inventory levels and reached even further into rural India, opening up new markets for branded goods.
What changed at HUL that allowed to it to succeed this time around? Gopal Vittal, executive director of the company’s home and personal care (HPC) division, which accounts for 70% of revenue, characterizes it as an internal transformation.
The Comeback
“The company has now become comfortable in a schizophrenic culture,” he said. He was referring to the new attitude of the company—more aggressive, flexible and nimble enough to take up both large and small opportunities that are sharply different in scope.
The gain has not come without its share of pain. For instance, HUL was forced to reduce the price of Rin detergent and bars by close to 30% following the launch of Tide Naturals, a 30% cheaper variant of the P&G flagship brand Tide. Then came a round of increases in content and pack sizes.
The aggressive price cuts have resulted in a decrease of overall sector profit, meaning all companies need to work that much harder and sell that much more merely to stay in place, leave alone getting profit growth to hasten.
This battle between the two global consumer giants was inevitable, given that growth is tapering in the developed markets. Cincinnati-based P&G, which made a serious push into India only in 2009, although it has been present in the country since 1989, wants to expand as fast as possible in emerging markets. HUL has a year-to-date market share of 34.5% in detergents and 45.9% in shampoo versus P&G’s 9.6% and 23%, respectively.
While the rivalry has exacted its toll, it has seen both companies benefiting from the expansion in the market. “Despite risks associated with the tactics in laundry, P&G seems confident in its strategy and has expressed a desire to continue competing with Unilever and other companies in contested areas,” Dibadj said in his report.
While P&G has been seeking to make up for lost time, HUL, on the other hand, has single-mindedly sought to “unblinkingly defend (its) market leadership,” as Harish Manwani, president, Asia Africa, Unilever executive and non-executive chairman of HUL, put it at a press briefing on 28 July.
That has meant a vigorous churning of the product range with as many as 41 launches during the year. Close to 90% of HUL’s portfolio is fresh—either a new product or one that’s been relaunched over the last 12 to 18 months.
The relaunches include the companies so-called local jewels—Breeze, Liril, Moti, Pears and Hamam—aimed at taking on homegrown rivals such as Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL), which makes Godrej No. 1 and Cinthol, and Wipro Ltd’s Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting division, which has brands such as Santoor. HUL also reintroduced what it calls power brands—Lifebuoy and Clinic Plus. It also launched premium products such as anti-ageing formulas and hair conditioners under existing brands such as Ponds, Dove and Lakme.
Earlier strategies had centred around big categories and big brands. In 2000, it sought to focus on 30 power brands. In 2005-06, the Masstige(Mass Prestige) strategy sought to make premium brands available to the masses through appropriate pricing.
That focus on size has widened to accommodate smaller segments.
“We are as passionate, as determined about doing a Rs10 crore opportunity as we are about Rs2,000 crore,” says Vittal.
Rivals recognize the efforts made by the company.
The company wants to tap growth at both ends of the pyramid. The large categories at the bottom, such as detergents and soaps, are growing well, while at the top, growth is explosive, Vittal said.
As the economy continues to boom—India boasts of the second fastest pace of growth globally—greater prosperity will put more disposable income in the hands of a larger number of consumers, all with newly awakened aspirations. Or so the argument runs.
This is already happening in the rural areas, helped along by some of the government’s social welfare programmes such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, better infrastructure and increased job opportunities. Meanwhile, in urban India, consumers are looking for more choice and better products.
“Companies have to decide between high volumes and high-value growth. This is a tactical decision,” said Sunil Duggal, chief executive officer of Dabur India Ltd, which makes personal and Ayurvedic products such as Vatika and Uveda.
That won’t be an easy call to make considering HUL’s size and reach and the scope of its ambition.
“In the next five years, the market is going to be 2-2.5 times its present size,” Vittal said. Right now, his key concern is to ensure that HUL will be nimble enough to keep pace with the rapid evolution of the market.
        
Question:-
1. Conduct the Portfolio Analysis of Various Brands of HUL w.r.t Categories/Product Lines. 
Answer:- 

2. Comment on the Relaunches as a result of Turn around Strategies adopted by Company.
Answer:-  
Turnaround management is a process dedicated to corporate renewal. It uses analysis and planning to save troubled companies and returns them to solvency, and to identify the reasons for failing performance in the market, and rectify them. Turnaround management involves management review, root failure causes analysis, and SWOT analysis to determine why the company is failing. Once gdg analysis is completed, a long term strategic plan and restructuring plan are created. These plans may or may not involve a bankruptcy filing. Once approved, turnaround professionals begin to implement the plan, continually reviewing its progress and make changes to the plan as needed to ensure the company returns to solvency.
Turnaround Managers are also called Turnaround Practitioners , and often are interim managers who only stay as long as it takes to achieve the turnaround. Assignments can take anything from 3 to 24 months depending on the size of the organization and the complexity of the job. Turnaround management does not only apply to distressed companies, it in fact can help in any situation where direction, strategy or a general change of the ways of working needs to be implemented. Therefore turnaround management is closely related to change management, transformation management and post-merger-integration management. High growth situation for example are one typical scenario where turnaround experts also help. More and more turnaround managers are becoming a one-stop-shop and provide help with corporate funding (working closely with banks and the Private Equity community) and with professional services firms (such as lawyers and insolvency practitioners) to have access to a full range of services that are typically needed in a turnaround process. Most turnaround managers are freelancers and work on day rates. The job often involves frequent travel. Others work for large corporations and have permanent positions.
  
3. “Companies have to decide between high volumes and high-value growth. This is a tactical decision” .Comment 
Answer:-  

Assignment – C

Question:- 
Which of the following list is comprise of support activities:-    
 
Options    
        
human resource management, information systems, procurement & firm infrastructure
customer service, information systems, technology development, and procurement
human resource management, technology development, customer service, and procurement
human resource management, customer service, marketing and sales, and operations

Question No.  2    Marks - 10
Which of the following is true about business strategies?    
 
Options    
An organization should stick with its strategy for the life of the business.    
All firms within an industry will adopt the same strategy.    
Well defined missions make strategy development much easier.    
Strategies are formulated independently of SWOT analysis.

Question No.  3    Marks - 10
Which of the following is an example of competing on the basis of differentiation?    
 
Options    
A firm offers more reliable products than its competitors.    
A firm's products are introduced into the market faster than its competitors'.    
A firm's distribution network routinely delivers its product on time.    
firm manufactures its product with less raw material waste than its competitors.    

Question No.  4    Marks - 10
The two internal elements of SWOT analysis are    
 
Options    
strengths and weaknesses    
opportunities and threats    
strengths and opportunities    
weaknesses and threats

Question No.  5    Marks - 10
The impact of strategies on the general direction and basic character of a company is    
 
Options    
short ranged    
medium range    
long range    
temporal

Question No.  6    Marks - 10
What can be defined as the art and science of formulating, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that enable an organization to achieve its objectives?    
 
Options    
Strategy formulation    
Strategy evaluation    
Strategy implementation    
Strategic management

Question No.  7    Marks - 10
Which group would be classified as a stakeholder?    
 
Options    
Banks    
Suppliers    
Employees    
All of these

Question No.  8    Marks - 10
 The fundamental purpose of an organization's mission statement is to    
 
Options    
create a good human relations climate in the organization    
define the organization's purpose in society    
define the operational structure of the organization    
generate good public relations for the organization    

Question No.  9    Marks - 10
What analytical tool has four quadrants based on two dimensions: competitive position and market growth?    
 
Options    
Competitive Profile Matrix    
Internal-External Matrix    
Grand Strategy Matrix    
SPACE Matrix

Question No.  10    Marks - 10
The primary benefit sought from restructuring is    
 
Options    
Employee involvement.    
Cost reduction.    
Increased morale.    
Increased number of hierarchical levels in the organization.

Question No.  11    Marks - 10
Cash cows are always in    
 
Options    
Introductory industry    
Growing industry    
Mature industry    
Declining industry

Question No.  12    Marks - 10
Which of the following resources is used by all organizations to achieve desired objectives?    
 
Options    
Financial resources,    
Physical resources,    
Human resources    
All of the mentioned options    

Question No.  13    Marks - 10
Walls” ice cream purchase “Polka” in order to capture the market. Such kind of integration is called:    
 
Options    
Forward Integration    
Backward Integration    
Horizontal Integration    
Product Development

Question No.  14    Marks - 10
The _______________ has its own business strategy, objectives and competitors and these are often differ from parent company.    
 
Options    
Strategic Business Unit structure    
Matrix structure    
Divisional structure    
None of given option

Question No.  15    Marks - 10
Can best be described as short-term in nature.    
 
Options    
Annual objectives    
Tenure    
Mission statements    
Strategies

Question No.  16    Marks - 10
Which of these is often considered the first step in strategic planning?    
 
Options    
Establishing goals and objectives    
Developing a vision statement    
Making a profit    
Developing a mission statement    

Question No.  17    Marks - 10
Which of the following are Porter's generic strategies?    
 
Options    
Low price, differentiation, focus    
Cost leadership, differentiation, focus    
Price leadership, differentiation, focus    
Low cost, differentiation, focus differentiation

Question No.  18    Marks - 10
Which matrices are also known as Portfolio matrices?    
 
Options    
SPACE and BCG matrix    
IE and BCG matrix    
TOWS and IE matrix    
SPACE and TOWS matrix

Question No.  19    Marks - 10
Conglomerate diversification is another name for which of the following?    
 
Options    
Related diversification    
Unrelated diversification    
Portfolio diversification    
Acquisition diversification

Question No.  20    Marks - 10
Restructuring is also referred to as    
 
Options    
De-layering.    
Starting over.    
Diversifying.    
Job security

Question No.  21    Marks - 10
Hofer’s matrix is a fifteen cell matrix in which businesses are plotted in terms of their competitive position &    
 
Options    
Relative profit    
Relative market share    
Growth rate    
Stage of product/market evolution

Question No.  22    Marks - 10
Functional managers are responsible    
 
Options    
for a single area of activity    
to the upper level of management and staff    
for complex organizational sub-units    
for obtaining copyrights and patents for newly developed processes and equipment

Question No.  23    Marks - 10
The degree to which jobs are standardized and guided by rules and procedures is called:    
 
Options    
Work specialization    
Centralization    
Decentralization    
Formalization

Question No.  24    Marks - 10
Which factor has been the most rapidly changing component in an organization’s general environment in the past quarter-century?    
 
Options    
Global    
Economic    
Social    
Technological    

Question No.  25    Marks - 10
The process of collaborative goal setting by a manager and subordinate; the extent to which goals are accomplished is a major factor in evaluating and rewarding the subordinate’s performance. It is called:    
 
Options    
Management by objective    
Management by resources    
Management by authority    
Management by system

Question No.  26    Marks - 10
An organization that assigns specialists from different functional departments to work on one or more than one projects being led by project managers is called -------------    
 
Options    
Team Organization    
Virtual Organization    
Matrix organization    
Learning Organization

Question No.  27    Marks - 10
This is an example of a global strategy which is low in risk as it avoids the cost of establishing production operations in another country    
 
Options    
Franchising    
Licensing    
Export    
globalisation

Question No.  28    Marks - 10
In the activities are grouped according to functions of management such as finance, accounting, purchasing.    
 
Options    
product/ market structure    
Line organistion    
staff organisation    
functional structure

Question No.  29    Marks - 10
Is characterized by direct lines of authority flowing from top to bottom of the organizational hierarchy and the lines of responsibility flowing in an opposite but equally direct manner    
 
Options    
flat organisation    
Line organization    
functional organisation    
informal organisation

Question No.  30    Marks - 10
Is the process of evaluating the employee’s performance on the job in terms of the requirements of the job.    
 
Options    
performance appraisal    
Controlling    
review    
Analysis

Question No.  31    Marks - 10
Under this method, the worker is given training at the workplace by his immediate supervisor    
 
Options    
on the site training    
offline training    
on the job training    
on demand training

Question No.  32    Marks - 10
Unbroken line of authority is known as___    
 
Options    
Line of command    
hierarchy of commnd    
Command    
Chain of command

Question No.  33    Marks - 10
Are the guidelines to decision making.    
 
Options    
Objectives    
Goals    
Policies    
Decisions

Question No.  34    Marks - 10
Refers to the formal, established pattern of relationships among the various parts of a firm or any organisation.    
 
Options    
Organisation    
Organisational structure    
Organisational culture    
Organisation environment

Question No.  35    Marks - 10
A company's ability to meet its short-term financial obligations is measured by which of the following ratios?    
 
Options    
liquidity ratios    
profitability    
activity    
leverage
Question No.  36    Marks - 10
 The competencies or skills that a firm employs to transform inputs into outputs are    
 
Options    
Tangible resources.    
intangible resources    
Organizational capabilities.    
reputational resources

Question No.  37    Marks - 10
The "balanced scorecard" supplies top managers with a _____________ view of the business.    
 
Options    
long-term financial    
detailed and complex    
simple & routine    
fast & comprehensive

Question No.  38    Marks - 10
A marketing department that promises delivery quicker than the production department's ability to produce is an example of a lack of understanding of the    
 
Options    
Synergy of the business units.    
Need to maintain the reputation of the company.    
organizational culture and leadership    
Interrelationships among functional areas and firm strategies.

Question No.  39    Marks - 10
Which one of the following should consider in economy while conducting environmental analysis?    
 Options    
GNP    
Transport    
Unemployment    
Channel of distribution

Question No.  40    Marks - 10
Which of the following shows the process of creating something new?    
 Options    
Innovation    
Modeling    
Business model    
Research