What is a Business Strategy? What are the examples of business strategy? (2024)

What is a business strategy?

A business strategy is a plan that helps a company achieve its goals. It includes tactics for marketing, finance, operations, and other areas. A business strategy aims to give the company a competitive advantage.

There are many different types of business strategies. Some common ones include cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. A company may use one or more of these strategies depending on its goals.

For example, a company that wants to expand may use a growth strategy, while a company that wants to improve its profitability may use a cost-cutting strategy. Successful businesses typically have well-defined strategy and processes that they regularly review and update.

How to make a business strategy

Developing an effective business strategy is essential for any organization that wants to compete in today’s marketplace. While there is no one-size-fits-all approach, there are specific steps that all businesses can take to create a solid strategic foundation.

First, it’s essential to understand your company’s goals and objectives clearly. What are you trying to achieve, and how will you measure success?

Next, you must conduct a SWOT analysis to identify your company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Once you have a good sense of your company’s position, you can develop specific strategies for achieving your goals. This may involve expanding into new markets, developing new products or services, or implementing more efficient processes.

Whatever the case, it’s crucial to have a well-thought-out plan for execution. Even the best companies will struggle to achieve their full potential without a solid strategy.

What are the levels of business strategy?

Business strategy can be divided into three levels: corporate, business, and functional.

Corporate level strategy

A corporate-level strategy is a long-term plan that a company uses to guide its business decisions and activities. The focus of a corporate-level strategy is typically on how the company will compete in its overall industry or market.

This can involve decisions about which businesses to operate in, what products or services to offer, and how to allocate resources across the company. Corporate-level strategies are usually developed by senior executives and are designed to help businesses achieve their overall goals.

When crafting a corporate strategy, businesses must consider their strengths and weaknesses and the opportunities and threats in their industry. By considering all of these factors, companies can develop a plan that will allow them to compete effectively and achieve their desired success.

Corporate Level Strategy: Explained with Examples and Types

Business level strategy

A business-level strategy is a plan of action to achieve a specific goal. This could be anything from increasing market share to expanding into new markets.

A business-level strategy must be aligned with the company’s overall mission and goals to succeed. It should also consider the company’s strengths and weaknesses and the threats and opportunities present in the marketplace.

Once a business-level strategy has been formulated, it is crucial to implement it in a consistent and disciplined manner. Otherwise, it will simply be another worthless piece of paper gathering dust on a shelf.

Business Level Strategy: Explained with Examples and Types

Functional level strategy

A functional-level strategy is a plan that focuses on how a company will use its resources to achieve its goals in a specific business area.

For example, a company’s marketing functional level strategy might focus on how it will use its marketing budget to reach its target customers. A functional-level strategy is generally created by a company’s top managers and is then implemented by lower-level managers.

While a functional-level strategy is often aligned with the company’s overall business strategy, it can also be adapted to meet the needs of a specific business unit or product line. By taking into account each business unit’s unique resources and objectives, a company can develop a more targeted and practical approach to achieving its goals.

For a company to be successful, all three levels of strategy must be aligned. Otherwise, there will be confusion and conflict between different departments, leading to stagnation or even decline.

By developing a clear and concise business strategy, companies can ensure that all levels of the organization work together towards a common goal.

Functional Level Strategy: Explained with Examples and Types

Examples of business strategy

A business strategy is a plan that outlines how a company will achieve its goals. There are many different business strategies, but some common examples include cost leadership, differentiation, and focus.

Cost leadership

Cost leadership creates a competitive advantage by having the lowest cost of production in their respective industry. This strategy is often used by companies that can produce their goods or services at a lower price than their competitors.

To achieve a cost leadership position, businesses must achieve economies of scale, which refers to producing goods or services at a lower unit cost as production increases.

There are several ways that businesses can achieve economies of scale, such as through vertical integration, investing in new technology, or streamlining their manufacturing process.

Once a business has achieved a cost leadership position, it can maintain it by continuously lowering its costs and/or raising its prices.

Differentiation

A differentiation strategy is where a company seeks to distinguish itself from the competition by offering unique products or services.

This can be done in terms of quality, features, design, or any other aspect that sets the company’s products or services apart from its rivals.

A differentiation strategy aims to make the company’s products or services more attractive to customers and thus gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

While a differentiation strategy can be an effective way to grow a business, it can also be challenging to sustain over the long term due to the constant need to innovate and remain ahead of the competition.

Focus

A focus strategy involves targeting a specific market niche or segment.

A focus strategy aims to gain a competitive advantage by catering to the target market’s unique needs. Focus strategies can be either cost-based or differentiation-based.

Focus strategies can effectively build brand loyalty and increase market share, but they can also be tricky to execute. Because focus strategies involve targeting a specific market segment, companies must be careful not to spread themselves too thin or risk losing their competitive advantage.

Each strategy has its benefits and drawbacks, and the best strategy for any given company will depend on its specific goals and situation.

However, all businesses need some strategy to be successful. Without a plan to achieve its goals, a company will likely flounder and ultimately fail.

Innovation focused business strategy of Godrej

How to measure the effectiveness of a business strategy

There are several ways to measure the effectiveness of a business strategy.

One standard method is to track changes in key performance indicators (KPIs). KPIs are quantifiable measures that can be used to track progress toward specific goals. For example, if a company’s goal is to increase sales by 10% over a year, then tracking sales figures monthly would be an effective way to measure progress.

Another standard method for measuring the effectiveness of a business strategy is to survey employees and customers. This can help to assess whether or not employees are engaged with the company’s new direction and whether or not customers see benefits from the changes.

Ultimately, the best way to measure the effectiveness of a business strategy will vary depending on the specific goals and objectives of the company. However, tracking KPIs and surveying employees and customers are two standard methods that can be used to assess progress.

IDEO’s Design Thinking Strategy – Making consumers fall in love with your products

How to implement a successful business strategy

Any business owner knows that a successful company requires a well-thought-out strategy. But what goes into a successful business strategy?

Implementing a successful business strategy requires a thoughtful and systematic approach. Here are some steps you might consider:

1. Set Clear Goals: Defining what success looks like is crucial before you start. Your business goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). Your strategy should be designed to help you achieve these goals.
2. Conduct a SWOT Analysis: A SWOT analysis helps you understand your business’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. It provides a clear understanding of your current position, which is essential for strategy development.
3. Understand Your Customers: Knowing your customer’s needs and preferences is vital. This understanding will allow you to make strategic decisions that will satisfy your customers and make your business more competitive.
4. Understand Your Competitors: Knowing who your competitors are and what they offer can help you differentiate your products or services and find a competitive advantage.
5. Formulate the Strategy: Based on the knowledge gained from the previous steps, develop a strategy that leverages your strengths, minimizes your weaknesses, capitalizes on opportunities, and mitigates threats. This strategy should address all key areas of your business, such as product development, marketing, sales, operations, and customer service.
6. Communicate the Strategy: Once you have a strategy in place, communicate it clearly and consistently to all stakeholders, including employees, shareholders, and customers. Everyone should understand the direction the business is headed and their role in getting there.
7. Implement the Strategy: This is where the rubber meets the road. Start executing the strategy. Ensure all actions and decisions align with the strategic goals. You might need to change your operations, develop new products, enter new markets, etc.
8. Monitor and Adjust: Implementation is not a one-and-done process. Regularly review the strategy’s progress and effectiveness using key performance indicators (KPIs). If something isn’t working as expected, don’t be afraid to adjust your strategy.
9. Innovation: A successful strategy often includes a focus on innovation. This could mean developing new products or services, or it could involve finding more efficient ways of doing things.
10. Culture and Leadership: A positive culture and strong leadership are crucial for a successful strategy. Leaders should embody the strategy and inspire others to work towards it. Likewise, a culture that encourages collaboration, risk-taking, and continuous learning can accelerate strategy implementation.

Remember, every business is unique, and what works for one might not work for another. It’s important to be flexible and adaptable and continuously learn and refine your strategy based on what’s working and what’s not.

Difference between business strategy and corporate strategy

Business strategy and corporate strategy are two different levels of strategic planning in an organization. They both are essential for organizational success, but they focus on different aspects of the organization.

Corporate Strategy:

This is concerned with the overall scope and direction of the entire organization. It involves making decisions about the organization’s portfolio of businesses (if it is a conglomerate with multiple lines of businesses), the markets it will operate in, and how it will create value across those different businesses.

The focus of the corporate strategy is on capital allocation, mergers and acquisitions, and defining the overall corporate identity. The main goal of corporate strategy is to ensure the organization is diversified and balanced in a way that reduces risks and enhances corporate value. In other words, it looks at “what” businesses the company should be in.

Business Strategy:

This operates at a lower level and is concerned with how a single business unit competes within its specific market. It outlines how to achieve a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Business strategy involves decisions about product development, customer targeting, marketing, production, distribution, and pricing.

It’s more focused on operational effectiveness and strategic positioning within the market. This strategy primarily responds to the question of “how” the business will succeed in a specific market.

In summary, corporate strategy is more big-picture, determining where and how the organization will compete, whereas business strategy focuses on executing the corporate strategy within specific markets.

The real challenge in crafting strategy lies in detecting subtle discontinuities that may undermine a business in the future. And for that there is no technique, no program, just a sharp mind in touch with the situation

Henry Mintzberg, management thinker and “enfant terrible” of strategic planning theory