Write a 1,050-word minimum (will probably be more) strategic implementation plan in which you include the following: Create an implementation plan (this is a project plan and you may use MS Project o
STRATEGIC PLAN, PART 3: STRATEGIC EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATION 8
Strategic Plan, Part 3: Strategic Evaluation and Recommendation
Strategic Evaluation and Recommendation
Companies can adopt various strategies to ensure the smooth running of the company. Each of the strategies adopted can suit various needs. The strategies adopted may be classified as business-level strategies, corporate level strategies, or global strategies. This paper examines the business-level strategies, corporate-level strategies, and global strategies that can be deployed for use in Allete Inc. company, then gives a recommendation about the best strategy that can be used by Allete Inc. company to achieve financial growth.
Business Level Strategies
Cost-leadership Strategy
One of the business-level strategies that Allete can use is the cost-leadership business-level strategy. Allete can deploy the cost-leadership business-level strategy to attain a wider customer base based on competitive prices. According to Rothaermel (2016), the cost-leadership business-level strategy bases its price on internal efficiency to have a margin that is able to sustain above-average returns and cost to clients to make them endorse the clean energy and the renewable energy from the company. For instance, Allete could make efforts to continuously lower costs relative to its competitors. The company should consider the cost to produce renewable and clean energy, transportation cost, and delivery cost to customers to establish the most convenient cost. This will help the company be a cost leader in the energy sector as the company strives to provide affordable and reliable energy to its customers.
Differentiation Strategy
Another business-level strategy that can be used by Allete is the differentiation business-level strategy. According to Maloba (2018), the differentiation business-level strategy provides value to customers by offering unique features and characteristics of an organization's products instead of lowering the price. For instance, Allete could provide high quality, affordable, reliable, and safe energy to residents rather than just offering the lowest price in the market. These can be some of the features and characteristics that differentiate Allete from other energy-producing and supplying companies. Other salient features and characteristics include better customer service, using advanced technological features, and managing the image of the company. This will play a crucial role in differentiating Allete’s clean and renewable energy from other firms.
Corporate Level Strategies
Growth Strategy
One of the corporate level strategies that can be used by Allete is the growth corporate strategy. According to Rothaermel (2016), the growth corporate strategies refer to the corporate level strategy that is designed to help a corporation achieve growth in key metrics like revenue, sales, total assets, and profits. Allete could use the corporate level growth strategy internally to expand its operation both locally and globally. Furthermore, Allete can use the growth strategy to grow the organization externally. This can be achieved through acquisitions, mergers, and forming strategic alliances.
Stability Strategy
Another corporate-level strategy that can be utilized by Allete is the use of a stability strategy. Rothaermel (2016) posits that the stability strategy could be deployed by organizations operating in reasonably predictable environments by maintaining the strategy implemented to bring the company to success with little or no change at all. Stability can be employed in three different ways. First, Allete could adopt the no-change strategy when the company is satisfied with the current operations to maintain the stability of the firm. When the company is contented with the current competitive position, then the no-change strategy should be adopted. The other stability strategy that could be adopted by Allete is the profit strategy where the company tries to achieve profitability through artificial means like raising sales prices, removing non-core businesses, or adopting aggressive cost-cutting procedures. This could help boost the value of the company and help the company during tough times or during temporary difficulty. The last stability strategy that can be used by Allete is the pause/proceed with caution stability strategy. This strategy could be used by the company to gauge the water before proceeding to use a fully-fledged strategy. For example, a pause/proceed with caution strategy can be used as a temporary strategy as the company waits for the environment to become more hospitable or as the company consolidates its resources after a prolonged rapid growth. The stability strategy can, therefore, be used by Allete to maintain the current state of the company if the company considers maintaining its operations and competitive advantage as it is with little or no change at all.
Global Strategies
Export Strategy
Global strategies are the strategies that are used by the company to compete and expand to the international market. According to Stefan and colleagues (2016), global strategies can be used by the organization to grow the business beyond the borders. The main intention of deploying global strategies is to increase the sales of goods to markets abroad. One global strategy that Allete can use is the export strategy. The export strategy can be used by Allete when the company focusses primarily on its domestic markets although some products are exported to take advantage of the international opportunities. Allete is currently using the export strategy to avoid customizing its products to meet the unique conditions required by other countries (Allete Inc., n.d). This will help the company export some of the products to other countries, create brand awareness, before market entry.
Standardization Strategy
Another global strategy that can be used is the standardization strategy. Stefan and colleagues (2016) assert that the standardization strategy is used when companies want to meet the needs of people all over the world. This is done through treating the whole world as if it was a single market with little meaningful variations. Clean and renewable energy is universal and thus need little customization to meet local as well as international conditions. The standardization strategy can allow Allete to expand to the international market, simplifying the supply chain and reducing marketing costs in the process.
Recommendations
One of the recommendations is to use a growth strategy to achieve financial growth. The growth strategy helps corporations achieve growth in key metrics like revenue, sales, total assets, and profits (Rothaermel, 2016). This gives the company financial growth by increasing the productivity of the company, reaching out to new and potential customers and markets. The company is able to generate more sales and profits from the wider customer base, helping the company attain financial growth. Furthermore, the growth strategy could increase financial growth by reducing external risks like technology, market changes, and competition through the creation of new markets and customers (Rothaermel, 2016).
References
Allete Inc. (n.d). Allete Inc. Company. Retrieved from http://www.allete.com/ on February 19, 2020.
Maloba, W. J. (2018). Influence of Growth Strategies on Performance of Water Service Providers: A Case of Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company Ltd. Journal of International Business, Innovation and Strategic Management, 1(3), 41-65.
Rothaermel, F. T. (2016). Strategic management: concepts (Vol. 2). McGraw-Hill Education.
Stefan, S. C., Giurgiu, A., Abrudan, M. M., Miricescu, D., & Vlasceanu, C. (2016). Why T&C companies need to develop global strategies? Empirical evidences on the influence of the organization's global strategy on its competitiveness and performances, 67(6), 428.
