Hello There

Last Tuesday (15 November 2011) we discussed the first steps in overcoming, the challenges of an industry, in a downward spiral. We used the electronics industry as an example of an industry struggling in the current economic conditions. The following analysis was suggested

1. Porter's Five Forces model http://www.learnmarketing.net/porters.htm to review the five forces that impact on your business
2. PEST analysis to manipulate factors in your external environment http://www.learnmarketing.net/pestanalysis.htm.
3. A stakeholder analysis will reveal micro environmental factors that are holding your business back. http://www.learnmarketing.net/microenvironment.htm. And
4. A detailed competitor analysis to help you analyse what your competitors are up to http://www.learnmarketing.net/competitoranalysis.htm.

Once you have completed the suggested analysis, you will have a list of items within (internal factors) and outside (external factors) your organisation that impact on your business. The next stage is to think about the things that will be included in your plan to turn the business around.

To increase the effectiveness of your plan you need to ensure that you adopt a strategic management approach. If you do not have a clear strategy, you will end up with lots of objectives, which do not work together and lead you in lots of different (or competing) directions. The attached article will talk you through strategy and how it is different from objectives http://www.learnmanagement2.com/strategicmanagement.html

You may also like to refer to Michael Porter’s generic strategies article. http://www.learnmarketing.net/generic.htm. Porter’s Generic Strategies provide guidance on common strategies and warns against the danger of trying to do everything for everybody. Ultimately your strategy should:

1)   Minimise the impact of factors that affect your business adversely i.e. decrease sales, make it difficult to trade And

2)   Maximise all opportunities that increase business and help your business grow.

Once you have decided on your strategy (or strategies) it is time to focus on your product. Based on your analysis decide what you would like to do with your product. It is useful to take your products through a BCG matrix http://www.learnmarketing.net/bcg.htm before deciding what to do with them. A BCG Matrix will help you identify which products are generating money and which products are “dogs”. Do you stick with your existing product offering or is it time to stretch the line? The following article on product objectives will help you consider your options http://www.learnmarketing.net/productobjectives.htm.

Next time we will discuss how to turn your strategies and objectives into an effective plan which will help you start to tackle the challenges posed by the current economic conditions.

Thank you for reading this blog, we hope you enjoyed it. We look forward to your next visit.