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Business strategy is an outline of crafted operational guidelines and objectives to achieving long-term mission. The business strategy includes a statement of a mission, vision, objectives policies and plans to achieve the set goals. In business, resources are always scarce, and therefore a good business strategy is a key to the successful operational efficiency of a business to achieve a preset goal within a stated time and use of allocated resources. A business strategy is a key driver in the success of a business organization. Adsit, T. L. (2013) has it that strategic plan calls for visionary leadership to foresee the success of a business after a given duration of time.
Business mission and mission statement, business goals, objectives are key in developing a sensible strategic plan for a business. Business goals are what a company expects to do in a given period. A mission statement describes why the given business exists, markets, philosophies, and goals. Adsit, T. L. (2013) states that business objectives are what the company intends to do to achieve a set aim. These are captured in the four main steps of the strategic plan. A strategic business plan involves the following steps; Determination of the current position of the business, strategy development, building the business plan and performance management. Customers' satisfaction assessment is also conducted to predict future demand for the goods or services.
Determination of the current business position entails answering the question, "Where are we?" Key issues in this step are the analysis of the business history and what achievements have been made at that particular time as stipulated Grant, T. (2016). The first step of strategic planning is also addressing who to a notable level, "who do we work with now?" (Anderson, T., 2014). The latter is the evaluation of the business strengths and weaknesses to map out the best path to achieving the business goals.
The second step of strategic business planning; development of a strategy answers the question; "Where do we want to be?" The business planners now are tasked to visioning on what they want the business to look like in the future as stated by Dey, K. (2016). The management now knows where the business is and therefore it's possible to plot a curve of where the business should be in coming days. The vision is paramount in answering the above question. A business mission is built from the business vision according to Anderson, T. (2014). Strategy development stage is very important in a business plan and therefore all the stakeholders should be included for the assurance that they will play "their part in the achievement of business objectives" (Anderson, T., 2014).
Plan building is the third step of strategic business planning. SWOT analysis is a useful tool in the development of the business plan as stated by Morecroft, J. D. W. (2015). The latter helps the planners to set some deliverables as priorities. The prioritized activities are given a lot of attention and more resource allocation. In the plan, smart goals are set for short term delivery. Moreover, key performance indicators are set and for assessing the progress of the business in the realization of its mission and objectives. Benchmarks are stated and the strategic business plan integrated into the business for articulation. The plan finds its way from the planners down the administrative hierarchy to all the business departments. The stated business goals are assigned to individuals to oversee.
Lastly, performance management comes after all the other stages of the strategic plan are implemented. The whole strategy is communicated to the stakeholders to adapt to the prescribed change. The planners give the estimated times for the progressive integration of the new strategy into the business organization. The planners also help the business employees or the stakeholders to actualize the new strategic plan into the business operations. An end of year review is done to evaluate the progress of the business reference to key performance indicators as argued out by Kaplan & Norton, (2013).
There are some factors that are put into consideration in the development of a strategic plan. These factors have to be addressed to come up with an effective strategic plan for a company. A sensible strategic plan is a driving force towards business success. The factors put into consideration when formulating a strategic plan for a company are - leadership culture, organizational culture, organizational structure and human resource available.
Leadership is key in the compilation of a favorable business plan for an organization. The high ranking employees of a company make major decisions in "development of a company's strategic plan" (DEY, K. 2016). Good leadership culture is characterized by actions like productive contributions towards the achievement of the developed strategic plan. Moreover, the leadership of an organization communicates their visions about the company in question and hence inspire others. The good qualities of leadership see development a suitable and sensible business strategy and hence success in business activities. Integrity, high focus, and motivational personality are characters of a perfect leadership culture in the development of a strategic plan for a business organization.
The available resource is paramount in the development of a good business strategy. The planners should take into account the organization’s financial and human resource availability before the formulation of a business strategy. Kiptoo and Mwirigi, (2014) stipulates that implementation of a business strategy attracts allocation of resources; financial and human resource as well as time for the implementation of the developed business strategic plan. The mission statement of a business organization should not be beyond the company's financial capability otherwise, the latter will remain to be a dream written in black and white. Moreover, the strategic plan should not demand more than the currently available human resource can deliver as stated by Kiptoo and Mwirigi, (2014).
Organizational culture must also be considered in writing a strategic business plan according to GOMES, E., & JACKSON, P. (2012). The strategic business plan should violate the harmonic working of the s employees. This means that the presumed organizational culture of the organization like the schedules should be adhered to otherwise the employees will be demoralized and hence poor delivery. The strategic business plan should, at the utmost effort, be in line with the habits, norms, beliefs as well as assumptions of the employees. Gomes, & Jackson, (2012), noted that new strategy has an impact on the organization as major changes like new role assignments are common.
Organizational structure is another factor that has to be put into consideration in the formulation of a new business strategy as noted by Stare, A. (2012). The business structure has to do with the shape of the administrative activities and roles assignment in the organization. In the development of a strategic business plan, the plan has to capture any "new emerging roles in the " (Stare, 2012, pp.1-22). Shuffling also happens in the implementation of a new business strategy. The planners have to consider the effectiveness of business restructuring as it can have both positive and negative results. In case the restructuring reveals more negative results than otherwise expected then it's no need to implement the new business strategic plan.
There are several techniques used in the development of a business plan. The techniques help the planners to come up with an executable business plan and hence achievement of desired results as captured by Morecroft, (2015). They include - the SWOT analysis, nominal ranking and team facilitation. The SWOT analysis is one of the perfect means of solving business problems as well as self-auditing. In the case of developing a strategic business plan, the SWOT analysis helps the planners to brainstorm and come up with sensible visions and mission for the business organization. The brainstorming process helps discover the problems facing the business as well as the most likely procedure for a successful business in a given duration. According to Dey, (2016) the effectiveness of SWOT analysis in business plan development is that it helps the planners to quickly and in a detailed manner, review the current status of the business organization.
The nominal ranking is another helpful tool in "development of a business plan" (Lohmann, & Vianna, 2016, pp.199-210). The identified issues pertaining the business are prioritized and the most demanding given the priority in the goals, strategies and the objectives in the business plan. The nominal ranking is very effective in the development of a business strategic plan in that the latter gives the planners the mandate to express themselves concerning the most critical issues of the business organization. The participants in the business plan development are given some votes which they use in voting for the most important issues of the business organization. The most voted item in the long lists receives the most attention in the business plan.
Lastly, team facilitation is also a helpful technique in the development of a "business strategic plan" (Lohmann, & Vianna, 2016, pp.199-210). The business plan development heads make sure input from every individual in the organization is recorded and evaluated in the final business strategic plan. The business plan development team actively listen, observe and reflect on the on the views of the business employees and draw sensible conclusions from them. Team facilitation is very effective in business plan development in that every person with an idea or view concerning the business plan gets heard.
Strategic positioning is a definition of how competitively a given business organization competes to serve its customers as argued by Kotler, & Armstrong, (2012). . The Easy Jet Company is one of the leading airlines in Europe and the best in the UK. Reportedly, Easy Jet flies more than 600 routes; domestically and internationally. Easy Jet is listed on the London stock exchange. The company was found in 1995 and has grown tremendously to a world carrier. Acquisitions are one of the major contributions to the growth of the Easy Jet Company
Easy jet strategic positioning is that it operates cheaper flights to the “most visited parts of the Europe” (Lohmann, & Vianna, 2016, pp.199-210). The low costly air ticket is the Centre of the success of the Easy Jet Company for the past one decade of its operation. The Easy Jet Company carried a total of 60 million passengers in 2013 only across over 23 bases in Europe. According to IYAMU, T. (2015), the latter can be cited to the company's less costly air charges. Many of the frequent air travelers prefer to use the easy jet to their destinations due to the affordable air tickets offered by this company. The more customers attended, the more the profitability of the operation of the Easy Jet Company.
The Easy Jet air liner competitors are the legacy airlines whose tickets are a bit hiked and the chatter carriers. Kotler, & Armstrong, (2012), stipulates that the Easy Jet operates cost-effective airbuses whose design is that it has more seats per unit space on the plane compared to the other competitors and therefore it's in a position lower charges on travel. Moreover, the Easy Jet aircraft higher load factor and therefore can carry customers with larger loads compared to its competitors and hence preferred by a large number of air travelers in Europe. Besides, the Easy Jet operates modern fleet which is cheaper to maintain and therefore maximizing returns. The above-mentioned strategies have been key to the success of the Easy Jet as evidenced in its strong balance sheet. Hitt, M. A. (2017) states that the tactical and strategically planned business operations have seen the Easy Jet Company maintain its competitiveness in UK, Switzerland and some other parts of Europe.
Operationally, the Easy Jet interacts favorably with the environment. Easy Jet Company management ensures that the company performs well environmentally. The company has policies that are a reference point about what it’s doing and what’s expected from it by its business environment. Poulsen and Fowler, (2012) noted that the Easy Jet Company abides by the international environmental standard for sound pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, particulate emissions as well as waste disposal. Moreover, the Easy Jet Company complies with the requirements of the international chamber of commerce regulations pertaining environmentally friendly business operations.
Stakeholders are very important in the activities of any business. The strategic plan formulation calls for the analysis of; who are the stakeholders and “what their specific interest in the business is" (Blanchet, Toonen & Dakpallah, G., 2013). Formulation of a new strategy is likely to affect the stakeholders in one way or the other. Customers, as stakeholders, are very important in a business success according to Adsit, (2013). The strategic planners should analyze the customers' needs and therefore align the new strategy in customer satisfaction. Moreover, the investors are very important stakeholders, and therefore any major change or decision being made in the organization should be communicated to them to win their trust on the operation of the company.
The East Jet company has done a lot to ensure that it remains competitive in the otherwise" tough business environment" (Smith, Mills, & Dion, 2010, 22-43.). The strategies put in place by the management of this company have worked quite well and hence the success of the company according to Miller, C, (2013). However, the company needs to formulate new strategies as its competitors are likely to copy its operational procedures and hence face stiff competition. I wish to present a strategy to Easy Jet to make sure that the company remains competitive by retaining its customers as well as getting others on a daily basis. The strategy is that the company can introduce redeemable points program. The program will see the customers getting flight points every time they travel using the Easy Jet aircraft. The points will be redeemable for air tickets on latter days when they reach a redeemable count. The latter is a strategy to encourage people to frequently travel by the Easy Jet and earn themselves free flights later on. Moreover, the Fast Jet can introduce a referral program through which a customer can be rewarded if he or she refers several people to use Easy Jet for flights.
The fast jet company growth over the past decade tells us a lot about its determination to "compete favorably globally" (Dobruszkes, Goetz, & Budd, 2014,pp.167-186).The proposed strategies of referral program and travel points could have propelled the Easy Jet Company further regarding its competitive. The referral program for instance; is very helpful in promoting the customers base growth in a very short period. The latter can be implemented by having the referred people register to fly with Easy Jet under the predecessor's name. This is a very effective tool in the market entry as the chain grows very fast. Besides, travel points strategy is also key in making sure that the gained customers remain loyal the Easy Jet Company.
The major roles of the strategy implementation team are - monitoring, guidance on "strategy implementation and overseeing" (Zuidberg & de Wit, 2016, pp.11-18). The strategy implementation team is charged with a major role of supervising the implementation of a strategic plan of a company. This means the team should guide the employees on a daily basis in the process and therefore make sure that the implementation is as expected according to the stated guidelines.
The estimated budget in actuation of the mentioned strategies is relatively small. For instance, the beneficiaries of the referral program, the people who refer the required number of people to fly using Easy Jet will get, say, ten people, will get a free air ticket to their destination which is approximately “£52.40 on average across Europe” ( Smith, Mills, & Dion, 2013, 22-43)
The same amount holds for the traveler who attains the required figure of travel points. A budgetary commitment of £100000 in one year can see the implementation of the new strategies into the operations of the Easy Jet Company.
The SMART acronym stands for - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time-based business goals according to (Burghouwt & de Wit, 2015, pp.104-113)The strategies to be implemented in the Easy Jet Company are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic in the business environment and time-bound. The strategies' alignment with the SMART targets makes it easier to implement them in the Easy Jet Company. Commendably, the above-proposed strategies can see the Easy Jet compete more favorably in its business operations.
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