Strategic Management Essays (2473 words) - Strategic Management

Strategic Management ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONStrategic Management Choose your company or any MNC company that you are familiar with and: 1)Explain the nature of the firm business 2)Undertake a SWOT analysis of the firms business to identify areas of strategic importance and the corresponding strategic drivers/ Critical Factors (CF) the firms has to focus on to provide the company a competitive advantage. Table of Contents AcknowledgementPage 2 Background of Malaysia Airlines SystemPage 3 - 4 Business StrategyPage 5 - 6 SWOT AnalysisPage 7 - 12 ?Competitive Analysis ?Value Chain Analysis ?Core Competencies Critical Success FactorsPage 13 - 15 ConclusionPage 16 ReferencesPage 17 - Acknowledgement First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Mr. Ravinthiran, our tutor for Strategic Management module. He is a jovial and a very knowledgeable person as he shared his experiences in the business and organizations. He had also given us ample information on the subject matter and enhanced my interest in Strategic Management. I would also like to thank my friends and family who had given me support and guidance throughout the completion of this assignment. Thank you. Background of MAS The glory days of the tourism world has opened a new path for the local transportation system to bloom especially the air transportation. In the year 1937, Malayan Airway Limited (MAL) was established. As years passed, on 13th September 1972, MAS Airlines was officially launched by Tun Dr. Ismail Abdul Rahman in Kuala Lumpur International Airport. As a flag carrying national airlines, three colors form the flag are chosen which are red, white and blue. The majoring color is red because it reflects the vibrancy and excitement that is the essence of Malaysia. The MAS symbol is the Kelantan kite called the ?Wau Bulan'. Indigenous to Malaysia, the Kelantan kites dates back to many centuries and its represents a fire expression of the mythologies that enriched the nation's tradition. Furthermore, it represents controlled flight in an exclusive Malaysian manner, giving feeling of movement and modernity. On October 15, 1987, MAS launched its new corporate image with a restyled logo and emphasis on the country's name. The new red and blue logo (previously all red), while retaining the essence of the Kelantan kite, was given a more swept back look to project "movement and dynamism." The company was also to be identified as "Malaysia Airlines" in all its communications although its registered name, Malaysian Airline System, was not changed. MAS Airlines vision is to be an airlines uniquely renowned for its personal touch, warmth and efficiency. As for the mission, the airlines system strives to provide air travel transport services that ranks among the best in terms of safety, comfort and punctuality. The MAS Airlines motto is ?Go Beyond Expectation?. The sole objective of the company was to provide the people of Malaysia with an efficient and profitable air transport system which would enhance the standing of the country. As the national flag carrier of Malaysia, MAS Airlines had played an important role in contributing to the economic and social incorporation of the country. The company subsidized loss-making services in certain domestic routes which we redeemed essential for social and economic development. For example, some rural settlements in Sabah and Sarawak were only accessible by MAS Airlines rural air services. These services were operated from the year MAS Airlines started operations and fell within the account of non-economic but socially desirable services. Business Strategy INTERNALEXTERNAL Apply, sustainDiscover OvercomeAvert No one has ever developed a formula for "making strategy." Making strategy is a matter of generating ideas about how a business is going to compete. Then, those ideas are analyzed to determine which the best are. The SWOT analysis - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats - is probably the most respected of all strategic analysis tools. Strengths and Weaknesses are, of course, factors reflecting the internal state of the business, while Opportunities and Threats reflect the external environment. Customers are usually considered somewhere among those Opportunities and Threats, but they aren't the highest priority in the SWOT model. Michael Porter's "Five Forces" for industry analysis, now nearly 25 years old, was an elegant and powerful tool for predicting the profitability of a business based on the relationship of competitors, substitutes, buyers, and sellers. The primary purpose of this model, however, was to identify where the power among these players