Business Level Strategies, SWOT Analysis Example

A business level strategy is a strategy aimed at the success of the corporation in the chosen market. The strategy requires the company to pull all areas of the organization together towards a major goal of success. The business level strategy developed by Nokia seeks to develop strategies towards customer satisfaction and maintenance of business operations. The strategy used by Nokia aims at retaining its customers through improvement of services while increasing the customer base through the development of new products (Charles & Gareth, 2012). The business level strategy aims at gaining domestic government support for the company through the implementation of appropriate IT policies. The company also aims at gaining industry segments in some regions through the establishment and development of research in these regions. These strategies involve clustering with other IT companies with the same aims in order to achieve the desired results (Arend, 2008). The strategies also put into consideration the growth of the industry. The development of products focused on the increasing consumer base and the ever-increasing quality standards expected by the consumers. In order to keep up with the shift in the consumer preferences it becomes essential to develop strategies that have a consideration for these factors. The change in the consumer behavior gives a task to the company to strive to keep u with the consumer requirements in order to stay a float. The opportunities available to the company include the possibilities of convergence which aim at increasing the market share of the company and development of improved products.

Although the strategy, of convergence is a compelling one it is not without its shortcomings. In order to succeed in convergence a lot of resources should be employed in the products in order to achieve products of an exceptional standard that will outmatch its competitors in the market. With the current trends where the companies competitors like Apple have advanced computing technologies in their products. The attainment of this strategy by Nokia may be faced with a lot of challenges. The strategy may not work well in the attainment of the future goals of the company as the company does not have any advantage in the venture over its competitors, and this will push the competition a notch higher giving the company a disadvantage.

Co-Operate Level Strategy

The co-operate strategy employed by Nokia aims at defining the market structure as well as strategies for new markets or products. The strategy used by Nokia aims at expanding its consumer base to include developing markets and intensifying the presence in developed markets. The opportunities for success in developing markets are prevalent and as such, the main objective of the company is to venture into these markets (Steinbock, 2010). The alliance between Nokia and Microsoft plays a crucial role in the corporate level strategy development by the company. The alliance seeks to incorporate a windows operating system on Nokia phones. This strategy shows that the operating system in the products needed an upgrade. In order to achieve this goal partnering with another company with a strong product line with enormous market coverage necessitated the choice fort the alliance between the two. The alliance between the two puts a renowned operating system on a phone by the world largest phone manufacturer. The alliance in this regard works at assisting the two companies attains their desired goals. This gives the two partners in the alliance a leeway in the subsequent development of smart phones for the international market.

Competitive Environment

The development of a good, competitive strategy involves the consideration of the business environment to access the nature of the competitive and product environment. The success of an organization in overcoming competition relies on the competitors and the characteristics of the served market. It is essential, therefore, to understanding the competitive environment before developing a competitive strategy. It is crucial to put into consideration the future expectations and aims an altogether use the past to develop a successful strategy.

The competitive strategy employed by Nokia aims at developing a favorable business environment for the corporation and ensuring that the company stays on top of the competition. The strategy aims at ensuring that the company’s products stay on top in developing markets. The essence for growth in developing markets based on the concept that the cooperation should have an advantage over its competitors in these markets, and; therefore, the strategies developed should aim at these. The markets identified by Nokia as developing include China, India, Africa, South America, and Eastern Europe (Arend, 2008). These markets have a potential to increase rapidly, and this will ensure that the company takes advantage of the market growth.

The economic climate of the coo many also ensures that the competitive strategies involve aspects which tend to give the company a competitive advantage. The ability of the company to develop new products that fit the desired market structure has given it an advantage over its competitors (Steinbock, 2010). The economic environment of the company ensures that the company is in a position to develop differentiated products to serve the market.

The competitors of the company, on the other hand, work to develop strategies that aim at outsmarting Nokia. The chief competitors of Nokia in this case being Apple with their iphone line of products. The strategies developed by Apple tend towards reducing the competitive advantage of Nokia in the competitive environment. These competitor strategies employ aggressive competition tactics that tend to push the market advantage away from Nokia. The strategies employed by this company include the vast budgets by Apple to increase its market share. According to Arend (2008), this strategy by the competitor diminishes the companies’ ability to match up to the competitor. The step to taken by Nokia in increasing competition, in developed markets, by use of increased prices in domestic markets has reduced the profitability of the company. The huge budgets by Apple thwart this move by Nokia in gaining an advantage in the domestic markets.

Alternatively, the advancement of the competitor in terms of computing technology gives it an upper hand over Nokia. The front taken by Apple gives a priority to the advancement of computing technology and, therefore, improving the product quality and increasing preference by the consumers. In order for Nokia to increase the competitive advantage, it must aim at increasing the budgets on the market and product development as well as improving the technological competencies in their products must be given priority (Charles & Gareth, 2012).

The company that is most likely to be successful in this regard would be Apple. The availability of funds to develop and improve products as well as expand the market base gives the competitors an upper hand over Nokia. The superiority of the competitors’ computation, technology involved in the manufacturing of their products improves the quality of their products, therefore, increasing the appeal to consumers.

Slow Circle and Fast Circle Markets

In the event of a slow market structure, the choice of the competitive environment would vary considerably from the current situation.  The structure of a slow market structure poses less competition and, therefore, the competitive policies adapted in this circumstance would focus on product development and enhancement as compared to staying on top of the competition. The slow market structure ensures that the customer preferences do not change a lot due to the limited availability of competing products and; therefore, the focus would be on enhancing the available products and introducing these products to new markets (Arend, 2008). It is imperative to note that slow circle markets reduce the possibilities of enhancements due to lack of or reduced competition.

On the other hand, the availability of the fast circle markets introduces innovations and enhancements regularly and in order to stay relevant it becomes essential to go with these innovations and changes in order to maintain a competitive edge. The options in the fast cycle markets would be to introduce news features in the products of the company in order to gain an appeal on the consumers. The approach in fast cycle market structures would incorporate the use of research to develop innovation oriented products. In order to stay on top in fast circle markets development of products with new features and improvement of the existing ones becomes an essential factor.

References

Arend, G. (2008). Analysis of Nokia‘s Corporate, business, and marketing strategies. GRIN Verlag.

Charles, W. L. & Gareth R. J. (2012). Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach. Cengage Learning.

Steinbock, D. (2010). Winning Across Global Markets: How Nokia Creates Strategic Advantage in a Fast-Changing World. Wiley.