Importance Of Strategies In Short-Term

Abstract

An organisation adapts a series of actions by using the most efficient and effective resources to achieve its objectives. These series of actions are often known as strategy. The research presents the importance of strategies in short-term, medium-term and long-term with examples. Strategies are the key to either success or failure in any organisation. Two organisations in discussion are; Walmart which defined and deployed its strategy successfully since the beginning and Enron, which by false accounting practices and personal greed over organisational objectives goes bankrupt, even after having a compact long-term strategy, their short-term strategy was not good enough.

1. Introduction

This assignment will look to examine the importance

Functional level (or short-term strategies)

3.1. Enterprise level:

The strategies which define the direction of an enterprise, manage the business units and the line of products are known as enterprise level strategies. For example, strategies for growth and stability of company and coordination of management towards work.

3.2. Business unit level:

The main focus at this level is to sustain the competitive edge of a particular product in the market, in a particular segment in which it serves. The strategies defined are therefore, used to maintain the competitive advantage over others. For example, should the company bring some variation in its product or services and whether or not it should decrease the price to gain a competitive advantage.

3.3. Functional level:

At this level, a functional unit defines the strategy to meet the objectives of an organisation. Functional areas could be; operational management, marketing management, human resource management or financial management etc. Figure 2. The hierarchy of Strategy [9]

Enterprise-level strategies could be termed as long-term strategies as they define the mission of an organisation, business-level strategies can be termed as medium-level strategies as they focus on a product or project to gain a competitive edge. Functional strategies can be termed as short-term strategies as they are defined within a project to complete day-to-day or monthly

Short-term strategies usually comprise of a year because they normally show results within this short timeframe. For example, the skills and attitude of employees towards a particular process within an organisation can be considered a short-term concern. Similarly, the product quality and development is also a short-term concern, and its outcome is dependent on the completion of a particular project. These problems can be addressed by short-term solutions such as; employee training courses, upgrading of existing employee skills, product enhancements etc.

Short-term strategies are effective in getting employees focused on their targets, for example, to increase the sales of a product, the manager is pushing the employees and setting rewards such as, bonuses for top-performers to motivate them. Short-term strategies are the steps to achieve medium-term and long-term goals. They coincide within other two frameworks of strategies, as they are at the core, therefore, are vital for any