Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

54

Click here to load reader

Transcript of Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Page 1: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Presenter:Qamar Bilal Syed

Page 2: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Strategy-making for single business enterprise

Strategy-making for diversified enterprise

2

Page 3: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

The task of crafting corporate strategy for a diversified company encompasses four (4) areas:1.Picking the new industries to enter and deciding on the means of entry – The 1st concern in diversifying is what new industries to get into and whether to enter by:

starting a new business from ground up,acquiring a company already in the target

industry, orforming a strategic alliance or joint venture with

another company

3

Page 4: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

2. Initiating actions to boost the combined performance of the business the firm has entered – As positions are created in the chosen industries, corporate strategists typically focus on ways to strengthen the long term competitive advantage. The corporate parents can help their business subsidiaries be more successful by

providing financial resources, supplying missing skills or technological know-

how, providing new cost reduction avenues

4

Page 5: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

3. Pursuing opportunities to leverage cross-business value chain relationships & strategic fits into competitive advantage – A company that diversifies into a related value-chain business gains competitive advantage potential not open to a company that diversifies into a business that value-chain are totally unrelated.

Pertaining to technology, Supply-chain logistics, Overlapping distribution channels

• Common customers

• Production

5

Page 6: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

4. Establishing investment priorities & steering corporate resources into the most attractive business unit –

6

Page 7: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

7

Page 8: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

When to diversify depends:partly on a company’s growth opportunities in

its present industry; and partly on the opportunities to utilize its

resources, technology, expertise, competencies, and capabilities to other market area.

A company must ask itself,“what type and how much diversification?”Related business v totally unrelated business.

There is no urgency to diversification, wait for the best time but be attentive!

8

Page 9: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Companies that continue to concentrate on a single business can achieve enviable success over many decades without relying on diversification to sustain their growth. McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Apple Computers,

Wal-Mart, FedEx, Timex, Cam[bell Soup, Xerox, Ford Motor Company all won their reputations in a single business.

9

Page 10: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Concentrating on a single line of business (totally or with a small close of diversification) has important organizational, managerial & strategic advantages.It entails less ambiguity about “who we are and

what we do?”The energies of whole organization are

directed down one business path, creating less chance of loss of managerial time & resources.

10

Page 11: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

The big risk of remaining concentrated on a single business is putting all of a firm’s eggs in one industry basket.

The market may become saturated, competitively un-attracted, or eroded by the appearance of new technologies or new products or fast-shifting buyer preferences.

11

Page 12: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Examples:What digital cameras are doing to the market

for films and film-processing, andWhat computer disk technology is doing to the

market for cassette tapes and 3.5” floppy disks.

12

Page 13: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

There is no formula for determining when a company ought to diversify.

Judgments about when to diversify have to be made on the basis of a company’s own situation.

However, we can identify the symptoms & trace out the genuine need for diversification.

13

Page 14: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Generally speaking, a company is a prime candidate for diversification when it has:1.Diminishing growth prospects in its present business,2.Opportunities to add value for its customers or gain

comp adv by broadening its present business to include complementary products or technologies,

3.Attractive opportunities to transfer its existing competencies & capabilities to new business arenas,

4.Cost saving opportunities that can be exploited by diversifying into closely related businesses, and

5.The financial & org resources to support a diversification effort.

14

Page 15: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

The ultimate justification for diversification

15

Page 16: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Diversification is justifiable only if it builds shareholder value.

To create shareholder value, a diversified company must get into businesses that can perform better under common management than they could perform as stand-alone enterprises.

16

Page 17: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

1. The industry attractiveness test

2. The cost-of-entry test

3. The better-off test:1+1 = 3

17

Page 18: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Related v Unrelated Businesses

18

Page 19: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Businesses are said to be related when they are competitively valuable relationship among the activities comprising their respective value chains. The 1+1=3 rules definitely applies here.

19

Page 20: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Businesses are said to be unrelated when the activities comprising their respective value chain are so dissimilar that no real potential exists to transfer skills or technology from one business to another or to combine similar activities and reduce costs or to otherwise produce competitively valuable benefits from operating and under a common corporate umbrella.

20

Page 21: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

21

Diversify Into Related Businesses:Build shareholder value by capturing cross-business strategic fits•Transferring skills & capabilities from one business to another•Sharing facilities or resources to reduce costs•Leveraging use of a common brand name•Combining resources to create new competitive strengths and capabilities

Diversify Into Unrelated Businesses:•Spread risk across diverse businesses.•Build shareholder value by doing a superior job of choosing businesses to diversify into & of managing the whole collections of businesses in the co.’s profile.

Diversify Into Both Related & Unrelated Businesses

Strategy

Options for

Company

Looking to

Diversify

Page 22: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Finding the strategic fit…

22

Page 23: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

A related diversification strategy involves adding business whose value chain possess competitively valuable “strategic-fit” with the value chain of the company’s present business.

23

Page 24: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

24

Supply Chain

ActivitiesTechnolo

gyOperatio

nsSales &

Marketing

Distribution

Customer Service

Supply Chain

ActivitiesTechnolo

gyOperatio

nsSales &

Marketing

Distribution

Customer Service

Company A

Company B

Representative Value Chain Activities

Page 25: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

R&D and Technology Activities:AT&T – from telephones to cable TV & Internet

accessSupply chain Activities:

Dell’s strategic partnership with leading suppliers of microprocessors, mother boards, disk drives, memory chips monitors, modems, long-life batteries & other laptop and desktop PC components.

Manufacturing Activities:Emerson electrics diversified in chain-saw business.

Become cost-leader by using joint assembly facilities.

25

Page 26: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Distribution Activities:Sunbeam (FMCG Co.) acquire Mr. Coffee since

retailers were same ; Wal-Mart, Kmart, department stores ,etc.

Sales & Marketing Activities:P&Gs lineup products like Ivory soap, Crest

toothpaste, Jif peanut butter & Duncan Hines cake mix have different competitors, suppliers & production requirements, but they all move through the same wholesale distribution system.

26

Page 27: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Managerial & Administrative Support Activities:Ford transferred its automobile financing &

credit know-how to the savings-and-loan industry by acquiring some failing S&L associations during the 1989 bailout.

27

Page 28: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Economies of scope - a concept distinct from economies of scale arise from the ability to eliminate costs b y operating two or more businesses under the same corporate umbrella; the cost saving opportunities can stem from strategic fit relationships anywhere along the business’ value chain.These are cross-business cost-saving

opportunitiesThe greater the economies of scope associated

with cross-business cost-saving opportunities, the greater the potential for creating a competitive advantage based on lower costs.

28

Page 29: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

A diversified firm can achieve a consolidated performance greater than the sum of what the businesses can earn pursuing independent strategies.Cross-business strategic-fits adds potential of

the firms individual businesses.

29

Page 30: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

The related value chain activities must be merged into a single functional unit and coordinated; then the cost savings must be squeezed out.

A company that can expand its stock of strategic assets faster & at lower cost than rivals, obtain sustainable competitive advantage .Related know-how must be utilized to

accelerate the creation of valuable new competencies & competitive capabilities.

30

Page 31: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

No strategic fit…

31

Page 32: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Despite the strategic fit benefits associated with related diversification, many companies opt for unrelated diversification.It involves diversifying into whatever industries

and businesses hold promise for attractive financial gain; exploiting strategic fit relationship is secondary!

32

Page 33: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Such companies go for opportunistic search for “good companies” to acquire.The premise of unrelated diversification is that

any company that can be acquired on good financial terms & has satisfactory profit prospects represents a good business to diversify into.

Like ARY-group and mostly famous Deewan-group!

33

Page 34: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

34

Supply Chain

ActivitiesTechnolo

gyOperatio

nsSales &

Marketing

Distribution

Customer Service

Supply Chain

ActivitiesTechnolo

gyOperatio

nsSales &

Marketing

Distribution

Customer Service

Company A

Company B

An absence of completely valuable strategic fits b/w the value chain for Business-A and the

value chain for Business-B

Representative Value Chain Activities

Page 35: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Whether the business can meet corporate targets for profitability& ROI?

Whether the business will require substantial infusions of capital to replace out-of-date plants & equipment, fund expansion & provide WC?

Whether the business is in the industry with significant growth potential?

Whether the business is big enough to contribute significantly to the parent firm’s bottom line?

35

Page 36: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Whether there is potential for union difficulties or adverse government regulations concerning product safety or environment?

Whether there is industry vulnerability to recession, inflation, high interest rates, or shifts in government policy?

36

Page 37: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Companies whose assets are undervalued:Opportunities may exist to acquire such companies

for less than full market value & make substantial capital gains by reselling their assets and businesses for more than their acquired costs.

Companies that are financially distressed:Such businesses can be purchased at a bargain

price.Their operations turned around with the aid of the

parent company financial resources.As these businesses re-grow, they can be converted

into long-term investment area for the company.

37

Page 38: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

WALT DISNEY COMPANYTheme parksDisney cruise lineResort propertiesMovie production (for both children and adults)Video productionTV Broadcasting (ABC, Disney Channel, Toon

Disney, Classic Sports Network, ESPN, E!, Lifetime, and A&E Networks)

Radio broadcasting (Disney Radio)Theatrical productions

38

Page 39: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

WALT DISNEY COMPANY (Cont..)Musical recordingsAnimation are salesAnaheim Mighty Ducks NHL franchiseAnaheim Angels Major League Baseball

franchiseBook and magazine publishingInteractive software and internet sitesThe Disney Store retail shops

39

Page 40: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Advantages:Business risk is scattered over a set of diverse

industries.

Cash flows from company businesses with lower growth and profit prospects can be diverted to acquiring & expanding businesses with higher growth and profit potentials.

40

Page 41: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Advantages (Cont..):Company overall profitability may prove

somewhat more stable because hard times in one industry may be partially offset by good times in another.

If the corporate managers are exceptionally smart at spotting bargain-priced companies with big upside profit potential, shareholder wealth can be enhanced.

41

Page 42: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Disadvantages – 2 biggest drawbacks are:The difficulties of competently managing many

different businesses, and

Being without the added source of competitive advantage that cross-business strategic-fit provides.

42

Page 43: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Corporate managers have to be talented enough to:Discern a good acquisition from a bad

acquisition,Select capable managers to run each of many

different businesses,Discern when the major strategic proposals of

strategic business unit managers are sound,Know what to do when a business unit stumbles.

“never acquire a business you don’t know how to run.”

43

Page 44: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Some more drawbacks:It offers no basis for cost reduction, skills

transfer, or technology sharing.Although in theory unrelated diversification

offers the potential for greater sales-profit stability over the course of the business cycle, in practice, attempts at countercyclical diversification fall short of the mark.

44

Page 45: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Despite these drawbacks, unrelated diversification can sometimes be a desirable corporate strategy.

It certainly merits consideration when a firm needs to diversify away from an endangered or unattractive industry and has no distinctive competencies or capabilities it can transfer to an adjacent industry.

45

Page 46: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Unrelated diversification is a financial approach to creating shareholder value

where as,

Related diversification, in contrast, represents a strategic approach.

46

Page 47: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Corporate strategists must exhibit superior skills in creating and managing a portfolio of diversified business interest:Doing a superior job of diversifying into new

businesses that can produce consistently good returns on investment (satisfying the attractive test).

Doing an excellent job of negotiating favorable acquisition price (satisfying the cost-of-entry test).

Making smart moves to sell previously acquired business subsidiaries at their peak & getting premium price.

47

Page 48: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Corporate strategists must exhibit superior skills in creating and managing a portfolio of diversified business interest: (Cont..)Being sharp in shifting corporate financial

resources out of the businesses where profit opportunities are dim & into businesses where rapid earnings growth and high ROI are occurring.

Smartly managing firm subsidiaries (by providing expert problem-solving skills, creative strategy suggestions, and decision-making guidance to business-level managers.

48

Page 49: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

Opting for every possible opportunity!

49

Page 50: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

There is nothing to exclude a company from diversifying into both related and unrelated businesses.

In practice, the business make up of diversified companies varies considerably.Dominant business enterprisesNarrowly diversified enterprisesBroadly diversified enterprisesSeveral unrelated groups of related businesses

50

Page 51: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

1. Dominant business enterprises:One major “core” business accounts for 50-80%

of total revenues & a collection of small related or unrelated businesses accounts for the remainder.

2. Narrowly diversified enterprises:Narrowly diversified around a few (2-5) related

or unrelated businesses.3. Broadly diversified enterprises:

Have a wide ranging collection of either related or unrelated businesses or a mix of both.

51

Page 52: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

4. Several unrelated groups of related businesses:

Few multi-business enterprises have diversified into unrelated areas but have a collection of related businesses within each other.

There is ample room for companies to customize their diversification strategies to incorporate elements of both related & unrelated diversification, as may suit their own risk preference and strategic vision

52

Page 53: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

53

Supportive StudyBy: Mr. Abid Iqbal

Page 54: Strategy & Competitive Advantage in Diversified Companies

54