Sample new product development strategy. Product development strategy. Market Strengthening Strategy

An integrated algorithm of actions, determined by the goal setting of the company, is commonly called a business strategy. This model of actions includes a list of rules that must be observed in order to achieve the set goals. Business strategy regulates a set of decisions and determines the vector of the direction of action for the successful implementation of the company's ambitions.

When choosing a business strategy, the following components are taken into account:

  • market policy;
  • the industry in which the business operates;
  • type of product being produced;
  • manufacturability;
  • the company's credibility in a specialized market segment.

Business strategy development

World-class experts are unanimous in their opinion that when choosing a strategy, it is necessary to take into account a number of nuances:

  • what is the proposed service or product;
  • the relevance of the promoted product or service;
  • detailed study of the competing market share;
  • building a database of potential customers;
  • analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of competitors;
  • search for alternative technical components of the business;
  • building an evidence base of benefits operating business;
  • analysis of the shortcomings of your enterprise;
  • systematic search for solutions for leveling weaknesses business;
  • analysis of corporate ethics as an important component of a successful enterprise;
  • review of the business project development prospects;
  • compiling a list of potential risks;
  • review of the company's potential and resources to eliminate possible problems.

Smart business strategy without fail takes into account the detailed answers to each of the above items. Analytical work in the field of enterprise capabilities and resources, step by step plan actions allow you to fully compose an overall picture of achieving the maximum results that the company strives for.

Business strategy presupposes the existence of common directions, the implementation of which becomes the key to the successful life of the enterprise, strengthening its position in the realities of fierce market competition.

In the context of a wide range of possible actions, the strategy helps to determine the specific vector of the company's movement that ensures maximum performance. At the same time, the alternative is always taken into account and remains in sight as a fallback option. In companies leading on the world stage, the strategy is developed by a conglomerate of specialists and operates at all managerial levels.

Levels of strategic management

  • Corporate level. As a rule, this level is demonstrated by enterprises operating simultaneously in several areas. Specializes in making decisions on diversification, procurement and liquidation issues, changing the profile of one or more components of an existing business, performs managerial functions in the field of financing.
  • The level of the management of independent enterprises and organizations. The development of a strategic plan is based on the need to improve the competitive capabilities of the enterprise.
  • The level of management of the functional areas of business, heads of finance, marketing, production, personnel management, and so on.
  • The linear level of strategic management includes the heads of the branches of the enterprise.

When drawing up a business strategy, it must be remembered that market realities are constantly changing. Business strategy helps to operate in conditions of partial uncertainty and should definitely be developed at all stages of enterprise management.

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Introduction

In conditions market economy the development of the company can be carried out within the framework of such strategies that will ensure its profit, sustainable financial position, as well as competitiveness in a relatively long period. This largely depends on the choice of the type of strategy and its reflection in the plans of the firm.

When choosing a strategy, a firm must take into account societal values ​​and priorities, take into account legislation and regulations, as well as the conclusions that an analysis of the firm's field of activity provides. This becomes especially necessary in the face of increasing attention and pressure from the public and the media. The pressure on the firm comes from all sides. Choosing a strategy is the key to success innovation activities. A firm may find itself in a crisis if it fails to anticipate changing circumstances and respond to them in time.

Choosing a strategy is the most important part of the cycle innovation management.

In a market economy, it is not enough for a manager to have a good product; he must closely monitor the emergence of new technologies and plan their implementation in his company in order to keep up with competitors.

The strategy can be combined with the decision making process. In both cases, there are goals (objects of the strategy) and means by which the goals are achieved (decisions are made).

A clearly articulated strategy is important for promoting innovation.

Strategy means an interconnected set of actions in the name of strengthening the viability and power of a given enterprise (firm) in relation to its competitors.

attractiveness industries and level competition - essential factors determining the choice of the type of strategy of the firm. The assessment of these factors influences the choice of the company's position in the market, the type of competition. If the firm decides that its presence in the industry is becoming less attractive, then it can choose a freeze strategy and withdraw its investments in order to direct them to another area. With increased competition, the company can take measures to protect its positions: launch an active offensive against competitors, make changes to the “price - cost - profit” policy, introduce new technologies, etc.

How many situations in the market, so many types of strategies of firms operating in this market can be. Formally, for the convenience of research and approaches, one can distinguish a number of typical strategies that are more or less widely used in practice. various organizations. The types of strategic plans will differ according to the main features, which allows them to be classified. Let's consider them in more detail and try to answer the main questions that interest us: what is a strategy, how to create it, who can do it, what prevents its implementation?

1. Essence of strategic planning

Strategic planning is one of the functions of management, which is the process of choosing the goals of the organization and ways to achieve them. Strategic planning provides the foundation for all management decisions, the functions of organization, motivation and control are focused on the development of strategic plans.

A growing number of firms recognize the need for strategic planning and are actively implementing it. This is due to growing competition. We have to live not only for today, but to anticipate and plan for possible changes in order to survive and win in the competition.

Related to the choice of strategy is the development of plans for research and development and other forms of innovation.

Strategic planning has two main goals:

1. Efficient distribution and use of resources. This is the so-called "internal strategy". It is planned to use limited resources, such as capital, technology, people. In addition, the acquisition of enterprises in new industries, the exit from undesirable industries, the selection of an effective "portfolio" of enterprises.

2. Adaptation to the external environment. The task is to ensure effective adaptation to changes in external factors ( economic changes, political factors, demographic situation, etc.).

Strategic planning is based on numerous studies, data collection and analysis. This allows you not to lose control of the market. At the same time, it should be taken into account that in modern world the situation is rapidly changing. Therefore, the strategy must be designed so that it can be eliminated if necessary.

Strategy development begins with the formulation of the overall goal of the organization. It should be understandable to anyone. Goal setting plays an important role in the company's relations with the external environment, the market, and the consumer.

The overall purpose of the organization should consider:

* the main activity of the company;

* working principles in the external environment (principles of trade; attitudes towards the consumer; conducting business relations);

* culture of the organization, its traditions, working climate.

When choosing a goal, two aspects must be taken into account: who are the clients of the company and what needs it can satisfy.

After setting a common goal, the second stage of strategic planning is carried out - the specification of goals. For example, the following main objectives could be defined:

1. Profitability - to achieve a net profit level of CU 5 million in the current year.

2. Markets (sales volume, market share, introduction to new lines). For example, to increase the market share to 20% or increase sales to 40,000 units.

3. Performance. For example, the average hourly output per worker is 8 units. products.

4. Products (total output, release of new products or removal of some models from production, etc.).

5. Financial resources (size and structure of capital; ratio of own and borrowed capital; working capital and etc.).

6. Production facilities, buildings and structures. For example, build new warehouses 4000 sq. meters.

7. R&D and introduction of new technologies. Main characteristics, technological characteristics, cost, terms of implementation.

8. Organization - changes in organizational structure and activities. For example. Open a representative office of the company in a certain region.

9. Human resources(their use, movement, training, etc.).

10. Social responsibility. For example, to allocate certain funds for hospital equipment.

In order for the goal to be achieved, it is necessary to proceed from the following principles:

1. A clear and specific formulation of the goal, expressed in specific meters (monetary, natural, labor).

2. Each goal should be limited in time, the deadline for its achievement is set (for example, to establish serial production of a new meat grinder model by the end of the 3rd quarter).

Goals can be long-term (up to 10 years), medium-term (up to 5 years) and short-term (up to 1 year). The goals are specified taking into account changes in the situation and the results of monitoring.

3. Goals must be achievable.

4. Goals should not negate each other.

Strategic planning relies on a thorough analysis of the external and internal environment firms:

* Evaluate the changes that occur or may occur in the planning period;

* factors that threaten the position of the company are identified;

* the factors favorable for activity of firm are investigated.

Processes and changes in the external environment have a vital impact on the firm. The main problems associated with the external environment are the economy, politics, market, technology, competition.

Competition is a particularly important factor. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the main competitors and find out their market positions (market share, sales volumes, targets, etc.).

It is advisable to conduct research in the following areas:

1. Evaluate the current strategy of competitors (their behavior in the market; methods of promoting goods, etc.).

2. Explore influence external environment on competitors.

3. Try to collect information about the scientific and technical developments of rivals and other information and make a forecast of the future actions of competitors and outline ways to counteract.

Carefully study the strengths and weaknesses of competitors and compare their results with own indicators will allow you to better think over the strategy of competition.

Serious environmental factors include socio-behavioral and environmental factors. The firm must take into account changes in the demographic situation, educational level, etc.

Analysis of the internal environment is carried out in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses in the activities of the company.

The strategy is the starting point for theoretical and empirical research. Organizations can differ in how much their key decision makers have committed themselves to the innovation strategy. If top management supports attempts to implement an innovation, the likelihood that the innovation will be accepted for implementation in the organization increases. As senior management becomes involved in the decision-making process, the importance of strategic and financial goals increases.

The strategy developed is rarely purely formal and is based in part on the judgments and intuitions of a few members of senior management.

1.1 Selection Methodsstrategiesfirms

The basis for the development of a strategic plan is the theory life cycle product, the market position of the company and its scientific and technical policy.

There are the following types of strategies:

1. Offensive - typical for firms that base their activities on the principles of entrepreneurial competition. It is typical for small innovative firms.

2. Defensive - aimed at maintaining the competitive position of the company in existing markets. The main function of such a strategy is to activate the cost-benefit ratio in innovation process.

Such a strategy requires intensive R&D.

3. Imitation - used by firms with strong market and technological positions.

The imitation strategy is used by firms that are not pioneers in the release of certain innovations to the market. At the same time, the main consumer properties are copied (but not necessarily technical features) innovations brought to market by small innovative firms or leading companies.

Choosing a strategic plan based on the product life cycle considers the following:

1. Origin. This turning point is characterized by the appearance of the embryo of a new system in the environment of the old or original one, which turns it into a maternal one and requires the restructuring of all life activity.

2. Birth. Here, the turning point is that a new system actually appears, formed to a large extent in the image and likeness of the systems that gave birth to it.

3. Approval. The turning point is the emergence of a formed (adult) system, which begins to compete on equal terms with those created earlier, including the parent one. The formed system seeks to assert itself and is ready to lay the foundation for the emergence of a new system.

4. Stabilization. A turning point in the entry of the system into a period when it exhausts its potential for further growth and is close to maturity.

5. Simplification. The turning point, consisting in the beginning of the “withering” of the system, in the appearance of the first symptoms that it has passed the “climax” of its development: youth and maturity are already behind, and old age is ahead.

6. Fall. In many cases, there is a decrease in most significant indicators of the vital activity of the system, which is the essence of the turning point.

7. Exodus. This turning point is characterized by the completion of the decline in most of the significant indicators of the system's vital activity. It seems to be returning to its original state and preparing for the transition to a new state.

8. Destructuring. The turning point is expressed in stopping all the vital processes of the system and either using it in a different capacity, or in implementing a recycling technology.

This is followed by the local level, which determines the NTPL, that is, to the level of the firm, production, etc. According to modern economics, in each specific period of time, a competitive production unit (firm, enterprise), specializing in the production of products to meet a certain social need, is forced to work on a product that belongs to three generations of technology - outgoing, dominant and emerging (promising).

Each generation of technology goes through a separate life cycle in its development. Let the company in the time interval from t1 to t3 work on three generations of technology A, B, C, successively replacing each other. At the stage of inception and the beginning of growth in the output of product B (time t1), the costs of its production are still high, while demand is still small, which limits the economically justified volume of production. At this point, product A (the previous generation) has a very large production volume, and product C has not yet been produced at all. At the stage of stabilization of the production output of generation B (moment t2, stages of saturation, maturity and stagnation), its technology has been fully mastered; the demand is very high. This is the period of maximum output and the greatest cumulative profitability of this product. The output of product A has fallen and continues to fall (diagram "b"). With the advent and development of a new generation of technology (product C), which ensures even more efficient performance of the same function, the demand for product B begins to fall (time t3) - its production volume and the profit it brings are reduced (diagram "c"), generation same technique A generally exists only as a relic.

However, the determining factor in the formation of a competitive scientific and technical policy of an enterprise (firm) is the fact that funds must be invested in the development and development of a product much earlier than a real effect is obtained in the form of gaining a strong position in the market. Therefore, strategic planning of scientific and technological policy requires reliable identification and forecasting of development trends for each generation of relevant equipment at all stages of its life cycle. It is necessary to know at what point the generation of technology proposed for development will reach its maximum development, when a competing product will reach this stage, when it is advisable to start development, when - expansion, and when a decline in production occurs.

The full life cycle of a separate generation of technology (from the first scientific developments principle of operation before removal from industrial production) in a market economy, as a rule, is formed by multidirectional efforts of many enterprises and firms. It covers at least three private cycles: scientific, inventive and industrial. These cycles during the life of one generation of technology one after another sequentially, but with some mutual overlap in time.

Numerous studies have shown that between these cycles there is a statistical relationship through a time lag equal to a certain average probable period of time. This lag is located between the moment when a technical solution appears (or between the moment of registration, registration of a technical idea, project, etc., for example, obtaining a patent for an invention) and the moment of maximum use of this idea, project, etc. in industry. In this regard, the scientific and technical policy of an enterprise (firm) must carefully monitor domestic and world trends in the development of science and technology. To successfully solve this problem, you need to be able to analyze the flow of documents (information).

When adopting a particular strategy, management must consider 4 factors:

1. Risk. What level of risk does the firm consider acceptable for each of the decisions it makes?

2. Knowledge of past strategies and the results of their application will allow the firm to more successfully develop new ones.

3. Time factor. Often good ideas failed because they were proposed for implementation at the wrong time.

4. Reaction to the owners. The strategic plan is developed by the company's managers, but often the owners can exert forceful pressure to change it. The management of the company should keep this factor in mind.

The development of a strategic plan can be done in three ways: top-down, bottom-up, and with the help of a consulting firm. In the first case, the strategic plan is developed by the company's management and, as an order, goes down to all levels of management.

2. Strategic Marketing Plan

A dynamic strategic planning process is the umbrella under which all managerial functions are sheltered, without taking advantage of strategic planning, organizations as a whole and individuals will be deprived of a clear way to assess the purpose and direction of a corporate enterprise. The strategic planning process provides the framework for managing the members of an organization. Projecting everything written above on the realities of the situation in our country, it can be noted that strategic planning is becoming more and more relevant for Russian enterprises that enter into fierce competition both among themselves and with foreign corporations.

The concept of "planning" includes the definition of goals and ways to achieve them. In the West, enterprise planning is carried out in such important areas as sales, finance, production and purchases. In this case, of course, all private plans are interconnected.

Tasks of strategic planning

Planning is necessary for the company to achieve the following goals:

Increasing the controlled market share;

Anticipation of consumer requirements;

Release of products of higher quality;

Ensuring agreed delivery times;

Establishing the price level taking into account the conditions of competition;

Maintaining the reputation of the company with consumers.

Planning tasks are determined by each firm independently, depending on the activities in which it is engaged. In general, the tasks of strategic planning of any company are as follows:

1. Planning for profit growth.

2. Planning the costs of the enterprise, and, as a result, their reduction.

3. Increase market share, increase sales share.

4. Improvement of the company's social policy.

Thus, the main task of planning is to obtain maximum profit as a result of activities and the implementation of its most important functions: marketing planning, productivity, innovation, and more.

Stages of strategic planning

The strategic planning process consists of seven interrelated steps; carried out jointly by the management of the company and employees of marketing services.

Block diagram of planning

The planning process itself goes through four stages:

Development of common goals;

Definition of specific, detailed goals for a given, relatively short period of time (2, 5, 10 years);

Defining ways and means to achieve them;

Monitoring the achievement of goals by comparing planned indicators with actual ones.

Planning is always guided by the data of the past, but seeks to determine and control the development of the enterprise in the future. Therefore, the reliability of planning depends on the accuracy and correctness of the accounting calculations of the past. Any enterprise planning is based on incomplete data. The quality of planning largely depends on the intellectual level of competent employees and managers. All plans should be drawn up in such a way that they can be changed, and the plans themselves are interconnected with the existing conditions. Therefore, the plans contain the so-called reserves, otherwise referred to as "safety allowances", however, too large reserves make the plans inaccurate, and small ones entail frequent changes to the plan. The basis for drawing up a plan for specific areas of the production sites of the enterprise are individual tasks, which are determined both in monetary and quantitative terms. At the same time, planning should start from the so-called bottlenecks: recently it is sales, finance or labor.

Short and long term planning.

Any company should apply both long-term and short-term planning. For example, when planning the production of a product as one of the most important elements of a market strategy, it is advisable to apply long-term and operational planning in combination, since planning the production of a product has its own specific features and is determined by the goal, the timing of its achievement, the type of product, and so on.

Long term planning

The long term plan usually covers three or five year periods. It is rather descriptive and defines the overall strategy of the company, since it is difficult to predict all possible calculations for such a long period. The long-term plan is developed by the company's management and contains the main strategic goals of the enterprise.

Main areas of long-term planning:

Organizational structure;

Production capacity;

capital investments;

financial needs;

Research and development;

Short term planning.

Short-term planning can be calculated for a year, six months, a month, and so on. The short-term plan for the year includes the volume of production, profit planning and more. Short-term planning closely links the plans of various partners and suppliers, and therefore these plans can either be coordinated, or certain points of the plan are common to the manufacturing company and its partners.

Of particular importance for the enterprise is a short-term financial plan. It allows you to analyze and control liquidity, taking into account all other plans, and the reserves included in it provide information on the necessary liquid funds.

Short-term financial planning consists of the following plans:

1. Regular financial plan:

turnover income.

operating expenses (raw materials, wages).

gain or loss from current activities.

2. financial plan neutral area of ​​activity of the enterprise:

income (sale of old equipment).

gains or losses from neutral activity.

3. Loan plan;

4. Capital investment plan;

5. Plan to ensure liquidity. It covers the gains or losses of prior plans:

The amount of winnings and losses;

Available liquid funds;

Reserve of liquid funds.

In addition, the short-term plan includes: a plan for turnover; raw material plan; production plan; work plan; plan for the movement of stocks of finished products; profit realization plan; credit plan; investment plan and more.

Stages of drawing up a short-term plan:

1. Analysis of the situation and problems.

2. Forecasting future conditions of activity.

3. Setting goals.

4. Choosing the best option.

5. Making a plan.

6. Adjustment and linkage.

7. Specification of the plan.

8. Implementation of the plan.

9. Analysis and control.

Strategic plan requirements

Several key messages related to strategy need to be understood and, more importantly, accepted by top management. First of all, the strategy is mostly formulated and developed by top management, but its implementation involves the participation of all levels of management. The strategic plan must be supported by extensive research and evidence. To compete effectively in today's business world, an enterprise must constantly collect and analyze huge amount information about the industry, competition and other factors.

The strategic plan gives the enterprise certainty, individuality, which allows it to attract certain types of workers, and, at the same time, not to attract other types of workers. This plan opens the door for an enterprise that directs its employees, attracts new employees, and helps sell products or services.

Finally, strategic plans must be designed not only to remain consistent over long periods of time, but also to be flexible enough to be modified and refocused as needed. The overall strategic plan should be seen as a program that guides the firm's activities over an extended period of time, recognizing that a conflicting and ever-changing business and social environment makes constant adjustments inevitable.

The strategy is a detailed comprehensive comprehensive plan. It should be developed from the perspective of the whole corporation, rather than a specific individual. It is rare that a company founder can afford to combine personal plans with organizational strategies. The strategy involves the development of reasonable measures and plans to achieve the intended goals, which should take into account the scientific and technical potential of the company and its production and marketing needs. The strategic plan must be supported by extensive research and evidence. Therefore, it is necessary to constantly collect and analyze a huge amount of information about the sectors of the national economy, the market, competition, etc. In addition, the strategic plan gives the company a certainty, a personality that allows it to attract certain types of employees and help sell products or services. Strategic plans must be designed in such a way that they not only remain cohesive over time, but also remain flexible. The overall strategic plan should be seen as a program that guides the activities of the firm over an extended period of time, subject to constant adjustments due to the ever-changing business and social environment.

Strategic planning alone does not guarantee success, and an organization creating strategic plans may fail due to errors in organization, motivation, and control. However, formal planning can create a number of significant favorable factors for the organization of the enterprise. Knowing what an organization wants to achieve helps clarify the most appropriate course of action. Taking reasonable and systematic planned decisions, management reduces the risk of making the wrong decision due to erroneous or unreliable information about the capabilities of the organization or about the external situation. That. planning helps create a unity of common purpose within an organization.

Kinds management activities as part of planning.

Strategic planning is a set of actions and decisions taken by management that lead to the development of specific strategies designed to help the organization achieve its goals. The strategic planning process is a tool that helps in making managerial decisions. Its task is to provide innovations and changes in the organization to a sufficient extent. There are four main types of management activities within the strategic planning process:

1. Distribution of resources.

This process involves the allocation of limited organizational resources such as funds, scarce managerial talent and technological expertise.

2. Adaptation to the external environment.

Adaptation covers all actions of a strategic nature that improve the relationship of the enterprise with its environment. Enterprises need to adapt to both external opportunities and hazards, identify appropriate options, and ensure that strategy is effectively adapted to the environment.

3. Internal coordination.

Includes the coordination of strategic activities to display the strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise in order to achieve effective integration of internal operations. Ensuring effective internal operations in the enterprise is an integral part of management activities.

4. Awareness of organizational strategies.

This activity involves the implementation of a systematic development of the thinking of managers by forming an enterprise organization that can learn from past strategic decisions. The ability to learn from experience enables an enterprise to correctly adjust its strategic direction and increase professionalism in the field of strategic management. The role of the senior manager is more than simply initiating the strategic planning process, it is also involved in implementing, integrating and evaluating this process.

One of the most significant decisions in planning is the choice of the purpose of the organization. The main overall goal of the organization is designated as a mission, and all other goals are developed for its implementation. The significance of the mission cannot be overstated. The developed goals serve as criteria for the entire subsequent process of making managerial decisions. If managers do not know the main purpose of the organization, then they will not have a logical starting point for choosing best alternative. Only the individual values ​​of the leader could serve as a basis, which would lead to a dispersion of efforts and vagueness of goals. The mission details the status of the firm and provides direction and benchmarks for setting goals and strategies at various levels of development. Mission formation includes:

finding out which entrepreneurial activity the firm is engaged;

determination of the working principles of the company under the pressure of the external environment;

revealing the culture of the company.

The mission of the firm also includes the task of identifying the basic needs of consumers and effectively satisfying them in order to create a clientele that will support the firm in the future.

Often, business leaders believe that their main mission is to make a profit. Indeed, by satisfying some internal need, the firm will ultimately be able to survive. But in order to earn a profit, the company needs to monitor the environment of its activities, while taking into account the value approaches to the concept of the market. The mission is of utmost importance to the organization, and the values ​​and goals of top management must not be forgotten. The values ​​formed by our experience guide or guide leaders when they are faced with the need to make critical decisions. Western scholars have established six value orientations that have an impact on managerial decision-making and have associated these orientations with specific types of target preferences.

General corporate goals are formed and set on the basis of the overall mission of the organization and certain values ​​and goals that top management is guided by.

Specific and measurable goals (this allows you to create a clear base of reference for subsequent decisions and evaluation of progress).

Orientation of goals in time (here it is necessary to understand not only what the company wants to achieve, but also when the result should be achieved).

Achievement of the goal (serves to increase the efficiency of the organization); setting a goal that is difficult to achieve can lead to disastrous results.

Mutually supporting goals (actions and decisions necessary to achieve one goal should not interfere with the achievement of other goals).

Objectives will only be a meaningful part of the strategic management process if they are properly formulated, effectively institutionalized, communicated and driven by top management throughout the organization.

The main overall goal of the enterprise - a clearly expressed reason for its existence - is designated as its mission. Goals are developed to carry out this mission.

The mission details the status of the enterprise and provides direction and benchmarks for setting goals and strategies at various organizational levels. The company's mission statement should include the following:

1. The task of the enterprise in terms of its main services or products, its main markets and main technologies.

2. The external environment in relation to the firm, which determines the working principles of the enterprise.

3. Culture of the organization. What type of working climate exists within the enterprise?

Some leaders never care about choosing and defining the mission of their organization. Often this mission seems obvious to them. If you ask the typical small business owner what his mission is, the answer is likely to be: "Of course, to make a profit." But if you think carefully about this issue, then, the inconsistency of choosing profit as a common mission becomes clear, although, undoubtedly, it is an essential goal.

Profit is a completely internal problem of the enterprise. Because an organization is an open system, it can only ultimately survive if it satisfies some need outside of itself. To earn the profit it needs to survive, a firm must pay attention to the environment in which it operates. Therefore, it is in environment management seeks the overall purpose of the organization. The need for mission choice was recognized by prominent leaders long before the development of systems theory. Henry Ford, a leader well aware of the importance of profit, defined Ford's mission as providing people with cheap transportation.

The choice of such a narrow mission of the organization as profit limits the ability of management to explore acceptable alternatives when making a decision. As a result key factors may not be considered and subsequent decisions could lead to a low level of organizational performance.

Corporate goals are formulated and established on the basis of the overall mission of the organization and certain values ​​and goals that top management is guided by. To truly contribute to the success of an organization, goals must have a number of characteristics.

1. First, goals must be specific and measurable. By expressing its goals in specific, measurable terms, management creates a clear baseline for future decisions and progress.

2. The specific forecast horizon is another characteristic of effective goals. Goals are usually set for long or short time periods. The long-term goal has a planning horizon of approximately five years. The short-term goal in most cases represents one of the plans of the organization, which should be completed within a year. Medium-term goals have a planning horizon of one to five years.

3. The goal must be achievable - to serve to increase the effectiveness of the organization.

4. To be effective, the multiple goals of an organization must be mutually supportive—i.e. actions and decisions necessary to achieve one goal should not interfere with the achievement of other goals.

Objectives will only be a meaningful part of the strategic management process if top management articulates them correctly, then institutionalizes them effectively, communicates them, and drives their implementation throughout the organization. The strategic management process will be successful to the extent that senior management is involved in the formulation of goals and to what extent these goals reflect the values ​​of management and the realities of the firm.

General production goals are formulated and set on the basis of the overall mission of the enterprise and certain values ​​and goals that top management is guided by. To make a true contribution to the success of an enterprise, goals must have a number of characteristics:

Specific and measurable goals;

Orientation of goals in time;

Achievable goals.

Assessment and analysis of the external environment.

After establishing its mission and goals, the management of the enterprise begins the diagnostic phase of the strategic planning process. On this path, the first step is to study the external environment:

Evaluation of changes affecting various aspects of the current strategy;

Identification of factors that pose a threat to the current strategy of the firm; control and analysis of competitors' activities;

Identification of factors that present more opportunities to achieve company-wide goals by adjusting plans.

Analysis of the external environment helps to control factors external to the firm, to obtain important results (time to develop an early warning system for possible threats, time to predict opportunities, time to plan for contingencies and time to develop strategies). To do this, it is necessary to find out where the organization is, where it should be in the future, and what management should do to achieve this. The threats and opportunities faced by the firm can be divided into seven areas:

1. Economic forces. Certain factors in the economic environment must be constantly diagnosed and evaluated as the state of the economy influences the goals of the firm. These are inflation rates, international balance of payments, employment levels, and so on. Each of them can pose either a threat or new opportunity for the enterprise.

2. Political factors. The active participation of entrepreneurial firms in the political process is an indication of the importance of public policy to the organization; therefore, the state must follow the regulations of local authorities, the authorities of the state and the federal government.

3. Market factors. The market environment is a constant danger to the firm. Factors affecting the success and failure of an organization include income distribution, the level of competition in the industry, changing demographics, and ease of entry into the market.

4. Technological factors. Analysis of the technological environment may at least take into account changes in manufacturing technology, the use of computers in the design and provision of goods and services, or advances in communication technology. The head of any firm must be careful not to be subjected to a “future shock” that destroys the organization.

5. Factors of competition. Any organization must examine the actions of its competitors: analysis of future goals and assessment of the current strategy of competitors, review of the premises regarding competitors and the industry in which these companies operate, in-depth study of the strengths and weaknesses of competitors.

6. Factors of social behavior. These factors include changing attitudes, expectations and mores of society (the role of entrepreneurship, the role of women and national minorities in society, the movement to protect the interests of consumers).

7. International factors. The management of firms operating in the international market must constantly assess and monitor changes in this broad environment.

That. analysis of the external environment allows the organization to create a list of dangers and opportunities that it faces in this environment. For successful planning, management must have a complete understanding not only of significant external problems, but also of the internal potentialities and shortcomings of the organization.

Managers evaluate the external environment according to three parameters:

1. Evaluate changes that affect different aspects of the current strategy

2. Determine what factors pose a threat to the current strategy of the firm.

3. Determine which factors provide more opportunities to achieve company-wide goals by adjusting the plan.

Environmental analysis is the process by which strategic planners control factors external to the enterprise in order to identify opportunities and threats for the firm. Analysis of the external environment helps to obtain important results. It gives the organization time to anticipate opportunities, time to plan for possible threats, and time to develop strategies that can turn past threats into any profitable opportunity.

2.1 strategic pplanning and business success

Some organizations and businesses can achieve a certain level of success without much formal planning. Moreover, strategic planning alone does not ensure success. However, formal planning can create a number of important and often significant enabling factors for the organization.

The current pace of change and increase in knowledge is so great that strategic planning seems the only way formal forecasting of future problems and opportunities. It provides senior management with the means to create a long-term plan. Strategic planning also provides a basis for decision making. Knowing what an organization wants to achieve helps clarify the most appropriate course of action. Formal planning helps reduce risk in decision making. By making informed and systematic planning decisions, management reduces the risk of making the wrong decision due to erroneous or unreliable information about the capabilities of the enterprise or about the external situation. Planning, in so far as it serves to formulate established goals, helps to create a unity of common purpose within the organization. In industry today, strategic planning is becoming the rule rather than the exception.

Implementation of the strategic plan.

Strategic planning becomes meaningful when it is implemented.

Once an underlying overall strategy has been chosen, it must be implemented by integrating it with other organizational functions.

An important mechanism for linking the strategy is the development of plans and guidelines: tactics, policies, procedures and rules.

Tactics are specific short-term strategies. Politics provides general guidelines for action and decision making. Procedures prescribe actions to be taken in a particular situation. The rules specify exactly what should be done in a particular situation.

Evaluation of the strategic plan.

The development and subsequent implementation of a strategic plan seems like a simple process. Unfortunately, too many organizations apply the “implement now” approach to planning and fail disastrously. Continuous evaluation of the strategic plan is essential to the long-term success of the plan.

The evaluation of the strategy is carried out by comparing the results of work with the goals. The evaluation process is used as a feedback mechanism to adjust the strategy. To be effective, evaluation must be conducted systematically and continuously. A properly designed process should cover all levels - from top to bottom. When evaluating the strategic planning process, five questions should be answered:

1. Is the strategy internally compatible with the organization's capabilities?

2. Does the strategy involve an acceptable degree of risk?

3. Does the organization have sufficient resources to implement the strategy?

4. Does the strategy take into account external dangers and opportunities?

5. Is this strategy the best way use of firm resources?

For an enterprise of any form of ownership and any scale economic activity essential management of economic activities, the definition of strategy, as well as planning. At present, the heads of Russian enterprises are forced to make business decisions in the face of the uncertainty of the consequences of such decisions, moreover, with a lack of economic, commercial knowledge and practical experience in the new conditions.

Many economic zones in which enterprises operate are characterized by increased risk, because there is not enough knowledge about consumer behavior, the position of competitors, about right choice partners, there are no reliable sources of obtaining commercial and other information. In addition, Russian managers have no experience in managing firms in market conditions. There are many problems in the marketing activities of Russian enterprises. The heads of enterprises that produce final or intermediate products feel limited by the effective demand of the population and consumer enterprises. The issue of marketing entered the sphere of direct control of the management of enterprises. As a rule, state-owned enterprises did not have and do not have qualified sales staff. Now almost all enterprises have realized the importance of the sales program. Most of them have to solve tactical issues, since many have already faced the problem of overstocking warehouses with their products and a sharp drop in demand for them. The strategy for marketing products on the market remained unclear. Trying to change the assortment, many enterprises that produced industrial products are beginning to switch to consumer goods. If production products are produced, then in some cases enterprises develop subdivisions that consume these products. Rebuilding the assortment, enterprises began to predict sales in advance and find consumers of their products.

When choosing consumers, managers take into account: direct contact, communication with the end consumer, the solvency of the customer. The search for new consumers, the development of new markets has become very relevant for the enterprise (some managers are looking for new consumers on their own).

A new phenomenon was also noticed - the relationship of enterprises with new commercial structures, which often sell part of the enterprise's products, and the rest is sold through the old channels. In addition, the company can contact the company for all difficult questions production assurance. One of the tactics for ensuring the sale of products in modern Russian reality, in conditions where the internal effective demand for products is limited, has become international market. However, this is possible only for enterprises with a high level of production technology that ensures the competitiveness of their goods.

Thus, management and strategic management of an enterprise's activities are necessary in any area of ​​economic activity. At the same time, there are still many problems and significant shortcomings that need to be resolved as soon as possible, which, in turn, will allow the Russian economy to achieve stabilization and progressive development.

3. Introduction of new products

A product with new properties, the production and sale of which is added to the existing assortment, is usually called a new product. Simple improvements to existing products are not included here. New products can be either a fundamentally new product or a combination of new devices, mechanisms, without changing the product itself.

The objectives of the innovation process can be summarized as follows:

1) finding a new technical solution to the problem - the creation of an invention;

2) conducting research and development (R&D);

3) setting up serial production of products;

4) parallel preparation and organization of sales;

5) introduction of a new product to the market;

6) consolidation in new markets through continuous improvement of technology, increasing the competitiveness of the product.

Innovative activity is an organic part marketing activities firms. This is especially true for firms engaged in the production of science-intensive products. They have a particularly close interaction between the R&D service and the marketing service.

R&D departments become transformers of ideas and developments coming from consumers. They are actively involved in the development of product marketing programs. Between the study of needs and R&D, there is Feedback, which allows in the process of R & D to take into account the requirements of consumers to the maximum and adjust the technical and economic indicators of a new product in accordance with them in order to optimize them.

3 .1 Stages of bringing a new product to market

strategic planning products innovation

In the course of the innovation process, the enterprise creates new potential opportunities, evaluates them, eliminates the least attractive ones, studies the consumer's perception of them, develops products, tests them and introduces them to the market.

This lengthy process can be viewed as consisting of well-defined stages, at each of which it is necessary to make appropriate informed decisions. Let's name the main stages of the innovation process: - generation of ideas; - selection of ideas; - development of the concept and its verification; - economic analysis; - product development; - trial marketing; - commercial implementation.

The development of a new product must be clearly planned and each stage of the creation of a novelty should be carefully worked out.

Such an approach, it would seem, leads to an increase in the development time of innovations and to their rise in price. Recall, however, that the most expensive are the final stages of the innovation process. With careful and systematic planning, the elimination of less promising ideas occurs earlier, most of the reasons leading to failure in the market are eliminated in time, and time and money are saved significantly.

Thus, according to the results of specially performed studies, American industrial companies in 1969 had to start working with an average of 58 ideas for new products in order to get one successful novelty. And in 1981, these same firms needed only 7 ideas to get one successful product. This improvement (and significant cost savings) was the result of a more thorough development of the novelty at each stage of this work.

It does not follow from the foregoing, however, that each stage must chronologically follow one after the other. Often they use a parallel-sequential organization of the innovation process, which allows to reduce the level of costs and terms of work by 15-20 percent compared to a sequential organization. In addition, a parallel sequential organization of work should significantly reduce the amount of improvements at the stage of manufacturing a prototype.

However, as a result of combining stages in order to reduce time, so-called error costs often arise, which lead to an increase in costs compared to the initial parameter for implementing innovations. From this it is clear that innovation management is also designed to select and provide the optimal combination of time and costs.

1. Stage of generating ideas

The development of any innovation begins with the generation of ideas - a constant and systematic search for opportunities to create new products. This stage is the defining one in the innovation process. For successful activity in the market, an enterprise must have a management mechanism capable of using any ideas, from whatever source they appear.

Analyzing information flows that stimulated the emergence of innovations, and highlighting those of them, the nature of which was most important for the emergence of the idea of ​​innovation, researchers put forward the hypotheses of "technological pushing" and "pulling demand". In accordance with these hypotheses, scientific and technical (technological) and economic (commercial) information are usually distinguished: the first contains information about the existing technological possibilities for solving a particular problem, the second - about the needs of the consumer. The prevailing factor is "demand pull". So, abroad, on average, in 75 percent of cases, the source of innovations are market factors. Market-oriented sources identify opportunities based on customer wants and needs identified through special surveys (customer surveys, group discussions, analysis of incoming letters and complaints). Research and development is then geared to meet these desires, resulting in products such as roll-on deodorants, light beer, and easy-to-open soda cans.

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slide 1

slide 2

Strategy is a pre-planned response of an organization to changes in the external environment.

If the mission sets the general guidelines for the existence of the organization, and the goals determine what the organization is specifically striving for at this stage of its development, then the strategy answers the question: “How can the goals be achieved?”

2. Basic company growth strategies

Specific strategies chosen different organizations, due to the specifics of external and internal conditions, different views of management on the path of development of the organization and other reasons, they can vary significantly. However, all private strategies can be generalized and we can talk about the so-called basic, or reference strategies development and growth of business and entrepreneurship . These strategies pertain to the entire organization and reflect different approaches to the growth of the firm, associated with a change in one or more of the following elements: product, market, industry, position of the firm in the industry, technology.

1Concentrated Growth Strategies The first group of basic strategies are the so-called strategies of concentrated growth. This group includes those strategies that are associated with a change in the product or market.



2 Integrated growth strategies It is customary to refer to the second group of reference strategies such strategies of entrepreneurial and economic activity that are associated with the expansion of the organization by including new organizational, economic and economic divisions in its structure.

3Diversified Growth Strategies The third group of reference strategies includes diversified growth strategies. This type of strategic plans is implemented when the company can no longer effectively develop on this market with this product within this industry.

4Targeted reduction strategy It is a forced strategy. It is carried out during recessions and cardinal shocks in the economy, leading to serious changes in market conditions, as well as when the organization needs to regroup forces after a long period of growth or in connection with the need to improve efficiency.

slide 3

The first group of basic strategies are the so-called concentrated growth strategies. This group includes those strategies that are associated with a change in the product or market. In the case of the implementation of these strategies, the organization is trying to improve its product or start producing a new one without changing the industry. The strategies of concentrated growth closely intersect with the main growth strategies of Igor Ansoff's matrix.

Igor Ansoff, in his “product-market” model, identified 4 possible strategies for the growth of an enterprise:

market penetration strategy (strategy of strengthening market position)

market development strategy

product development strategy

diversification strategy

For a concentrated growth strategy, from this matrix, we can identify 3 suitable concentrated growth strategies that are:

1) Market penetration strategy (strategy of strengthening the position in the market) - "existing market - existing product"

2) Market development strategy - "new market - existing product"

3) Product development strategy - " new market - new product"

Let us consider in more detail the tactical decisions in the implementation of each of these strategies.

slide 4

market position strengthening strategy Recommended when the market is fast growing and not yet saturated. Using the strategy of strengthening its position in the market, the company continues to work with an existing product in existing markets.

The essence of the strategy of strengthening the market position is to expand the presence and sale of the company's existing products on the market as quickly as possible.

When pursuing a strategy to strengthen its market position, a company should gradually strengthen its position in the market through more complete market coverage.

The strategy of strengthening the market position strategy refers to high-cost strategies (as it is associated with intensive advertising support and low price strategies).

It should also be noted that when implementing the strategy of "strengthening the position in the market", companies resort to horizontal integration that is, they increase their control over the market by acquiring competing firms.

slide 5

Market development strategy

The market development strategy suggests that companies develop new markets for existing products or services, and by attracting a new audience to the product, increase their income and profits in long term. Is the growth strategy with the greatest potential

Under such conditions, the company must focus on the intensive development of its product among a new audience. If the strategy is successfully applied, this segment of the matrix will move into the “existing market and existing product” segment, and the company will be able to apply the strategy of further market penetration.

slide 6

Product development strategy

The product development strategy involves the sale of new products in existing markets, to existing consumers. With this strategy, consumers are already familiar with the brand or the main product of the company, there is already a formed image of the brand or company.

The main source of income and profit growth in this strategy is the expansion of the brand's product lines and entry into new product segments.

In this strategy, it is important to avoid switching consumers from current products to new extensions as much as possible.

If, however, switching consumers from current products to new extensions is embedded in the strategy and the company understands that new product completely replaces an existing product, then switching consumers from current products to new extensions must be profitable and ensure sales growth, that is, the product must either be more expensive, or be sold in higher volumes, or be more profitable.


Introduction

Strategic management, considered as the activity of top management in managing an organization in a competitive market environment, is an essential component of the life of a modern business organization. No company can be successful in the market for a long period of time without taking action to develop and improve its products. First, every product has its own life cycle. Second, consumer needs are constantly changing. Thirdly, external factors beyond the control of the organization, such as the economic crisis, push the company to change its activity in the market.
Effective strategic management of product development must integrate all components of a competitive position: the price of the product, its quality and consumer properties, the level of product support in the market.
To define a product development strategy means to answer the question: how should the market development of the product be carried out in order to most closely correspond to the formulated image of business success (strategic goals) of the company.
This answer is based on entrepreneurial intuition, confirmed by rational analysis, as a result of which specific goals for the development of a product (a separate business) are formulated. Since most companies diversify their activities into several products (and/or markets), the ability to implement a particular product strategy depends on the overall limited resources of the company and, therefore, is determined not only by market opportunities, but also by overall corporate strategic priorities. Thus, a business idea generated by an entrepreneur, as an expression of an integrated vision of all significant external and internal aspects of activity, should reflect the direction of using the company's total limited resources in this market. In other words, the development of which of the basic competitive advantages - leadership in price, quality, marketing support - or a combination of them is the most appropriate.
The purpose of this work is to consider the following questions:
- how is product development understood in strategic management and what characteristics are taken into account in strategic management when developing a product development strategy;
- how the product concept developed in strategic management affects competitive behavior firms in the market, as well as the main functions of management.

1. Theoretical foundations of the product development strategy

A successful strategy leads to at least three critical outcomes.
Firstly, it enhances the coordination of the activities of the functional units of the organization among themselves, as well as with the marketing department. Different parts of the organization have different ideas about how development success for a given product can be achieved. For example, product managers usually like the option of increasing their advertising spend. Sales managers prefer flexible (or more flexible) pricing approaches. Manufacturers tend to favor larger batches and a narrower range of products. Analysts financial services and accounting departments require a quantitative justification of all expenses and the rapid receipt of the declared results.
For example, suppose a computer manufacturer wants to target a particular industry by offering a product with unique features. It builds an image or "positioning". However, this strategy is not consistent with the desire of the sales manager to pursue a flexible pricing policy. Manufacturers may also be dissatisfied with it, since such a policy requires smaller batch sizes and a higher level of individualization of manufactured products. It is sometimes difficult for a brand building advertising agency to provide accountants with a justification for the additional financial outlay. It is clear that one of the goals of the strategy is to ensure that all employees of the organization act as one team that can, as they say in a well-known expression, write another page in the history of the company. Of course, a strategy that is not adopted by the staff, that is poorly formulated or simply not fully understood by the performers, is not capable of providing the required level of coordination.
Secondly, the strategy determines the order in which resources are allocated. Resources are always limited. Usually some resources, in particular production or service facilities, sellers' time, money, are more limited than others. In addition, such resources are often used to solve several problems. A single sales department often sells a large number of products. Generally, the lower the level of organization, the more resources are shared.
Third, the strategy must lead to a stronger market position. A successful strategy takes into account existing and potential competitors and their strengths and weaknesses.
Any organization sets itself several different goals, from the formulation of a mission or vision to corporate and product goals that need to be solved. For example, at the corporate level, it is common to set goals for return on investment, share price, and the total set of core business lines. However, such goals are not informative for the manager, because they do not tell how to act at the product level.
Goals for different levels organizations should be interconnected in such a way as to ensure the achievement of common corporate goals. Objective alignment is typically the responsibility of personnel who are responsible for aligning product objectives with company-wide objectives.
For specific products or services, two goals are most often set: growth and profitability. It is usually not possible to optimize both of these goals at the same time during the execution of the annual plan, since the techniques used to achieve the ambitious goal of gaining a large market share work against the equally ambitious goal of increasing profits.
For example, in order to achieve a target market share, methods such as lowering prices, increasing advertising costs, expanding the sales staff, etc. are usually resorted to. However, beyond a certain level, a further significant increase in market share can only be achieved by increasing costs or reducing the profit margin per unit of output.
Few managers aim for growth without considering its impact on product profits. In the same way, profitability may be the main goal, but taking into account the maintenance of market share or its controlled reduction. The goal associated with achieving maximum performance can be called primary, and the goal that serves as a deterrent - secondary. For any product, a third goal can be set - cash flow.
With regard to goals, the product manager needs to get answers to two main questions: 1) “Achieving which goal should be addressed in the first place?”; 2) “How high should a particular goal be set?”
To answer the first question, the product manager should examine information about the industry, competitors, current and prospective financial resources companies and consumer analysis results. In order to be able to choose growth as a goal, it is necessary that competitors have weaknesses that can be exploited (competitor analysis provides information about this); so that the consumer segment has unrealized potential (analysis of the characteristics of consumers); so that growth is expected in a given product category (industry analysis).
In some industries, goals remain traditional for a long time. For example, in the consumer products market, the focus for many years has been on market share and sales volume. Under these conditions, product managers are under constant pressure to sell as many of their products as possible. Recently, however, the old trend has begun to change, and now profits are coming to the fore, relegating traditional sales to the background. Solving this problem is difficult for two reasons. First, information systems used in most companies reliably and regularly change market shares and sales volumes, which cannot be said about profits. Secondly, and this is probably the most important reason, the company does not always base the system of rewards for product managers on the basis of profits. In addition, the speed of promotion of these managers on the career ladder usually primarily depends on the increase in sales and market share.
The second aspect has to do with ambition: if a product manager wants to increase market share, what growth should be considered acceptable? In some cases, even the absence of such growth becomes a very difficult task: if the market share of a given product has been continuously decreasing for some time, then just stopping this decline can be considered quite an ambitious achievement. It can be expected that the size of the increase depends on the forecast parameters of the market and the expected actions of competitors. If competitors are betting on profits, this could be a good time to gain a large market share. However, if all companies plan to increase their share, some participants will undoubtedly end up disappointed.
Also, some non-economic indicators or tasks expressed in a non-quantitative form can be set as goals, although they will not necessarily be primary for the product. For example, today it is difficult to find an American company that has not had a period of purposeful quality improvement in its history, and many firms set themselves the goal of increasing the level of customer satisfaction. The same can be said for the brand equity challenge that a growing number of companies are facing. Obviously, there is a direct connection between such "supporting" and purely economic goals: the achievement of the first, in the end, contributes to the implementation of the second.
Choice of strategic alternatives
After setting the main goal, the choice of strategic alternatives takes place. In fact, this is the first step that is taken when developing a strategy for a product or service, which sets the main guidelines for its implementation. The long-term goal of any product manager is to achieve the maximum long-term profit from a given product. We associate the description of alternatives with choices when the main goal is to increase sales or market share and hence long-term profits or short-term profitability. Choosing to increase sales, the manager can achieve this goal in two ways: through the expansion or deepening of the market, often by introducing new products or modifications of the old ones. Market expansion strategies involve selling an already existing product to people who are not currently consumers; and market deepenings target both current and past consumers of the product category. If the manager chooses a strategy to improve profitability, the focus is either on reducing inputs (mostly production costs - known as "denominator management") or on increasing output (sales revenue).
Increasing sales volume or market share
Market Expansion Strategies
These strategies are aimed at people who do not yet use this product (ie, to attract new consumers). One approach is to interact with such individuals within already served segments.
For example, if a particular Internet service is for law firms, expansion strategies would be to attract other firms of this profile that have not yet purchased this product (while serving existing customers, providing them with added value). In fact, this approach is an attempt to fully realize the remaining hidden potential of the market in its most promising segments.
The second approach is the entry into new markets, associated with the development of segments in which this product category was not previously offered.
Market Deepening Strategies
An often overlooked alternative to increasing market share or sales volume is to increase the frequency of brand acquisition by existing customers. The company's most significant asset is its client base, and it should be used as actively as possible. Product managers can seek to increase sales to existing customers in a variety of ways, such as using larger packages, incentivizing more frequent purchases of a product, or expanding the business so that a consumer can buy that product from more sellers (and, as a result, spend on him more money).
The second way to increase sales or market share is to attract consumers of competing products (in other words, to obtain new consumers), i.e. encourage brand change. If the costs associated with switching to another product are high (this is typical for products such as mainframe computers or nuclear reactors), implementing such a strategy is difficult - if not impossible. In addition, such a strategy can be extremely risky. First, it can cause sharp opposition from a larger and stronger competitor. Secondly, its implementation sometimes requires an active sales promotion campaign, as a result of which the strategy itself may lose profitability. Third, a brand-switching strategy requires comparative advertising, which is not only expensive but also risky because if it fails, you will draw consumers' attention to the competitor's brand, especially if that brand is the market leader.
Increasing profitability
Reducing the amount of initial resources
One way to solve this problem is to reduce costs. Unfortunately, the reduction of this type of input can lead to negative long-term consequences. When relying on reducing the variable component of costs, one danger may arise - a proportional decrease in the volume of production, and, consequently, sales.
The second way to reduce inputs is to make fuller use of existing assets. This solution may be to reduce receivables, and if we talk about production, at the expense of the cost of inventories. This also includes optimizing supporting activities, such as making more efficient use of production equipment or, more generally, investing temporarily free cash in interest-bearing securities for a very short term– often for one day.
Revenue increase
The easiest way to increase revenue with existing sales volume is to change prices. Such a change is carried out in a variety of ways, including increasing list prices, reducing discounts to consumers, or reducing retail sales and, as a result, losing some of the profits. Consider also the incredible reaction of competitors, which ultimately prevented many airlines from raising prices.
Another way to increase revenue is to improve the product mix. Often, the well-known 80/20 rule is used for this, according to which 20% of product varieties (in size, color, etc.) provide 80% of sales or profits. In this case, it is probably justified when selling to bet on species that bring more profit. There is an alternative way to use this rule - to apply it to consumers. In this case, the product manager deliberately pays less attention to the customers who bring the company a small profit, and concentrates all resources on those who bring in 80% of the profit (ie, the scheme of exclusion of disadvantaged customers).
Above are two main strategic options that a product manager can consider as strategic alternatives. This does not mean that it is only limited to growth or profit maximization strategies. For example, often a manager bets on reducing variable costs while increasing market share. In addition, the product manager can choose a strategy to increase consumption by existing customers while offering a broader product line.
To simultaneously attract new customers and encourage existing customers to buy more of a product, different strategies will be needed. advertising campaigns, in which the emphasis is on different image characteristics of the product, which may confuse some consumers. Comprehensive strategies fail to achieve savings through the replication of promotional materials, require the use of more expensive media (eg local TV channels instead of national ones), etc., which drives up costs. They also create confusion in the organization about what actually are goals. Under these conditions, the product manager is under increased pressure to select a set of options and allocate resources.
In conclusion of this chapter, the following can be noted, and on the basis of this, it can be concluded that at the product level it is important that the strategy clearly prescribes the distribution of resources between all areas of activity, since they all have a single connection and common goals. The task of setting a goal involves the selection of an appropriate specific goal, its establishment in quantitative parameters and the determination of the period of time allotted for its achievement.

2. Methodological bases for developing a product development strategy

Entrepreneurial vision is the basis of strategic positioning.
The strategic vision of an entrepreneur forms the possible nature of behavior in a particular market and precedes the formation of strategic goals for the product / market, which are understood as specific development results that ensure the implementation of a business idea.
Of course, a business idea is not born in an empty place, especially its implementation in a set of strategic decisions. The system for searching for strategic decisions at the level of products and markets of the company should take into account external and internal information about the opportunities and resources provided. The product strategy reflects the general economic conditions, the situation in the market in question, in the product segment, certain corporate strategic settings, intra-company financial, technological and organizational restrictions.
The defining principle of goal-setting is as follows: the goals of the enterprise in the market are to create such a competitive position of the product (a set of competitive advantages) that allows you to maximize the capitalization of the company's participation in this business.
Carrying out its activities, the company is not only exposed to external influences, but also has an impact on the external environment. With regard to product marketing strategies, the place of implementation of which is a specific commodity market, the objects of influence will be competitors and consumers of the product. Identification of the market microenvironment - the area of ​​the company's external influence - allows us to divide the process of strategic analysis into two components: analysis of independent and dependent factors of demand (analysis of demand conditions and analysis of tools to influence demand).
As a rule, when carrying out external analysis single out the near (competitors, partners, consumers) and distant external environment (macroeconomics, technology, social and political conditions) and separate the external strategic analysis on the analysis of the distant external environment and competitive. In the first case, it is customary to apply various methods of situational analysis. However, their use in the analysis of PMS is very laborious. In contrast to the corporate level of management, where macroeconomic, technological, political and other external conditions directly affect the company's market position, at the level of an individual product and market, such influence is mediated by the behavior of competitors (for example, innovations and technologies are contained in the competitive advantages of products) and consumers ( e.g. social conditions). In addition, these factors have already been taken into account when building the company's strategic priorities, on the basis of which product / market strategies are formed.
Therefore, with practical point of view, it is more important to conduct the following types of studies at the level of PMS. On the basis of an external analysis, mechanisms are established for the influence of significant demand conditions (income of the population, the level of savings, the structure of expenses of the population, the level of social support for the population, etc.), their dynamics on the dynamics and structure of the market where the company's product is presented. Then the mechanism of the influence of controlled factors: price, quality and marketing support on the position of the product within the segments (price, technology) and in the whole market is investigated. Through these tools, the company realizes the competitive advantages of the product, which consist in leadership in price (costs), leadership in quality (consumer characteristics of the product), leadership in support (knowledge and trust in the product by the consumer).
Of course, leadership in all these components gives absolute control over the market, but in a real situation, due to the limited resources of any business entity, it is either unattainable or financially unjustified. It is difficult to achieve cost leadership as the market leader in product support. Nevertheless, not being an absolute leader in each of the above aspects, the company can offer such a set of competitive advantages that will ensure local leadership in a separate segment of the product market.
Let us turn to Fig. 1, which shows the competitive situation in a certain market. Competitive product offers are ranked by two parameters (price advantage, consumer characteristics advantage), and the corresponding points are plotted on the graph.
It is obvious that points 1 - 5, highlighted on the chart, reflect a situation in which none of the other products surpasses them at once in two evaluated parameters (price / quality). Thus, these products are local quality leaders in their price range, price leaders in their quality segment (Pareto-optimal in terms of multiobjective optimization). If a company is able to offer such a combination of price and quality, which, with the positioning adopted in Fig. 1, will be above / to the right of the existing border of local market leaders, it will provide its product with local leadership.


Rice. 1. Graphical reflection of the ratio of competitive advantages of products The maximum rank, equal to 10, reflects leadership in this competitive advantage.

The importance of providing local leadership is clear. Offering on the market a product with better indicators of both price and quality than those of surrounding competitors, the company accumulates a significant share of the consumer demand of the segment, which leads to an increase in sales and, accordingly, the amount of profit from participating in this business in the long run. In addition, the demand for such a product is characterized by steady growth and is based on the conscious preference of the client. The position of the local leader ensures the flow of random demand from other products to the leading one (why buy more expensive lower-quality goods). Thus, the product, which is a local leader, becomes the center of demand consolidation, and, consequently, the financial resources of consumers.
Adding a third dimension - marketing support - allows you to most accurately position the product and determine the rational combination of competitive advantages, i.e. formulate strategic goals for product development.

Internal analysis is needed to ensure a reasonable trade-off between resources devoted to different demand-creation instruments. The purpose of internal analysis is to establish a relationship between the intensity of the use of demand creation tools and the company's resources. Figure 2 shows how the results of internal analysis - the study of the company's technological capabilities - can affect the choice competitive position product.

Rice. 2. Product positioning with a known technological potential of the company

When the company's product is positioned in the specified competitive position (X), the product becomes a local market leader, product 3 loses its leadership position (its price and quality are worse than X).
Thus, as a result of strategic analysis, the previously defined strategy of business success in the market is projected into certain characteristics of the competitive advantages of the product.
Let us summarize the above stages of perspective product positioning and analysis of external and internal factors development into a single technology. At the same time, it is necessary to observe the principles of consistency and economic feasibility of the results:
A general idea is formulated about the direction of development of the competitive parameters of the product (a business idea is proposed for the development of the product on the market).
The external environment of the company is considered, the main factors that can affect consumer demand (demand conditions) are highlighted, the nature of their influence on the volume and structure of the total demand in the company's market under consideration is established.
The main parameters of the company's product market (microenvironment) are determined. They can be divided into bulk and structural. A very limited amount of parameters can be sufficient from the point of view of strategic analysis: the total market volume, the price structure of the market, the structure of the market in terms of quality (innovation, technology, manufacturer). The nature of the dynamics of these indicators is revealed. These parameters are associated with assessments of the development of the external environment.
A set of the most important characteristics of the product that affect the final demand is determined. With all their diversity, they can be structured into the following trinity "price - quality - marketing support". The set of specific quality parameters depends on the market under study and generally characterizes the quality of meeting the consumer's needs (the effectiveness of meeting the need, intensity, volume, etc.). Marketing organically complements the price / quality ratio, any form of product support on the market (or lack thereof) influences the formation of consumer preferences in the market segment. All of these parameters are evaluated in terms of their impact on demand (we study the elasticity of demand from price, quality, advertising). The possible actions of competitors and their impact on the effectiveness of these demand creation tools are assessed.
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