Analysis of Alternatives and Strategy Choice

Under fierce market competition, the management of any organization has to analyze strategic alternatives and choose a strategy. Choosing how a company will develop has three parts: development, refinement, and analysis. In practice, all stages merge into a single process that only calls for different implementation methods.

Strategy formation algorithm

Marketing MIX mmix.ua provides full support to organizations, from setting development goals to analyzing the results, using the following algorithm.

1. Building awareness of the importance of strategic planning. Employees are brought into the analysis of strategic alternatives, which gives a fresh view of the problems and also unites the team around jointly developed objectives.
2. Formulating the overall strategy – it can be anything from maximizing profit to the self-development of management or the personal growth of every employee.
3. Logically structuring tactical objectives, combined into a single system. Defining specific actions, deadlines, and the people responsible.
4. Visualizing goals. All decisions made during strategic planning need to be communicated to employees in the clearest possible language, getting each of them interested.
5. Drawing up the target profile of the company – what the organization will look like after completing all stages of its own development.

Types of strategies

Analysis of alternatives and strategy choice most often depend on two factors: the goals the company's management sets for itself and the current market conditions. For example, if a firm aims to increase its share of the market, it can take one of the following paths:

• lower prices;
• sign contracts to sell its products through a larger number of retail outlets;
• create a more attractive product image through advertising;
• release a fundamentally new product.

Each option opens up different opportunities, forming an alternative path of development for the company.

Speaking in general terms, management divides all strategies into several types, applied depending on the company's end goal.

1. Limited growth – suits stable companies with no plans to expand capacity. The strategy is to preserve «what has been achieved» and respond quickly to external factors (inflation, technology development, etc.).
2. Rapid growth – the main task – outpace the growth rate of the previous reference period.
3. Reduction, or the last resort. Chosen rarely, and only for firms that cannot overcome a crisis any other way.
4. Combined – includes all of the above. Suitable for large corporations with several departments operating autonomously.

All of the strategies above are basic ones; they are filled with meaning for a specific company during refinement. To do this, professional managers run an audit, identify the firm's strengths and weaknesses, and evaluate the strategy, adjusting it to management's capabilities and requirements.

What to rely on when choosing a strategy

The specialists at Marketing MIX start from the company's interests and current market requirements. These include:

• industry specifics;
• management's goals and values;
• the state of the external market;
• strengths and weaknesses of the internal structure;
• risk levels;
• past experience of defining strategies;
• time factors.

A sound analysis of the company's condition and experience – the key to choosing the best development strategy in the future. Marketing MIX specialists have extensive experience and are ready to apply it to grow your business specifically.