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Defining Strategy
In order to discuss the importance and usage of strategy we will now present the most relevant definitions of strategy in regard to our work and view on strategy. As there are numerous of definitions of strategy we will present our own interpretation that will be used throughout the thesis.
As we went through several definitions of strategy we soon came to realize that it had yet another level of complexity as there are different angles of the definition, depending on what field is regarded. For instance Mintzberg (1987) explains in his article ‘The Strategy Concept I: Five Ps For Strategy’ that the definition of strategy is varying depending on if it is in a management, game theory, dictionary, or military view. To clarify our specific field, we examined Chandler’s (1962, p. 13) definition of strategy closer “[…] the determination of the basic long-term goals and objectives of an enterprise, and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for carrying out these goals,” which is specific for management theory. However, according to Porter (1979) strategy is a combination of a set of activities in addition to assessing the company’s strength and weaknesses. When the company’s strengths, weaknesses, and their respectively underlying causes are established, the strategic process concerns three major decision points. These three points are, according to Porter (1979, p. 143): to assess the company’s position, to improve the company’s position by “[…] influencing the balance of the forces through strategic moves,” and responding to anticipated shifts in market forces to be able to exploit new opportunities before competitors. Porter also claims, in a later publication (1996), that strategy includes creating and improving the fit between the company’s activities.
When interpreting all these various definitions of strategy it is noticeable that they all seem to imply that strategy is the process of setting up a policy to use as an itinerary for the future. In addition Mintzberg (1978, p. 935) concludes that there are indeed numerous of definitions of strategy but all with a common theme implicating that is it all about “[…] a deliberate, conscious set of guidelines that determines decisions into the future”
According to how we have interpreted strategic definitions we consider this definition by Mintzberg to align with our understanding of strategy as a concept. It is therefore this definition we will refer to when using the concept strategy throughout this thesis.
Industry analysis
In order to analyze how successful, the companies in our case studies, collect information regarding their industry we will mainly use porters famous five forces framework. This will be done in order to establish an understanding of which parts of the industry they emphasize. We choose this specific theory due to that the Positioning School of Strategy describe it as a model which analyses the competition of the given industry (Mintzberg et al., 1998). Additionally, we chose it because we came across it several times during our studies and found it very useful in similar contexts. Yet another reason to why we choose this theory is because it is a framework of Porter, which even though it is relatively old, is cited and used frequently even today. However, we will use Miller (1992) who criticizes Porters Five Forces Framework as a complementing concept to widen our perspective.
To form a strategy one first has to establish an overview of the industry structure (Porter, 1979). In order to form an overview, data concerning the level of competition within the industry has to be collected and organized (Porter, 1979). This organization of the data needed to make an industry analysis can, according to Porter, be organized through a ‘Five Forces Analysis’ (1979).
1 Introduction
1.1 Background
1.2 Problem discussion
1.4 Research questions
1.5 Delimitations
1.6 Perspective
1.7 Definitions
2 Methodology
2.1 Interpretivism
3 Frame of reference
3.1 Defining Strategy
3.2 Industry analysi
3.3 Market analysis
3.4 Types of Strategies
3.5 Types of Strategic tools
3.6 Summary of frame of reference
4 Method
4.1 Choice of Method
4.2 Interviews
4.3 Method for analysis
4.4 Evaluation of Methods
5 Empirical findings
5.1 Backgroun
5.2 Parameters used when gathering of Information
5.3 Thinking strategically to cope with the market changes
6 Analysis
6.1 Parameters used when analyzing market changes
6.2 Thinking strategically to cope with the market changes
7 Conclusion
8 Discussion
8.1 Suggestion for further studies
8.2 Recommendations
List of references
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Strategic thinking of Swedish TV production companies
