Business Strategies (T&D I 1of 5)

Business Strategies
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Business strategies
A business strategy is the scope and direction of an organization over the long-term that achieves benefit for the organization by aligning resources within a dynamic environment for stakeholder satisfaction and meets the needs of the market. Training and development occurs in the context of these strategies with the main business strategies being concentration, external growth, internal growth, and disinvestment. These strategies have different emphasize, ways of achievement, key issues and training implications as discussed in the following subsections.
Concentration Strategy
Noe states the focus of this strategy as reducing costs, increasing market share, creating and maintaining market position for the services and products offered by the company (Noe, 1999, 76). The measures for achieving the aims of the strategy include improving product quality to augment market share, customizing products or services to meet a specific market for the maintenance of that market share, and improving productivity as a means of reducing costs. The main issues in training for the achievement of this strategy is skills currency and development of the current workforce with the implications being need for team work, cross training, specialized training, interpersonal relations and training during the job.
External growth Strategy
The emphasis of this strategy is acquisition of "vendors and suppliers or businesses that allows the company to expand to new markets" (Noe, 1999, p. 76). These aims are achieved through similar market-stage firm acquisition, acquiring supply or purchase firms for its products, and acquiring nonrelated firms with issues on training including redundancy, restructuring, and integration. The implications on training include understanding employee capabilities in acquired firms, integrating training systems, methods, and procedures in combined firms, team building, and developing a common culture (Noe, 1999).
Internal growth Strategy
Internal growth strategy places emphasis on development of new products and markets, joint ventures, and innovation, which are achieved through marketing existing products and distribution channels, modifying products, creating new products, expanding market globally. The issues are innovation and creation of new tasks and jobs with the implications on training in form of high-quality product value communicatio...