ACCA SBL Syllabus C. Strategy - 3 Levels of Strategy - Notes ^{4 / 10}

There are 3 levels...

• Corporate

  This is the top level - and involves decisions such as whether to continue with the division

  Corporate strategy is concerned with:

  • Decisions to enter new markets

  • Complex decisions

  • Relations with external stakeholders

  • Examples
    How many countries should RCA open up in? What about IKEA?
    Why is there no Apple store in Malta yet, there is in Belfast?

    Should Samsung concentrate on phones? Should Google create computer hardware?

    Heavily influenced by shareholders and the stock market - in fact, this could be the mission statement of the company

• Strategic Business Unit

  Part of the organisation with its own, individual external market

  How is this different to a division?

  iPads may be a division at Apple but the strategy for selling them may be different in China compared to UK. These distinct markets require different strategies so are different SBUs

  An SBU in the public sector is when there’s a distinct client group

  It is a unit for strategy making purposes only.

  Corporate strategy = whole organisation
  SBU = distinct market

  SBU Strategy

  How to compete in a particular market - look at:

  1. Competitive advantage

  2. Create new opportunities in the market

  3. Meet customer needs

• Operational

  How the business components (resources, processes and people) deliver the Corporate and SBU strategy direction

  • Eg. Apple stores are meticulously planned and their function is not just to sell products there. They are to convey the ethos of the business as a whole in physical terms.

    The integration of operational decisions and strategy is vital therefore