Functional-Level Strategy

Functional-Level Strategy

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Functional-Level Strategy

Introduction

At Apple Inc., the top management ensures that the formulated strategic goals align with the objective goals stipulated in the vision and mission statements. It is essential for the strategic goals to interlink all the primary business functions for successful execution of the action plan. The paper discusses management strategies and tactics employed for successful execution of the action plan, application of the decision-making methods by management, the business functions impacted by the decisions of the management, and the kind of leadership strategies applied to ensure successful execution of the plan.

Management Strategies and Tactics

Management by objectives (MBO), competitive advantage, contingency planning, and innovation are the main strategies and tactics likely to see through the strategic goals of Apple Inc. Financial perspective, customer value, internal perspective, and growth perspective are the primary stakeholders influenced by these strategies and goals. The top management will employ the management by objectives (MBO) model by defining clearly the agreed upon strategic goals. The model ensures that employees know what is needed of them and the role they have to play for the attainment of the set goals (Investopedia, n. d.). Analysts observe that playing an active role in the formulation of the action plans and setting of goals motivate employees to perform exceptionally. Therefore, this is the best strategy to encourage commitment and full participation of the workforce. After the formulation and definition of the strategic goals, the pinnacle management ought to employ the competitive advantage, contingency planning, and innovation tactics to ensure successful execution of the strategy.

Over the years, economists contend that unique innovation is the main reason for the continued operation and survival of Apple Inc. The company has a good image worldwide with its unique innovation setting the company strides from the competitors. Therefore, the top management has to ensure that the strategic goals align with the innovation and competitive advantage tactic to ensure attainment of the goals. Furthermore, contingency planning will play a major role in the execution of the plan of actions. According to IFRC (n. d), contingency planning enables the organization to deal with occurrences that might jeopardize the smooth operationalization of the strategy. Therefore, utilization of this tactic will enable the company to deal with the emergencies thus promoting attainment of the strategic goals.

Application of Decision-Making Methods

Basics and pros and cons are the two main decision-making methods employed by management (Basu, n. d.). In everyday operations, management has to make choices that drive the operations of the organization. In the successful execution of the plan of actions, these two decision-making methods will come into play to help in the alignment of the short-term and long-term profitability of the organization with the performance of the employees. The management will employ these techniques to examine the competitive environment, economic conditions, and culture that might jeopardize the successful execution of the action plans. Concisely, the techniques will ensure that all the necessary factors are in place to ensure executions of the plan.

Business Functions Impacted by Decisions

Research and development, production, and marketing are the main functions affected by the plan of actions. Since the objective of the top management is to match the performance of the employees with the strategic goals, the mentioned functions will have to push their workforce to work with common goals. Collaborative integration will be key with cross-team technique coming in handy. The management has to swap the employees among the departments to ensure that all employees have a common culture. After establishing a common culture across all functions, it is essential to promote collaborative integration among employees, which will enable sharing of ideas. As such, integration spurs innovation.

Leadership Strategies Applied in the Execution of the Action Plan

Encouragement of recognition, delegation and empowerment, and clear communication of the vision are the main leadership strategies employed in the successful execution of the action plan (Crestcom Leadership, 2016). These strategies align with the management by objectives model since they inspire the workforce to perform at their highest capacity. Importantly, delegation and empowerment strategy will be essential in enabling collaborative integration.

Conclusion

Management by objectives (MBO), competitive advantage, contingency planning, and innovation are the main strategies and tactics likely to see through the strategic goals of Apple Inc. The company will align these strategies and tactics with the basics and pros and cons decision-making methods. Furthermore, research and development, production, and marketing are the main functions affected by the plan of actions.

References

Basu, C. (n. d.). What are two important managerial decision-making techniques? Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/two-important-managerial-decisionmaking-techniques-35222.html

Crestcom Leadership. (2016). 5 Leadership Strategies Proven To Improve Performance on Your Team. Retrieved from http://crestcomleadership.com/2016/12/01/5-leadership-strategies-to-improve-performance-in-your-company/

IFRC. (n. d.). Contingency planning. Retrieved from https://www.ifrc.org/en/what-we-do/disaster-management/preparing-for-disaster/disaster-preparedness-tools/contingency-planning-and-disaster-response-planning/

Investopedia. (n. d.). Management by objectives – MBO. Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/management-by-objectives.asp

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