Topic 9: Innovations and markets (HL)

9.1 Corporate Strategies

NOD:

• The strategy of a company can determine the success of a company.
• Appropriate strategies can be selected from the evaluation of products, services and systems to allow the company to achieve its aims and objectives.

PIONEERING STRATEGY AND IMITATIVE STRATEGY
Comparison of success between pioneering and imitative strategies.

Pioneering is to enter the market with a new innovation and be the first to do so.
Imitative is to develop products that resemble already existing products.

[Table for positives and negatives for each strategy.]



[Example company.]



MARKET DEVELOPMENT
Developing current products which could open new markets for the product. This allows companies to target customers outside of their current target market by developing the product to attract these customers.
[Example]

MARKET PENETRATION
Creating new products, modifying of updating products to target the existing customers and current target market in order to gain a larger presence in that market and increase sales or finding new customers for an existing product.

This can be done in a variety of different ways:

• Adding new features to current products.
• Updating and enhancing the product.
• Increasing the product range by providing more options or various designs to choose from.
• Releasing different types of the same general product (different flavoured soda as different products under the same company).

Strategies the company can use:

• Product promotion to release information about the product, brand or company to make it desirable within the targeted market.

[Above the line and below the line --> table]

[Example company/product]

PRODUCT DIVERSIFICATION
Development of both the company and the product, creating new products to target new markets. [Developing new products for new markets.]

HYBRID APPROACHES
Using both pioneering and imitative strategies. This may be done in order to:

• increase and maximize sales and profit.
• reduces risks of pioneering strategy.
• [provide for quick turn around]
• [reduces R&D spending]

Examples of a company and its products that are a result of a hybrid approach.


CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
How corporate social responsibility may be a particular goal of a company whereby the aim is to benefit and minimize the disadvantages.
The responsibility a company has to society in regulating its social, economical and environmental impacts. The company must asses the impacts it has in these three areas to benefit and minimize the disadvantages.

Examples of evidence of effective corporate social responsibility for a major multinational company.
[EXAMPLE]