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Conducting strategic analysis. Methods of strategic analysis. Strategic development analysis

28.08.2023

It is a means of transforming the database resulting from the analysis of the environment into the strategic plan of the organization. Strategic analysis tools include formal models, quantitative methods, analysis that takes into account the specifics of the organization.

Strategic analysis can be divided into two main steps:

1. Comparison of the benchmarks set by the firm and the real opportunities offered by the environment, analysis of the gap between them;

2. analysis of possible options for the future of the company, identification of strategic alternatives.

When strategic alternatives are identified, the firm moves to the final stage of strategy development - the choice of a specific strategy option and the preparation of a strategic plan.

Gap Analysis

Gap analysis is a simple but effective method and analysis. Its purpose is to determine whether there is a gap between the firm's goals and its capabilities and, if so, how to "fill" it.

Gap Analysis Algorithm:

Determination of the main interest of the company, expressed in terms of strategic planning (for example, in increasing the number of sales);

Finding out the real possibilities of the company in terms of the current state of the environment and the expected future state (in 3, 5 years);

Determination of specific indicators of the strategic plan, corresponding to the main interest of the company;

Establishing the difference between the indicators of the strategic plan and the opportunities dictated by the real situation of the company;

Development of special programs and methods of action necessary to fill the gap.

Another way to apply gap analysis is to determine the difference between the highest expectations and the most modest forecasts. For example, if top management expects a real rate of return on capital employed of 20%, but analysis shows that 15% is the most realistic, discussion and action is required to close the 5% gap.

Filling can be done in several ways, for example:

By increasing productivity and achieving the desired 20%;

By abandoning more ambitious plans in favor of 15%;

The following methods of strategic analysis are usually used to identify strategic alternatives, possible options for a strategic plan.

Cost Dynamics Analysis and Experience Curve

One of the classic strategy models was developed in 1926. It links the definition of strategy to the achievement of cost advantages.

The reduction in costs with an increase in production volume is due to a combination of the following factors:

1. advantages in technology that arise with the expansion of production;

2. learning by experience the most effective way to organize production;

3. economies of scale effect.

According to the experience curve, the main direction of the firm's strategy should be to gain the largest market share, since it is the largest of the competitors who has the opportunity to achieve the lowest unit costs and, therefore, the highest profits.

The application of the experience curve is possible in the branches of material production.

In modern conditions, the achievement of cost leadership is not necessarily associated with an increase in the scale of production. The current high-tech equipment is designed not only for large-scale production, but also for small ones. Today, even a small firm can use computers, modular equipment that provides high performance and the ability to reconfigure to solve various specific problems. The main disadvantage of the model is that it takes into account only one of the internal problems of the organization and inattention to the external environment (primarily to the needs of customers).

Analysis of market dynamics, life cycle model

The analysis of the dynamics of the market for a given product is based on the well-known model of the life cycle of a product, which is an analogy of the life cycle of a biological being.

The life of a product on the market is divided into several main stages, each of which has its own level of sales and other marketing characteristics:

birth and introduction to the market - small sales and growth-oriented strategy;
growth stage - a significant increase in sales and a strategy for rapid growth;
maturity stage - sustainable sales and stability-oriented strategy;
stage of market saturation and decline - sales decline and reduction strategy.

The purpose of the life cycle model is to correctly determine the business strategy for each stage of the product's life on the market. There are a large number of life cycle modifications depending on the types of goods. However, the strategy should not be tied too tightly to the life cycle model.

The "experience curve" and "life cycle" models are the simplest methods of strategic analysis, since they associate strategy development with only one of the factors of the firm's activity. The methods described below are more complex and follow the path of linking the various components of the internal and external environment of the organization.

Model "product - market"

Suggested by A.J. Steiner in 1975. It is a matrix that includes the classification of markets and the classification of products into existing, new, but related to existing, and completely new products.

Rice. 1. Matrix "market-product"

The matrix shows the levels of risk and, accordingly, the degree of probability of success for various market-product combinations. The model is used for:

1. determining the probability of successful activity when choosing a particular type of business;

2. choice between different types of business, including when determining the ratio of investments for different business units, that is, when forming a company's securities portfolio.

Portfolio Strategy Analysis Models

Portfolio models determine the present and future position of a business in terms of the attractiveness of the market and the ability of the business to compete within it. The original, classic portfolio model is the BCG (Boston Consulting Group) matrix.

The matrix indicates four main business positions:

1. highly competitive business in fast growing markets - ideal "star" position;

2. A highly competitive business in mature, saturated, stagnant markets (which produce steady profits, "cash cows" or "money bags") is a good source of cash for the firm;

3. not having good competitive positions, but operating in promising markets "question marks", whose future is uncertain;

About the combination of weak competitive positions with markets that are in a state of stagnation - "dogs" - outcasts of the business world.

The BCG model is used:

To determine interrelated conclusions about the position of the business unit (business) that is part of the organization, and its strategic prospects;

Using the BCG matrix, the company forms the composition of its portfolio (that is, it determines the combination of capital investments in various industries, various business units).

Within the framework of the BCG matrix, strategy options can be proposed:

1. Growth and increase in market share - the transformation of the "question mark" into a "star" (aggressive "question marks" are sometimes called "wild cats").

2. Maintaining market share is a strategy for cash cows whose revenues are important for growing businesses and financial innovation.

3. "Harvesting", that is, obtaining a short-term share of the profits as much as possible, even at the expense of reducing market share - a strategy for weak "cows", deprived of the future, unfortunate "question marks" and "dogs".

4. Liquidation or abandonment of the business and the use of the resulting funds in other industries - a strategy for "dogs" and "question marks" who do not have more opportunities to invest to improve their positions.

The BCG model has the following advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages:

The model is used to study the relationship between the business units that make up the organization, as well as their long-term goals;

The model can be the basis for the analysis of different stages of development of a business unit (business);

It is a simple, easy-to-understand approach to organizing an organization's business portfolio (security portfolio).

Flaws:

Does not always correctly assess business opportunities. For a unit defined as "dog", it may recommend exit from the market, while external and internal changes are able to change the position of the business. So, a small farm supplying vegetable products in the 70s could be assessed as a "dog", but by the 90s the deterioration of the environmental situation and a special attitude towards "clean" products created new prospects for this business;

Overly focused on cash flow, while investment performance is equally important to the organization. Aimed at super growth and ignores the possibility of business recovery, application of the best management methods.

A more complex version of the portfolio model is the McKinsey multi-factor matrix of the company that is developing it by order of General Electric.

Evaluation of the multi-profile portfolio model:

Its advantage over a simple portfolio model is that it takes into account the largest number of significant factors in the internal and external environment of the company;

In the application of this model, there are limitations, which include the lack of specific recommendations for behavior in a particular market, as well as the possibility of a subjective, distorted assessment by the firm of its position.

Source - I.A. PODELINSKAYA, M.V. BYANKIN STRATEGIC PLANNING Textbook. - Ulan-Ude: Publishing House of the ESGTU, 2005. - 55 p.

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Structure of strategic planning

Strategic planning can be viewed as a dynamic set of six interrelated management processes that logically follow one from the other. At the same time, there is a stable feedback and influence of each process on the others.

The strategic planning process includes:

Definition of the mission of the enterprise, organization;

Formulation of goals and objectives of the functioning of the enterprise, organization;

Assessment and analysis of the external environment;

Assessment and analysis of the internal structure;

Development and analysis of strategic alternatives;

Choice of strategy.

The process of strategic management (except for strategic planning) also includes: implementation of the strategy; evaluation and control of the implementation of the strategy.

Strategic planning is one of the components of strategic management. Strategic management is sometimes seen as synonymous with the term "strategic planning". However, it is not. Strategic management, in addition to strategic planning, contains a mechanism for implementing decisions.

The main components of strategic planning:

Definition of the mission of the organization. This process consists in establishing the meaning of the existence of the company, its purpose, role and place in a market economy. In foreign literature, this term is usually called the corporate mission or business concept. It characterizes the direction in business that firms are guided by, based on market needs, the nature of consumers, product features and the presence of competitive advantages.

Formulation of goals and objectives. To describe the nature and level of business claims inherent in a particular type of business, the terms “goals” and “objectives” are used. Goals and objectives should reflect the level of customer service. They should create motivation for people working in the firm. The target picture should have at least four types of targets: quantitative targets; quality goals; strategic goals; tactical targets, etc.

Goals for the lower levels of the firm are seen as objectives.

Analysis and assessment of the external and internal environment. Environmental analysis is usually considered the initial process of strategic management, as it provides both the basis for defining the mission and goals of the firm, and for developing a strategy of behavior that allows the firm to fulfill its mission and achieve its goals.

One of the key roles of any management is to maintain a balance in the interaction of the organization with the environment. Each organization is involved in three processes:

Obtaining resources from the external environment (input);

Turning resources into a product (transformation);

Transfer of the product to the external environment (exit).

Management is designed to provide a balance of input and output. As soon as this balance is disturbed in an organization, it embarks on the path of dying. The modern market has dramatically increased the importance of the exit process in maintaining this balance. This is precisely reflected in the fact that the first block in the structure of strategic management is the block of environmental analysis.

Analysis of the environment involves the study of its three components:

macro environments;

immediate environment;

The internal environment of the organization.

The analysis of the external environment (macro- and immediate environment) is aimed at finding out what the company can count on if it successfully conducts work, and what complications can await it if it fails to avert negative attacks in time, which can give her the environment.

Analysis of the macro environment includes the study of the impact of the economy, legal regulation and management, political processes, natural environment and resources, social and cultural components of society, scientific, technical and technological development of society, infrastructure, etc.

The immediate environment is analyzed according to the following main components: buyers, suppliers, competitors, labor market.

An analysis of the internal environment reveals those opportunities, the potential that a company can count on in a competitive struggle in the process of achieving its goals. An analysis of the internal environment also makes it possible to better understand the goals of the organization, to more correctly formulate the mission, i.e. determine the meaning and direction of the company. It is extremely important to always remember that the organization not only produces products for the environment, but also provides an opportunity for its members to exist, giving them work, providing them with the opportunity to participate in profits, providing them with social guarantees, etc.

The internal environment is analyzed in the following areas: human resources; management organization; finance; marketing; organizational structure, etc.

Development and analysis of strategic alternatives, choice of strategy . The development of a strategy is carried out at the highest level of management and is based on the solution of the above tasks. At this stage of decision-making, the manager needs to evaluate alternative ways for the firm to operate and choose the best options to achieve its goals. On the basis of the analysis carried out in the process of developing a strategy, strategic thinking is formed by discussing and agreeing with the managerial linear apparatus on the concept of the development of the company as a whole, recommending new development strategies, formulating draft goals, preparing directives for long-term planning, developing strategic plans and their control. Strategic management assumes that the company determines its key positions for the future, depending on the priority of goals. The firm faces four main strategic alternatives: limited growth, growth, downsizing, and a combination of these strategies. Limited growth is followed by most organizations in developed countries. It is characterized by setting goals from what has been achieved, adjusted by associations of firms in unrelated industries. Leaders are less likely to choose a downsizing strategy. In it, the level of goals pursued is set below that achieved in the past. For many firms, downsizing can mean a path to rationalization and reorientation of operations. In this case, several options are possible:

Liquidation (complete sale of inventories and assets of the organization);

Deduction of excess (separation by firms of some of their divisions or activities);

Reduction and reorientation (reduction of part of its activities in an attempt to increase profits).

A downsizing strategy is most often used when a company's performance continues to deteriorate, during an economic downturn, or simply to save the organization. Strategies for combining all alternatives will be pursued by large firms active in several industries.

Having chosen a certain strategic alternative, management must turn to a specific strategy. The main goal is to select a strategic alternative that will maximize the long-term effectiveness of the organization. To do this, leaders must have a clear, shared vision of the company and its future. Commitment to a particular choice often limits future strategy, so the decision must be carefully researched and evaluated. A variety of factors influence the strategic choice: risk (a factor in the life of the company); knowledge of past strategies; the reaction of equity holders, which often limits the flexibility of management in choosing a strategy; time factor, depending on the choice of the right moment. Decision-making on strategic issues can be carried out in different directions: “bottom-up”, “top-down”, in the interaction of the above two directions (the strategy is developed in the process of interaction between top management, planning service and operational units). Forming the strategy of the company as a whole is becoming increasingly important. This concerns the priority of the problems to be solved, the definition of the structure of the firm, the validity of capital investments, the coordination and integration of strategies.

Implementation of the strategy. Execution of the strategic plan is a critical process, because in the case of a real plan leads the company to success. It often happens the other way around: a well-designed strategic plan can “fail” if steps are not taken to implement it. Very often there are cases when firms are unable to implement the chosen strategy. This happens because either the analysis was carried out incorrectly and incorrect conclusions were drawn, or because unforeseen changes in the external environment occurred. However, often the strategy is not implemented also because management cannot properly attract the potential of the firm to implement the strategy. This applies in particular to the use of human potential.

Successful implementation of the strategy is facilitated by compliance with the following requirements:

The goals and activities of the strategy should be well structured, communicated to employees and accepted by them;

It is necessary to have a clear plan of action for the implementation of the strategy, providing for the provision of the plan with all the necessary resources.

6. Evaluation and control of the strategy. Evaluation and control of the implementation of the strategy are the logically final process carried out in strategic management. This process provides a stable feedback between the progress of the process of achieving goals and the actual goals facing the organization.

The main tasks of any control are as follows:

Determination of what and by what indicators to check;

Assessment of the state of the controlled object in accordance with accepted standards, regulations or other benchmarks;

Clarification of the reasons for deviations, if any, are revealed as a result of the assessment;

Making adjustments, if necessary and possible.

In the case of monitoring the implementation of strategies, these tasks acquire quite a specific specificity, due to the fact that strategic control is aimed at finding out to what extent the implementation of the strategy leads to the achievement of the company's goals. This fundamentally distinguishes strategic control from managerial or operational control, since it is not interested in the correct implementation of the strategy or the correct execution of individual works, functions and operations. Strategic control is focused on finding out whether it is possible to implement the adopted strategy in the future, and whether its implementation will lead to the achievement of the set goals. Adjustment based on the results of strategic control can relate to both the implemented strategy and the goals of the company.

The main components of strategic planning.

The Essential Components of Strategic Planning A strategic plan is important because it helps you outline, step by step, the actions your company will take on its path to success. It also reveals the potential obstacles the company will face and how to overcome them. In a sense, having a strategic plan is more essential for small companies than for large corporations. The reason is that small companies have far less cash to rely on in case something goes wrong. But what should a good strategic plan include? There are 3 main components: - Mission. Every good strategic plan should include a mission statement for the company. It should be short, concise, explain why the company exists and what it is trying to achieve. - Goals of the organization. Organizational goals are the ways in which you plan to accomplish the company's mission. - Strategies for achieving goals. These strategies go down a level and provide a blueprint for how you will achieve organizational goals. The development of an industrial marketing strategy begins with the study of an industrial buyer (actual or potential) and his specific needs in the field of activity of an industrial company. The needs of industrial buyers arise from the production processes and are mediated by the needs of the end users of the products. Important characteristics of the product for the industrial buyer will be: - quality - suitability for the production process and the technology used; - reliability of delivery (clearly organized sales system); - price and terms of payment. In addition, the company's ability to create a product necessary for the market includes a combination of two components - resources and the company's management structure. The ability of the management structure to effectively use available resources is an important aspect of the ability to implement the strategy. It is necessary to link the resource and structural capabilities of the firm with the needs of key clients. The implementation of the strategy involves the development of long-term relationships with industrial buyers. The match between the capabilities of the supplier and the needs of the buyer is achieved through the interaction of both parties. Thus, the strategy of industrial marketing involves focusing on relationships with each individual customer, which means the development and implementation of individual marketing strategies for each specific client, including the main components of marketing activities: - product (assortment) policy; - sales and service policy; - price policy; - communication strategy.

3. The influence of modern trends in the development of the economy, its globalization on the new planning ideology.

The concept of strategic planning in the literature often does not have a clear definition. It is known that strategic planning originated and received the greatest development, primarily in the military field, and meant "the art of the general to find the right ways to achieve victory", now strategic planning is used in other areas, including the economy. So the American scientist Russell Ackoff notes that it is more correct to think of strategic planning as managing a certain set of problems, a problematic mess. The main purpose of planning strata is to model the future success of the enterprise. Strategic plans define the main directions of development of the enterprise, they indicate certain niches for economic activity, which in the future are to be filled with operational planning tools. Strategic planning is characterized by the following features:

1.
Uncertainty, mobility of the market environment inherent in a market economy, which necessitates the development of an appropriate direction for the development of enterprises. Planning allows an enterprise to try to avoid risks or at least mitigate their negative consequences, as well as ensure its further growth, that is, planning is a tool to overcome uncertainty and a way to clarify the internal and external conditions of enterprises.

2.
Scientific and technological progress, leading to fundamental qualitative transformations of production and strengthening its impact on the competitiveness of the enterprise, requires to anticipate the possible results of scientific and technical progress and to take measures in advance to use them or reorient the activities of the enterprise. The use of strategic planning creates the most important advantages in the functioning of enterprises:

1.
firstly, it is preparation for changes in the external environment,

2.
secondly, linking its resources with changes in the external environment,

3.
thirdly, the clarification of emerging problems,

4.
fourthly, coordination of the work of various structural units,

5.
fifthly, improvement of control in the enterprise

These circumstances fill the concept of strategic planning with new content and define it as a way of implementing a strategy adopted by an economic entity. Today's complex and rapidly changing environment in which an organization operates requires a great deal of flexibility in planning systems. This contributes to their improvement, reducing the degree of formalization, leading to a shorter planning horizon and, accordingly, more frequent adjustments to plans. According to some estimates, every third enterprise in Russia has such a document as an enterprise development strategy for several years. Moreover, most of all strata planning is more developed at enterprises with an export orientation, as well as the military-industrial complex. As David Aaker notes, a strategic plan for success must take into account the international conditions of business while objectively globalizing internal business processes. The modern economy is characterized by a high degree of globalization. Signs of the globalization of the economy include:

1.
emergence and development of transnational corporations

2.
emergence of super competition

3.
global production and global marketing

Considering the foregoing, strategic planning of an enterprise should be understood as the management process of developing specific strategies of varying degrees of uncertainty, time orientation and planning horizon based on a comparison of the goals, resources and capabilities of the enterprise.

4. Specific features, approaches, methods and models of the plan strategist.

Represented methods of strategic analysis provide research at all stages of development and implementation of the strategy. At the same time, the analysis of the internal environment of the company is carried out by management functions, analysis of the goods and services of the company, portfolio analysis. The latter includes SWOT-analysis, analysis of the assortment of goods and analysis of the life cycle of goods. The most important goal of portfolio analysis is to harmonize financial resources and business strategies between firms within corporations or within a firm between business units.

The GAP-Analysis method complements portfolio analysis by providing research to prevent gaps in setting strategic goals and research ways to achieve them. This method may include expert or mathematical predictive methods.

The CVP-Analysis method provides a detailed coordination of financial resources and decisions made to achieve strategic goals. It is this analysis that includes studies of the cost, volume, and profit interactions that should ensure the firm's strategic success.

The method of functional cost analysis (Activity Based Costing) complements CVP-Analysis, since its main goal is to ensure the correct allocation of funds allocated for the production of products or services at direct or indirect costs.

This allows the most realistic assessment of the company's costs for individual business processes in accordance with their planned profitability. Using this method, you can quickly estimate the amount of profit expected from the production of a particular product or service.

The Ishikawa diagram or the method of structural analysis of cause-and-effect relationships is a graphical method that allows you to visualize the interaction of consequences and causes that caused them. It is this method that makes it possible to analyze the effectiveness of business processes and factors affecting the quality of services provided.

The ABC-Analysis method provides a classification of the company's objects, highlighting the most valuable (A), intermediate (B) and least valuable (C). It is this method that ensures the allocation of problems or the need for resources to be addressed first, by highlighting their priority. This method of analysis complements the Ishikawa diagram, since it allows you to select the most valuable from the totality of factors that affect the final result. The economic meaning of research within the framework of this method is that the maximum effect is achieved when choosing factors belonging to group A.

The PEST-Analysis method considers the description of the external environment (external macro-environment). Given the descriptive nature of the study, this method is considered by individual authors and as a model by analogy with SWOT-Analysis and GAP-Analysis. Therefore, these two methods, like the Five Forces model by Michael Porter, can be classified as strategic analysis models.

Models of strategic analysis allow to carry out: an assessment of the competitiveness of certain types of business of strategic positions and competitive advantages, as well as the structuring of the microenvironment of the company, its industry into strategic business zones, to choose an option for solving the internal environment, resources, investments, technologies, identifying strategies in the strategic business zone. At the stage of analysis of the mission and goals, an important place is given to models of the production and economic system and the strategic management system.

The SWOT Analysis model provides an analysis of the actual and normative strategic potential when comparing with competitors or identifying competitive advantages. This model reveals a picture of the strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise. At the same time, strengths determine the key success factors, as the means by which the company wins in the competition.

It should be noted that the concepts of the internal environment must be considered simultaneously from the positions of a manager and a marketer. With this approach, the SWOT-Analysis model expands its scope, identifying strengths, weaknesses and opportunities not only in the micro-environment, but also in the macro-environment (firm and market). It is from the organization, marketing, logistics and sales that the effective functioning of the company as an open system depends.

With this approach, Michael Porter's Five Forces Model is also the most important tool for studying the internal environment.

The BCG (Boston Consulting Group) model helps to make decisions about the intended positions in the market and the allocation of strategic resources between different areas of business in the future. Since this matrix is based on a product life cycle model, all analyzed strategic economic zones (SZH) should be in the same phase of life cycle development. This is a one-factor model (the dimension of the matrix is 2x2).

The model of I. Ansof and D. Abel (development of a commodity market) describes the possible strategies of a company in a growing market that a company can implement and decide on their implementation. At the same time, the field of possible strategies lies in three dimensions: the customer groups served, the needs of customers, and the technology used in the development and production of a product or service.

The GE Mckinsey model is a development of the BCG model. This two-factor model is applicable to all phases of the product life cycle. Increasing the dimension of the matrix (3x3) allows you to have a more detailed classification of the analyzed businesses.

The Shell/DPM model (Directed Policy Matrix) is aimed at choosing a long-term investment strategy (outwardly similar to the GE Mckinsey model) based on multiple assessments of qualitative and quantitative business parameters. In this Model, compared to GE Mckinsey, there is an even greater emphasis on business quantitative indicators. If the strategic choice criterion in the BCG Model was based on the assessment of cash flow (Cash Fiow), as an indicator in the GE Mckinsey Model - on the assessment of return on investment (Return of Investments), as an indicator of long-term planning, then the Shell / DPM Model uses both of these indicators simultaneously . Thus, this model is a tool for multi-parametric strategic analysis used in capital-intensive industries (chemical, oil refining, metallurgy). This Model combines qualitative and quantitative variables into a single parametric system. Unlike the BCG matrix, it does not depend on the statistical relationship between market share and business profitability.

The ADL / LC model takes into account the stages of the life cycle and the position of the business in the market. The analysis of any business is carried out taking into account these stages. The combination of two parameters (life cycle stage - 4th positions and 5 competitive positions creates a 4x5 matrix).

Depending on the position of the type of business on the matrix, a set of strategic decisions is given. The basic concept of the ADL Model is that a corporation's business portfolio, defined by life cycle stage and competitive position, should be balanced. In addition to showing the specific position of a type of business, the ADL Model shows its financial contribution to the corporate portfolio. The Model is used to demonstrate the distribution of sales, net income, assets and performance of the type of business (RONA indicator), as well as the level of cash reinvestment (internal redistribution). The Hofer/Schendel model relies on a clear distinction between different levels of strategic planning. Hofer and Schendel distinguish 3 levels of strategy formulation: corporate, business and functional levels. The HOFFER/SCHENDEL model is designed to balance a corporate portfolio of business strategies. It considers the differentiation of a set of strategies into 3 levels (groups): corporate strategies; business strategy and functional. At the same time, the strategic planning process is divided into two levels - the corporate and business levels. After establishing the desired type of corporate portfolio of businesses, specific business strategies are formed for a particular type of business. After that, any discrepancies between corporate strategies and business strategies are resolved through consultations between managers of two levels. In this Model (4x4 matrix), the main parameters are the stages of market development and the relative competitive position of the type of business.

Depending on the position of the type of business, business development and competition strategies are derived, based on the variables of the strengths of the business and the stages of the life cycle of the relevant market.

The model is an extension of the top-down approach used for strategic analysis of diversified firms. At the corporate level, with the help of this model, the directions of development of corporations of competitors, their vulnerabilities and opportunities are used. The model can be used to analyze competitors, both at the corporate and business levels.

Alternative strategic analysis models explore the market and determine the most advantageous positioning of a company's business based on its competitive position, taking into account various parameters.

The EVA (Economic Value Added Analysis) model provides for the identification of key value drivers (interrelated financial and non-financial indicators) that allow for a business valuation and management of its development efficiency.

Economic value added EVA (Economic Vaiue Added) is a universal value indicator of business efficiency.

The model of strategic maps (Balanced Scorecarel) is a system for developing a balanced company strategy and transferring the strategy to the operational level of activity. This Model provides a balanced implementation of the EVA Model.

It is the Strategic Map Model that provides business performance management. The key performance indicators presented in the last section are the final stage of the business performance management system, which relies on cost analysis methods and models and the strategy map model as key success factors. Key performance indicators are closely related to the factors that determine the value of the company.

Chapter 1. Fundamentals of strategic analysis.

General principles of management, basic principles of planning and specific principles of planning strategist

Strategic planning, its logic is based on certain patterns, called the principles of planning. Under planning principle one should understand the objective category of the science of planning, which acts as a starting fundamental concept, expressing the cumulative effect of a number of laws of development of both the object of planning and the practice of planning itself, and determining the tasks, the direction and nature of the compilation, the possibility of fulfilling plan targets, as well as verifying their implementation.

Strategic planning is a central element of the management system of a society, an organization, and four general principles of management are generally significant for it, which include:

1) the principle of the unity of economics and politics with the priority of politics;

2) the principle of unity of centralism and independence;

3) the principle of scientific validity and effectiveness of management decisions;

4) the principle of combining general and local interests with the priority of interests of a higher rank and stimulating personal and collective interest in the implementation of management decisions.

In relation to strategic planning, these principles have the following content.

1. The principle of the unity of economics and politics with the priority of politics, the content of which is the requirement that the developers of forecasts, strategic programs and plans should proceed from the goals of the policy planned for implementation by the relevant subjects of management. Politics is nothing but an institutionalized system of interests of the corresponding communities of people. It expresses their relationship with each other and with the state, the direction of this activity in a direction that allows them to realize these interests. In the system of interests, economic interests occupy a central place, they are decisive in comparison with all others, and in this sense, politics is a concentrated expression of the economy. In addition, for the unhindered development of the economy, appropriate political conditions are needed, a state is needed with all its institutions and authorities. Consequently, without the priority beginning of politics in managing the economy, the latter cannot develop successfully, which determines the relationship between economics and politics. At the micro level, the owners of commercial entities form a policy that determines the direction of their development, the distribution of financial performance in accordance with their interests.

2. The principle of unity of centralism and independence is that the draft decisions prepared by the regulatory authorities in the form of forecasts, strategic programs and plans, on the one hand, should be based on information about the intentions of economic entities, taking into account their interests, and on the other hand, provide an impact on them in the direction necessary for society. Within the firm, centralism and autonomy in strategic planning find their concrete application in giving their affiliates the greatest possible freedom of economic activity, including planning, but within the framework of the overall development strategy of the firm.

3. The principle of scientific validity and effectiveness of forecasts, strategic programs, plans means the need to take into account the following requirements in the process of their preparation:

a) observance of the entire system of laws of the development of society, which determine the content and direction of individual elements and areas of activity. When developing forecasts for projects of strategic programs and plans, it is necessary to proceed from the essence, content and forms of manifestation in practical activity of the economic laws of the market economy, the laws of the development of social relations and the laws of the development of science and technology;

b) in-depth study and practical use in planned work of the achievements of modern domestic and foreign science and technology in order to timely carry out structural restructuring of the economy;

c) the ability, based on the wide use of economic instruments, to orient firms towards timely technical re-equipment and renewal of production, towards flexible susceptibility to the achievements of scientific progress and a quick response to the constantly changing needs of society;

d) ensuring the organic unity of strategic and tactical plans, programs and forecasts in the process of strategic planning;

e) increasing the degree of reliability of planning and accounting information, which is the information base for calculating indicators of forecasts, strategic programs and plans;

f) continuous improvement of the technology for the development of all planning documents;

g) ensuring the integrated use of all other elements of the strategic planning methodology.

4. The principle of combining general and local interests with the priority of interests of a higher rank and stimulating personal and collective interest in fulfilling the tasks of strategic programs and plans, it means, firstly, the objective need to organically link the interests of various classes, social strata, teams of commercial organizations and individual employees into a single system and ensure that in the management process strategic goals of programs and draft plans, as well as the preparation of activities that contribute to their achievement. Secondly, when regulating the production processes taking place in the national economy, with the help of federal and regional target complex strategic programs and plans, the solution of these problems is based on the priority of strengthening the security of society and other universal values. Thirdly, the creation (with the help of a system of economic incentives, in the form of various forms of wages, bonuses, tax and credit benefits, providing the necessary material resources) of the personal and collective interest of workers in the successful fulfillment of planned targets.

Analysis of the strategic position of the enterprise in the market and ways to maintain its competitiveness.

Analytical chemistry, its tasks and significance. Methods of quantitative and qualitative analysis. Theory of electrolytic dissociation.

HUMAN ANATOMY, BIOLOGY OF INDIVIDUAL DEVELOPMENT, BASICS OF IMMUNOLOGY

Auditor's control in Russia: concept, types, subjects, fundamentals of financial and legal regulation.

Strategic Analysis

Introduction

2.1 External analysis

2.2 Internal analysis

3.1 SWOT- analysis

3.2 MatrixBCG

3.3 Porter's method

3.4 gap - analysis

3.5 STEP - analysis

Bibliography

Introduction

Perhaps, any novice entrepreneur at some point in his business career comes to the need to answer the terrible question for himself: “What will happen tomorrow? What is strategic analysis and how can it help?!” And, of course, there are not too many daredevils who are ready to strive for this difficult task. Therefore, the fate of the company is left to whimsical chance, and the lack of a strategy, which is undoubtedly impossible to develop without strategic analysis, leads the business step by step to a dead end. It remains to bitterly regret the failed plans and shattered hopes. To help you avoid such a deplorable situation, we will nevertheless try to figure out what constitutes strategic analysis as one of the integral segments of strategic thinking.

In general, we can safely state that strategic analysis occupies a key place in the process of company development. A well-conducted strategic analysis becomes a significant competitive advantage for a company, as it provides it with highly relevant and useful information, for example, regarding the state of the situation in the industry.

An essential quality of strategic analysis is its long-term perspective. Strategic analysis allows us to look into the future of the company through its present and past. Thus, it reveals to our eyes the underlying causes that give rise to the failures of the company, or points to promising directions for its growth. Simply put, it is on the basis of information obtained through strategic analysis that a rational choice of strategy from a possible set of alternatives should take place.

So, strategic analysis will answer the following questions:

What is the level of the company's competitiveness today? What are the company's most important problems? What are the macroeconomic trends and their impact on the future of the company? What are the development trends of the market in which the company operates and their impact on the future of the company? What are the opportunities for the growth of the company, taking into account the trends in the development of the external environment? What restrictions and risks are an obstacle to the development of the company, and what is the probability of its successful development, taking into account the existing prerequisites and trends in the field? What strategic goals of the company can be formed taking into account various development scenarios? What strategic goals and ways to achieve them are possible? What should be the structure of the company?

1. Goals and objectives of strategic analysis

There are different points of view on the main goal pursued by strategic analysis. But, of course, that all these views are related in nature, and they differ from each other only in a certain emphasis on certain areas. Most generally, it can be stated that the main goal of strategic analysis is to form an understanding of the key factors affecting the present and future well-being of the business and ultimately determining the choice of strategy. Simply put, the search for the factors of the company's strategic success. This setting is the essence of strategic analysis, it, in fact, acts as a fundamental methodological setting of strategic analysis.

In the course of the study, strategic analysis faces several tasks that are already of a more applied nature. The analysis touches upon the most revealing aspects of the company's life. Thus, the tasks of strategic analysis can be divided into groups that are concentrated around key issues.

The main tasks of strategic analysis

Of course, one of the main tasks of strategic analysis is to determine the level of competitiveness of the company. In carrying out this task, it is very important to form a comprehensive understanding of the competitive advantages of the company that it has today. Also, strategic analysis should identify the problems faced by the company, establish the causes of their occurrence. In addition, it is necessary to create a hierarchy of problems, that is, to identify the most urgent ones. Thus predetermine the algorithm for their resolution. The task of strategic analysis is to conduct a comprehensive audit of the company's internal resources, form a clear idea of the company's human resources potential, describe the company's structure and ways to transform it. Equally important is the block of tasks related to the analysis of the external environment. Among them, as the most important, tasks such as determining macroeconomic trends and their likely impact on the future of the company should be highlighted. It is necessary to establish the development trends of the industry in which the company operates. Taking into account the above trends, calculate the conditions and prerequisites necessary for the growth of the company. A specific task of strategic analysis is forecasting. In fact, this is a modeling of the future of the company, using the current trends and conditions of the environment in which the company is located. Completing this task helps in part to form an understanding of the company's current strategic platform.

When conducting a strategic analysis, a study of the internal and external environment of the company is carried out.

The company, which the researcher “subjects” to strategic analysis, is considered by him as a phenomenon of a dual nature. Firstly, a company is thought of as a kind of closed system with individual, distinctive features: it has its own structure, its own potential, a certain limited amount of specific resources, and some financial indicators. In this case, strategic analysis operates with the sphere "internal environment" companies. With this approach, the main result should be an understanding of the organization of management and planning processes within the company, the general mechanisms of its (company) existence.

Secondly, in strategic analysis, a company is understood as an integral element of a macrosystem (cluster, regional, national or global market) - here the nature of its industry relations, macroeconomic indicators of the location where the company is located, the structure and state of markets, the business environment, etc. n. That is, we touch upon the sphere "outside environment" the life of the company. It is important for us to understand the conditions in which the company has to work, and how its relationship with this environment, partners, suppliers and competitors is established. At the same time, strategic analysis should be aimed primarily at highlighting aspects of the macrosystem that are significant for a particular business. So, for a manufacturer of women's clothing, it is unlikely that there will be interest in material about the trends in changes in ratios in the defense order of the state. Priority areas of research should be assumed a priori, i.e., they should be identified even before the start of strategic analysis - on the basis of sound entrepreneurial sense and elementary economic literacy and understanding of business.

Components of strategic analysis (SOB - strategic business area)

2. Implementation of strategic analysis

What is SOB?
Strategic analysis as a special methodology for studying business architecture, first of all, implies the allocation of so-called SOBs in it - strategic business areas. This step helps to better understand the specifics of a particular business model and determine the scope and principles of impact on the business as a whole.

A SOB is a specific business segment responsible for the production of a specific product or products. Naturally, each SOB is focused on a specific target group and competes for influence on it with other representatives of this market. The SOB is characterized by the presence of a set of resources (which it independently controls) designed to fulfill the ambitions of the SOB in the market. At the head of each SOB is its own leader, who determines the direction of its activities: production, sales, marketing, distribution, accounting, and so on.

To isolate the SOB, it is necessary to segment the business based on a list of criteria. Segmentation consists in grouping individual disparate signs of the production of goods and services into some integral forms. This takes into account the general characteristics of the goods themselves, which are produced or can be produced by the enterprise, as well as the characteristics of consumers of goods, distribution channels, as well as the distinctive features of each specific market in terms of its geographical coverage (local, regional, global).

2.1 External analysis

External analysis includes analysis of consumers, competition, market and uncertainties.

Components of external analysis

After segmentation has been carried out, and we have understood what business processes we should work with, we can proceed to external strategic analysis. It should start with an analysis of consumers, because ultimately it is the behavior of consumers that determines the success of the business as a whole - consumers “vote with their rubles” for certain products or services, purchase them, recommending them to friends and acquaintances, sometimes directly participating in participation in distribution of goods (as, for example, occurs with customers of some perfume companies who distribute products through catalogs).

In order to determine how to deal with customers, in a strategic external analysis, we have to find out which of the customers is the largest. We should focus on retail or work on the b2b principle. It should be noted that the largest consumers are by no means always the most profitable (which is clearly seen in the example of banks, in which mass private clients make up a small fraction of the total profit). Therefore, it is also very important for us to understand who are the most profitable customers of the company.

But we are not satisfied simply with the state of the market at the moment. For any businessman looking ahead, it seems fundamental to highlight the most promising customers. This will allow reassessing the attitude towards this category of consumers now and making appropriate organizational and technological decisions.

It should be noted separately that in the course of studying the mass of consumers, it would be logical to single out specific groups in them that differ from each other in a certain set of characteristics, except for direct participation in the purchase of goods (i.e., the scale of spending). For their segmentation in general, criteria such as product characteristics, type of organization, customer loyalty, geographic location, price sensitivity, product use can be used.

Consumer motivation falls into two opposite scales: satisfied and unsatisfied needs.

In the set of satisfied needs, one should separately study which elements of the product are rated by the consumer as the most significant; what are the true goals of consumers, why do they buy this product or service; how can they be segmented in even more detail, taking into account an in-depth study of motivational priorities; which pushes consumers to change priorities in the evaluation of the product and its consumption.

Logically, even more important is the study of consumer dissatisfaction. Here we need to understand why consumers were dissatisfied. To do this, it is necessary to find out the reasons for the refusal of consumers from a product or service, how various incidents in the relationship with the supplier of the product or service influenced the decision of consumers, and why these incidents became possible. Consumers can define some of their unmet needs on their own, and unfortunately, they cannot define some of them. We need to try to distinguish between these two kinds of needs.

Finally, we must understand what needs become critical for these consumers. The result of the study of consumers should be a structured idea of the principles and goals of their behavior, we must learn to anticipate the desires of consumers, be able to "play" with their interests.

The saturation of the competitive environment and the behavior of the main competitors is always one of the most important factors determining the success of a business. Often, it is the conditions of competition, and not the desires and choices of consumers, that force entrepreneurs to take certain measures, often very unpopular.

First of all, we need to understand who are the main competitors of SOB in this market as a whole. Here it is important for us to determine who, in principle, is able to compete with a given product or service. So, for air carriers, competitors are not only the same airlines, but also various types of land and water transport or pipelines, if we are talking exclusively about cargo. It is necessary to foresee who can potentially enter this market, has such plans. For example, a kind of shock for players in the game console market was the entry of Microsoft Corporation with its unique product. This decision of the management of the American company greatly influenced the structure of the business as a whole, and forced many Japanese companies to look for new competitive advantages in the fight for consumers.

But it is important, of course, to study the history of the business itself. We must be aware of who we usually compete against, who is a weak but potentially dangerous player, who is ready to enter the market with a substitute product. Understanding these factors makes it possible to anticipate the dangers of the market and take early precautions. For example, the shortsightedness of American steel producers regarding competition with aluminum led the industry to a deep crisis in its time. But it was already possible to understand the dangerous trend when aluminum began to win the market for beverage packaging from steel. We should try to segment competitors, see which of them can be combined into strategic groups based on their assets, competencies, methodology, markets, strategies, etc.

We also need to understand what new competitors the company may have, what are the current barriers to entry into the industry, and how to build our own strategy for new players. There are many options for behavior here - from creating additional difficulties when entering a business (through a cartel agreement with existing players or for objective reasons) to setting up active cooperation with startups.

When evaluating competitors, we focus on a set of indicators such as:

Goals and Strategies Cost structure and benefits of this structure Image and positioning Strengths and weaknesses “Chips” (innovation, management, our strategic weaknesses) Efficiency in terms of competencies and asset utilization Success of the business as a whole

Of course, the most important stage in the analysis of the external environment is the analysis of the market in which the company is present or which it is going to enter. Market analysis, in fact, will help determine the conditions under which you will have to play in the future. As the saying goes: “You don’t go to a foreign monastery with your charter.” On the other hand, over time, the company may itself begin to dictate terms to the market, as happened, for example, with the already mentioned Microsoft.

At the same time, we must begin our market analysis by examining the general state of the industry of interest to us. This approach will allow us to understand at what stage of value migration this product is, which business models are currently considered the most successful and efficient..

We must identify the main macroeconomic indicators of the industry and the market in order to understand the main trend of its development. Investigate the competitive environment, in which Porter's concept of "competitive environment" will help us a lot.

Harvard Business School professor Porter suggests that several interrelated factors influence the level and type of competition. Firstly, it is the power of the buyer, which lies in the fact that it is the buyer who makes the final decision on the choice of a particular product. Buyers, to the extent of their sophistication and awareness, can create various consumer unions that will control the quality of products, etc.

Secondly, this is the power of suppliers, which determine the speed of creating the final product, influence the company's costs and constitute an important competitive advantage for each of their market players. The developed infrastructure of suppliers allows organizing highly efficient production. Often, it is to maintain ties with suppliers that large businesses or regional authorities resort to cluster initiatives. Industry clustering has become an influential tool for attracting manufacturers of automotive components to the region for Eastern European countries.

Thirdly, there is a threat of new competitors appearing on the market, associated with the activity of young entrepreneurs or the reorientation of players from old markets to new ones. Depending on the barrier to entry into an industry, new players may cause more or less damage to existing industry players.

Fourth, substitutes or substitutes pose a great threat to the industry. The emergence of less expensive or higher quality substitutes often sweeps the industry orthodox off their feet. Such shocks at one time were the invention of plastic or the beginning of the industrial production of rubber.

Also, when analyzing the market, we can apply STEEPG-analysis. Consider the competitive positions of the main manufacturers, alliances and associations. After that, we should conduct a detailed analysis of our potential competitors and find out the key factors for their success in this market.

Particular attention should be paid to the threats and opportunities of the market, both those that are fairly obvious and those that are hidden from the eyes at first glance. For example, for oil producers, the invention of energy-saving production and methods of long-term storage of energy carriers after the oil crisis of the 1970s was a shock. However, even now they repeat the same mistakes, losing sight of the fact that the intensive development of alternative energy technologies can overshadow their cloudless future. The analysis of the industry should be completed with conclusions about its general attractiveness and development prospects in the future.

So, market analysis consists in identifying its characteristics such as:

Current size and growth Profitability of this business Cost structure Distribution and distribution system Key market trends Short, medium and long term market forecast Key success factors in the market

Also, although it seems very difficult and costly in terms of organization and time, we should make an analysis of unforeseen bursts of activity in the field of our activity. In the most general terms, this analysis will allow us to prepare in advance to take adequate measures for possible sources of danger. Such sources for business can be:

Technology (for example, the emergence of new technologies from competitors) Power (for example, the decision to nationalize certain industries) Economics (for example, global economic stresses) Culture (for example, the inability to sell a product in a certain cultural location) Demographics (for example, changes in the age structure of consumers)

After we have identified the most significant trends, threats and opportunities, we can begin to write likely scenarios for the development of circumstances. As a rule, scenarios are written either for a specific event (for example, the appearance of a new substitute product), or in the format “favorable” - “probable” - “negative”.

2.2 Internal analysis

In fact, the analysis of the internal environment of the enterprise differs little from the principles used in the analysis of the external environment. But at this stage of internal analysis, the company itself becomes the object of study. In this case, all areas of the enterprise are considered:

organization and management; production; marketing; accounting and finance; personnel Management.

The purpose of internal analysis is to identify the strategic situation within the enterprise, characterizing the current state of the business and the use of various resources.

Components of internal analysis

Internal analysis is systemic and multifactorial in nature. That is, the campaign is considered as a complex organic system with its own structure and subsystems. Moreover, the structure and subsystems of the company are subject to research on the subject of efficiency and development potential. It should be noted that in strategic analysis, the entire internal environment of the organization and its individual subsystems and components are considered as a strategic resource for the development of the organization. Therefore, the terms "strategic analysis of the organization's internal resources" and "strategic analysis of the organization's resources" are identical concepts and synonyms for the term "strategic analysis of the organization's internal environment"

Strategic analysis of the internal environment includes:

Financial analysis Analysis of key success factors (competitiveness) Analysis of the value chain.

The main purpose of financial analysis is to study key financial parameters and ratios. It is aimed at providing an objective picture of the financial condition of the company: profit and loss, settlements with creditors, liquidity, stability, etc. That is, the financial analysis of an enterprise is a certain method of understanding the financial mechanism of a company, the processes of formation and use of financial resources for its operational and investment activity. The result of financial analysis is an assessment of the financial well-being of the company, the rate of turnover of all capital, the profitability of the funds used.

Financial analysis, as part of the strategic analysis, in addition to describing the current state, affects the scope of the historical perspective. Simply put, one of the tasks of financial analysis is to study the dynamics of changes in the economic parameters of the company.

Financial analysis is the simplest in terms of implementation, as it deals with the statistical performance of the company. Therefore, it is quite logical that the initial basis of financial analysis is accounting and reporting data. The main method of analyzing financial statements is the deductive method, that is, the transition from the general to the particular. In the course of such an analysis, the historical and logical sequence of economic facts and events, the direction and strength of their influence on performance should be reproduced.

There are 6 main methods for analyzing financial data:

Horizontal analysis Vertical analysis Trend analysis Comparative analysis Financial ratio method Factor analysis

Principle horizontal analysis(sometimes called temporary) is simple, it consists in comparing each reporting position with similar indicators of the previous period. Essence vertical analysis(or structural) is the determination of the structure of the final financial indicators with the determination of the impact of each reporting position on the result as a whole.

trend analysis- this is a comparison of each reporting position with a number of previous periods and the definition of a trend, that is, the main trend in the dynamics of the indicator, cleared of random influences and individual characteristics of individual periods. With the help of the trend, possible values of indicators are formed in the future, and, therefore, a prospective, predictive analysis is carried out.

Comparative analysis(spatial) - this is an analysis of the summary indicators of reporting on individual indicators of the company, its subsidiaries, divisions, workshops. But comparative analysis can also be of an external nature, that is, an analysis of the performance of a given company with that of competitors, with average industry and average general economic data.

Financial ratio method(the method of relative indicators) is widely used in the practice of financial analysis. It consists in calculating the numerical ratios of various reporting forms, determining the relationship between individual reporting indicators. Relative indicators (coefficients) are divided into two types: distribution coefficients and coordination coefficients. Distribution coefficients are used in cases where it is required to determine what part one or another absolute indicator is from the total of the group of absolute indicators that includes it. Distribution ratios and their changes during the reporting period play an important role in the course of a preliminary study of the company's financial condition. The coefficients of coordination are used to express the ratio of essentially different absolute indicators of financial condition, which have different economic meanings.

base factor analysis are relative indicators (coefficients) obtained by applying the method of financial ratios. Factor analysis consists in analyzing the influence of individual factors on the performance indicator. Factor analysis can be direct, that is, the splitting of the performance indicator into its component parts, and reverse, when individual elements are combined into a common performance indicator.

The concept of competitiveness is key in the activities of any company. It is widely used and is used in almost all scientific disciplines related to business in one way or another. However, the concept of competitiveness does not have a generally accepted definition, when its content as a whole is formed. There are two traditions of understanding competitiveness, they differ only in the subject of competition. The first takes the product and the activities accompanying its implementation as the subject, that is, the competitiveness of the company is nothing more than the sum of the competitiveness of its elements. Another tradition considers the company as a subject of competition, therefore the concept of "company competitiveness" is in the nature of a targeted solution to the problem of selling goods in a specific situation, that is, the company's competitiveness is the ability to be better than other participants in a particular market in some performance indicators over a certain period.

Actually, we see two sides of competitiveness: orientation to the internal environment of the company, and orientation to the external environment. But at this stage of strategic analysis, we are only interested in the internal environment of the company. Actually, the analysis is aimed at identifying those unique properties of the company that allow it and will allow it, with their development, to ensure business success and long-term competitiveness in each of the strategic business areas in the future. In fact, these properties are the key success factors. Now we see that at the stage of internal analysis, the analysis of competitiveness is equal in volume to the analysis of key success factors. It should be noted that success in the competitive struggle is possible only with a combination of these two components of competitiveness.

So, let's look at the most common groups of key success factors.

One of the modern trends in the development of strategic management is the ever-increasing attention to the role of the company's human resources. Often, theorists and practitioners highlight the development of human resources as the most important factor in the success of a company. Companies need to invest in staff education, take measures to develop corporate values, corporate culture, and hire highly qualified personnel. Also, the organizational structure of the company is considered as one of the determining factors. Here, strategic analysis examines the company's bureaucracy, the way departments, employees, subordinates and superiors interact, and the effectiveness of the use of managerial resources. If we talk about key success factors that are more practical, then technological or production factors will come first here. This includes factors of unique production technology, revolutionary technologies, minimization of resource intensity of production. It should be noted another important factor that ensures the long-term successful growth of the company. This is the company's ability to constant self-renewal, self-stimulation, flexibility and stability of its structure.

Analysis of the value chain is one of the most effective tools for analyzing the mechanism of utility and cost differentiation, as well as identifying the relationship between them. This analysis shows the contribution of each type of activity in solving the main tasks of the company. Value chain analysis provides direction for industry efforts to increase customer satisfaction without additional costs.

The activities of the company are divided into:

Core activities (purchasing, merchandising, distribution, marketing, sales and service) Supporting activities (They aim to support the core activities. These include: general management and infrastructure, ensuring timely procurement; technology and process development; selection, creation and personnel management, planning and finance).

To form the competitive advantages of the company, a comparative analysis of the entire value chain and competitors' value chains is carried out. Based on the results of the analysis, the possibility of determining costs by refusing activities that did not participate in the creation of value is established. It should be noted that any element of the value chain can become a source of competitive advantage.

The analysis reveals which stages of value creation account for the largest share of total costs. Reducing costs in the key stages of value creation means creating a high competitive advantage, whether it is aimed at lowering the price or enhancing the image.

The main goal of the analysis of the value chain is the need to focus on business processes that create value, and outsource the rest of the business processes.

Value Chain Analysis Results

3. Strategic analysis tools

A key factor in the success of any particular analysis is the right selection of tools for its implementation. Tools make up the body of analysis; they allow us to investigate phenomena of interest to us in a practical way and obtain appropriate results.

Of course, for each company, the set of tools will be different, because it directly depends on the tasks assigned to analysts. However, there is a list of the most popular and reputable tools that are suitable for use in most cases. These include: benchmarking, SWOT analysis, STEP analysis, BCG matrix, McKinsey matrix, value chain, life cycle study, Porter method and others. We will try to briefly describe the most interesting of them here.

One of the models for the correlation of types of strategic analysis (, SWOT-analysis: practice and application problems.//Improving institutional mechanisms in industry. - Novosibirsk, 2005).

3.1 SWOT- analysis

This type of analysis is aimed at a cumulative study of both internal factors in building a certain business process model (weak and strong sides of the company) and the study of external factors: threats to business and opportunities provided by the macro environment.

SWOT analysis scheme

The abbreviation SWOT should be deciphered as follows: Strengths - the strengths of the company, which, for example, include a well-known brand, qualified personnel, well-organized distribution, unique technologies, etc.; Weaknesses - weaknesses, which, depending on internal circumstances and the current situation, include a weak logistics system, ineffective management, etc.; Opportunities - opportunities provided by external factors - growing demand, the emergence of new customer needs, the possibility of developing a supply chain, etc.; Threats - threats that arise from the outside: changes in the legislation governing the industry, the possibility of the emergence of strong competitors or substitutes, etc.

Such a comprehensive study of business conditions allows you to identify its "pain points". Which, in turn, provides an opportunity to focus efforts in one direction or another.

Note that in other cases, this analysis is carried out in a slightly modified form. Attention is shifting from the influencers themselves to the specifics of their influence on the business. We present an example of such a model.

In general, SWOT analysis helps to understand:

Does the company use its distinctive advantages to compete, and if not yet, what strengths of the company can become its distinctive advantages in the market? Are the weaknesses of the company its vulnerabilities, and are there opportunities to correct the situation? What opportunities give the company a chance to succeed in using its skills and access to resources? What threats should management be most concerned about, and what strategic actions should be taken?

We also mention the typical barriers that prevent managers from using this technique in the process of strategic analysis and which indicate a poor understanding of the essence of SWOT analysis. There are three main barriers to the competent and effective use of this technique:

Methodical - associated with the methodology for conducting a SWOT analysis and summarizing its results. Informational - due to the complexity of information support for this technique. Managerial - is determined by the possibilities and limitations of using the results of the SWOT analysis in the strategic process.

3.2 MatrixBCG

Following this logic, all products of the company can be placed on a plane. The diameter of a circle is a value expression of the volume of production of a particular product.

The profits received from the operation of "cash cows" should be used to finance the development of potentially profitable, but unprofitable due to small volumes of output, "question marks" in order to grow from them the "stars" of tomorrow. "Dogs" must be immediately euthanized.

Following this rational system, the company learns to finance itself. This approach is especially attractive to corporate planners because it allows the sen to depend on the capital market. In reality, “dogs” eat up all the company’s money, “question marks” receive valuable instructions instead of funding, and “cows” are exhausted only to be “drained” (it is clear that any motivation for project managers is “cows” goes to zero).

An analysis based on the BCG matrix allows you to answer the question: is it worth keeping such a number of heterogeneous products and capacities in one company? Wouldn't it be more logical to separate the "cows" into mature, solid enterprises financed mainly by debt, and the "question marks" into innovative start-ups with a predominance of equity capital? The subtlety is that when the company's management begins to independently distribute resources between departments, it inevitably makes mistakes.

Thus, in the late eighties, Stern Stewart conducted a study of the practice of financial restructuring of American companies, which revealed that the separation of "cows" and "question marks" increases the total market value of the split companies. F. Lichtenberg, a professor at Columbia University Business School, came to similar conclusions.

Let's immediately warn about other difficulties associated with the BCG matrix. First, we use the assumption that market share is directly correlated with profit volume. This is especially true for high-tech and costly production. Secondly, the use of the BCG matrix is suitable for planning activities, rather business units than products. Thirdly, the BCG matrix assumes that departments work within the same company in close cooperation, and this is not always true. Sometimes it is very difficult to "force" departments to work together: due to territorial disunity, different management methods or technological differences. And finally, fourthly, this matrix still leads to a noticeable simplification of business processes. For example, the absence of "dogs" in the product list may turn off some customers, etc.

In general, the use of any strategic analysis tool is best complemented by the use of similar tools and act very carefully.

3.3 Porter's method

This method consists of identifying six main forces that affect the business.

1. Consumer Power: Do consumers have enough choice, how elastic is the demand for the product?

2. Similar product strength: Are there or can there be closely related products that, all other things being equal, consumers would prefer?
3. Supplier strength: Are there enough products on the market? Is there any value added segment that will allow you to compete with other suppliers?

4. The strength of existing manufacturers: What is the position of the companies that are currently fighting for the market? What methods of competition do they use?

5. Strength of new members: What are the chances that new players will enter the market? How will they act?

6. Strength of other stakeholders: What is the impact on the industry of government and different stakeholder groups? Are the products important for the country, region, etc.?

Note that initially Porter's concept did not include the 6th force. At the moment, it includes a variety of factors of influence. For example, for Intel this de facto power is Microsoft.

3.4 gap - analysis

This method of analysis allows you to identify the discrepancy between the internal environment of the business and its external environment. Such a discrepancy can be fixed in the structure of demand, in competition with similar products of competitors, in the perception of products by buyers. Here it makes sense to talk about making a distinction between brand identity and its external perception.

The purpose of a GAP analysis is to identify those market opportunities that can become advantages for the company. Methods of conducting analysis such as interviews or testing are assumed.

In the course of the GAP analysis, we compare the current state of affairs in the business with its ideal parameters in the future, and this analysis will also help us understand the tasks that should be set for the company at this stage.

So, first, the management of the company outlines an improvement scheme, then the ideal state of the company in the future is developed. We then proceed to write a detailed change program. The main thing at this stage is to build a correct forecast regarding the ratio of raw materials supplies and sales.

Key steps in gap analysis
Determining the current value of the indicator using expert assessments or mathematical models. This allows you to understand what position the company can take in the future, taking into account certain management decisions.

Then we determine the maximum value from the list of possible values and mark the gap.

After that, we need to segment the gap by functional, sectoral, territorial components (the areas of activity will be planned. This is how we single out separate groups of business needs (financial, organizational, technological) that we need to satisfy.

Drawing up a set of plans (initiatives) to achieve the specified indicators. At the same time, the sources and methods for generating new ideas can be very different.

For example, if we set out to increase sales of a particular product, we can:

“Win back” market share from competitors Attract new buyers “Impose” - in an optional quality - more goods to consumers

3.5 STEP - analysis

This analysis is aimed at identifying the positions of companies in the market and the prospects for its development. The acronym STEP stands for a set of Social (social), Technological (technological), Economic (economic), Political (political) factors that determine the external environment of the company. In practice, this type of analysis is used to study the environment and available resources.

Sociocultural trends	Technological innovations
Core Values Behavior trends Company image and brand Event picture Consumer preferences Demography Legislation regarding social regulation Structure of expenses and income Public relations	R&D funding Competitive Technologies Potential for innovation Intellectual Property Issues Technology maturity Production capacity
Influence of economic conjuncture	Political influence
General economic situation Key costs (energy, transport, raw materials, communications) inflation rate Economic growth/decline trends Structure of taxation Investment climate Dynamics of the refinancing rate Demand specifics	Legislation Regulatory Bodies and Regulations Trade policy Funding, grants and initiatives Lobbying Ecological problems

4. Results of strategic analysis

Main conclusions

In the most general form, the results of a company's strategic analysis, especially if a wide range of methods were used in its implementation, can be formalized as follows.

Ranked according to the principle of materiality information about the external and internal environment

External environment	Significance factor a	Description
Policy
Economy
Social sphere
Technology
Consumers
Suppliers
Competitors
Other contact audiences
Internal environment	Significance factor a	Description
Products
Business Functions and Provisioning Functions
Control functions
Resources (material, informational, financial and human)
Other components of the internal environment

Based on the studied array of information, we can formulate the main conclusions regarding the place and position of the company in the market and its prospects. Actually, these conclusions should become the main results of our analysis. But, in general, you can group the results as follows:

The problem field has been systematized (the main processes and dominant trends taking place in the region, threats and boundary conditions for development) The key factors for increasing competitiveness have been identified The main factors of influence (positive and negative) of the external and internal environment on changes taking place in the market A comparative analysis of possible assessment alternatives has been proposed and choosing a strategic position

In order for a company to make a strategic choice, it is necessary to understand what state it is in at the moment. In other words, we must define our position, formalize for ourselves our current strategic platform. This will allow the company to see itself, as it were, from the outside, “through the eyes of others”. And at the same time most clearly realize their advantages and disadvantages.

The definition of the current strategic platform involves the allocation of three aspects: the company's marketing platform (the company's position in the market), the competitive platform (the saturation of various kinds of competitive resources) and the organizational platform (the structure of the company's functions).

In fact, no company, even the most unprepossessing and small, can exist without a strategy. Sometimes the strategy is not in the form of formal documents; sometimes the management of the company does not understand that they are acting according to a certain strategy. However, as they say, the absence of a strategy is also a strategy.

Bibliography

1. G. Mintzberg, B. Ahlstrand, D. Lampel. Schools of strategies. St. Petersburg, "Piter", 2001

2. M. Porter. Competitive strategy. M., Alpina Business Books, 2005

3. K. Stern, J. Stock Jr. Strategies that work. M., "Mann, Ivanov and Ferber", 2005

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