Strategy Mapping Please Title Case 4 I

Strategy Mapping

Please title Case 4 I attached Previous 3 Papers (Case1-3) Explain process strategy mapping relates performance management establishing propositions. You discuss theoretically Glacier Inn case study presented Armitage Scholey (2009) document readings serve integrating ideas.

Strategy mapping, performance management and establishing value propositions

Virtually all organizations today have some sort of defined 'strategy' which they are ostensibly attempting to put into action -- but merely articulating strategy is not enough. Executing the strategy is the critical often-forgotten element. Following through, organizations often face roadblocks, both internal and external. A strategy map sets "appropriate overriding objectives in a corporate setting" and is intent upon "establishing a dominant value proposition that will set the direction for achieving those objectives, and "using that proposition to guide the selection of critical financial, customer, internal process, and learning and growth strategies" (Armitage & Scholey 2006: 4).

Analysis

Although strategy mapping shares many similarities with a traditional Balanced Scorecard approach, it more explicitly ties specific actions to fulfilling the entity's value proposition. The strategy map renders the strategy into a visual picture that enables the organization to tell its strategy 'story' in a step-by-step fashion. The compressed nature of the strategy map also demands a very concrete approach to defining strategy. For example, the first step of defining an overriding objective demands that the organization establish a concrete goal such as increasing share price, revenue, or sales. Only then does the company develop its value proposition, whether this is based upon price, uniqueness or relationship-driven attributes (Armitage & Scholey 2006: 11). Distinction from the competition is essential. Once the organization knows what it is offering to customers that no other organization can, it can choose appropriate financial strategies to achieve those objectives while still remaining solvent, whether it is to be a 'first mover' like Apple and to capture a significant segment of the marketplace with high-priced, high-quality items or a strategy primarily based upon volume sales and relatively low profit margins on items (such as discount merchandizer Wal-Mart) (Armitage & Scholey 2006: 15). Critically tied to the financial strategy is the customer strategy -- either to maximize the amount of money derived from existing customers through providing additional services (once again, Apple is noteworthy in terms of how it has enticed existing Apple consumers to buy more and more Apple products), or to increase the number of customers overall (Armitage & Scholey 2006: 17).

After establishing these financial and customer-based strategies, then the company will "execute through the internal perspective strategies" and link the financial and customer relationship strategies (Armitage & Scholey 2006: 18). For example, Mobile focused upon generating high levels of revenue through sales volume and focusing on customer service and quality, so it created a special feature to expedite paying at the pump called Mobile Speedpass (Armitage & Scholey 2006: 19). Wal-Mart realized its focus upon selling at volume to a large range of customers by improving its inventory tracking process (Armitage & Scholey 2006: 19).

Improvement in strategy mapping is never haphazard -- every move by the company is critically linked to the objectives set in the previous step, which is different from the traditional Balanced Scorecard's more general definition of domains. Organizations focusing upon product leadership must focus upon innovation; organizations focusing on customer intimacy focus upon learning more about customer needs; organizations focusing on operational excellence strive to find ways to reduce defects and improve quality.

Finally, the company plans the learning and growth strategies to ensure its objectives are met, either through enhancing the knowledge of its human capital, information capital and organizational capital (Armitage & Scholey 2006: 20). Specific defects are identified and targeted as in need of improvement.