Question

Name three companies that are not in the examples I gave, and describe their core organizational strategies in terms of the following options Wal-Mart Southwest Airlines McDonald's FedEx BMW Low Price Specialization Responsiveness Differentiation: Quality Differentiation: Newness Differentiation: Variety Differentiation: Service 3M Apple Burger King Disneyland IBM Supermarkets Banks, ATMs Go online and find the mission statements of the three companies. Are their strategies aligned with their mission statements?

Answer 1

Three companies that I have selected are Costco Wholesale Corporation, Amazon.com Inc. and Toyota.

Core organizational strategy:

The core organizational strategy of Costco is ‘low price’. The company provides a limited product line to its customers at low prices. Customers of Costco will have a limited selection at their disposal but will be guaranteed lower prices for these products. Also the membership deals of Costco ensure that prices are low.

Amazon.com Inc. has the core organizational strategy of ‘differentiation – service’. Amazon’s core competency is based around customer service and Amazon is one of the most customer centric companies today. Amazon uses technology to augment the level of services it provides.

The core organizational strategy of Toyota is ‘differentiation – quality’. Vehicles and cars manufactured by Toyota are regarded as being one of the most reliable vehicles in the world today. Toyota takes quality control and quality assurance seriously and as a result is able to make and sell high quality vehicles like Camry, Corolla etc.

Alignment of strategy with mission statements:

The mission statement of Costco is “to continually provide our members with quality goods and services at the lowest possible prices”. The strategy of Costco is aligned with its mission statement and the emphasis is clearly on ‘low prices’. The mission statement underlines the core organizational strategy of low prices in a clear and tangible manner.

The mission statement of Amazon is “We strive to offer our customers the lowest possible prices, the best available selection, and the utmost convenience.” The strategy of Amazon is aligned with its mission statement as the primary focus of services to customers in the form of best available selection and utmost convenience is highlighted in the mission statement.

The mission statement of Toyota is “To attract and attain customers with high-valued products and services and the most satisfying ownership experience”. The strategy of Toyota is aligned with its mission statement as it focuses on quality products. The mission statement talks about high-valued products and this means that the products are able to add more values to the lives of customers through their superior quality.