Business Management Strategy
Establishing Long-term Goals and Objectives
Strategy Formulation
Strategy formulation is concerned with the long-term health of an enterprise (Chandler, 1997), and is a method of confronting potential changes before the changes can overwhelm and destroy the enterprise (Krzakiewicz & Cyfert, 2014). The literature indicates that formulating strategy needs to be studied consistently. According to Mitchell, “Organizational leaders need to revisit and make decisions about the growth objectives and the fundamental strategies the organization will use to achieve them.” He also indicates that formulation is necessary to “modify the current objectives and strategies in ways to make the organization more successful” (2009).
The literature also indicates that many organizations wait until the last minute to review formulation strategy when they are already on the brink of failure. This is a mistake that StickerGiant (https://www.stickergiant.com/) will not make. CEO John Fischer has made formulation a routine task simply by using the following software tools to formulate strategy (See Appendix A):
· Vision Traction Organizer (Vision Sheet)
· Vision Traction Organizer (Traction Sheet)
· Open Book Management
The Vision Sheet outlines long-term goals for revenue, marketing, staffing, training, customer service, and IT. It also identifies where the company stands now based on its current values, focus, targets, and strategies, in addition to what is forecast for the future. The Traction Sheet analyzes how it is doing to meet these goals for the current year, identifying issues for the current year in addition to comparison of revenue and profit. The information in these Organizers is gathered from all employees at weekly meetings that review the company’s current standing. This is where Open Book Management is used to display that information. These tools have been in use for most of their 20-year existence and have governed the steps they have taken to reach their goals. At this time, they see no need to change this process as it has proven highly successful for them. In fact, they are so well programmed that it is difficult to propose any additional strategies. They are a privately held company, however, and this may be the reason. They appear to hold the reins rather tightly but realize that strategic management is all about change.
Markets to Pursue
Based on their history, producing stickers is a lucrative business with considerable capability for future development. Current markets are in the U.S. and Canada.
However, StickerGiant is currently looking at the market for stickers and labels in Mexico and the U.K. This means taking further risks, thus they will need to perform additional research on cultural differences in both of these countries. For example, the foreign exchange risk due to volatility in currency markets. Additionally, they have to consider the shipping logistics around getting orders to people quickly overseas. One of their core competencies is fast turnaround on orders. Being based in Colorado, they are well situated for the U.S., and Canadian shipping has not posed any issues. But expanding any further puts the turnaround time much further out, thus this is the biggest obstacle. A future solution to this may be opening another facility.
Other obstacles include translation of the website into other languages, developing different metric options for the units’ people select while ordering online, and developing relevant advertising to other cultures. Overall, going global is something they are planning to approach very carefully as they grow more in the future (See Appendix A.)
StickerGiant Unique Values
Stickers tend to show up everywhere, thus they are an excellent and inexpensive way of marketing a brand. They can be handled easily and handed out freely from any venue. Depending on size, they can be firmly attached to many items. Therefore, the sticker becomes a promotional item, another way of identifying the product and the enterprise that produced it while keeping it in the public eye.
StickerGiant is unique in its niche position because it offers a customized service not available with its competitors who are bigger, more diversified, and thus cannot offer the service StickerGiant has built its reputation on. For example, fast turnaround on orders, free custom shapes and artwork, quality material and colors, and a one-on-one customer experience. Full- and part-time permanent employees are responsible for customer service, designing, printing, production, and shipping. These are teams that work their own areas of expertise but can also provide help to other areas if that is needed (See Appendix B).
Resources and Capabilities
StickerGiant’s greatest resource is its own versatility. Over the years, it has managed to transform itself several times and always come out on top. This has been due to CEO Fischer’s ability to maintain a “seamless integration between operations and manufacturing” (CEE, 2017). Fischer has always used the Open Book Management tool which he maintains removes barriers and increases transparency among employees and makes everyone responsible for financial performance. Thus, StickerGiant’s resources and capabilities are in large part dependent on its employees from whom they receive absolute commitment and who are always willing to do whatever it takes to succeed. Fischer’s motives promote a closely-knit work culture and employees who have a deep understanding of what it takes for a company to succeed and are firmly committed to the organization’s goals.
Capturing and Sustaining Competitive Advantage
The benefit of StickerGiant’s current organization size means that they are able to move quickly to check any issues that arise. While this allows for a higher level of flexibility, with growth it could easily be a different scenario. However, for now it allows them to offer a fast turnaround on sticker and label orders which their competitors cannot match. Also their unique ability to design stickers that are specific to a brand and logo is also to their benefit. This customization far outpaces their competition’s capabilities as competition can only offer a standard product because they do not have a special design unit in-house. This is certainly appealing to their target market.
While StickerGiant’s business progress to date has been relatively successful, it does display a high level of control vis a vis its strategic formulation. Whether this will work with continued growth remains to be seen.
Business Management Strategy
Corporate Strategy
StickerGiant has successfully managed to transform itself over its 20 years of existence and intends to continue on that path. In that time, they have managed to transition from a two-person operation to over 40 employees with a 30% annual growth. This is due to CEO Fischer’s attention to StickerGiant’s internal culture, and its where Open Book Management comes into play. Open Book instigates a “seamless integration between operations employees and manufacturing employees” and creates a high level of financial understanding and accountability throughout the entire organization (CEE, 2017). StickerGiant’s constant and consistent review of organizational objectives and strategies help to define and accomplish growth, identify which lines of business require attention, and how to allocate resources (Mitchell, 2009).
Vertical Integration Investigation
StickerGiant did follow this type of strategy when it decided to end their online sticker sales and concentrate strictly on customization of labels and stickers. They were able to discontinue use of an outside printer with purchase of their own printing machines. Taking over a function can cause growth, which did occur for StickerGiant. It allowed them more control over their printing operations, for example, size and coloration, not to mention speed of production and thus customer delivery (Mitchell). As their business increases, they will determine the need to do more of this.
Strategic Alliances Discussion
According to their Marketing Director, Jesse Freitas, StickerGiant will only use strategic alliances within their business for expansion into another country; for example, partnering with UPS and their development firm. As for current business efforts, they have employees, contractors, and strategic partners that help them accomplish their goals. Typically, they will not seek additional support unless they run into unforeseen issues.
Detail Competitive Advantage
CEO Fischer maintains that reliance on social media has been a major force in their ability to compete; for example, heavy use of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Reddit, and StumbleUpon. He states that StickerGiant uses the following five strategies regarding use of social media (Marketing Sherpa, 2008): Be everywhere your customers are
· Select a real person to interact with social communities
· Blog about your customers and their passions
· Create and promote videos
· Talk on Twitter, but listen too
StickerGiant’s blog page is the cornerstone of their Search Engine Optimization (SEO), states Fischer. Placement of new content generates links back to StickerGiant thus increasing search engine coverage. StickerGiant’s competitive advantage is also its size. It is small enough to have the flexibility that a larger firm would not have.
Their Mission Statement, “To help people tell their stories,” covers both internal and external stakeholders associated with their organization. These stories are published in their website blog and help to embellish their reputation as a ‘one of a kind’ sticker and label manufacturer. This along with their use of Open Book Management differentiate them from their competitors. Their employees are loyal, committed, and motivated because they have a say in the entire operation. Most competitors cannot replicate this environment without considerable change to their internal structure. They rely on Open Book software to help them review and explain their on-going programs and financial standing to all employees. This move helps to involve all employees in thoughtful consideration of their own areas of work and how what they are doing (or not doing) might affect current and future planning. In addition, they use Vision Traction software to outline future goals and objectives (See Appendix A.). They are pleased with both these managerial programs and will continue to use them until such time as they no longer meet their needs.
References
Center for Executive Excellence (CEE). (2015). A closer look at companies executing leadership excellence. Business in Focus. Retrieved from https://executiveexcellence.com/news/2017/07/03/stickergiant/.
Chandler, A. D. (1997). Strategy and structure. In N. J. Foss Editor, Resources, firms, and strategies: A reader in the resource-based perspective (40 – 51). New York, NY: Oxford Press. Retrieved from https://tinyurl.com/y7hxsbdv.
Fischer, J. (2017). StickerGiant: How to build a company culture that sticks. [web video commentary]. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/boburlingham/2017/05/09/forbes-small-giants-2017-americas-best-small-companies/#4780a0ff4c32).
Krzakiewicz, K., & Cyfert, S. (2014). The strategic dimension of the dynamic capabilities of enterprises. Management, 18(2), 7 – 18. Retrieved from https://content.sciendo.com/view/journals/manment/18/2/article-p7.xml.
Marketing Sherpa. (2008). How to use social media to boost SEO: 5 strategies. Retrieved from https://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/how-to/5-strategies2.
Mitchell, R. C. (2009). Strategy formulation. Strategic Management Resources, (1-14). Retrieved from https://www.saylor.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/BUS300-2.3_Strategy-Formulation.pdf
Appendix A. StickerGiant Vision and Traction Sheets
Appendix B. StickerGiant Organizational Hierarchy
