Project Report on Business Level Strategies

Question: Discuss about theProject Report on Business Level Strategies. Answer: Introduction Business Level Strategies are those which are designed by the companies in a manner that renders value to the customers which gives a competitive advantage over its other competitors (DuBrin, 2011). They are important because it gives a clear picture of the goals, vision and mission of the company to the people working in the organisation. The business level strategies are those which deal with the companys position in the industry where the company prevails in relation to their rivals. There are different types of business level strategies which are the cost leadership, differentiation, focused cost leadership, focused differentiation and the integrated cost leadership or differentiation (Harrison John, 2013). The business level strategies are of sixteen types but they are applied by the companies on the basis of their future goals and objectives. The following report will discuss the business level strategies of the three telecommunications company of Malaysia. Further the competi tive profile matrix of the three telecommunication companies and thereafter, finding out the leading company from them along with the justification and finally, the conclusion of the report. Overview of the Three Telecommunication Companies Telekom Malaysia Berhad DBA (TM) is a telecommunications public company headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and was founded in October, 1984. The company began with fixed line services, television and radio broadcast services. Currently, it also offers data, television paid data and other network services (Telekom Malaysia Berhad, 2017). Maxis Berhad is a public telecommunications company based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia founded in 1993 but got listed in 2009. The company provides different types of communication products with full 4G coverage and other value added services (Maxis Bhd, 2017). Digi.com Berhad is also a public telecommunications company which is listed in Bursa Malaysia, founded in 1995 and got listed in 1997. The company deals in mobile, telecommunication and cable television services (Digi, 2017). All these companies are the main players of Malaysia as it is found to be the potential market for the mobile and other telcom services. Business Level Strategies Telekom Malaysia Berhad DBA (TM) The goal of the company is to deliver the best of the connections for all the time and everywhere (Telekom Malaysia Berhad, 2014). The business level strategies that the company follows are the low cost, best value cost leadership, product development and market penetration. These are the strategies that the company follows as it is in the industry in which it has to face very close competition with two of the other companies that are Maxis Berhad and Digi.com. The company uses innovation and connectivity strategy in order to sustain in the highly competitive market. Their motto of reaching out to more people and serving the best network they have strategies innovation and information exchange strategies which have been positioned as Life made easier and Business made easier strategies. These can be easily seen in the picture given below: Table 1 - Strategies of Telekom (Source: Telekom Malaysia Berhad, 2014). As per stated in the annual report of the company it is reflected that he most successful strategy was their UniFi strategy which gave the nation their very first high speed broadband services along with maintaining a stable growth with 14.8% by the end of 2014. It also provides different corporate and residential package schemes customised for the type of customers. It also gave benefit to the customers that they can easily use their mobile handsets for the access of the channels present on the HyppTv. HyppTv was introduced with a motive to cater the needs of young generation as they so that they can watch HyppTv anytime and anywhere. With the help of all these services the company wants to diversify its business and cover all types of target audiences so that their revenue is also not affected by the underperformance of any of the services (Telekom Malaysia Berhad, 2014). Maxis Telecommunications Berhad The companys business level strategy is to penetrate into the market and enjoy the maximum market share in relation to its competitors (Maxis, 2014). As Telekom being an old firm that hay of Maxis they have to attract their customers by offering services to customers only on the basis of the cutting their costs and also by following product differentiation by improving the networks of the company. The company produced smartphone to create a distinct image from that of its competitors. They also gave benefits of discounts to their customers who purchased their smartphone service packages and the smartphone was also with the fourth generation smartphones. This complementary product was introduced with idea of earning more income from such a competitive market. The company follows a price differentiation strategy of charging different prices from the users purchasing the smartphones along with the plans. Loyal customers were also a basis to differentiate between the customers i.e. the c ustomers who were the constant users was given discounts and benefit plans (Maxis, 2014). The smartphone scheme will enable the company to attract more and more customers by differentiating their new strategy of introducing the phones of their own brand name. This will ensure the company to diversify its business, then its revenues and therefore the profits. Digi.Com Berhad The company has focused upon the growth strategy where they have been working upon their digital strength in order to become the most and best digital trusted partners of their customers (Digi, 2015). As in order to sustain in the oligopolistic market the company has to constantly keep an eye on the strategies of their competitors. Their idea of going digital will create value for their customers. The company has focused on the cost leadership (best value) strategy by way of offering valuable packages to their customers through introducing changes like digitalising their services which can be availed by the customers on one click. Out of the three, Digi.com was the late entrant but still it has managed to conquer a good position among the other previous players. Therefore; the companies working in the oligopolistic market where in order to sustain they are required to have a customer-centric approach along with innovation because if they simply just do nothing can make them a past thing to talk upon in the industry. All the companies follows some or the other business level strategy so that they can make a relative image as that of their competitors. The three telecommunication firms are constantly making innovation and changes so that they can survive in the industry of very few players. Competitive Profile Matrix Competitive Profile Matrix commonly known as CPM matrix is a strategic analysis tool which enables all the stakeholders of the company along with any other interested parties to have a look on the strengths and weaknesses of their competitors in a single page (Borajee Yakchali, 2011). It consists of four factor s of the competitor companies. The very first column shows the critical success factors such as advertising, loyalty, quality, price competitiveness, market share etc. which are further given weight, ratings and weighted score. Basically, it is a comparison between the different competitors position. The ratings are to be given from 1.00 to 4.00 to each of the key factors so that it becomes easy to find out that which company has made it to the highest ratings and the leading company of the industry. The below CPM matrix will show the performance of the three companies on the basis of their score and ratings given ti them against the respective key factors (Etzel, 2007). Competitive Profile Matrix TeleKom Maxis Digi.com Key Factor Weight Rating Score Weight Rating Score Weight Rating Score Advertising 0.10 3.00 0.20 0.10 2.00 0.15 0.10 2.00 0.15 Product Quality 0.20 4.00 0.70 0.20 1.00 0.40 0.20 3.00 0.50 Price competitiveness 0.30 4.00 0.40 0.30 2.00 0.40 0.30 4.00 0.30 Financial position 0.20 4.00 0.30 0.20 3.00 0.15 0.20 3.00 0.30 Market share 0.20 4.00 0.50 0.20 2.00 0.30 0.20 3.00 0.40 Total 1.00 2.1 1.00 1.45 1.00 1.65 On the basis of the following table it can be observed that Telekom Malaysia Berhad Company is the leading telecommunications in the markets of Malaysia. It is because as the table shows that the critical key factors of the Telekom are the highest scoring and rated therefore; it enjoys a better position than that of its other two rivals that are the Maxis Berhad and the Digi.com. In relation to this another big reason for its success as compared to its rivals is that it is the oldest firm of Malaysia therefore; it might be enjoying various benefits of cost leadership and economies of scale. Also, it is witnessing a distinct image as they have been in this industry since the longest time. The key factors taken to identify the competitive profile matrix in the current report are advertising, product quality, price competitiveness, financial position and the market share of the firms. All these will help in drawing out a conclusion in regards to the leading firm of the telecommunication industry (Sohel, Rahman Uddin, 2014). Conclusion On the basis of the above report it can be concluded that each and every company from any industry plans and follows some or the other business level strategies as their motive is to deliver value to customers and gain a competitive advantage to that of its competitors. Also, another conclusion drawn out was that the companies which are the industry with cut-throat competition have to be very keen with their strategies to survive in the market. Telecommunication being very highly competitive market where the companies enter into intense price wars therefore; they are required to always bring out something innovative to ultimately satisfy the customer needs. References Borajee, M., Yakchali, S. H. (2011). Using the AHP-ELECTRE III integrated method in a competitive profile matrix. In International Conference on Financial Management and Economics (pp. 68-72). Digi. (2015). Annual report for the year 2015. Viewed 23 February 2017 from https://digi.listedcompany.com/misc/ar/ar2015.pdf. Digi. (2017). Corporate Overview. Viewed 23 February 2017 from https://www.digi.com.my/aboutus/corporate_overview/information.do. DuBrin, A, J. (2011). (ed, 9th). Essentials of Management. Cengage Learning. Mason, USA. Etzel. (2007). Marketing With Cd, 14E (Sie). Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Harrison, J, S John, C, H, S. (2013). (ed, 6th). Foundations in Strategic Management. Cengage Learning. Mason, USA. Maxis Bhd. (2017). Corporate profile. Viewed 23 February 2017 from https://maxis.listedcompany.com/profile.html. Maxis. (2014). Annual report for the year 2014. Viewed 23 February 2017 from https://maxis.my/ar2014/images/download/pdf/maxis_ar2014.pdf. Sohel, S. M., Rahman, A. M. A., Uddin, M. A. (2014). Competitive Profile Matrix (Cpm) As A Competitorsanalysis Tool: A Theoretical Perspective. From The Editors Desk. Telekom Malaysia Berhad. (2014). Game Changer, Annual report for the year 2014. Viewed 23 February 2017 from https://www.financialreport.biz/File/AR/2015/4/6/4863%20-%202305560995524.pdf. Telekom Malaysia Berhad. (2017). About TM. Viewed 23 February 2017 from https://www.tm.com.my/AboutTM/OurHeadquarters/Pages/Home.aspx.