Running Head: STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR A NEW PRODUCT DIVISION Strategic Planning for a New Product Division of a Company 1 STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR A NEW PRODUCT DIVISION OF A COMPANY 2 Strategic Planning for a New Product Division of a Company Table of Contents Table of Contents ....................................................................................................................... 2 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 3 New Product for the New Division ............................................................................................ 3 Addressing Customer Needs and Achieving Competitive Advantage ...................................... 4 Vision and Business Model for the New Division..................................................................... 4 Alignment of the Vision, Mission and Value of the Division with the Mission and Vision of the Company .............................................................................................................................. 5 SWOT Analysis ......................................................................................................................... 5 Importance of the Vision, Mission and Value of the Division in its Strategic Direction .......... 6 Guiding Principles and Values for the Division in Terms of Ethics, Social Responsibility and Culture........................................................................................................................................ 7 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................. 7 References .................................................................................................................................. 8 STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR A NEW PRODUCT DIVISION OF A COMPANY 3 Introduction People argue that having no plan is comparable to going hunting in the woods and not possessing a compass. This is true since if there is not proper planning for the current situation and the expected situation, then there would be difficulties in achieving the desired result. Lack of planning in a division can result in the disillusion of the faculty. A strategic plan can be described as a document that covers up to 5 years in the future and provides an outline of how the particular division intends to complete its mission and attain the objectives. Some of the information that the plan should stipulate include stating the particular strategies that will be applied in the achievement of the objectives, identify the person responsible for each of the strategies, stating the timeframe and establish a mechanism that will be applied in the plan evaluation. This paper creates the strategic plan for a new product of a new division in a selected company. The selected company, in this case, is Facebook and the new division is called the Facebook Mobile Division. The new product is the mobile phones and tablets. New Product for the New Division The selected company for the study is Facebook while the division is Mobile Division. The main product that is to be offered is the mobile phones and tablets. Facebook is a social networking site and service and the users can do various functionalities such as live chat, play games, share their videos and photographs and post comments and statuses. Several other functionalities such as e-commerce are also supported. For these reasons and the nature of Facebook, it could diversify and enter the mobile market. The smartphone market is one of the largest in the world. Specifically, the global smartphone sales revenue $478.7 billion (Gordon, 2018). Therefore, Facebook could tap into this wide market. STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR A NEW PRODUCT DIVISION OF A COMPANY 4 Addressing Customer Needs and Achieving Competitive Advantage The needs of the customers will be achieved by ensuring that the new smartphones and the tablets are attractive to the customers. Some of the techniques that could be used for achieving the competitive advantage is making the devices to be able to access both the Internet and WhatsApp free of charge without having to purchase network data. This will have the potential of increasing the number of Facebook users that currently stand at 2.2 billion (Statista, 2018). With the provision of the two apps, many people will see the need to purchase them. In fact, joining WhatsApp is one of the reasons that many people have opted for smartphones. The needs of the consumers will be achieved by using Android as its operating systems. Besides, it is the most common and many people are familiar with it. Also, the needs of the consumers can be met by increasing the number of apps and making the phones excellent. Vision and Business Model for the New Division The vision of the new division would be: ‘To connect friends and families and around the world.’ This vision would be sufficient since through the many smartphones and the tablets that the company will make, many relationships could be created and strengthened because of the calls that will be made using them. The most important component for achieving the vision is the utilization of WhatsApp and the Facebook services that will be completely free of charge. Thus, a consumer will use them to communicate with his or her friends and family. Besides, the two features would increase the possibilities of making new friendships. The business model of the division will be in line with that of the entire organization. For instance, the opening of Facebook accounts and WhatsApp will be free as now they are. The emphasis of the publicity campaign for the new products in this new division will be the free Facebook and the WhatsApp. Other features will also be made better. STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR A NEW PRODUCT DIVISION OF A COMPANY 5 Alignment of the Vision, Mission and Value of the Division with the Mission and Vision of the Company The mission of Facebook is: ‘give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together’ while their Facebook vision statement is: ‘People use Facebook to stay connected with friends and family, to discover what’s going on in the world, and to share and express what matters to them’. These two statements reveal that the aim of Facebook is to create and increase the relationships between people. The vision, mission and the value of the new division should be aligned with that of the organization. The vision of the new division is ‘To connect friends and families and around the world’. It is clear that the two visions and missions are aligned with one another and that the division will not go contrary to the activities of the Company. SWOT Analysis The strengths and opportunities of Facebook will make it good for the new division to function appropriately. The SWOT analysis can be used for the analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and strengths that the new division will experience in the mobile market. Strengths 1. Facebook is the leader in the social network field with more than 2 billion users and consuming close to 80% of the time the consumers spent on the social sites. 2. It is a major source of traffic to both global entertainment and e-commerce. 3. It will have excellent design features and technology. Weaknesses 1. The smartphones and the tablets although will be hardware, will depend on critical software from other companies (Young, 2018). STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR A NEW PRODUCT DIVISION OF A COMPANY 6 2. The division will depend on the sale of its phones in the developed markets of the United States and Europe. Opportunities 1. There is a growing market for the devices in the developing markets such as India and Africa. 2. The company has a strong financial position. 3. Facebook should become the official partner of Fifa in World Cup 2022 to increase the brand awareness of the phone and thus sales. Threats 1. Apple has maintained its dominant position in the USA for a long time and it has a good reputation and reliability (Young, 2018). 2. The Android operating system that the phone will use is not as popular as the iOS currently used by Apple. 3. Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei and Xiaomi are increasing in terms of their market share and this could be an issue when the implementation is done (Young, 2018). Importance of the Vision, Mission and Value of the Division in its Strategic Direction The vision, mission, and value that is developed by the division will be important for strategic direction. These statements have three primary roles. The first is communicating the purpose of the division to the stakeholders, informing them about the development of strategy and finally to develop goals and objectives so the progress of the division can be evaluated. The mission statement is important for this division since it will define the division, the product, and the consumers. Besides, it will enable the division to make itself different. The vision is used for describing how the feature will appear should the company be able to attain its goals. Moreover, it will bridge the present and the future and creates an excellent standard. STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR A NEW PRODUCT DIVISION OF A COMPANY 7 Finally, the values of the organization will act as the platforms for nurturing the desired norms and culture in the division. The three components will play an important role in the organizational strategic process. Some of the building blocks such as professional behavior, respect, and integrity reveal how what division is about. The mission identifies how the division carries out its activities. Finally, the values provide the manner in which the division will attain its objectives. Hence, the three components are very crucial in the strategic direction of the company. Guiding Principles and Values for the Division in Terms of Ethics, Social Responsibility, and Culture The values and the guiding principles of the division will also relate to ethics, social responsibility and culture. In essence, this is some of the elements that will be included in the values. The inclusion of ethics will mention the issue of integrity, while culture will concern happiness among others. Conclusion The development of a new division for a new product at Facebook must be followed by the establishment of a mission, vision, and values since they are essential in the formulation of a strategic plan. The mission of the division will assist in the achievement of the goal or the vision. Through proper design of the three components, the division will be able to develop strategic plans that will result in meeting customer needs and a competitive advantage. STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR A NEW PRODUCT DIVISION OF A COMPANY 8 References Gordon, K. (2018). Topic: Smartphones. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/topics/840/smartphones/ Statista. (2018). Facebook users worldwide 2018. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/statistics/264810/number-of-monthly-active-facebookusers-worldwide/ Young, J. (2018, June 14). Facebook Inc. SWOT Analysis & Recommendations. Retrieved from http://panmore.com/facebook-inc-swot-analysis-recommendations
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