Example – Bigger, Better, Faster and Stronger .docx

Example – Bigger, Better, Faster and Stronger
Student 1
Walden University
WMBA-6990-6, Capstone
Instructor: Dr. Ed Dixon
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
...............................................................................................
..........................1
Summary
...............................................................................................
.....................................1
Recommendations
...............................................................................................
.......................1

Risk and Mitigation Strategies
...............................................................................................
....2
Strategy Map
...............................................................................................
.....................................3
References
...............................................................................................
.........................................4
Appendix
...............................................................................................
...........................................5
Company Selection
...............................................................................................
.....................6
Mission, Vision, and Values
...............................................................................................
.......6
Internal Strategy Analysis Tools
...............................................................................................
.8
P.E.S.T. and Stakeholder Strategy Analysis
............................................................................11
Competitive Strategy Analysis
...............................................................................................
.14
Key Success Factor Strategy Analysis
.....................................................................................16
Company-Wide Strategy

...............................................................................................
...........19
Executive Summary
Summary
Example is service provider to the Health and Human Services
industries of government
entities (Example, 2014). Domestically, the growth of the
industry is very slow. Internationally,
the growth of the industry is increasing. One of the challenges
of working in the industry is the
lack of product differentiation. The services required by the
government are tightly controlled
and, therefore, competitors tend to provide the services in a
very similar manner. The similarity
of the services provided to governments gives a great deal of
leverage to the clients and promotes
competition primarily on price. Through competition on price,
the margins continually decrease
for the competitive field. Example needs to grow the value of
the firm. Achieving an increase in
value requires differentiation of product and service and growth

of the target market. By
focusing on product and service differentiation and growth,
Example can establish a greater
degree of competitive advantage. The implementation of a
bigger, better, faster and stronger
strategy allows Example to work towards achieving these
objectives.
Recommendations
Example needs to establish a strategy for growing the company
and increasing the value
of the services provided through establishing product
differentiation. The growth strategy can be
achieved by focusing on becoming bigger. Growth is
achievable by Example through putting
additional emphasis on the industry available internationally.
Example’ current target market
has a primarily domestic focus. By broadening the international
focus, there will be more clients
that need the services that Example provides. Through
increasing Example’ target market, the
company will have more opportunity to be selective and not feel
compelled to bid on business
that requires lower margins. Domestically, the industry growth
is so slow; and therefore the

competition is primarily judged on costs. The international
Health and Human Services industry
can provide opportunities to Example – allowing them to
become bigger. Analysis of the
international market needs to take place to ensure it is a good fit
for the company. The
international market needs to be in line with the mission and
values of the company.
Additionally, Example should focus strategic efforts on
providing better service. The quality of
the services provided can be increased by increasing the
innovative products developed by the
company. Through standardization of operational functions that
technology helps to drive, the
quality of the services will increase. Example can achieve
product differentiation through being
first-to-market with new and innovative products. In addition
to technology providing product
differentiation, technology can also increase the switching costs
for a client to change to another
competitor. When a client changes from one vendor to another,
the operation’s people and
technology changes for the client. The more the technology is
integrated into the client’s

systems, the more challenging it is to switch to a new
competitor’s system. The Information
Technology team needs to have continual training opportunities
to keep their skills and ideas
fresh to provide innovative solutions to business problems. It is
important to have a well-
rounded team to be able to identify areas of opportunity for
improvement. To provide further
differentiation, Example needs to become faster. Example
needs to become more efficient and
agile. This strategic objective requires leveraging technology to
increase efficiency and
automate functions that are repetitive. Functions that cannot be
automated should be analyzed to
reduce touchpoints and speed the process. Agility can also be
obtained through innovative
software that is flexible, configurable, and scalable to meet the
changing needs to the client base.
If Example can achieve the better and faster objectives, they
should be able to reduce the
number of people each contract requires. People resources are

one of the most expensive costs
in a project. The reduction of people needed for a contract
increases the profit expected.
Finally, Example needs to become stronger. A competitive
advantage for Example is with the
employees. Providing services to government entities requires a
great deal of subject matter
expertise. As Example expands more internationally, it will
become more crucial to be sure and
have expertise on staff that knows the political climate of the
industry for the area. The subject
matter expertise will provide knowledge on how to implement
operations that satisfy the needs
of the client. Example needs to work to achieve high retention
rates to keep and grow expertise
within the company. They also need to focus on recruitment of
the right people for the right
jobs. The employees that provide the services to the
government are a competitive advantage for
Example. They need to be treated as such and have adequate
training and career paths
established to promote retention. The Human Resources and
Management roles need to be
trained on avenues to increase employee satisfaction and

retention. If Example can become
bigger, better, faster and stronger, they will establish
competitive advantages that promote
growth and sustainability.
Risk and Mitigation Strategies
There are some risks to the bigger, better, faster and stronger
strategy. One risk is the
reliance of the industry on politics. The government services
industry heavily relies on political
leaders and the political landscape. When elections occur, the
politics can change quickly,
changing the nature of the business quickly. To mitigate this
risk, the better and stronger
pieces of the strategy come into play. Hiring subject matter
experts will help Example anticipate
and prepare for changes that may be coming. The political
changes should not be looked at as
inconveniences, but be analyzed for ways that new opportunities
can form from them. Agility of
the staff and information technology associated with the
services will allow for Example to pivot
towards new opportunities as they come about. Another risk is
the need to control growth. As

new opportunities are presented, Example needs to choose the
opportunities carefully. The
opportunities need to be sure they are in line with the mission
and values of the company, and
that the company is prepared to take on the growth. The
internal infrastructure of Example will
need to continue to expand as the company grows. A focus on
Human Resources, Information
Technology, and Management in the stronger area of the
strategy helps to mitigate the risk of
rapid growth. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Example
needs to get their values, mission,
and message to employees and clients in alignment. The
alignment will define the opportunities
that are a good fit for the company, and give employees
guidelines and boundaries to use to
make decisions. The company, particularly with ambitious
growth initiatives, needs to create
synergy, and all be working towards the same goals.
Strategy Map

Financial
Market/
Customer
Internal
Busi ness
Learning
Expand Growth
Increase Market
Share
Better Pricing
First to Mark et
Solution
sIncrease
Operational
Performance
Improve R etention
Increase Training Initiatives

Ins pire Innovation
Increase IT S taffDevel op HR Skill s
Hire Subject
Matter Experts
Increase Agility
Devel op IT S kills
Increase Quality
Increase Operational Efficiency
Improve
Profitability
Increase
Customer Bas e
Devel op
Management

Skills
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Appendix
Company Selection
Example is a public company that provides government
services. Example is my
company’s largest competitor. I think analyzing how Example
does things will provide some
interesting insights. My organization is a small, privately
owned company. When we go
against them in a Request for Proposal (RFP), it almost feels
like a David and Goliath scenario.
They are a large company with many resources and a high
overhead. My company, in
comparison, has far fewer employees and much lower overhead.
I anticipate finding that the
differences in the two companies go far beyond just the high-
level statistics. Both my company

and Example are very successful in our industry. It will be
interesting to see how different
strategies for different companies play into the successes we
both enjoy.
Example is in the Hoovers Company Listing. Additionally, the
Example website
(http://www.Example.com/) has a great deal of information on
the company. The Business
Source Complete database also has several articles on Example
that I think will prove to be
useful in my analysis. There is a Example SWOT analysis
document that I believe will be
helpful as well.
Mission, Vision, and Values
The mission, vision and values of an organization define what
Lafley, Martin, and Riel,

(2013) refer to an organization’s “winning aspiration”. This is
one of the five pieces of a
strategy for a company.
Strong Foundation to a Soulful Purpose
The mission statement of Example (2014) is, “Helping
Government Serve the People” (p.
4). The direction of the mission statement is to the client and
the end-users of the services
provided by the company. Wolfe (2011) describes a Soulful
Purpose as defining, “ what role
that particular company will play on the stage of business, the
unique contribution it will make to
our community as a whole and the market that company can best
serve” (p. 86). The mission
statement by itself does not provide clarity on the role the
business will play or the specific

market that it works within. The General section of the
Example Annual Report does go a bit
further and explains the problems that the company attempts to
solve and why it is important.
The Example (2014) annual report states one of the problems
the services provided by the
company solves as, “Aging populations that place a greater
strain on health care and welfare
systems” (p. 4). The company helping to resolve these types of
issues gives insight into their
Soulful Purpose. The problems they solve explain why the
company is meaningful to the
markets in which they participate. The mission and values
together do explain their Soulful
Purpose.
http://www.maximus.com/

Strength and Weaknesses of the Mission, Vision, and Value
One of the major weaknesses of the Mission and Vision is that
there seem to be two sets.
The website does not echo the same mission as the annual
report. It is odd they would want the
shareholders to understand what the company does and why, and
not want the potential clients to
have that same information. The website (www.Example.com)
also lists some points about
“Why Example”. These vision statements do not match the ones
in the Annual Report. Neither
set of statements includes the role of the employees or
shareholders. Goleman (2000) states,

“six key factors that influence an organization's working
environment: its flexibility- that
is, how free employees feel to innovate unencumbered by red
tape,- their sense of
responsibility to the organization; the level of standards that
people set; the sense of
accuracy about performance feedback and aptness of rewards;
the clarity people have
about mission and values; and finally, the level of commitment
to a common purpose” (p.
81)
This gap between the website and the annual report create
ambiguity that likely impacts the level
of commitment to the mission and values. The lack of clarity in
the mission and vision
statements is not at all like the Signature Theatre experienced

under the leadership of Houghton
(Callanan, Wei-Skillern, and Onayemi, 2014). Houghton had a
clear, concise and consistent
message that was reiterated to the stakeholders and assisted in
maintaining the vision of the
company (Callanan et al., 2014). The message within the
Example mission and vision are not
consistent. The differences in the website and the annual report
make me question if perhaps
they have changed their mission statement since the Annual
Report was released. Another
explanation is that the Annual Report is written with the
audience of shareholders in mind (with
one mission statement and one set of vision), and the website is
written to an audience of
potential clients and end-users.

A strength of the mission and vision statements is that if the
sets from the website and the
Annual Report are all taken together, they do explain the
purpose of the company from the
perspective of the shareholder, the client and the end-user. This
covers the major stakeholders in
the company except the employees. The groups that are
addressed know why the company is
important, and the role the company (and the stakeholder) plays
in their market and the
community. What the mission and vision statement together
provide is the purpose of the
company, whom they serve, and why it is important to the
market.
Revisions to the Mission and Vision Statements
To improve the mission and vision statement, Example should
revise them to have a

single set throughout all of the company literature. Lencioni
(2002) states, “a vision that isn’t
shared is an unrealized dream; a strategy without organizational
commitment is a delusion” (p.
5). The ambiguity between the two sets can lead to questions as
to what the true mission and
values are and devalue them. Consideration of the role the
employees play in the company
would also add value to the mission statement. The Example
(2014) Annual Report lists the
following as a risk: “We may be unable to attract and retain
sufficient qualified personnel to
sustain our business” (p. 99.1). If attracting good employees
are a risk to the company; the
employees can also be a competitive advantage and an
important stakeholder to the company.

Another addition to consider is to include the specific markets
that the company works within.
The Annual Report references that the company divested other
lines of business to focus on the
two markets of Health and Human Services (Example, 2014).
These two markets are where their
specialty is and where the competitive advantage lies with their
experience. Wolfe (2011) states,
“The idea was to have a well-defined Mission/Vision/Value to
deeply engage all employees, to
energize and motivate them and to have a force that draws them
into the future like a magnet” (p.
120). Changes to the mission and value statements to be more
inclusive of all stakeholders will

need to be made to reach that level of engagement and
motivation with the entire set of
stakeholders.
Internal Strategy Analysis Tools
An internal strategy analysis defines for a company what
capabilities they must have in
place to compete and win in their field. This is looked at as the
company’s core capabilities.
The analysis of the internal strategy shows where Example
needs to improve their capabilities to
win.
Recommendation: Monitor Retention Rates
Example provides services instead of selling products. The
services that are provided by
Example are “labor intensive” (Example, 2014). Example
(2014) states that one of their

competitive advantages is subject matter expertise in their field.
Like the Trader Joe’s case
study, retention of employees is very important to the company.
Example (2014) states one of
their risks as not being able to retain the personnel they need to
run their business. In a service
provider business, your employees are a key to the success of
the organization. Pfeffer and
Veiga (1999) state, “Companies which place workers at the core
of their strategies produce
higher long-term returns to shareholders than their industry
peers” (p. 37). Strategically,
maximizing employee retention provides increased long-term
results and also reduces costs on
hiring and the ramp-up for new employees. Employee retention
helps to keep the organization

viable and healthy.
There are three quantitative metrics and one qualitative metric
that are useful in analyzing
the retention and turnover of the company. The first
quantitative metric is the turnover rate. The
turnover rate is the number of separations divided by the
number of employees within the same
period (SHRM, 2005). However, the number of separations
should be considered carefully. If
someone leaves your company, it could be because of
dissatisfaction, but it could also be for
reasons beyond the company’s control such as retirement.
Another quantitative metric that can
be used is the retention rate. This rate is the percentage of
employees who were employed at the
beginning of a period and remain with the company at the end
of the period (Carpenter, 2014).

Ideally, this number would be a high percentage. The retention
calculation describes what the
“churn” is on employees. A third quantitative metric that can
be used is the average tenure of
employees. The average tenure is the sum of the months
worked by all current employees,
divided by the number of employees. Ideally, this number
would also be high. In addition to
these quantitative measures, a qualitative measure of employee
retention is exit interviews. Exit
interviews will give a company insight into why the average
tenure may be low and may point to
a specific issue such as compensation, training, and
advancement. Identifying trends allows for a

business to work towards rectifying the situation. However,
this information is a challenge to
get real answers on. Employees may be truthful, and they may
not. Monitoring the set of
statistics discussed will alert the company to potential employee
issues that have the possibility
of being a critical risk to the company. Davenport, Mule, and
Lucker (2011) state, “Combining
human judgment with predictive models can be more effective
than simply following a model’s
recommendation” (p. 91). Using both qualitative and
quantitative data will yield more effective
results. Trends upwards or downwards in the metrics can give
management the opportunity to
make the appropriate changes. These changes are necessary to
maintain the health of the

company.
Recommendation: Improving Cost and Time Estimates for
Pricing
Example (2014) identifies the following risk, “If we fail to
accurately estimate the factors
upon which we base our contract pricing, we may generate less
profit than expected or incur
losses on those contracts” (p. 85). Example derived
approximately 72% of revenue from fixed
price and performance based contracts (Example, 2014). These
contracts require estimation of
expected price and performance when bidding for the work
through the RFP process. If the cost
estimates are inflated, the company may not win the business.
If the cost estimates are too low,
the company may not be able to make an adequate amount of
profit or take a loss on the project.

Wolfe (2011) states, “Profit is the foundational metric and a
critically important component of
the feedback loop” (p. 57). The monitoring and examination
of this feedback loop can help
improve the estimates both in the short and long-term. While
the Trader Joe’s case study did not
cover this type of capability, the ability to estimate accurately
impacts the bottom line directly
for Example.
There are several metrics that can be used to monitor the
estimated versus actual pricing
and to improve the estimation over time. The first metric is to
compare the actual costs to the
budgeted costs. The comparison is typically performed at the
end of a project, but could be
performed throughout the project to track progress and detect

trends that might cause concern.
One problem with looking at the budget versus actuals
throughout the project is that the service
contracts typically have many upfront costs to establish the
service with the client (Example,
2014). Thus, it cannot be assumed the consumption of the
budget will occur at the same rate for
the length of the project. This needs to be kept in consideration
when tracking the progress
through the life cycle of the contract. If the budgets versus
actuals are compared only at the end
of the project, the opportunity to make changes for that contract
is lost. If any negative trends
are noted through the tracking, the management team should
discuss the trend and decide if any
action is required. Another metric used in pricing estimation is
the number of man hours a

contract will require to work to completion. When providing
services, the costs of people are
one of the largest costs the project will incur. As such,
estimation should occur in much the
same manner as the costs. Estimations of man hours should be
performed when pricing a
contract for an RFP. The budgeted man hours should be
monitored both throughout the contract
and also at the end in a review of the project. As any negative
trends begin to develop, the
management team can respond with changes in the plan if
necessary. For both metrics,
performing a retrospective at the end of each project will help
improve the estimating over time
by looking at the lessons learned.

To further strengthen the validity of the estimates and thus the
health of the company, a
risk analysis should take place when pricing a contract. A list
of potential risks should be
developed. These risks should be scored in two ways: with a
probability of occurrence and an
anticipated impact. Development of mitigation plans are needed
for the risks that have a high
probability and a high impact to the project. The mitigation
plans should have cost and man-
hour estimates associated with them. Management can then
make educated decisions about
additional costs and hours that may occur throughout the life of
the contract, and that may need
to be considered when developing pricing for the RFP. While a

risk analysis will strengthen the
estimating process, there are still some significant challenges.
The projects typically span
multiple years and are subject to changes within the government
(Example, 2014). It is difficult
to predict the landscape of the challenges that might occur that
far out in the future. Another
difficulty in learning from the past is that many of the RFP’s
presented to the company vary a
great deal in how to execute them. At times, to learn from the
past contracts may be like
comparing apples to oranges. However, if the operations are
broken down into sets of repeatable
tasks that are applicable across multiple projects, then trending
and a retrospective become more
valuable. As the gap between actuals and budgets begin to
close through these analyses, the

company can more accurately anticipate the profit to be
expected.
Recommendation: Improve Operational Efficiencies
As mentioned above, the cost of people involved providing the
services is a very
expensive part of a contract. It is important to try reducing the
number of people needed to work
a contract so that the bid in the RFP can be more competitive.
To reduce the number of people,
but maintain a high degree of quality, the service operations
need to be optimized. Optimization
could occur within a business in any industry such as a grocer,
but it is particularly necessary
with a services contract. Efficient, repeatable processes are
needed to optimize the services
provided. Wolfe (2011) states, “The ultimate determinant of an

organization’s success if how
well these four domains – leadership, people, process, and
customers – are optimized and in
balance with each other” (p. 104). Optimization of processes
can occur in several ways. The
first is by reorganizing the work to be done in a way that makes
the processes within the
operations require less manpower. Another way is by
automating through technology as many
of the processes as possible. Raynor and Ahmed (2013) state,
“…outstanding performance is
caused by greater value and not by lower price” (p. 113).
Finding efficiencies will increase the
performance that can be achieved and feed the value and
viability of the organization.
There are several ways to determine where there is an
opportunity for optimization. The

first is to survey the employees for their thoughts on
optimization. While they are closest to the
work being accomplished, they may have fears of optimizing
themselves out of a job. Another
way to determine where efficiencies can be gained is in
customer surveys. Determining where
they think a company excels and where there is room for
improvement will give management
some key places to concentrate on. Some quantitative analysis
can be performed as well. Key
workflow processes within the operations can be identified and
analyzed. Adopting a Lean and
Six Sigma approach will reduce waste and increase value
(Jacob, Bergland, and Cox, 2010).
Using Lean and Six Sigma approaches; efficiencies through
automation or re-organization of the

process can be made. The process can then be analyzed again to
see if the desired results were
obtained. An additional way to determine where efficiencies
can be gained is through Service
Level Agreement (SLA) analysis. If the company is not
meeting the established SLA’s, then a
root cause analysis can be performed and then remediation plans
developed. Driving efficiencies
into processes can be somewhat labor intensive itself.
However, the labor of analysis and
remediation is needed only for the duration of creating the
efficiency. The company can then
benefit from them over the long-term.

P.E.S.T. and Stakeholder Strategy Analysis
Lafley, Martin, and Riel (2013) define a third area of strategy
as “Where will you play?”
The P.E.S.T and Stakeholder analysis define who the people are
that need to be satisfied for the
company to be successful and the factors that influence the
company and the stakeholders. The
analysis revealed some areas of weakness that could be
strengthened to create more competitive
advantage.
Recommendation: Encourage Target Market Growth through
Building a Coalition of
Service Providers to Talk with Governments about the Service
Options that are Available
Just as Tesla was experiencing issues getting their target
market fully committed to

electric cars, Example experiences issues with getting their
target market (governments) to
consider outsourcing services. The primary target market for
Example is the Health and Human
Services divisions of governments (Example, Inc., 2014).
Example (2014) believes the target
market has an “aging population that places a greater strain on
the health care and welfare
systems” (p. 4). While there is a growing need for services
within the government to be filled,
governments have the option to manage the growth themselves
or to outsource services.
Governments tend to want to keep the services within the
government. For the workers within
the government agencies, outsourcing poses a threat to their
employment. There are many
reasons why governments should consider outsourcing services.

One is that the private sector
has demonstrated an ability to perform the services more
efficiently at a smaller cost (Example,
2014). Another is that the performance of the private sector
managing the services can provide
an increase in quality of the services provided to the public
(Example, 2014). If Example
combined their expertise with the expertise of their competitors,
they would have a more
compelling story to tell to the government and the public. They
could explicitly state why
outsourcing is a viable alternative and help to ease fears that the
government may have by
providing alternative remediation actions. Without more
government entities willing to
outsource, there is a finite amount of the market to service. A
coalition could be the impetus

needed for governments to change their views on the
management of government services. The
growth in the industry would allow growth for the companies
competing within the industry.
There are a couple of metrics that could help to measure the
implementation of this
strategy. The first is measuring the trending of government
functions across the states that are
being outsourced. This information is reasonably easy to
obtain, as most of it is public
information. Through analysis of this information, new target
markets within the government
arena may be identified as a growth opportunity. The analysis
would also demonstrate which
states are more willing to outsource and which are less likely to
outsource. Knowing which

states may outsource allows for more emphasis of sales of
services to be placed with that
potential client. Another metric to analyze is the performance
metrics of the services provided.
By trending the performance metrics per service type, per state,
Example would be able to tell
which government entities are succeeding with their current
strategy, and which may be more
primed for a change because performance goals are not being
met. Not meeting performance
goals could mean a change in the outsourcing vendor (if the
government entity is already
outsourcing) or a growth opportunity in the industry of a
government that is willing to begin to

outsource. This information is largely public information and
can be easily obtained.
Recommendation: Work with Publications to Publish the
Performance Objectives
Achieved through Outsourcing Government Functions
In today’s world, much of the news published is negative. If
Example is not meeting
performance goals for a government entity, it will likely be in
the newspapers. The customer’s
perspective is formed according to the publicity it receives.
Tesla experiences the same
phenomenon. Although negative press (particularly for valid
reasons) is challenging to control;
positive press can be released championing the successes that
are a result of outsourcing
government functions. Relaying the success stories will help
get the Example name out in the

industry and have it associated with positive results. Another
positive impact is that other
government entities that have chosen not to outsource will begin
to see potential benefits of
outsourcing the services they provide. A third benefit is that
promoting positive press has the
potential to get the public involved. The public is the ones that
elect the government leaders that
make the decisions on how their services should be managed
and maintained. If the public
understood the issues and were able to see the success stories
from it, they could rally their
support around more government entities outsourcing. In this
way, the press could be used to
influence both the potential clients and end users. Spenner and
Freeman(2012) state, “The

marketer’s goal is to help customers feel confident about their
choice” (p. 113). Through the use
of publications, trust and confidence can be built up for the
option of outsourcing services. The
potential government clients, existing government clients and
the end users of the services are
the agents for change in the industry.
One metric that can be used to measure the success of utilizing
the press to promote
growth in the industry is by measuring the number of
publications or stories that are related to
Example and categorize them as positive or negative. There
should be many more positive
publications and stories over time if the strategy is successful.
Additionally, if the strategy of
positive publications does begin to influence the government
agencies and the public that utilize

the services, growth within the industry should occur. There is
a challenge in making the
assertion that if growth in the industry is experienced, that it is
due in part of the positive
publications. There is only an indirect link that can be assumed
in the analysis. Another way to
measure the success of the strategy is to monitor upward trends
in customer satisfaction surveys.
Surveys can be sent to both the government client and the end-
user. If the positive press is
influencing these groups appropriately, there is an expectation
that customer satisfaction will
improve. The reverse should be true as well – negative press
should cause a decrease in
customer satisfaction. There is an assumption made that
customer satisfaction increasing is in

part a result of positive press. Positive press should help to
increase the field of the target market
as well as increase customer satisfaction experienced by the
clients and end users.
Recommendation: Attend Industry Conferences to Develop
Relationships with Potential
Clients
As with the other recommendations, this recommendation of
attending industry
conferences is being made to support the growth strategy of the
company by growing the target
market and strengthening the relationships in the current
market. The recommendation for
Example to have attendees at industry conferences is to

advocate the use of outsourcing and to
build the relationships needed to win the business. The ability
to get the Example name
embedded into the industry along with the successes that can be
expected through outsourcing
can be powerful to the growth of the industry and the company.
Relationships are needed to
encourage the outsourcing message in a politically charged
market like governments. Wolfe
(2011) states, “It is the energy you project in what you say or
do that creates the experience that
is felt” (p. 78). The face-to-face interactions in a conference
setting are a way to energize the
industry about the services offered and the value they provide.
Industry conferences are where
government agencies come together to discuss alternatives.
Outsourcing needs to be on their

agenda along with the competitive advantages that Example has
to offer.
One way to track the implementation of this recommendation is
to collect data on the
connections made at the conferences. There can be some
challenges in data collection. The data
must be given from the new connection to the Example
employee and then tracked. While this
may be electronically executed, there are manual ways to
implement this as well - such as
collecting business cards. In either a somewhat automated
manner or through manual entry, the
information should be entered into a Customer Relationship
Management (CRM) system for
storage. The CRM can also help to facilitate other metrics
collected such as how many times and

by what method each potential client has been communicated
with. Shanks, Jagielska, and
Jayaganesh (2009) describe a CRM as, “managing and
improving relationships with customers
in the areas of sales, marketing, and customer support and
service” (p. 264). The assumption
being made is that the efforts of communication will increase
awareness of the options and thus
increase the growth of the industry and the company.
Conclusion – P.E.S.T and Stakeholder Strategy
All three recommendations have the same objective – to
increase the target market and to
increase growth for the company leveraging external
stakeholders. Montgomery (2008) states
that a company “must keep one eye on how the company is
currently adding value and the other

eye on changes, both inside and outside the company, that either
threaten its position or present
some new opportunity for adding value” (p. 6). Working
together with the external stakeholders,
the recommendations made could help facilitate the
relationships and influence needed to create
opportunities for the company and the industry.
Competitive Strategy Analysis
Lafley, Martin, and Riel (2013) define a fourth area of strategy
as “How will you win?”
The competitive analysis is an analysis of the potential
competition. The recommendations focus

on areas where Example’s strengths can be used to their
advantage in competition and minimize
their weaknesses.
Critical Competitive Forces
The most critical competitive force for Example is the buyers.
From the case study this
week, Apple should also feel a threat from the competitive force
of the buyers. In Apple’s
scenario, the switching costs are low, and buyers have the
luxury of multiple choices that are all
fairly similar. Porter (1983) states, “consumers tend to be more
price sensitive if they are
purchasing products that are undifferentiated” (p. 15). For
Apple within the smartphone
industry, the products offered by different companies have
similar functionality. With Example,

the same holds true. The competitors in the Health and Human
Services industry all offer similar
functionality. The Health and Human Services industry is
strictly controlled by the
governments. This makes differentiation between competitors a
challenge and gives buyers
some leverage. Unlike Apple where the switching costs to
another competitor is low; the
switching costs for Example is high. When companies win
business within the industry, the
services delivered include employees to provide the services as
well as the technology and
infrastructure to support the services provided (Example Inc.,
2015). When a buyer chooses a
different vendor, the whole service provided is implemented
again – likely with different
employees, process, and technology.

Comparison of Competitive Forces between Apple and Example
For Apple and Example, the threat of new entrants is low.
There are high start-up costs
within both industries. To compete with the current industry
leaders, a new company must have
funding to manage the capital requirements (Porter, 1983).
Additionally, in the Health and
Human Services industry, to win business, you have to have
references of prior successful
implementations of similar size and scope. This requirement by
the government eliminates most
new entrants. Both Apple and Example enjoy strong branding
within their industries. Apple
benefits from “brand equity that lasts for decades” (Kim and
Mauborgne, 2004). Example
Inc.(2015) claims they have, “been operating large scale

program management operations on
behalf of government agencies since 1975 and enjoys brand
recognition as a proven partner with
government agencies” (p. 5). The strong brand images make it
a challenge for customers to
choose a new player in the market over one that has a proven
reputation.
A difference in the competitive forces between Apple and
Example is the threat of direct
competition. Apple’s direct competition is high. The switching
costs are low, and the
aggressiveness of other firms is high. For Example, the
switching costs are high, and the
aggressiveness of other firms is moderate. Since the Health and
Human Services industry is won
through Request for Proposals (RFP) that become public record,
the competitors each can easily

see what each other has to offer potential clients. The ability to
know what the competitive
advantages are of each competitor lowers the threat of direct
competitors.
Recommendation: Focus on International Growth
The growth of outsourcing is slow within the Health and
Human Services industry in the
United States. The lack of industry growth causes the number
of buyers to be stagnant. An
increase in the number of buyers should provide opportunities
for growth of the company. With
the growth being slow, competitors tend to have to compete on
price to win the business from

another competitor. Example Inc. (2015) has seen that there is
“robust demand in the UK
public sector outsourcing market” (p. 4). The increase in
demand internationally provides
opportunities for company growth that can likely not be
achieved within the United States.
Market growth internationally needs to be measured to watch
for trends upward or downward in
the growth of outsourcing public services. This information is
public information and is not a
challenge to obtain. Example also should track the number of
contracts and revenue generated
from winning international business. This metric will show the
trends in growth within the
company that can be attributed to the focus on the international
market. Finding ways to
increase the numbers of buyers available to purchase the

services, increases the ability for a
company to grow.
Recommendation: Hire Employees with Industry Knowledge
The Health and Human Services industry is “specialized in
nature” (Example Inc., 2015).
Employees that have subject matter expertise in the field should
be recruited to help facilitate
and operate the new business that is obtained by the company.
The depth of knowledge and
understanding Example has within the industry is a competitive
advantage. This advantage
provides differentiation needed to keep the threat of new entry
low. Pfeffer and Veiga (1999)
state, “Companies which place workers at the core of their
strategies produce higher long-term
returns to shareholders than their industry peers” (p. 38). The

goal of hiring people with subject
matter expertise can be measured by Human Resources through
the hiring process. One
challenge in using this metric as a measure of success is that
each employee could have varying
skills and expertise in the industry. Having ten people with a
low degree of industry expertise
may be equivalent in creating competitive advantage to having
one person with extensive
expertise. The metric is a count and not a complete measure of
how subject matter expertise
impacts the company. Another metric to be measured is the
ability for Example to reach and
exceed the performance goals. The company should become
more adept at meeting the
performance goals with the more industry expertise they have
on staff. The performance goals

are not challenging to obtain; however, meeting the
performance goals may not be as a direct
result of hiring employees with the specific expertise.
Recommendation: Leverage Technology to Create
Differentiation between Competitors
The recommendation for Example is similar to
recommendations that could benefit
Apple – increase switching costs and increase product
differentiation as much as possible. In an
industry where the services that are provided are so similar, any
product differentiation could
become a large competitive advantage. Product differentiation
for both Apple and Example can
be obtained through technology innovations. A creative and
innovative work environment will
translate into more efficient and higher quality operations of the

services provided. Developing a
creative work environment requires creating, “an atmosphere
where people are inspired to
succeed rather than afraid to fail” (Jeffrey, 2009). Apple was
able to cultivate this type of
atmosphere through the leadership of Steve Jobs (Rothaermel,
2014). In addition to product
differentiation, switching costs should be considered. The more
tied the customer is through
technology integration, the higher the switching costs. The
higher the switching costs, the less
likely it is for a client to switch vendors. For Example, the
technology innovations can be
measured through the number of products and technology

enhancements released. The more
releases there are, the higher the innovation should be, which
should translate into quality and
efficiency. Although this metric is not challenging to obtain,
not all releases will carry similar
impacts to the operations. Another metric that can be used is
measuring quality and efficiencies
within the operations. With more efficient tools, employees
should be able to complete their
jobs in a shorter amount of time with increased quality. The
metrics can be analyzed for trends
over time. Innovation areas that have a positive impact on
operations can be focused on for
additional tuning of the tools.
Conclusion – the Competitive Environment
Example needs to focus on maintaining high switching costs,

increasing the focus and
scope of where they compete and provide innovative product
differentiation. By keeping the
switching costs high, the buyers are more likely to stay with the
same vendor. The focus on
international business will give the company a chance at more
opportunities and allow them to
grow in an industry that has slow growth in the United States.
Example must also find ways to
differentiate themselves from other competitors. Differentiation
can be through hiring subject
matter expertise that can be leveraged to win and improve the
business. Product differentiation
can also be accomplished through innovative technology
choices and design that increase their
ability to meet performance goals and to drive efficiency into
the operations.

Key Success Factor Strategy Analysis
The Key Success Factor analysis reveals the ways to create
competitive advantages and
value within the company. Example should devote attention to
the areas in the recommendations
to leverage and build their key success factors.
Recommendation: International Growth
From the five forces analysis on Example, the buyers pose the
highest threat. This is
different from the forces that Trader Joe’s would find
threatening. Trader Joe’s has buyers with
significantly less power; however Trader Joe’s has threats to
watch in direct competition and
substitution of products. For Example, there are very few
buyers, creating a slow growth model.

The government sets the policy on how the services are
provided and thus there is little
differentiation among the competitors in the industry. Porter
(1983) states, “consumers tend to
be more price sensitive if they are purchasing products that are
undifferentiated” (p. 15). When
the competition is primarily based on cost, the buyer poses a
high level of threat. The
stakeholder analysis revealed the buyers(clients) as one of the
most important stakeholders. This
is similar to Trader Joe’s in that the customers are a major
stakeholder. If the client’s satisfaction
is not maintained, the business is at a risk to be lost. This is
true for both Example and Trader
Joe’s. For Example, the number of buyers has a direct impact
on the growth opportunities.

One way to lessen the threat and impact of the buyers is to
modify the business model to
compete in an arena where there is a larger group of buyers. In
the United States, the number of
buyers is somewhat small as the political climate slowly
changes. In the international realm of
Health and Human Services, the growth is higher. Example Inc.
(2015) has seen that there is a
“robust demand in the UK public sector outsourcing market” (p.
4). As a critical success factor,
Example needs to focus more on the international market. As
the number of buyers within the
market that Example works within increases, the amount of
business obtained should increase,
and the detrimental effect of losing some contracts decreases.

This also allows Example the
flexibility of not bidding on contracts where the margins are
expected to be small. Example can
be selective of the contracts to attempt to win, as there is more
business to choose from. Porter
(1996) states, “expanding globally is likely to leverage and
reinforce a company’s unique
position and identity” (p. 18). Example can use its current
strengths and branding and expand
internationally.
The impact of international growth on the company can be
quantified through measuring
the trends of the Example win/loss rate for international
business combined with an analysis of
the trending of meeting performance goals. The data for this
analysis should be easily obtainable

as the numbers are generated inside of the company. If the
international market is a viable one to
be in, Example should have more contracts to manage and
services to provide. If Example is
performing well at providing international Health and Human
services, then the performance
goals for each contract should reflect that. The number of
buyers increasing through focusing on
international growth will decrease the threat of the buyers.
However, the buyers have to be
satisfied with the services, or the growth will only be short
term. Another way to assess if a
focus on international growth is working is to measure the
amount of market growth outside the
U.S. The Health and Human Services industry is very
politically motivated. While the
international business seems to be increasing now, it needs to be

monitored for continued growth
to provide opportunities for the company. This data is public
information and is easily obtained.
Recommendation : Focus on Employees
Example is similar to Trader Joe’s in that the employees are a
significant stakeholder.
The employees are a large part of what makes the business
successful. Example is also like
Trader Joe’s in that the employees are leveraged as a way to
differentiate themselves from other
competitors. This differentiation in the services (products)
provided reduces the threat of direct
competition and the buyer’s leverage. Pfeffer and Veiga (1999)
state, “Companies which place
workers at the core of their strategies produce higher long-term
returns to shareholders than their

industry peers” (p. 38). For Example, hiring employees that are
subject matter experts (SME) in
the field can help the company in multiple ways. The SME’s
will likely have relationships to
leverage that can positively impact the ability to win business in
an industry where politics plays
a large role. Like with Trader Joe’s, a positive relationship
connection between the employees
and the clients are a competitive advantage. Additionally,
Example should also monitor the
retention rate. Employee retention helps develop new SME’s
into the industry that is on the
Example team. When a company is a service provider, the
more employees that are very
familiar with the business, the easier it is to win more business,
as well as the easier it is to
implement the services in a way that achieve the performance

goals. If Example takes the
recommendation to focus on expanding internationally, it will
be very important that they find
SME’s within those regions to help with the political issues that
sometimes have to be worked
through.
To measure the success of focusing on employees, the retention
rate should be monitored.
Although all retention rates are important, the retention rate
being low for the middle and upper
management is a critical flag to watch for that indicates trouble.
This data is easy to obtain, as
the numbers are all from internal sources. As the company
grows, the subject matter expertise

needs also to grow for the company to provide exceptional
services to the clients. Another
metric that can be used to measure the success of this
recommendation is to monitor the growth
in the company of those with subject matter expertise to ensure
it is in line with the overall
growth of the company. Although this information is internal
and easy to obtain, one challenge
with this metric is that it assumes it is correct to treat all
expertise equally. Some expertise is
more valuable to a company than others.
Recommendation : Leverage Technology to Create Efficiencies
As with the second recommendation, leveraging technology
solutions to create
efficiencies creates product differentiation. Product
differentiation is a critical success factor. It

weakens the threat of direct competition and lowers the threat
of the buyers. Trader Joe’s
leverages product differentiation through their private label
products and their purchase of non-
mainstream products to sell in the store (Ager and Roberto,
2013). Example has to do the same
– find a way to provide value in a different manner than the
competitors. For Example, creating
innovative technology solutions can create efficiencies within
the operations that can translate
into fewer costs in people needed to provide services.
Innovative technology solutions also
would give Example something to sell that is different from
their competitors. Raynor and
Ahmed (2013) state, “…outstanding performance is caused by
greater value and not by lower

price” (p. 113). Through the use of technology, Example can
find ways to create value – either
in cost and service efficiencies or through higher quality that is
obtained through implementing
repeatable processes. If a client finds the technology solutions
that Example provides create
value, the switching costs, then go up. Once switching costs
increase, the threat of the buyers
leverage decreases. The use of repeatable processes that
technology solutions provide makes it
easier for the company to support growth. Porter (1996) states,
“differentiation arises from the
choice of activities and how they are performed” (p. 3). Like
Trader Joe’s, providing a focus on
the product (services) and differentiating it from the
competitors, creates a competitive
advantage.

The use of new technologies, process and solutions should be
monitored to make sure it
is having the anticipated impact. This can be measured through
quality and efficiency metrics
that the operations collect when performing their services.
Repeatable processes applied to a
specific function should increase the quality of the function.
The outputs of the function become
easier to predict with repeatable processes that emphasize
quality. Another set of analysis that
can be used is monitoring what innovations the competition is
using to make sure that the
product differentiation remains. If a competitor creates a new,
efficient tool to use in their
operations, another competitor that develops a similar tool will
not get the benefit of being “first

to market” with it, and will lose any product differentiation.
With government services, the
Request for Proposal process is public record. It is easy to
obtain information on how
competitors provide the services and the performance gains and
losses that can be associated
with it.
Conclusion – Key Success Factors
Finding ways to create product differentiation is a key success
factor in the Health and
Human Services industry. The competitors have to work within
the bounds of the government
policy. This creates similarities in the services provided and
allows buyers to force winning

business through aggressive pricing. The more product
differentiation that is obtained by
Example, the less leverage the buyers can hold. Product
differentiation for Example can be
created through their employees and innovate technology
solutions. The employees and
technology solutions combined make up the services that are
provided by Example to the
government. Improvements in the employees understanding of
the business or improvements in
the efficiencies and quality of the services through technology
tools can create differences that
are important to the clients.
If the company focus remains on the U.S. Health and Human
Services industry, the
growth of the business will be slow, as the growth of the

industry is also slow. Shifting the focus
to providing international Health and Human Services broadens
the playing field substantially.
Growth of this type will require additional employees that are
SMEs and good technology
solutions to support it. The recommendations provided, when
taken collectively, can create and
support growth while establishing product differentiation that
creates competitive advantage.
Company-Wide Strategy
The analysis performed help to define what the company wants
to achieve, what the
competitive landscape looks like, the competencies that the
company needs to acquire to
compete and the key success factors that are needed. Through
synthesizing the analysis together,

a strategy is developed that will help to guide Example into the
future.
A Strategy for Example
Example provides services to government Health and Human
Services agencies. The
mission statement for Example (2014) is, “Helping Government
Serve the People” (p.4). For
Example, some of the major stakeholders are their clients (the
government agencies), and the end
users (the public). The clients have a great deal of leverage
over the pricing and operations of
the services. The government has specific standards and
practices that must be adhered to win
the business. This creates a lack of differentiation among the
competition and increases the
importance of price of the services.

Example (2014) lists their strategy as, “Our goal is to enable
future growth by remaining
a leading provider of BPS and consulting services to
government agencies” (p. 9). Collis and
Rukstard (2008) say a strategic objective should be “specific,
measurable, and time-bound” (p.
4). The strategic objective for Example could be rephrased to
the following: The goal is to gain
50% additional market share in the health and human services
domestic and international
industry by 2020 through expanding their international footprint
and appealing to clients by
increasing performance numbers and quality for government
service functions. The strategy is
called, “Like a gladiator – Bigger, Better, Faster and Stronger”
to garner interest and support by

employees. The word Example is Latin for “greatest” or
“largest”, and is the name of the main
character in the movie Gladiator. The strategy name uses the
name of the company and defining
characteristics of the word as strategic points.
Like a gladiator – Bigger, Better, Faster and Stronger
The bigger objective of the strategy is the desire to grow the
company. Example should
grow the company internationally and through acquisition.
Example (2015) has found there is a
“robust demand in the UK public sector outsourcing market” (p.
4). This demand will allow for
the customer base to expand and thus will allow Example to
expand. Example can also grow

through strategic acquisitions. These acquisitions should be in
line with the company mission
and support growth and differentiation of services for Example
from the other competitors.
The better objective is to increase the level of service they are
providing to the clients.
Levitt (2004) states, “businesses will do better in the end if they
concentrate on meeting
customers’ needs rather than selling products” (p. 2).
Increasing the quality of service will help
differentiate Example from their competitors and will create
better services provided to the
public from the government.
The faster objective is to find efficiencies in the operation.
The standardization of
operations in areas where it is feasible should increase the
efficiency of the services provided.

Additionally, Example needs to be able to respond very fast to
changes in the political
environment to capitalize on new opportunities. Wolfe (2011)
states, “Instead of predict and
control, we must learn how to sense and respond” (p. 119). The
agility of responding to the new
needs of the customers quickly gives Example an advantage
over their competitors. Running
efficient operations gives Example another way to create
differentiation from their competitors.
The stronger objective is for strengthening the workforce.
Example needs to increase
the retention rate to develop in-house expertise in the services
they provide. Additionally, there
should be a focus on recruitment of subject matter expertise
within the industry. Having staff

with the right knowledge provides efficient services to clients.
The staff with subject matter
expertise is another avenue of potentially providing
differentiation in the services provided.
When services are won by Example to provide to a government,
having the knowledge of the
political and operational environment by internal staff improves
the level and speed of the
service.
Analysis
Wolfe (2011) states, “The responsibility is to grow the value of
the firm and by doing
that, it will provide a return to those who invested in the firm”
(p. 152). Example should grow
the value of the firm through differentiating their services from
their competitors and expanding

their footprint of the locations where services are provided.
Montgomery (2008) states, “Purpose
should be at the heart of strategy” (p. 3). The purpose for
Example (2014) is “Helping
government serve the people” (p. 4). The strategy for Example
outlined above works towards
satisfying two of the primary stakeholders – the government and
the people. It is in line with the
purpose and mission of the company. A strategy is made up of
three primary components –
Objective, scope and advantage (Collis and Rukstard, 2008).
The strategic objective above
meets these qualifications. The primary objectives are growth
and increased performance. The
scope is the Health and Human Services industry both
domestically and abroad. The advantage

is to provide better quality services and respond to the client
needs. The strategic slogan “like a
gladiator – bigger, better, faster and stronger” will help
employees recall the strategic objective
when making decisions. Wolfe (2011) states, “By establishing a
Strategic Compass, ingraining it
within everyone as part of their personal context, you create
room for each individual to respond
to the challenges they face with the utmost freedom for
creativity while still retaining focused
execution” (p. 133). The slogan helps to give the guidance
needed to the employees. Each part
of the strategic slogan describes actions that need to take place
to achieve the goals. This call to
action is creating incremental change for Example to achieve

measurable results.
Manteah Konah
RE: Discussion 3 - Week 1
COLLAPSE
Top of Form
The company that I will like to conduct my strategy
planning and analysis on is J.C. Penny. J.C. Penny has been
around for decades helping families to meet some of their
needs. I chose this company because of the major positives and
negative effects it has on families. The new management failure
understands the environment or focusing on results has run
customers away leaving the company in decrease in revenues.
The strategy used in the past has brought the company from top
to button and as parent who used to shop from this store; I have

interest in analyzing and planning strategically to revamp this
department store.
For J.C. Penney to make such a significant change to their
business model big data should have been a part of their
planning so that they could make informed decisions. I think
they fell short when they believed they knew what the
customers wanted better than they did. Hence, they did not
consult with their target market, leading to unhappy,
disgruntled, and even offended customers. Therefore, revamping
the strategies will analyze and put in place every tool needed to
meet positive results.
It is going to be difficult for me, but I am hoping to learn from
this because there are information needed available and the
company is public.
Reference:
Hsu, T. (2017). J.C. Penney Stock Surges as Turnaround Plan
Shows Results. New York Times. Retrieved
from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/business/jc-penney-
sales-earnings.html
REPLYQUOTE
Bottom of Form
Hide 3 replies

6 days ago
Steven Verrone WALDEN INSTRUCTORMANAGER
COLLAPSE
Top of Form
Interesting choice when the BIG brick and mortar stores are
seemingly being squeezed out of business by consumer choice. I
look forward to reading your work.
Dr. Steve
REPLYQUOTEEMAIL AUTHOR
Bottom of Form
4 days ago
Craig Seemann
COLLAPSE
Top of Form
Hi Manteah,
Thanks for your post! I think that it is very interesting that you
have chosen J.C. Penney as your organization to study for the
strategy playbook. They have clearly had a number of

challenges and strategic misses over time. I question, though, if
it is possible for a large company, like J.C. Penny, to pivot in a
rapidly changing environment. Could they have done something
different to stay competitive or did their marketing missteps
truly lead to their downfall? “Penney finds itself weighed down
by years of errors, failed CEOs and muddled attempts to
establish a clear identity with shoppers” (Meyersohn, 2018).
It seems that the shifting landscape made it very difficult for
them to find the right strategy. With declining sales, they had to
do something to reinvent themselves, but was it inevitable that
on-line shopping competitors would lead to their demise? It is
very interesting to think about utilizing the most talented
leadership in the most challenging situations. It seems that in
some cases, there simply is no option to continue to compete,
and that some organizations simply run their course. Do you
agree?
-Craig
References:
Meyersohn, N. (2018). How it all went wrong at JCPenney.
CNN Business. Retrieved from:
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/27/business/jcpenney-
history/index.html
REPLYQUOTEEMAIL AUTHOR
Bottom of Form

4 days ago
Melanee Scott
COLLAPSE
Top of Form
Hi Manteah,
I happen to like shopping at JC Penny's and I agree with the
Professor that this is a great choice. Retail has a wealth of
information to the public for researching and analyzing who
they are, why they are, and what's sustaining them. Of course,
we are aware that most business has their ups and downs,
however, when you look at the popularity of JC Penny's and
how they have come through being successful to bankruptcy and
back to recovery, you can't help but to be interested in finding
out how they survived. I believe that one major reason is that
most companies develop a Mission, Vision, and Values
statements from an activity perspective (Wolfe, 2011). They
have a clear sense of why they exist at their core. Their vision
is a visual picture of what their world looks like, and their Core
Values are truly used to guide their behaviors. Enjoy your
researching; great choice.
Reference:
Wolfe, N. (2011). The living organization: Transforming

business to create extraordinary results. Irvine, CA: Quantum
Leaders Publish
Bottom of Form

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