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    Business Problem-Solving and Strategy: Manga for Success
    Business Problem-Solving and Strategy: Manga for Success
    Business Problem-Solving and Strategy: Manga for Success
    Ebook394 pages3 hours

    Business Problem-Solving and Strategy: Manga for Success

    By Takayuki Kito and Keisuke Yamabe

    ()

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    About this ebook

    A FUN AND APPROACHABLE WAY TO LEARN IMPORTANT BUSINESS PRINCIPLES

    Do you want to improve your business performance? Or are you looking for a basic understanding of business strategy? Whatever your reason for picking up this book, Business Problem-Solving and Strategy: Manga For Success makes business strategy concepts easy to understand using practical examples and situations. You’ll read about:

    • Important business analysis tools like SWOT analysis and issue analysis
    • Strategic option assessment
    • Developing and executing a strategy for any business situation

    The story follows Kazumi who takes over operations at her father’s confectionery company. With the help of her mentor, Business Planning Manager Takeda, she formulates a viable plan for turning the business around, building trust among key stakeholders, and successfully convincing the CEO to implement the plan companywide. With this approachable book, you’ll quickly grasp business analysis topics and have fun learning how to apply them in the real world. Find out why the Manga For Success series—now available in English for the first time—is so popular in Japan, Korea, and beyond.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWiley
    Release dateApr 25, 2023
    ISBN9781394176175
    Business Problem-Solving and Strategy: Manga for Success

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      Book preview

      Business Problem-Solving and Strategy - Takayuki Kito

      PROLOGUE

      What is a Business Strategy?

      STORY 1

      Help Me, Senpai!

      1

      WHAT IS A STRATEGY?

      Strategies Are Everywhere

      What do you think of when you hear the word strategy?

      The word strategy is ubiquitous. I'm sure you have heard about a lot of different types of strategy, such as business strategy, brand strategy, marketing strategy, sales strategy, organizational strategy, HR strategy, so on and so forth. It is often used as a noun, but it's also common to find it used as an adjective, such as strategic development, strategic employee deployment, and strategic retreat.

      When you hear XX strategy or Strategic YY, it gives the impression of something well‐thought‐out and meticulously planned. Both the noun strategy and the adjective strategic are often used to cover up a lack of content and depth, causing them to lose their original meaning.

      The media such as newspapers and magazines are saturated with the words strategy and strategic, and even the plans revealed by big corporations are peppered with this word. So what exactly is a strategy? What is its substance? What does the theme of this book, Business Strategy, mean?

      Strategy Is a Road Map to Success

      Obviously, a company's end goal is to beat its competitors, increase sales and profits, and prove its value to its clients, employees, and stakeholders, and on top of that, to largely contribute to society. In case of a corporation, it is also equally important to distribute profits to its stockholders as a return on their investment.

      In order to succeed and increase sales and profit, you will of course have to beat your competitors. In this capitalist society, the free market is full of ever‐expanding competitors. The company must first survive in such environment in order to have the possibility to come out on top.

      So what do you need to beat your competitors? You need to have a competitive edge over them in your selected market in order to survive and succeed. It sets you apart from your competitors and lets you gain advantage over them.

      In order to build your competitive edge, you need to first choose your battlefield (in this case, market) to compete in. Then decide where to focus and distribute your limited resources in order to develop an edge by providing different and/or superior values over your competitors’.

      The key essence of a strategy is coming up with a plan and laying down a road map to succeed by choosing your battleground, developing an edge by providing varied and superior values, and deciding how and where to focus your limited resources (see Diagram 1‐1). Remember, strategy is all about choices and focus.

      Resource Allocation: Decide Where to Focus Your Organizational Resources

      When it comes to the term resource allocation, you probably think of the allocation of the three main resources: manpower, supplies, and funds. Of course, it is very important to consider where and how to distribute these main resources in the strategy. But in order to come up with an actual strategy, you will have to think of the resource allocation in a broader sense. One vital part of resource allocation is coming up with specifics of how and where to focus your organizational power.

      Diagram 1-1 What Is a Strategy?

      For example, a thorough cost cutting is one type of a strategy. By focusing your organizational resources to cost cutting, you will come up with the lowest cost, which will provide you with a competitive edge. This is a very valid strategy.

      Another example would be if you want to beat the competition by setting your product apart. Therefore, you focus more resources and people to the research and development team. That is also another form of resource allocation.

      How about utilizing open innovation knowledge developed by outsiders to set your product apart? This might be different from resource allocation that you have in mind. But this, too, is a strategy. You are enriching your limited internal resources by adding external, oftentimes superior resources. This allows you to keep the resources spent for your own research and development down as you replaced it with external resources.

      As you can see, resource allocation, which is a vital part of the strategic framework, is not just about the distribution of your own resources, but also about how to decide where to focus your manpower, as well as coming up with how to supplement resource shortages (see Diagram

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