Evaluate the importance to AP of effective strategic management in an increasingly competitive world.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (Oct/Nov 2022). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. [K] Understanding of business strategy.
2. [K] Understanding of strategic management – analysis, choice and implementation.
3. [K] Understanding of business planning for functional areas e.g. workforce, marketing, financial, operational.
4. [K] Understanding of role of corporate plan.
5. [K] Meaning of competitive advantage – the ability of a business to attract customers over similar businesses.
6. [K] Understanding and use of core competencies.
7. [App] Position of AP in its market: leading supplier in country Z.
8. [App] Possible (strategic) decisions facing AP – international expansion, options 1 and 2, merger, reaction to new legislation, new machines.
9. [App] Reference to usefulness of data in Table 3 and Table 4 in helping choice decisions.
10. [App] AP's objective is low risk with controlled growth.
11. [App] Increasing competition and new international competitors into the growing market for play equipment.
12. [An] AP is successful but not fully focussed on strategic planning, many projects and proposals may prevent finer focus on objectives.
13. [An] AP faces decisions in a number of areas, cannot pursue all of them.
14. [An] Strategic management enables focus but requires understanding and desire/ability to make changes.
15. [An] Strategic management requires clear objectives, planning and research using the strategic techniques.
16. [An] Strategic management involves research and information gathering, using techniques in a coordinated integrated manner.
17. [An] Corporate planning requires flexibility and continuous updating to ensure that it remains relevant.
18. [An] Developing and maintaining a strategic approach costs resources – time and requires expertise, commitment and communication to get employees motivated and efficient.
19. [An] A strategic approach requires flexibility and contingency planning, in case of unexpected events, such as costs of failure of a chosen option or reputational damage caused by a play equipment accident.
20. [An] Evidence in case study is that AP's strategy is weak and yet AP has been successful, as evidenced by continuing growth.
21. [An] Possible that having a strategy reduces flexibility as AP could be locked into one course of action.
22. [Eval] Justified conclusion regarding importance of an effective strategy based on evidence and argument.
23. [Eval] Conclusion on relative sizes of benefits and costs.
24. [Eval] Strategic decision making is only as good as the information, analysis and choice techniques it is based on. It does not guarantee success.
25. [Eval] Effectiveness depends on understanding and execution of techniques by managers plus effective communication to employees.
26. [Eval] Having a strategy brings more factors within APs control and enables faster response to changing external factors.
27. [Eval] No strategy means AP will be at the mercy of factors beyond its control: economic changes and competitors' strategies.
28. [Eval] Strategic management will always be guided by managers' attitude to risk, and they appear to be cautious / risk averse.