Which of the following tasks in the AFI strategy framework involves evaluating the internal and external environments in which a firm operates? evaluating the effects of internal resources and core competencies on a firm’s potential to gain and sustain a competitive advantage.

Questions asked during the strategy analysis stage of the AFI framework include “How does the firm make money?” and “What effects do forces in the external environment have on the firm’s potential to gain and sustain a competitive advantage?”

At its most basic level, a strategy is a hypothesis. To be a good strategy, it must precisely diagnose the problem being solved; set a guiding policy that will address that problem; and propose a set of coherent actions which will deliver that policy.

Most importantly, a firm’s strategic position should try to be unique in some way that competitors cannot imitate quickly or easily. Competitive advantage is achieved when a firm attracts more customers or makes more profit than rivals.

A company’s relative position within its industry matters for performance. Strategic positioning reflects choices a company makes about the kind of value it will create and how that value will be created differently than rivals.

Assessing the strategic position consists of analysing: the environment (competitors, markets, regulations, discoveries etc). Key factors are often summarised as opportunities and threats. the strategic capability of the organisation (resources, competences).

The 4 Steps of Strategic Planning Process

1. Environmental Scanning. Environmental scanning is the process of gathering, organizing and analyzing information.
2. Strategy Formulation.
3. Strategy Implementation.
4. Strategy Evaluation.

Elements’ strategy + positioning services include:

• Market strategy.
• Mission and vision statements.
• Brand position.
• Creative strategy.
• Competitive research and analysis.

The Positioning Statement definition is comprised of 4 parts; the target, the category, the differentiator, and the payoff.

Strategic management has three major elements, which include strategic analysis, strategic choice, and strategy implementation.

Here is my list of 10 essential tools for strategy analysis:

• SWOT. The SWOT is the most basic form of strategic analysis.
• Porter’s Value Chain.
• The Strategy Canvas.
• The Business Model Canvas.
• PESTEL.
• McKinsey 7S.
• Porter’s 5 Forces.
• Pareto Analysis.

Strategic management is the process of employing that kind of large-scale, objective-oriented approach through the use of three major components: environmental scanning, strategy formulation and implementation and strategy evaluation.

3 Strategic cost management has three important pillars, viz., strategic positioning, cost driver analysis and value chain analysis.

Strategic cost management is the process of reducing total costs while improving the strategic position of a business. This goal can be accomplished by having a thorough understanding of which costs support a company’s strategic position and which costs either weaken it or have no impact.

The strategic management process is complex, time consuming, and difficult to implement; it requires skillful planning in order to avoid pitfalls.

• A Complex Process.
• Time Consuming.
• Difficult to Implement.
• Requires Skillful Planning.

In this article, we’ll walk you through these five stages:

• Goal setting – Parents and Childs… and the C suite.
• Analysis – Internal and external.
• Strategy Formulation – Effort and Impact (and KPIs)
• Strategy Implementation – Goals and Tasks.
• Remaining Agile – Evaluation and Control.

The cost of labor is broken into direct and indirect (overhead) costs. Direct costs include wages for the employees that produce a product, including workers on an assembly line, while indirect costs are associated with support labor, such as employees who maintain factory equipment.

Direct labor includes all employees responsible for producing a company’s products or services. Some examples of direct labor include quality control engineers, assembly line workers, production managers and delivery truck drivers.