strategic value

[Hauldren Collider]

So I am taking this business class to fulfill a dumb requirement. I have a question that asks "what is strategic value". I am thinking about going off on some platitude about investments and long-term company goals and mission statements and other such bull**** but am wondering if anyone in the Poly community who is better versed in the middle-management lingo has a decent answer to give.

Thanks in advance!

[giblets]

It's when you can use something for stuff. What, you think that sounds the same as "value"?

[Hauldren Collider]

Yes. I am trying to give a definition that draws a distinction between strategic value and value. I am skeptical that one actually exists, but I have to humor my professor. The goal in this class is to get an A.

[Ben Kenobi]

am wondering if anyone in the Poly community who is better versed in the middle-management lingo has a decent answer to give.

You actually trust Poly?

[Hauldren Collider]

Worth a shot.

[Ben Kenobi]

Tactical value - positioning.

Strategic value - overarching goal for the campaign. The strategic value of Truk was nullified by the successful assault on Saipan.

[Hauldren Collider]

For a company, what exactly would "positioning" be? We're talking about big business here, not the invasion of Okinawa. It seems like "positioning" would be used to talk about overarching business strategy as well.

[Ben Kenobi]

For a company, what exactly would "positioning" be? We're talking about big business here, not the invasion of Okinawa. It seems like "positioning" would be used to talk about overarching business strategy as well.

Strategy would be moving out a new product line, and how you intend to market that line over the course of the year. Tactics would concern things like where you put things to be sold - which things ought to be sold and how much. How much advertising and where, etc, things like that. Pricing.

If you're selling product X and your competitor comes out with a whole new line, it nullifies all the sales work on the old line, and you have to regroup and revise your business strategy. Tactics concerns itself with the day to day - Strategy looks at things for the next fiscal year.

[Hauldren Collider]

That doesn't really make sense. What sort of thing would provide tactical value? What would be tracked by a company management that would only provide value on some sort of day or week timeframe?

[-Jrabbit]

Positioning usually refers to brand definition within the market -- the premium brand, the bargain brand, value-added benefits, youth-centric brand, the reliable standard, etc. The strategic value of a given positioning stance is most easily described in terms of its potential to increase market share (or overall revenue, or... your metric here). Long-term and short-term views are equally viable, depending on the company's needs.

Traditionally, the fine-grind approach to positioning is to survey the entire market across various metrics, assigning each competitor (and yourself) a position that fairly reflects the market's perception of it, taking particular note of dissonances between what the market thinks of a company, and how the company thinks of itself. The task: cherchez le creneau or (in English), find the hole in the market; that is where the easiest expansion possibilities lie.

A strategically clever shift in brand positioning can revitalize a failing brand, like Pabst Blue Ribbon's embrace of teh douchebag hipster market.

Or should I vague that up a bit more?

[Ben Kenobi]

That doesn't really make sense. What sort of thing would provide tactical value?

Go to a grocery store and ask yourself why it's organized the way it is. It's intended to deliver the most amount of business to the store - they want you to pick up certain things when you head out. You can generally figure out what they make the most money off by how easily it is to get to. Why do you think they put things like bread and milk in the back rather than in the front of the store? Why is there candy in the aisles?

Stores track all this stuff all the time. It's a really big deal!

What would be tracked by a company management that would only provide value on some sort of day or week timeframe?

Turnover ratio - sales ratio. If it's not selling, it's in the interest of the business to find out ASAP. Good tactics can help market poor products and they will sell better than they otherwise would sell.

[Hauldren Collider]

Positioning usually refers to brand definition within the market -- the premium brand, the bargain brand, value-added benefits, youth-centric brand, the reliable standard, etc. The strategic value of a given positioning stance is most easily described in terms of its potential to increase market share (or overall revenue, or... your metric here). Long-term and short-term views are equally viable, depending on the company's needs.

Traditionally, the fine-grind approach to positioning is to survey the entire market across various metrics, assigning each competitor (and yourself) a position that fairly reflects the market's perception of it, taking particular note of dissonances between what the market thinks of a company, and how the company thinks of itself. The task: cherchez le creneau or (in English), find the hole in the market; that is where the easiest expansion possibilities lie.

A strategically clever shift in brand positioning can revitalize a failing brand, like Pabst Blue Ribbon's embrace of teh douchebag hipster market.

Or should I vague that up a bit more?

It's not actually about positioning, it's about the term "strategic value".

[-Jrabbit]

If the distinction you need to draw is between "value" and "strategic value," I can only conclude that your prof wants "strategic" value to reflect value-added benefits of an action, product, or approach that escape straightforward fiscal analysis.

For example, a key accessory that confers abilities not available in otherwise-equivalent competitive products can make its parent-product much more viable in the market. Thus, even if said accessory isn't especially attractive by traditional analysis of its sales volume and profit contribution, it can be said to have great strategic value by its ability to make an otherwise "par" product significantly more attractive in the marketplace.

[-Jrabbit]

BTW, please keep in mind that I went to college in the 70s, and that I've been out of corporate world for 7+ years. Your prof could be looking for something specific that came into vogue long after I stopped caring about MBA-style buzzword bull****.

So have a care. I'm hopelessly out of step with whatever might be happening in the academic world these days.

[Aeson]

Yes. I am trying to give a definition that draws a distinction between strategic value and value. I am skeptical that one actually exists, but I have to humor my professor. The goal in this class is to get an A.

The affect your answer has on getting you an A is the strategic value. The value of it in and of itself is likely ~0.