Case Study on "Strategic Management Process Vision Goals Objectives"

Case Study 4 pages (1263 words) Sources: 5

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Strategic Management

Smuckers bases its strategy on the development of category-leading everyday foods brands the company's brands in general complement one another. The most recent strategic move, the acquisition of Folgers, doubled the size of the company in 2008. Smuckers has seen strong growth as the result of its strategy. However, the company has a poorly articulated sense of mission and vision. Smuckers has no clear vision, which provides little guidance for stakeholders, including those in management. The mission is relatively vague and while it is congruent with the company's strategy, it provides little sense of clarity for employees, in particular those who have been recently laid off following record revenues and profits.

Introduction

The JM Smucker company was founded in 1897 in Orrville, Ohio. The company has developed gradually over time to become a retail food company in the United States. The company produces a wide range of well-known brands including Eagle Brand, Jif, Knott's Berry Farm, Pillsbury, Smucker's, R.W. Knudsen, Folgers and take home Dunkin Donuts products (Smuckers.com, 2010).

The company does not explicitly publish a mission or vision statement. However, it does discuss its strategic objectives in the 2009 Annual Report. The report states that "we offer consumers diverse brands and products that are part of everyday meals...the J.M. Smucker Company has a meaningful impact on society with a portfolio of brands that brings families together to share memorable meals and moments."

This mission accurately reflects the company's strategy. The product line is comprised largely of cat

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egory leaders, and all are common household foods. Smuckers is not a premium producer nor are they a discounter, but a mass marketer, with moderate quality levels and moderate pricing to match. The brands have sufficient strength to allow the company higher prices than discounters, but are kept at a level that supports mainstream success.

The brands are, in general, mature. The company has had slow, steady growth over the past several years, the one notable spike in top line growth being the result of the acquisition of Folgers, which essentially doubled the size of the company. Following the acquisition the top line improved $1.2 billion (48.8%) and the bottom line improved $$95.57 million (56%) (MSN Moneycentral, 2010). Without the Folgers acquisition, revenue would have been down 6%. Folgers strengthened the brand portfolio, increasing the overall attractiveness of the Smuckers portfolio. The company also benefited from the economic downturn, which had consumers eating more at home and focused on the company's basic brands (Associated Press, 2009). The acquisition of Folgers, therefore, represented a move to strengthen the company's commitment to its mission.

There are several key stakeholders at Smuckers. The company's shareholders represent a major stakeholder group, as to their customers. Otherwise, the staff and management are another key stakeholder group. The Smuckers strategy has been a boon to the shareholders. The company's policy of developing category-leading brands has lead to the creation of stable revenues, which has allowed Smuckers to pay a health dividend each year. The dividend paid in 2009 was $1.31 per share, up from $1.22 per share the year previous. The shareholders also benefited from the Folger's purchase. That product complemented many of Smuckers' other product lines. The purchase was for $2.95 billion in 2008 (Bhattarai, 2008). Shareholders' equity increased by $5.063 billion from 2008 to 2009, indicating that the shareholders derived good value from the transaction.

The customers have benefited from the company's mission as well. Setting aside the Folgers purchase momentarily, it is worth considering that some of the company's success in recent years relates directly to their ability to market products that are leading everyday brands. The economic downturn made these brands more attractive to consumers, and this has resulted in some strength for the company. With specific respect to Folgers, this brand benefited greatly… READ MORE

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Quoted Instructions for "Strategic Management Process Vision Goals Objectives" Assignment:

“

we will be conducting a strategic analysis of the JM Smuckers company

Step 1: Visit Smucker*****'s official company website and identify their vision, mission, values, and goals. Be sure to look at the most recent annual report.

Step 2: Critically evaluate these elements. Use the criteria in the background materials as well as the readings for the SLP to support your assessment of the quality of the vision, mission, values and goals.

Step 3: Determine which (if any) of the elements consider the goals and needs of specific stakeholder groups. Write down any examples.

Step 4: Consider what changes are needed to improve the vision and mission statements, statement of values, and statement of objectives/goals.

Step 5: Case Instructions:

In a 3-5 page paper, identify the company*****'s mission, vision, values and goals. Keep in mind that this may not be how the company labels these elements, use your knowledge of such statements to identify them.

Critically evaluate these elements, including consideration of how these elements do or do not account for stakeholder*****'s interests.

Suggest any changes that would strengthen these elements and bring them more into line with what the background readings suggest.

Case expectations:

Business school case assignments are meant to offer practice opportunities for future business people who are earning their MBA degrees. Consider yourself a consultant hired by the company to make these critical assessments.

There are no right or wrong answers to the Case question, so long as your position is well-defended.

Study the theoretical concepts provided you in the Background Materials section of the module, and identify main strategy concepts.

Analyze the mission statement (etc.) according to the criteria presented in the background material. Be very critical and do not let yourself be influenced by a company*****'s *****"spin*****".

Do not hesitate to criticize the current statements. Many companies do not get this right!

Format:

Consider the Case as a formal business report that you are developing for the Board of Directors and CEO as Smuckers*****' company consultant. This is a professional document

Executive summary: a synopsis of the main points, conclusions and recommendations made in the longer report.

Introduction: State the main purpose of the paper (thesis statement), what you hope to accomplish, and how you will go about doing it.

Main Body: The *****"meat*****" of the paper. Emphasize analysis, not just description. Delineate separate topics or sections with headings.

Conclusion: Summarize paper in the light of your thesis statement.

Background reading websites

McNamara, C. (2009). Developing your strategic plan. Retrieved May 15, 2009 from Free Management Library. Web site: http://www.managementhelp.org/np_progs/sp_mod/str_plan.htm

The strategic planning process. (2007). Retrieved May 14, 2009, from QuickMBA. Web site: http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/strategic-planning/

The business vision and company mission statement. (2007). Retrieved from QuickMBA. Web site: http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/vision/

Heathfield, S.M. (2009). Build a strategic framework: mission statement, vision, values. Retrieved from About.com. Web site: http://humanresources.about.com/cs/strategicplanning1/a/strategicplan.htm

McNamara, C. (2009). Basics of developing mission, vision and values statements. Retrieved from Free Management Library. Web site: http://www.managementhelp.org/plan_dec/str_plan/stmnts.htm

The strategic planning process. (2007). Retrieved May 14, 2009, from QuickMBA. Web site: http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/strategic-planning/

n.a. (2009). Stakeholder analysis. Assessing who or what really counts. 12manage: The executive fast track. Retrieved from http://www.12manage.com/methods_stakeholder_analysis.html

n.a. (2007) The business vision and company mission statement. Retrieved from QuickMBA. Web site: http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/vision/

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