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produces products that are totally unrelated to the company’s current product and that
appeal to an entirely new consumer group.
Whereas corporate strategy looks at an organization as a portfolio of
things, business strategy focuses on how a given business needs to compete to be

effective. Again, all organizations need strategies to survive and thrive. A
neighborhood church, for instance, probably wants to serve existing members, build
new membership, and, at the same time, raise surplus monies to help it with outreach
activities. Its strategy would answer questions surrounding the accomplishment of
these key objectives. In a for-profit company such as McDonald’s, its business
strategy would help it keep existing customers, grow its business by moving into new
markets and taking customers from competitors like Taco Bell and Burger King, and
do all this at a profit level demanded by the stock market.
Strategic Inputs
So what are the inputs into strategizing? At the most basic level, you will need
to gather information and conduct analysis about the internal characteristics of the
organization and the external market conditions. This means an internal appraisal and
an external appraisal. On the internal side, you will want to gain a sense of the
organization’s strengths and weaknesses; on the external side, you will want to
develop some sense of the organization’s opportunities and threats. Together, these
four inputs into strategizing are often called SWOT analysis which stands for
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (see the SWOT analysis figure). It
does not matter if you start this appraisal process internally or externally, but you will
quickly see that the two need to mesh eventually. At the very least, the strategy
should leverage strengths to take advantage of opportunities and mitigate threats,
while the downside consequences of weaknesses are minimized or managed.
Figure 5.6 SWOT Analysis

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