global strategy

global strategy

The operations of every business or organization are highly based on its strategies, which provide the competitive guidelines, goals, and objectives, policies to work towards the attainment of these goals, and the allocation of resources. In other words, strategies can be said to be a set of decisions and actions that guide the formulation and implementation of plans set to achieve the organizational goals and objectives. By that token, a global strategy can, therefore, be said to be an organizational strategic guide to globalization and subsequent international expansion—this strategy focus on increasing the sales of goods and services in the global market. For the successful international expansion of the business to take place, international, multinational, and global strategies must be pursed. In any case, beyond the access to new markets, global strategy enhances the diversification of company markets, imputes in the growth of the business brand, increases the organization’s competitive advantage, and exposes the business to foreign investment opportunities, to mention a few.

After the formulation of the global strategy, the implementation entails a pattern of decisions and actions purposed to carry out the plan follow in line. The implementation process involves design and management systems that help in the achievement of the organizational objectives. Furthermore, the success of the implementation process is dependent on the coordination of subsidiary activities across countries, which necessitates high level of leadership skills during the strategy implementation process, there are various challenges that an organization may face among them being management style, unclear objectives, and poor prioritization, ineffective management, poor communication, competitive strategy, lack of resources, organizational structure and culture, and weak leadership skills.

Against that background, the global strategy implementation at CISCO Systems was faced by various challenges, among them being inadequate resources in the global strategy implementation process derailing the effectiveness of the strategy implementation, necessitating the application of different leadership skills to address the issue as it shall be elucidated herein.

Firstly, CISCO Systems is an American multinational technology company, which was founded in 1984 and whose headquarters are in San Jose, California. The Incorporation focuses on the development, manufacturing, and selling of software, telecommunication equipment, networking hardware, among other high technology products across the world, through its various subsidiaries. The indirect sale of their products is based on their business strategy, which entails working with partners for the selling.

The conglomerate has approximately 75,900 employees and a revenue of 51.9 billion in 2019. Irrespective of the US investment being the most dominant one for CISCO systems, through their growth strategy, which focuses on the identification and driving of market transitions, the conglomerate has engaged in global investments. The stakeholders of Cisco systems vary from the internal, external, market, and non-market, all working in unison to enhance its continued success. The institutional investors hold the majority ownership of the entity with 74.46% outstanding shares, which they control.

 

The mission statement is, “To shape the future of the internet by creating unprecedented value and opportunity for the customers, employees, investors, and ecosystem partners. “Irrespective of the shortness and unspecificity of the statement, it has continuously guided the organization to propel higher in its operations. Through the mission statement, the value of the customers and all the stakeholders of the company is brought to light, as well as the determination to provide quality products.

The vision statement, on the other hand, is “Changing the way we work, live, play, and learn.” In this case, Cisco targets to be an agent of change in the world, which it has continued to be though their excellent products and services. The core values revolve around the inspiration of leaders, the creation of change, and enhancement of inclusivity. Furthermore, different researchers have identified Cisco systems as one of the most ethical companies across the globe. The business code of conduct evolves around honesty, open communications, confidentiality, compliance, compliance, and accountability. The ethics, on the other hand, looks into the conflict of interest and workplace rights.

The successful implementation of global strategies requires a diverse range of resources and effective management of these resources. As a result, adequate funds are one of the essential resources needed. A substantial amount of funds is necessary, especially when getting into new markets order to finance for marketing, the business set up process, and the cost of running this business. Additionally, another required resource is time. In this case, the implementation process of a global strategy requires a long time horizon to enhance optimum management and coordination of all the entities of the plan.

A more extended period allows for coordination and scrutinization of the plan while also identifying the possible hindrances that may arise and correcting them proactively. Also, it gives enough opportunity for the planners to formulate an effective and robust plan that can operate on a global scale, all factors and all cultures considered. The other resource required in the leadership and management committee who are responsible not only for the planning and formulation of the plan but also for the implementation of this plan. These leaders, therefore, ought to be highly knowledgeable about the global strategic plan to work accordingly. Innovation is another essential resource, which calls for research and development.

The global strategy implementation at the Cisco system was faced by inadequacy in the provision of resources. The funds allocated for the expansion of the company was inadequate, which in turn derailed the implementation process. Furthermore, the time allocation for the global strategy to be enacted was insufficient, therefore causing unclarity in some part of the plan formulation. Moreover, in terms of human resource and management, inadequacy in skills, knowledge, and capacity to implement the global strategy was another challenge concerning resources. Aiming to contain the challenge, the leadership of the organization coordinated a review of the plan of the global strategy to access the effectiveness of the plan. It was in that light that prioritization of funds was organized, adding more resources to the strategy. Furthermore, training programs on the implementation process were conducted to enhance the employees and management knowledge and skills on the project. Moreover, an increase in the time frame for the implementation process was done.

Based on the Cisco systems challenges in the implantation process of the global strategy, some of the key recommendations that can be made include setting aside adequate resources for the implementation of the strategy; this includes finances and technological tools. In that case, the Incorporation of resource management software can come in hand. Also, adequate planning and allocation of time should be enhanced if the successful implementation is to be attained. Furthermore, organizations should come up with training programs to enhance the employees and management understanding of the implantation process of the global strategy and its importance.

Moreover, as the success or failure of every organization is based on the leadership, sensitization of the leadership roles, including organization, coordination, controlling, planning, and leading, should be enacted. Through this, the leaders are made conversant with their role in the planning, formulation, and implementation process of the global strategic implementation, thereby allowing for its success. Open communication across all the stakeholders, including the leaders, managers, and employees should also be encouraged as through that, the implementation of the strategy can be enhanced.

In the implementation process of the global strategy at the Cisco Systems, different challenges arose, and among them was inadequacy in the allocation of resources, which in turn lead to the application of varying leadership concepts to solve the problem. In conclusion, as it has been extensively discussed herein, global strategy provides guides that allow an organization to get into the global market. As the levels of business competitions continue to rise, global strategy becomes essential for the profitability and the survival of the business to be attained. For the approach to be operational, the planning, formulation, and implementation process are integral. However, different challenges may arise in this process which, if not catered for, can lead to the failure of the strategy. These challenges range from resources, management, leadership, and the strategy itself. Application of different leadership skills and concepts can, however, help in the management of these challenges, thus facilitating the successful implementation of the global strategy.