Business Model and Strategic Plan Essay

Prior to enhancing a product within a large corporation, the company must have a strategic plan in place to ensure that the change runs smoothly. The strategy plan will focus on the company’s strengths, weaknesses’, opportunities, threats, and trends in terms of the new product, by developing and performing a SWOTT analysis. â€Å"A SWOTT analysis is an acronym for the internal Strengths and Weaknesses of a firm, and the environmental Opportunities and Threats facing that firm. SWOTT analysis is a technique through which managers create a quick overview of a company’s strategic situation (Pearce & Robinson, 2013).† SWOTT Analysis Opportunity is definitely favorable situation in a company’s environment meaning that the company stands to gain from this type of behavior. And the opposite of this is threat. A threat is an action that is not favorable. Strength is an advantage that the firm has against its competitors and the market it is currently serving and expects to serve. Weakness is something that is not beneficial to the company and can hinder the company’s success (Pearce & Robinson, 2013). Internal Forces Internal analysis is defined as an analysis of strengths and weaknesses focusing on internal factors that give an organization certain advantages and disadvantages in meeting the needs of its target market (Ballowe, 2008). Internal factors are important to analyze to better understand how the company aides in its own success or failure. This analysis allows a company to compare past successes with current procedures to aide in the company’s future endeavors. Some internal factors that will be discussed are strategy, structures,  processes & systems, resources, goals, technologies, and leadership. Mazda’s new division will build a strategy that allows for the employees to effectively and efficiently build the new engine with the correct EPA guidelines. Although the new engine type is more expensive to build, Mazda has invested money into this new production line to build the engine and in the long run to be more profitable and environmentally sound. In terms of cost, processes and systems have to be in place to ensure that the new production line is efficiently ran and that employees are trained properly. This new division will look into research and design from other companies who have effectively built hybrid engines to compare ideas and look for innovative creations. The leaders in this division will follow EPA guidelines to ensure that there are no issues when inspections occur. Leadership within this division will set lofty goals that must be reached to attain success in terms of this new engine type. Leadership will continue to follow update technology and make necessary changes. In terms of leadership, organization is a key factor to ensure all members are sending a consistent message to the employees to avoid any undo mistakes. Continuing to build successful process and procedures to share with the employees will only help this division. External Factors The definition of external analysis is â€Å"the examination of opportunities and threats that exist in the environment and both opportunities and threats exist independently of the firm (Ballowe, 2008).† External factors that the new division of Mazda will analyze are legal & regulatory, global, economic, technological, innovation, social, environmental, and competitive analysis. A great advantage that this new division has is that socially and environmentally, many individuals are interested in saving the environment as well as saving money economically. Unfortunately, other manufacturers also have hybrid engines so Mazda will definitely have a good amount of competitors. The more competitors, the less advantage Mazda will have in sales. With the increase in competition, prices will become more competitive meaning that the profit margin will be less. In terms of legal and regulatory, the EPA has high standards in regards to qualifications for hybrid engines which means this division of Mazda will have to ensure high  quality and results. Supply Chain This new division has created a new engine that is more environmentally sound and economical than any other car manufacturer at this time. Because Mazda not only wants to ensure low prices on their vehicles, this new engine’s production line will be very effective and efficient. Mazda understands that the supply chain of this engine has to have very little to no flaws if a profit will be made. Mazda will look to local companies and manufacturers for the parts to create to engine to ensure lowest cost possible to build the engine. Because Mazda has a production center, adding to the center for this engine type was not too costly. Mazda was able to use current employees to move into the production line and leadership team for this new division. Major Issues and Opportunities A major issue or opportunity would be the ability to maintain excellence and a competitive edge against other companies with hybrid engines. The hybrid model can be costly so Mazda will need to continue to look for ways to keep production costs low so the vehicle purchase price is affordable. The first research question is ‘How can Mazda maintain an affordable selling price with a hybrid engine?’ The best way to understand how this can be done is to evaluate the purchasing of the parts for the engine, then ensure effective and efficient processes with the manufacturing site, and determine the best possible selling price. Another issue or opportunity that Mazda faces is keeping up to the high standards of the EPA. Mazda needs to do large amounts of research and make sure the design and building of the engine are on or above standards. The second question is ‘How can Mazda maintain EPA standards on the newly designed engine?’ Mazda can build a small team of employees who are specifically geared to ensuring that the engine is always up to standards and the division is aware of any changes from the EPA. Conclusion In conclusion, this new division of Mazda will continue to look for ways to improve efficiencies and effectiveness to ensure a great product. This division can achieve this by effectively performing a SWOTT analysis and  using the information to build a great product. Gaining knowledge and applying the new knowledge to the current processes will only impact Mazda in a positive manner. References Ballowe, Todd, â€Å"External Analysis,† March 5, 2008, retrieved online from http://onstrategyhq.com/resources/external-analysis/. Ballowe, Todd, â€Å"Internal Analysis,† March 5, 2008, retrieved online from http://onstrategyhq.com/resources/internal-analysis/. Pearce, J. A. II. (2013). Strategic management: Planning for domestic and global competition (13th ed.) New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.