Introduction
Emirates Integrated Telecommunication Company [EITC] is a public limited company that operates in the United Arab Emirates’ telecommunication industry. The firm was founded in 2005, but it was rebranded as Du in 2006. The firm specialises in mobile and fixed line telephony services, digital television services, and Internet services. A workforce of over 2000 employees sustains the firm’s operations. Du’s vision is to enhance customers’ lives, anytime and anywhere.
In a bid to achieve its vision, the firm has adopted a holistic approach in its strategic management in order to achieve business excellence. Subsequently, the firm is focused on delivering value to customers, shareholders, and the overall community. Moreover, Du is committed to nurturing its workforces’ talent in order to increase its innovativeness.
Use of strategic tools/instruments
In its quest to achieve business excellence, Du has appreciated the importance of adopting effective strategic management practices. Consequently, the firm has integrated diverse strategic management tools as explained below.
7S McKinsey Model
Du appreciates that its long-term success depends on its efficacy in responding to changes in the macro and micro business environments. Subsequently, the firm is committed to establishing synergy amongst the various internal organisational elements. In a bid to achieve this goal, the firm has integrated the 7S McKinsey model as one of its strategic tools. This tool has enabled Du to manage the ‘hard’ and the ‘soft’ organisational elements. The hard elements include the implemented organisational systems, strategy, and structure. Conversely, the ‘soft’ elements mainly relate to organisational culture and they include the organisation’s staff, skills, style, and shared values.
The 7S McKinsey model enables Du to assess its success in achieving its mission and vision. Additionally, the model has enabled the firm to nurture a high level of internal collaboration, hence its success in implementing organisational change.
Value chain analysis
Du recognises that its ability to achieve competitive advantage depends on how it differentiates its operations. Subsequently, the firm has integrated value chain analysis by identifying its support and primary activities. The primary activities include the inbound and outbound logistics, operations, marketing, and sales. Conversely, support activities include the firm’s procurement processes, firm infrastructure, technology, and human resource management. Value chain analysis enables Du to evaluate its differentiation and cost advantages.
Benchmarking
Du operates in an environment that is progressively becoming competitive due to investment in research and development on information communication technologies. Despite the intense competition, Du intends to attain an optimal market position by delivering value to its internal and external stakeholders. The firm has adopted benchmarking as one of its strategic management tools in order to compare its performance with the industry average and that of its core competitors. Moreover, the firm has benchmarked its operational policies and procedures on the set industry rules and standards.
Formal strategies versus emergent strategies
Strategic planning comprises one of the fundamental elements in Du’s operation. The firm invests a substantial amount of resources in formulating its strategic plans. Some of the formal strategies formulated aim at fostering internal competitiveness. For example, the firm formulated an extensive employee-training program, which outlines the strategies that the firm applies in ensuring that its workforce attains full potential in addition to achieving career goals. Moreover, Du has formulated strategies aimed at fostering work-life balance, for example, by enhancing the employees’ wellbeing.
In addition to formal strategies, Du also integrates emergent strategies by appreciating the opinion of individuals within the various levels of management in responding to market changes. Emergent changes have increased Du’s resilience to the prevailing market conditions such as developments in mobile telephony and Internet services.
Planning flexibility
Du’s success in achieving its strategic goals and objectives can be associated with its planning expertise. The firm appreciates the significance of taking into account different planning attributes. One of these attributes involves flexibility. The contemporary telecommunication industry is experiencing remarkable evolution because of increased investment in research and development. Therefore, the firm recognises the importance of high-flexibility in its planning process, with regard to its structural, financial, and operational components. The need for high-flexibility arises from the view that change might occur in the process of formulating its short-term and long-term plans. Thus, failure to adjust the plans accordingly may hinder the firm from achieving the desired outcome after implementing the plan.
Strategic planning responsibility
Du intends to achieve sustainable competitive advantage in the UAE’s telecommunication industry. The firm understands that this goal can only be achieved by formulating and implementing feasible plans. Therefore, the firm’s executive management team is charged with the strategic planning responsibility. Nonetheless, the firm recognises that its success depends on the synergy achieved amongst the various internal stakeholders. Consequently, the firm has adopted an inclusive strategic management process by providing employees in the lower levels of management with an opportunity to contribute during the strategic planning process. This decision is informed by the recognition of the view that the implementation of the strategic plan is a collaborative effort between the top and the lower levels of management.
Planning outcome
Du’s commitment in strategic planning has led to a significant improvement in the firm’s overall performance. First, strategic planning has enabled the firm to develop a strong organisational culture. One of the factors that have enabled the firm to achieve this goal is the firm’s decision to adopt an inclusive approach in its strategic planning process. Subsequently, the firm has managed to minimise the rate of attrition amongst its workforce.
Furthermore, strategic planning has enabled Du to attain optimal operational efficiency. For example, the firm has sustained positive financial performance over the years. In 2013, the firm’s sales revenue amounted to AED 10.8 billion, which represents a 9.7% increase as opposed to 2012. Moreover, the firm’s profits grew by 7.3% to reach AED 4.3 billion. The firm’s steady financial performance indicates its commitment in formulating and implementing viable strategic plans.
Summary and conclusion
The analysis shows that strategic planning is a fundamental element in an organisation’s effort to achieve competitive advantage. Additionally, the analysis shows that the success of an organisation’s strategic planning efforts depends on the extent of collaboration amongst the various internal stakeholders. Du management team’s proficiency in strategic planning has enabled the firm to attain remarkable growth despite being in operation for less than a decade.
Recommendations
In order to sustain its competitiveness in the telecommunication industry, it is imperative for Du’s management team to take into account the following aspects.
- The firm should evaluate its planned strategies continuously in order to determine their viability in sustaining the firm’s performance. Furthermore, the firm should also integrate emergent strategies in order to succeed in responding to the market changes. Subsequently, a high-level of flexibility should be ensured in the firm’s strategic planning process.
- The firm should also consider integrating diverse strategic tools such as the GROW model, the Porters five forces, and the BCG matrix in order to analyse its internal and external environments.