Introduction
Strategic management as a discipline is the management of the organization, which is based on human potential as its foundation. The main goals of such management are orienting production activity on consumers’ inquiries, executing flexible regulations and timely changes in the organizations, adequate to the influence of the environment, that allow achieving competitive advantages. These aims in long term prospect, further the survival of the organization and achieving its purposes. In that sense Strategic management could be considered as the issue of decision making which with the use of flexible management would provide adaptation of the enterprise to the changing environment. Based on the context of the aforementioned definition, this paper is addressed to the issue of timely reaction to arising challenges, by means of strategic management, based on a presented case study of the company Face book.
Problem Statement
News around “Facebook” appear almost every day. The company is one of the most fast-growing and popular social networks. Having replaced its concept in the spring of this year, the site became a platform for web applications which number steadily grows. Started in 2004 Facebook long time remained a closed social network for students. In order to become a member of this network, not only it was required to study in US college or university, but also to have an e-mail address issued by an educational institution. Later founders of the service had gone on some indulgences, first allowing using any email address, and after that made even made the registration accessible for everyone.
The main issue of case study could be expressed in the dilemma of the company strategy direction in establishing the target market. On one side there were the campus and educational which promoted to the growing popularity of facebok, and on the other side the business approach in appealing to wider audience where accordingly the big brand companies are interested in investing. In that sense, it should be mentioned that in addition to that dilemma, the niche previously occupied by Facebook has started to fill with new networks directed toward campus users, thus targeting narrow profile audience.
Analysis
The main point of strategic analysis in this case study could be addressed to the issue of balanced development. Balanced development, as the benefit of strategic management, is “avoiding the potential risk of being dependent on one particular industry or company” (Liou, 2000, p. 1621) In that sense, it could be seen that the benefits of balanced development are already taking place, where it was mentioned that Microsoft, Amazon along with “more than 65 developer partners have built applications on Facebook Platform, a new development platform that enables companies and engineers to integrate with the Facebook website and gain access to millions of users.” (Facebook, 2007).
Additionally, the growing audience of Facebook could help changing the direction of reshaping workplaces, thus building a new platform for new target market. The contacts such as employer-employee, and employer-students, along with contacts between coworkers have a major influence on shifting the workforce, the implications of which “innovative leadership, flexible human capital management, technology adoption, and increased education and training” (Boddie, Contardo & Childs, 2007).
In that sense the direction taken by Facebook management seem reasonable in appealing to wider audience, however, achieving the desired balance without losing large demographic portion could be achieved by following several outlines.
Recommendations
It could be assumed that the problem of contradicting target audience is a problem of identification of the key stake holders, where introducing a product simultaneously for different audience resulted in both refusing its certain features. The separation can be done on a basis that students and other campus auditory will have the basic features o Facebook. An analysis of the market tendencies shows that this market is still growing, and the orientation toward the future is vital in that case. In that sense, competitors that attempt to occupy the position left by Facebook only confirms that statement.
On the other hand, business oriented users who outgrown the campus category can have a separate version of Facebook where a subscription could be implemented. In that case, the aforementioned category will have an ad free version of the network and an escape from “unwanted requests from strangers who try to horn in on their network to ask for favors” (Pearce).
It could be seen that both audiences are interesting for Facebook from business perspective where both can attract more popularity and investors, whereas the satisfaction of both sides could be considered as the critical success factor that solve Facebook’s dilemmas.
In the context of privacy and networks correlation, the same balanced approach can be used where the users will be restricted only to their networks with the ability for fixed number of switches. At the same time this restriction will be removed for members with paid subscription.
Conclusion
The analysis of Facebook case study has shown that the problems faced by the networks are obstacles that can be seen as typical when outgrowing the limits of the initial project and stepping into the brand names market. The satisfaction of both parties could be achieved through separation of priorities of each sector. In that sense, the interaction of different players within balance development can “result in development programs that represent a win-win situation to everyone involved in the process” (Liou, 2000, p. 1621).
References
- Boddie, W., Contardo, J., & Childs, R. (2007). The Future Workforce: Here They Come A New Generation of Professionals Are Reshaping Government Workplaces, Markedly Changing the Expectations of Individual and Organizational Behaviors. The Public Manager, 36(4), 25+.
- Facebook Inc,. (2007). In Facebook Platform Launches with 65 Developer Partners and Over 85 Applications for Facebook. (chap. Press RoomFacebook) Web.
- Liou, K. T. (2000). Applying Strategic Management to Economic Development: Benefits and Challenges. International Journal of Public Administration, 23(9), 1621.
- Pearce, J. A., & R. Robinson. (2009). Strategic Management (11th Edition). McGraw&Hill.