Background to the Service/Product

Strategic positioning refers to the positioning of a particular company or organization (unit) specifically in the future while considering the changing environment coupled with the realization of that positioning in a systematic manner (Simerson, 2011). The strategic positioning approach aims at ensuring the continuity of organization and is derived from the world of business (Abraham, 2012). The importance of strategic positioning cannot be underestimated especially for the startup companies (Tallant, 2011). Therefore, the method includes the devising of the desired future position of the company based on the present and foreseeable developments, plus the drawing of plans to achieve that positioning (Steiner, 2010).

Agentcis is a web-based agency management software that engages in service provision. The organization assists education and migration agencies to track clients and staff, manage data, creation of tasks, appointments and set reminders. This is being done in partnership with other companies. The company’s primary services are automating and optimizing business processes. For instance, the organization assists consulting firms to effortlessly alleviate complications they experience in tracking work progress, invoices and clients such as Global Consult that is situated in Australia. It helps students in handling and processing of applications and immigration for Australian education for the last couple of years.

The strategic position plan ought to be high medium because of the nature of the organization’s operations. I would choose the Porter’s generic strategies for the Agentcis organization. The Porter’s generic strategies provide three approaches; product differentiation strategies, cost minimization strategies and market focus strategies (Porter, 2008). The three strategies tend to describe how a particular organization can pursue competitive advantage mainly across the market scope of its choice (Blokdyk, 2018). This specific positioning plan would apply to Agentcis Company given the nature of its service delivery to clients in the recent past. The company is also considered to be a startup firm owing to its recent launch of operations. It is also important to note that the market for management software organizations present a wide range of growth opportunities which can only be harnesses through a comprehensive strategic positioning plan such as Porter’s generic strategies. There are also unforeseen threats which tend to come along with the anticipated growth opportunities for businesses especially in the online platform (Kotwica, 2013).

The Agentcis organization’s context captures terms such as market positioning, legitimacy, survival, choice for a particular work areas and the relationship with environment. There are various questions that need to be asked when it comes to the strategic positioning (Akdeniz, 2015). They include; how does the future look like? How could the company be roughly positioned in the future (Ferrell & Hartline, 2012)?  How are things in the organization at the present time? How can opportunities be captured? How can presenting threats be addressed? How can this be adopted practically in a systematic manner? The above mentioned questions would assist in identifying the success factors to be used in preparing a strategic performance framework for the company (Galal, 2014). For instance, the future of web-based businesses is promising in the sense that the growth opportunities foreseen here are countless and great. This is because of the continued development of the information technology that has been seen to favor the businesses which depend solely on the online platforms. In the recent past, many people have been migrating to the online platforms for various reasons (Cruz-Cunha, 2012). Some people are looking for particular services, others to access products and entertainment. One of the outstanding strategic performance success factor is the evolution of technology being witnessed and its subsequent adoption by the majority of online platform users. With the growing number of internet users and affordability of devices such as smartphones and laptops, the future of web-based businesses like the Agentcis is guaranteed in a wider dimension. However, the organization needs to understand the existing customer needs as well as their preferences based into the future. The company should choose to pursue one of two forms of competitive advantage, through differentiating itself along aspects that are valued by clients in order to command a higher price or reduce costs than those of competitors. Two variant aspects should be looked at, that is, cost leadership and differentiation as the company forges into the future prospects. The cost leadership requires an organization that is targeting clients in most or all industry segments to offer the lowest price (Griffin, 2008). On the other hand, a firm pursues a differentiation strategy by targeting customers in majority or all segments of an industry based on attributes other than price, for example, via higher quality of product or service with an aim of commanding a higher price in the market (Scheele, 2014). The strategy reduce costs in areas that are perceived unable to differentiate it in order to remain cost competitive compared to other firms in the particular industry. In regards to cost leadership strategy, Agentcis organization should follow three major procedures in order to achieve minimized future costs that would keep the firm afloat and guarantee its chance of thriving based on the foreseen prospects. The first step is attaining a high leveled utilization of assets of the company. For instance, the firm can increase the flexibility of its products and services to clients by restructuring their management software to accommodate the ever increasing and changing needs of customers especially in the service provision aspect. A single software could be designed for use I handling multiple tasks for multiple clients; all together at a go, probably in a pre-determined time period and fast enough. This could be facilitated by the improved efficiency of technology hence software development. The volumes of their services and products should be raised. Therefore, this approach would ensure that fixed costs incurred are spread over a larger number of units of its services and products. It would eventually contribute to a lower unit cost for the organization. It translates to the advantage of creating and utilizing the future economies of scale. Higher levels of service provision and output requires and contributes to large market share. Therefore, achieving an increased utilization of asset based on minimized costs would assist Agentcis in creating an entry barrier to potential competitors in the future in the particular industry because it will have grown. This is likely to happen because the potential competitors may be unable to attain to scale necessary math the Agentcis low costs and prices. It would further create a conducive business environment for the company to operate and thrive owing to reduced threats from potential competitors in the industry. The second dimension is ensuring low indirect and direct costs of operating. This can be achieve through the use of fewer and standard components. The organization should also keep the premises costs low in several ways. For instance, re-locating the current premises into a low rent areas, awarding low wages and creating a culture that is cost-conscious. However, it calls for a continuous search for reductions of costs in all aspects of the business in order to maintain the strategy. The third dimension involves ensuring control over the value chain that encompasses all functional groups such as marketing, finance, procurement/ supply, inventory and information technology. It is recommended that startup businesses should be cost-focused if they are to enjoy any advantages perceived as conducive to low costs (Goldman & Nieuwenhuizen, 2006). The company ought to engage in innovation of products and services that will enable it to offer them to its clients at cheaper prices especially where the prices and costs of incumbents have become too high. The focus strategies are considered to be the most viable approaches for startup companies especially for those firms which seek to avoid direct competition with already established businesses (Hill & Jones, 2012). It is important to note that currently, things are looking up for the company by analyzing the milestones which have been achieved since the firm was established. A keen observation of the present situation of the business paints a clear picture of how well the company is being run hence its determination to achieve future prospects. The demand for the company’s products and services can be increased based on the theory of demand. The theory states that the demand for goods and services increases as the prices decrease. Therefore, the firm should set the prices of their products and services relatively lower than those of the competitors in order to draw a large customer base. However, the organization should also be careful in adopting this approach by making sure that the profit margin is pre-determined before agreeing on a particular price level to avoid making loses in the long run. It is important to note that the future is based on the present and past. Trends in the preferences of customers should be comprehensively researched by the firm to objectively promote personalization and customization of products and services in the future. It would make it easy for the clients to identify with such products and services hence earning their loyalty. This forms an essential aspect as far as customer base is concerned.

Rationale for the Choice of the Strategy

There are various literature materials that are addressing the issue of strategic positioning plan. The relevance of the strategic positioning concept in business market is evident as realized through case studies. It is widely acknowledged that business positioning is predominantly dependent on hard criteria (e.g. quality of product/ service) and the relationship building factors such as personal contact. However, there are other considerations which include company structures (e.g. geographical coverage), degree of integration (e.g. position in the chain of distribution) and the breadth of offerings which also play critical role (Kalafatis, et al., n.d.). Various articles tend to support the claim that familiarity level with a particular business entity is a contributing factor to perceptions of the positioning strategies being pursued.

There are various aspects key to the achievement of a successful strategic positioning in an industry. The Porter’s generis strategies form the basis for a comprehensive positioning plan that if Agentcis adopts, it would thrive into the future regardless of the presenting threats in the long run. The essay has discussed in detail the critical approaches that would apparently reward the future prospects of Agentcis organization.

• The organization should engage in continuous market analysis with key interest being venturing into the future.
• The is the need to partner with the other firms in the industry to objectively harness the future prospects through an harmonized framework that does not undermine the other party.
• There is the need to design a sustainable positioning plan that would factor in survival, legitimacy, foreseen development and relationship with the environment. It should include information collection, analysis and implementation of the strategy.
• There is also the need to formulate a business oriented mechanism that would be used in tracking the progress made in achieving the strategic positioning in the particular industry. It should include a clear formula of handling any mitigations that are bound to arise in the long run.

References

Abraham, S. C., 2012. Strategic Planning: A Practical Guide for Competitive Success. 2 ed. s.l.:Emerald Group Publishing.

Akdeniz, C., 2015. Key Questions in Strategic Planning. s.l.:Can Akdeniz.

Blokdyk, G., 2018. Porter’s Generic Strategies. 3 ed. s.l.:CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform,.

Cruz-Cunha, M. M., 2012. Handbook of research on business social networking : organizational, managerial and technological dimensions. Hershey, PA : Business Science Reference.

Ferrell, O. C. & Hartline, M., 2012. Marketing Strategy. s.l.:Cengage Learning.

Galal, K., 2014. Strategic positioning in the consulting industry : an emperical analysis of strategic groups and performance. Lohmar: EUL Verlag.

Goldman, G. & Nieuwenhuizen, C., 2006. Strategy : sustaining competitive advantage in a globalised context. Cape Town: Juta,.

Griffin, R. W., 2008. Fundamentals of management. 5 ed. Boston, Mass: Houghton Mifflin.

Hill, C. W. L. & Jones, . G. R., 2012. Essentials of strategic management. 2 ed. Mason, Ohio: South-Western/Cengage Learning.

Kalafatis, S. P., Tsogas, M. H. & Blankson, C., n.d. “Positioning strategies in business markets”,. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 15(6), pp. 416-437.

Kotwica, K., 2013. The benefits and security risks of web-based applications for business : trend report. Amsterdam ; Boston: Elsevier Science & Technology.

Porter, M. E., 2008. Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors. s.l.:Simon and Schuster.

Scheele, D., 2014. The trade-off between cost leadership and differentiation. s.l.:GRIN Verlag.

Simerson, B. K., 2011. Strategic planning – a practical guide to strategy formulation and execution.. s.l.:ABC-CLIO.

Steiner, G. A., 2010. Strategic Planning. s.l.:Simon and Schuster.

Tallant, J., 2011. The Importance of Strategic Planning in the Business Environment. s.l.:GRIN Verlag.