LEGO’s Strategy and Key Characteristics of Strategic Management
Strategic management has become one of the major frameworks for allocating resources in the way that benefits the company best in the long term. In relation to LEGO Group, which has experienced a period of crisis before focusing on advanced and innovative approaches in the workplace, strategic management has become the redeeming feature of the company. The promotion of innovative thinking and care for customers’ needs have contributed to LEGO Group’s eventual revival (Jensen, 2010). The specified approach reflects the characteristics of strategic management precisely since it implies the focus on long-term benefits, involvement of key stakeholders, and emphasis on the multifunctional nature of the corporate strategy. As soon as LEGO Group recognized the massive importance that customers’ responsiveness toward new solutions and products had, the company slowly entered an upward period in its development.
External Environment Influencing Strategy Development at the LEGO Group
Although the changes occurring to the company on an internal level have shaped the choices related to the management strategy that the company has developed, the impact of the external factors has been doubtlessly superior. Namely, the strategic management choices made by the organization have been defined by the current trend toward expansion as the foundational step toward success. The need to be represented on the global stage has been the focus of most organizations striving to capture some element of global presence, which is why LEGO Group has been understandably focusing on the specified goal as well. Therefore, the need for expansion has determined its choice of strategic management.
Likewise, the importance that innovation and especially technological progress has gained in the current economic context has determined the organization’s strategic management approach, namely, the promotion of innovativeness and the enhancement of the company’s talent management techniques. The emphasis on innovative solutions and the incorporation of digital tools, as well as the significance that they have on the improvement of a company’s supply chain, production quality, and overall performance in the target market has shaped LEGO Group’s strategic management framework, incentivizing the organization to focus on quality assessment specifically.
Finally, the trends linked to effective HRM and the promotion of talent management as the most lucrative investment in the current economic setting has echoed in LEGO Group’s approach. Indeed, as the case at hand shows, the company has been shifting toward a more elaborate and thoughtful use of its human resources, which has led to its gradual improvement and the development of opportunities for remaining on top.
Alternative Strategies Facing the LEGO Group in 2004 and Reasons for the Company’s Choice
Remarkably, the choice that LEGO Group made in 2004 was not the only option available to the organization at the time. In addition to the selected course of actions, LEGO Group could have also considered using a merger as the means of reducing risks in the global economic setting and creating stronger ties with its partners, thus reinforcing the efficacy of its supply chain. However, the organization selected the foray into the digital world, which was justified at the time by the opportunities that the online marketing held. Remarkably, LEGO Group’s expectations were fully justified, as the case study proves.
Approaching the Strategy Development at LEGO Today
Although LEGO has managed to develop the framework that keeps it in a comparatively high position in the global toy industry, the organization still needs the further development strategy. To improve its current framework of strategic management, one could suggest incorporating more effective tools for quality management, such as the TQM approach (Jensen, 2010). Likewise, the emphasis on exploring other digital opportunities, such as the creation of applications that customers could download and use as the extension of the company’s products and services should be considered as possibility. Thus, LEGO will maintain and even reinforce its already strong presence in the global context.
Reference List
Jensen, A. B. (2010) The LEGO Group: working with strategy. Odense, Denmark: University of Southern Denmark.