07. Corporate Strategy

7.1 Summarize corporate strategy and where the company is heading.
7.2 Does this involve a major departure from its current activities? How? Why?

In addi­tion to under­stand­ing where a com­pany has been, it is cru­cial to under­stand where it is head­ing. Under­stand­ing its growth strat­egy is imper­a­tive in under­stand­ing cor­po­rate decision-making, and may also be where a firm is most vulnerable. The Hotel workers (UNITE HERE) have been very successful in finding out where hotel firms are planning to grow, and intervening with local officials in the planning process.

Sometimes firms are explicit about their corporate strategy in their company annual report or web site. Other times you may have to ferret it out or piece it together from other sources. A Canadian News Search may yield recent press releases or an interview with the CEO which would allow you to piece together corporate strategy. The Wall Street Transcript provides a variety of interviews, including those with CEOs and industry analysts. EarningsCast.com provides information on corporate conference calls, transcripts and press releases.

Paid Resources (Subscription Required)

The Datamonitor Report from Business Source Complete (you will need to select Business Source Complete from the list)  is an excellent source for corporate strategy.Look under “company profiles” for the Datamonitor report. Also explore Mergent Market Atlas.