Strategic Management

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses strategic management and uses the UK credit card, Barclaycard, as a case study. It describes how Barclaycard has continually struggled to further develop their operations and implement strategies such as increasing the customer loyalty or offering a better diversified product palette. The study also shows how Barclaycard is currently seeking to further consolidate their leading position by offering a highly diversified product range.

Outline:
Introduction
Alternative Strategic Directions
Product Diversification
Customer Loyalty
Reduced Costs
Expansion
Recommended Alternatives
Conclusions

From the Paper:

"Barclaycard is a UK based credit card giant. They were the first to introduce the credit card in Great Britain in 1966 and after four decades of existence, they came to be present in more than 60 countries. The institution offers a multitude of solutions for their individual and organizational customers, be them large of small entities. Barclaycard is primarily centered on registering high incomes and achieving and maintaining international success, but in their path to reaching these desiderates, they place an increased emphasis on the full satisfaction of the customers' needs and wants, creating a pleasant and dynamic work environment and sustaining the development of the communities in which they operate (Official Website of Barclaycard, 2008)
"Today, Barclaycard serves over 10 million customers in the UK alone; they also provide services for 85,000 retailers and 5,000 staff. However they are extremely successful, the general status of an unstable global economy, in which borrowing becomes more expensive than ever, is likely to pose some threats. The threats are even more real when Barclaycard is already offering credit cards at prices among the highest ones in the region. "Managing over 10m UK customers, 85,000 retailers, 5,000 staff and offering one of the highest-priced card products, it was not surprising that Barclaycard was under close scrutiny as the inquiry into the credit card industry evolved" (case)."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Batlz-Lazo, B., Hacialloglu, N., Barclaycard: Still the King of Plastic?, Case Study
• Dorf, R.C., Byers, T.H., 2004, Technology Ventures: From Idea to Enterprise, The McGraw Hill Companies
• Hoskisson, R.E., Hitt, M.A., 1994, Downscoping: How to Tame the Diversified Firm, Oxford University Press
• Kono, T., Clegg, S.R., 1998, Transformation of Corporate Culture: Experiences of Japanese Enterprises, Walter de Gruyter Inc.
• Reichheld, F., Prescription for Cutting Costs, Official Website of Bain & Company, Retrieved from http://search.bain.com/search?q=annual+report&site=bainweb&client=bainweb&proxystylesheet=bainweb&output=xml_no_dtd&btnG.x=0&btnG.y=0 on August 5, 2008

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