Reference no: EM133039071

Analyze CVS's corporate-level strategy

• First, define the company's mission and goals. Sometimes the mission and goals are stated; at other times, you will have to infer them from available information.
• The information you need to collect to find out the company's corporate strategy includes such factors as
  • Its line(s) of business and the nature of its subsidiaries and acquisitions
  • An analysis of the relationship among the company's businesses
    • Do they trade or exchange resources?
    • Are there gains to be achieved from synergy?
    • Alternatively, is the company just running a portfolio of investments?
• This analysis should enable you to define the corporate strategy that the company is pursuing (for example, related or unrelated diversification or a combination of both) and to conclude whether the company operates in just one core business.
• Other issues should be considered as well.
  • How and why has the company's strategy changed over time?
  • What is the claimed rationale for any changes?
  • Often it is a good idea to analyze the company's businesses or products to assess its situation and identify which divisions contribute the most to or detract from its competitive advantage.
  • It is also helpful to explore how the company has built its portfolio over time. Did it acquire new businesses, or did it internally venture its own?
• All these factors provide clues about the company and indicate ways of improving its future performance.