Strategic Approaches at the Lockheed Martin Corporation
The contemporaneous business community is more dynamic than it has even been and companies across the globe continually strive to develop and sustain competitive advantages. The most common approach to gaining market superiority is that of developing and implementing the most suitable strategies. The specification of the most suitable strategies is given by the simple reason that each entity is different in terms of activity conducted, resources possessed (labor force, technologies, capital or other commodities), objectives followed and market or industry characteristics and requirements. As a consequence, no perfect strategic program can be developed and implemented by all companies and ensure their ultimate success; ergo, organizations need to develop personalized and customized strategies. The concept of strategy has been adopted by the business entities from the military community and it basically has the same meaning: the bridge between politics and tactics, which in the end represent the bridge between ends and means (Nickols, 2000). Steiner (1979) on the other hand approaches the definition of strategy from a different angle and states it to be the actions implemented by one in order to top the actions of t
The rational thought begins with a collection of the necessary data and the establishment of the goals to achieve. Lockheed's Center for Innovation is an impressive laboratory which possesses extensive resources, in all materials, technology and specialized staff, and which is focused on testing and improving newer and better features that increase the quality of the final products, the efficiency of the operational processes and also the satisfaction felt by the end customers. 4 Strategy as Technology Leadership Approaching the business strategies from a technology standpoint is yet another crucial aspect of Lockheed's operations. "For more than 75 years, we've helped revolutionize the aerospace industry with a passion for invention that is unparalleled. The center located in Virginia is spread across 50,000 square feet and it represents a monument to the efforts made in investing in research and development, programs and infrastructure, all to retrieve innovative ideas and concepts. "Strategy innovation is about challenging existing industry methods of creating customer value in order to meet newly emerging customer needs, add additional value, and create new markets and new customer groups for the sponsoring company" (Tucker, 2002) Innovation is a major part in the business operations conducted by the Lockheed Martin Corporation and they even recognize its importance within the corporate mission and vision statements (Powered By Innovation, Guided By Integrity). More recently, by using rational thought strategies, the company has managed to overcome the number one competitor in the aerospace industry, French Boeing Company, and signed a $1. Another proof of rational thought in developing their strategic approach is given by an understanding of the military, which at the time possessed limited resources and could have used more aeroplanes. Or as pointed by Porter (1996), implementing a totally different course of action that helps the company differentiate itself from other competitors and increase the corporation's value. By taking a strategic approach to the technologies used, the company officials were able to identify the features and new requirements of the customers. Other initiatives of the Center include improvements in the field of net-centric operations, joint force projections, homeland defense and security, and logistics and materiel readiness. In other words, the company is already preparing itself for the future shortage and tries to overcome it by motivating young children to become scientists. But aside from the human resource, the RBV of the Lockheed Martin Corporation is also based on other resource characteristics and limitations, succinctly described in the following SWOT analysis:Internal Strengths- highly skilled workforce and extensive technologies- a century of expertise in the field of defense and aerospace- sufficient financial resources and continuous financial growthExternal Opportunities- numerous technological advancements that can be integrated- various strategic partnerships and the possibility to increase their numbers and gain increased access to resources and numerous global customersInternal Weaknesses- - product malfunctioning due to miscalculations that endangered the company's reputation- involvement in lawsuits of industrial espionage, unfair dismissal of employees and stealing contracts from BoeingExternal Threats- the workforce for science specialists is decreasing- increasing environmental demands which increase operating costs As a result of this resource-based view, it can easily be observed that the aerospace company possesses the necessary capital, labor force and technologies to sustain its future growth and consolidate its position as a global leader. All the Center's operations are conducted through their abilities of advanced modeling, simulation and visualization, global information and networking and their world-class analyses and engineering skills (Official Website of the Lockheed Martin Corporation, 2008).
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