Ministry_of_Sound

“Ministry of Sound” a 1991 founded London Club, which has build up a strong and exclusive brand and is today known for the biggest name in dance music, faced a strategic drift in 2002. 1. In terms of the above concepts and in terms of “Strategic Drift” what Phase is this organisation in at the close of the case' Justify your argument. According to Johnson, et al. (2008. p.180) the Strategic drift of a company can stand in 4th Phases (Appendix 1.), the 4th demonstrating the time for transformational change or death of the company. At the close of the case “Ministry of Sound” written by Richard Wittington, the company is facing the 4th phase, because of the change in culture and the environmental market (Tossi, et al. 2000 p.372), the dance music was going out of fashion and live concerts where becoming more popular. Therefore it was important to change the strategy in order to survive (Osterhold 2002, p. 13). The organization can no be at Phase one, two, or three at the end of the case, because it doesn’t show a “period of flux”, at this point. However, there is such a period previous mentioned in the text, where it says that the new launched style magazine failed. We can see that the strategy is changing in an absolutely new direction, because the Marketing Director forced a transformational change by conducting a strategic review of the business. Instead of concentrating on Clubs, he went on to sell branded cloth and hi-fi products. 2. Outline which elements of the four strategy lenses, Design, Experience Ideas and Discourse, can you relate to in your analysis of this introductory case' At the very beginning of “Ministry of Sound’s” company, James Palumbo made use of the discourse lenses. According to Rouleau and Seguin (1995 p. 101-117), it implies the confidence for the choice taken and the way strategy is implemented. To manage his drug free environment, he had to show power by facing the drug gangs. Also he had to communicate and promote his drug free club environment to create a competitive advantage. Furthermore, the design lens views strategic development as an advantage of opportunity, which can benefit the brand through establishing a portfolio of products (Porter 1980). Last, there is a lens of idea, which clarifies the importance of following the environmental and cultural changes as well as using the power of the well-branded company’s name, to guarantees the survival of the company. 3. Which lenses would better inform future strategic directions for this organisation' The idea lens combined with the discourse lenses will better inform future strategic directions for this organization. Fortunately, those lenses will guide the company in a new direction and guarantee that they survive in a changing environment by generating new ideas for the future (Anon, 1992 p. 22) However, it is important to keep in mind the other lenses and be able to identify and make use of them if necessary.