In 2003, ZISCo management introduced the strategic management process as its new business strategy. It has been segregated into three stages and they are as follows:
- To establish short-run objectives to enhance key functional performance, product quality, and the production process.
- To implement the strategy not only to enhance cross-functional harmonization but also to improve cross-functional integration and coordination.
- It involved prolonging capacity building and integration.
Thus, ZISCo focused on the following four core areas. They are
- The mission of the company
- Internal value chain activities
- Competitive environment
- Driving forces of organizational performance.
ZISCo has to peruse a market-associated culture that focused on customer’s requirements and stresses the development of innovation. Hence, ZISCo is under compulsion to create not only a new market-associated culture but also to preserve customary values.
The second approach in implementing the new strategy, ZISCo has to continuously understand, discover and develop perceptiveness about value creation to develop further competitive benefits. However, ZISCo is under compulsion to recognize the strategically significant provinces for value creation where there needs a priority.
The third approach in introducing the new strategy, ZISCo has to sustain the competitive advantage which it had gained as the first-mover benefit. For instance, ZISCo is the first to introduce the following:
a. the first CSP technology in production in China;
b. the first steel manufacturer to provide the first one-stop services to all the steel manufacturers;
c. ZISCo is the first company in China the implementation of a value creation strategy.
The fourth approach in the implementation of the new strategy is to maintain ZISCo’s competitive advantage. The competitive advantages that have been developed by ZISCo include the following:
a. introduction of organizational culture
b. ability to develop new and innovative products
c. the capability to offer a full range of one-stop services to clients
d. superiority in product delivery and customer service.
The fifth and final approach is to discover and widen organizational capability to manage the business strategically. Strategic management has become ZISCo’s main objective.
The new strategy pre-launch for steel making and steel rolling had been introduced between March 2003 and December 2003 mainly to enhance production and product quality. Stage one includes improving the key functional performance between January 2004 and June 2004. Stage two involves a new strategy launch and implementation. Functions like cross-functional and coordination and integration were introduced in July 2004 and February 2006. Stage three involves the continuous enhancement and consolidation implementing the strategy between January 2006 and May 2007.
