Hersheys case study

Table of Contents
Introduction 2
Company’s Profile 3
School of Strategies Overview 3
The Planning School 4
Definition 4
Implementation 4
The Culture School 5
Definition 5
Implementation 5
Porter’s 5 Forces 6
Definition 6
Implementation 6
The threat new entrants: 6
The threat of substitutes: 6
Bargaining power of suppliers: 7
Bargaining power of buyers: 7
The level of rivalryamong competitors and the industry: 7
Hershey’s Strategy Overview 7
Corporate Level Strategy 7
Internal Analysis 8
Hershey’s Mission Statement 8
Competitive Analysis 8
Conclusion 10
References and Bibliography 11

Introduction
Henry Mintzberg, a university Professor and an internationally known author on business and management, defines Strategy as an integration of a number of disciplineswhich include economics, marketing, finance, etc., which will help a company overcome a specific situation; hence, Strategy can be looked at from different points of view depending on the situation given. Strategy as a Plan: it’s a course of action deliberately determined and in advance to make sure the company achieves its goals and objectives; Strategy as Ploy: A specific maneuver intended to setaside an opponent or competitor; Strategy as Pattern: The strategy is any set of actions or behaviour, whether deliberate or not. Defining strategy as a plan is not enough, you need a concept that is accompanied by the resulting behaviour. Specifically, the strategy must be consistent with the behaviour; Strategy as Position: strategy is any form of putting the company in the environment, eitherdirectly competitive or not; Strategy as Perspective: is an abstract concept which represents to the organisation what personality represents for an individual. This is why managers have to be very careful when choosing the strategy that will be implemented in their companies making sure that those strategies help the company be ahead of its competitors. A firm without a strategy is like a shipwithout radar, it would just be going around in circles.
In this assignment, the different schools of strategies by Mintzberg and Whittington will be studied and applied to THE HERSHEY COMPANY in order to discuss and analyse which of these strategies can be put into action to help the company expand its business internationally. Some other theories by other famous authors will be studied such asPorter’s Diamond, 5 forces and product life cycle of the given organisation.

Company’s Profile
The Hershey Company (NYSE: HSY) is the largest producer of quality chocolate in North America and a global leader in sugar and confectionary. The Hershey Company has got operations all over the world with over 12.000 employees. With revenues of more than $5 billion, Hershey offers such iconic brands asHERSHEY’S, REESE’S, HERSHEY’S KISSES, KIT KAT, TWIZZLERS and ICE BRAKERS, among others. Hershey is also a leader in fast-growing dark and premium chocolate segment with brands such as HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK and HERSHEY’S EXTRA DARK. It also exports to 90 different countries. (www.thehersheycompany.com).
The company operates as a single reportable segment in manufacturing, marketing, selling anddistributing various package types of chocolate and confectionery products, pantry items and gum and mint refreshment products under more than 80 brand names. Their five operating segments comprise geographic regions including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and other international locations, such as India, Korea, Japan, the Middle East, China and the Philippines. Hershey marketconfectionery products in approximately 50 countries worldwide. (10K Annual Report, 31/12/2009)
For segment reporting purposes, The Hershey Company combines its operations in the Americas, which comprise the United States, Canada, Mexico and Brazil. They base this aggregation on similar economic characteristics; products and services; production processes; types or classes of customers; distribution...