Corporate strategy
Corporate strategy concerns the overall scope and direction of an organisation and how value is created across its activities or businesses. Decisions include which businesses to own, enter or leave, how to allocate resources between them and what contribution the corporate parent makes. It differs from business-level competitive strategy, which focuses on how a particular business competes, and functional strategy, which supports that competition through individual functions.
Worked example
A group considers selling an unrelated division and investing the proceeds in two businesses that can share its distribution capability. The portfolio and parenting decisions concern corporate strategy; each business still needs its own competitive strategy.
Common mistake
Do not use corporate strategy as an exact synonym for every operational plan or assume that simply owning several businesses creates parenting advantage.
Where it appears in your exams
| Qualification | Exam | Relationship | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| ACCA | SBL | Direct | September 2026–June 2027 |