Short Paper II: Successful Strategy
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University

Customers are better educated and informed than ever before which has resulted in them becoming more discriminating and demanding. In order to deal with these changes organizations must be adaptable. They must react to change in a positive manner and be prepared in advance for the changes to come. According to Miles D. White, CEO of the Abbott Company, to build a sustainable business enterprise that can grow and thrive into the next century there are two key requirements: an ability to maintain an unrelenting focus on the future and a determination to make difficult, sometimes transformational changes (White, 2012).
Businesses need to have an informed staff. Not that the staff should know every step in the strategy but they should know that change is coming and that they will be expected to mimic the flow. Organizations need to be aware and understand change. They should work with an element that can clarify the needs and desires of consumers in relation to their product or service and get ideas on how to meet those needs and wants. The leadership in an organization should be proponents and promoters of the changes in order to influence the employees positively.
In this economy businesses must embrace technology. They have to learn and build upon existing tools in order to make them beneficial for them. Businesses also need to increase the speed and capacity that innovation occurs. Whilst doing that they must ensure that with the speed steadiness follows. New technology and innovation allows tasks that were once time consuming to be done in a more efficient and time saving manner. However, organizations must take note that being quick with poor quality work will not allow them to sustain.
Organizations must ensure that anything they take on is value added. There are niceties that are interesting yet do not add value. Resources should not be wasted on those things but rather focused on skills, tasks, and innovations that yield a high return.
Businesses must also be aware of needs as they change. They must continuously improve their provision of services—in terms of reliability, quality, and cost. They must take care of the customer that supports their sustainment. Successful business organizations are doing all of the previously mentioned things in addition to knowing their niche.
McDonald’s had traditionally been successful at identifying and keeping up with customer demand until recently. Over the last year they saw a decline in both sales and earnings by 3.3 percent in the third quarter and 1.1 percent in the fourth quarter. In order to regain their positive momentum McDonald’s has amended their strategy for