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CHAPTER 9 • STRATEGY REVIEW, EVALUATION, AND CONTROL 291

TABLE 9-3 A Strategy-Evaluation Assessment Matrix
Have Major Changes Have Major Changes Has the Firm Progressed
Occurred in the Firm Occurred in the Firm Satisfactorily Toward
Internal Strategic External Strategic Achieving Its Stated
Position? Position? Objectives? Result
No No No Take corrective actions
Yes Yes Yes Take corrective actions
Yes Yes No Take corrective actions
Yes No Yes Take corrective actions
Yes No No Take corrective actions
No Yes Yes Take corrective actions
No Yes No Take corrective actions
No No Yes Continue present strategic
course

production/operations, R&D, and management information systems strengths and weak-
nesses. A revised EFE Matrix should indicate how effective a firm’s strategies have been in
response to key opportunities and threats. This analysis could also address such questions as
the following:

1. How have competitors reacted to our strategies?
2. How have competitors’ strategies changed?
3. Have major competitors’ strengths and weaknesses changed?
4. Why are competitors making certain strategic changes?
5. Why are some competitors’ strategies more successful than others?
6. How satisfied are our competitors with their present market positions and profitability?
7. How far can our major competitors be pushed before retaliating?
8. How could we more effectively cooperate with our competitors?
Numerous external and internal factors can prevent firms from achieving long-term
and annual objectives. Externally, actions by competitors, changes in demand, changes
in technology, economic changes, demographic shifts, and governmental actions may
prevent objectives from being accomplished. Internally, ineffective strategies may have
been chosen or implementation activities may have been poor. Objectives may have
been too optimistic. Thus, failure to achieve objectives may not be the result of unsatis-
factory work by managers and employees. All organizational members need to know
this to encourage their support for strategy-evaluation activities. Organizations desper-
ately need to know as soon as possible when their strategies are not effective.
Sometimes managers and employees on the front lines discover this well before
strategists.
External opportunities and threats and internal strengths and weaknesses that
represent the bases of current strategies should continually be monitored for change. It
is not really a question of whether these factors will change but rather when they will
change and in what ways. Here are some key questions to address in evaluating
strategies:

1. Are our internal strengths still strengths?
2. Have we added other internal strengths? If so, what are they?
3. Are our internal weaknesses still weaknesses?
4. Do we now have other internal weaknesses? If so, what are they?
5. Are our external opportunities still opportunities?
6. Are there now other external opportunities? If so, what are they?
7. Are our external threats still threats?
8. Are there now other external threats? If so, what are they?
9. Are we vulnerable to a hostile takeover?