Structuralist or Reconstructionist

Question 1: Which of these organizations do you view as strategically structuralist? Which do you view as re-constructionist?

Of the five companies listed (Google, Coca-Cola, The American Red Cross, Johnson & Johnson, and Amazon.com), I feel the company that is most “strategically structuralist” is The American Red Cross.

Amazon.com appears to be the closest example of a company deploying a re-constructionist strategy.

Question 2: For each organization, explain why you view their overall strategy as either structuralist or reconstructionist?

• Google

o Google appears to be a reconstructionist company based on its pursuit of both differentiation and low cost services. For example, Google is at the point now where it is more than just a global search engine. Google provides many different services such as free email, maps/directional services, business advertising, word processing, photo editing and storage, and telephony/video/data services. Many of Google’s services are free, while premium services are available for a small fee. Google is able to differentiate itself from competitors by offering such a wide suite of products/services that are tightly integrated, while offering them at no or low cost.

• Coca-Cola

o Coca-Cola would be considered a structuralist type company as the organization is one that has the resources and capabilities to build a distinctive position. Coca-Cola is marketed as a classic soft drink beverage, with historical roots. Coca-Cola is a company that will not likely change too much in the future and will defend its position as a soft drink leader. From an investor’s standpoint, the company share price has almost always been competitive, and has always paid a consistent, healthy dividend. I believe this is part of the reason Coca-Cola is committed to remaining consistent, and not wavering too much from what it does best.

• The American Red Cross

o A structuralist strategy is defined as one that assumes that the operating...