Corporate Strategy - British Sky Broadcasting - Assignment Example

CORPORATE STRATEGY BRITISH SKY BROADCASTING (Student’s name & Number) (Module name and number) (Name of institution) (Course) (Name of Instructor) 24th December 2008 Contents Executive summary 1.0 Introduction ……………………………………………….. 1.2 Methodology ……………………………………………….. 2.0 Industry overview …………………………………………. 3.0 Company background …………………………………….. 3.1 Company history ………………………………………….. 3.2 Brand portfolio ……………………………………………. 4.0 Literature review …………………………………………. 5.0 Company analysis ………………………………………… 5.1 Strategy ……………………………………………………. 5.2Strengths and weaknesses ………………………………… 5.2.1 Strengths …………………………………………………. 5.2.2 Weaknesses ………………………………………………. 5.3 Opportunities and threats ………………………………. 5.3.1 Opportunities ……………………………………………. 5.3.2 Threats ……………………………………………………. 5.4 Five forces analysis ……………………………………….. 5.4.1 Entry of competitors ……………………………………. 5.4.2 Threat of substitutes ……………………………………. 5.4.3 Bargaining power of buyers ……………………………. 5.4.4 Bargaining power of suppliers …………………………. 5.4.5 Rivalry …………………………………………………… 5.5 Sustainable competitive advantage ……………………… 6.0 Market segmentation and coverage ……………………. 7.0 BCG Growth model ……………………………………… 7.1 Cash cow …………………………………………………. 7.2 Question marks ………………………………………….. 7.3 Star category…………………………………………….. 7.4 Dog portfolio …………………………………………….. 8.0 Resource allocation …………………………………….. 9.0 Strategic alliances …………………………………….. 9.1 Mergers and acquisitions ………………………………. 10.0 Future prospects ………………………………………. 10.1 For the market ………………………………………….. 10.2 For Sky TV-Recommendations ………………………. References ……………………………. Executive Summary Bringing theory into practice in business management has at times proved to be an elusive goal for many business managers. For the few that succeed in implementing business management theory into practice, the results have been rewarding with increased market share, good product/service performance in the market increased share holder returns and customer satisfaction among many other benefits. Sky TV having endured a number of CEO’s has shown some level of consistency since inception. The company has registered stable growth over the 15 years plus. Currently, the company has shown admirable consistency in growth when the consumer spending market is shrinking due to the global financial crisis. The pay per view TV industry is thus facing a threat as consumers will tend to have more to spend on such product while corporations facing a shortage in credit will cut on their TV advertising spending which forms a major part of TV revenue. To remain afloat in such tough times then calls for proper strategic management decisions to be made that will help the company survive the short term challenges facing it and the industry and as well as move towards achieving the long term mission and objectives of the company that in the long run will also meet the company’s vision. Sky TV has thus made use of all the relevant strategies in manoeuvring changing consumer needs and maintaining quality and customer satisfaction throughout. This has been more possible by the company offering a wide portfolio of products and services that seek to satisfy different consumer needs as enabled by their desires and income level. 1.0 Introduction Television Broadcasting has over time developed from just basic information to encompass a wide variety of entertainment and sports. The UK market has taken up the digital pay per view direction that it is viewed as the world’s hub of digital TV. One of the major players in this market is Sky TV. In fulfilment of the requirements of my course, I am analysing the corporate strategy of this firm. Thus this paper is a memo report of the corporate strategy adopted by Sky TV to reach where it is and emerge as the leading digital TV provider in the UK that is to be presented to the company’s CEO, Jeremy Darroch. 1.2 Methodology This report is organized into subsections each with a subheading indicating a particular aspect under scrutiny. It views the UK TV broadcasting industry as a whole and indicates the role of the firm in discussion in the market. In analyzing the company, secondary sources of data and in particular books, journals, newspaper articles and web sources from the company website and other relevant sources have been used in obtaining information regarding the company and the industry. Business management analysis tools have been used to identify strategies in use at the company and link them to theoretical knowledge regarding corporate strategy as have been learned in this course. Tools in use are SWOT, Five Forces, and the BCG growth Model. Others in review are the company’s strategic choice and resource allocation plus the role of market segmentation in marketing the company’s products and services (Johnson Scholes 2004, pp 12). 2.0 UK digital TV industry overview The UK TV broadcasting market is highly competitive with numerous players. For advanced players in the industry, focus and development in the market is now shifting towards online TV which is expected to generate revenues in excess of £181 million in the UK by 2011. Unfortunately, this market is being challenged by online services market providers such as You Tube and Joost and hardware and software manufactures such as Microsoft. The UK digital TV market in the UK is the fastest growing among many others in the world. In fact 86% of TV consumers in the UK have digital TV on their main set. http://www.uswitch.com/news/digitaltv/20081120/uk-leading-the-way-on-digital-tv-take-up.cmsx. Such a huge popularity of the trend overtakes that of Italy, Germany and France combined together as per the report. The digital market has been segmented into four parts as: Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT)- Freeview services Digital Satellite Television - Sky subscribers and free-to-view satellite services Cable Television - Virgin Media services plus others Television over Broadband (Tiscali TV) http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/tvlicensing/dtt/main.htm 3.0 Company background Sky TV has grown to be one of the most respected brand names in the world of entertainment and communication in the UK and the world all over. The company is most famous for offering the digital TV broadcast and the most recent broadband connection that come along with free phone communication. It prides itself in revolutionalising the TV as supported by numerous developments in the management of the company and what it has to offer to its customers. This has been achieved by maintaining a deep and wide content. This comes as a result of a clear long term corporate strategy that is superior to that of the company’s competitors. With a customer base of nearly 9 million direct subscribers and other 3.2 million subscribers through a partnership with Virgin Media, the company has proved to be a considerable force in the market http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/1ffb247d89b6490c9cd3dc7a4f24f4eb/annual_report_2008.pdf 3.1 Company history The company is partially owned (about a third) by Rupert Murdoch through News International started in the 1980’s. The company is listed in the London Stock Exchange and is part of the FTSE index. Investment in Satellite TV came with the buying of Satellite Television (SATV) in 1983 which he later renamed Sky Channel. Another re-launch was on the way and the company acquired the name Sky Television after adding a number of channels in its portfolio. By 1989, it was the world’s first direct broadcast satellite. All this time the company never owned satellites but a strategic alliance with Astra Satellites allowed it the company to air its waves http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/1ffb247d89b6490c9cd3dc7a4f24f4eb/annual_report_2008.pdf. Competition and poor business performance forced the company to merge on 50:50 basis with one of its rivals, British Satellite Broadcasting to form British Sky Broadcasting but marketed as Sky. The company still retains the name British Sky Broadcasting Group Plc, but is more popular through its market name as just Sky TV. In 2006, the company completed the acquisition of another company by the name Easynet Group Plc. The company previously operated in over ten countries in and out of Europe offering IP based wide area network solutions. In addition to this, the company also acquired another company, Amrad in 2007. http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/1ffb247d89b6490c9cd3dc7a4f24f4eb/annual_review_2008.pdf 3.2 Brand portfolio At the moment the marketer is offering three categories of products Sky Broadband, Sky Talk and Sky TV, with 12% of the customer base opting for the three products. Another latest product from the company is the online sky TV service that enables web-based access to live TV and video-on-demand. Such strategic planning has seen the company register growth with revenues as of June 2008 hitting £4,952 million. In addition to this the fact that the company has high rate of product development and improvement has seen it manage a broad portfolio http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/1ffb247d89b6490c9cd3dc7a4f24f4eb/annual_review_2008.pdf. The introduction of the Sky+ as a personal video recorder (PVR) that can pause, record and rewind live TV and satellite decoder has been an instant hit in the market. This product enables viewers not to miss any of their favourite programs and even record them for later viewing. Apart from that, the company offers broad band internet connection. According to the company’s fact book, the company was ranked as the 5th largest ISP provider in the UK earlier this year only 15 months after launching the service in 2006. The Sky broadband is offered as a joint product with Sky Talk through the use of voice over internet protocol (VOIP). http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/1ffb247d89b6490c9cd3dc7a4f24f4eb/annual_review_2008.pdf. These major products/services offered by the company have other subsidiary products/services supporting the main offers that enable Sky to have a competitive edge over its competitors in a market place where new business trends and product improvement take centre stage. Other more recent additions are the Sky-Multiroom which allows family members to watch different programs in different rooms by offering them additional set boxes at a subsidized additional fee and the Sky Player which is a PC-application that grants subscribers access to a variety of on-demand programmes and live channels incorporating Sky Sports, Sky One and Sky Movies programming. http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/1ffb247d89b6490c9cd3dc7a4f24f4eb/annual_review_2008.pdf. 4.0 Literature review 4.1 How consumers make decisions In the market organisations base their strategies on extensive market environment research whose findings will be used in developing new products and improving on the existing ones (Lynch, 2006, pp.98). The author goes on and says that the main concern for marketers globally is to gain favour with consumers who in the long run will remain loyal to the brand. Lynch (2006) as the internal environment of the company itself may not be favourable. Lynch says though the external environment be present a company with growth opportunities, the internal environment may not allow to achieve that. Aspects such as organisational structure and culture have a role to play in achieving corporate objectives. Thompson et al, (2007, pp. 112) also observes that “Consumers react differently to consumption of the product when they had knowledge of the brand”. This gives another perspective that managers and marketing professionals propose as “experience enhancer”. Lynch (2006, pp. 81) adds that research done on consumers taking a certain product brand having a prior experience as compared to a consumer consuming the same brand without prior experience shows that the fist consumer will have a positive attitude even before consuming than the latter consumer who will be a bit apprehensive. This explains why firms are so keen on developing subsidiary brands or deriving versions of a brand from a main brand that has performed well in the market. Lynch (2006, pp. 171) also says that consumers judge a product/service according to their past experience. Therefore product predictability is a key component in the making of decisions by a consumer. He thus adds that product consistence in quality is the key to customer loyalty. Campbell et al, (2002, pp. 320) emphasises on the importance of customer loyalty by saying that it is five times cheaper to market a product to an existing customer than it is to market the same product/service to a new customer. 5.0 Company analysis 5.1 Strategy Through aggressive marketing and market segmentation Sky TV has managed to emerge as the leading pay TV provider in the UK and Ireland. According to an Ofcom report in 2007 there were 21.7 million households in the UK subscribing to a pay TV with Sky TV enjoying the majority share http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/1ffb247d89b6490c9cd3dc7a4f24f4eb/annual_review_2008.pdf. 5.2 Strengths and weaknesses The domination of the market by Sky TV does not come by coincidence. An aggressive marketing campaign that seeks to deliver what the market desires keeps them going. This is most attributable to the management that has made the right strategic decision in realizing certain aspects in the company that adds to its competitive advantage as strengths. On the other hand, some o these decisions have weakened the company’s competitive advantages as weaknesses 5.2.1 Strengths Sky TV has a wide product portfolio that surpasses what other competing players in the market have to offer. The inclusion of Sky-multiroom on existing DTH subscribers and the recently launched (4th Dec 2008) online Sky-player puts the firm way ahead of the competitors. The combination of the Sky brand, product set, content offering and service infrastructure is unsurpassed in the market and ensures that Sky customers are satisfied and receive their money’s worth. http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/1ffb247d89b6490c9cd3dc7a4f24f4eb/annual_review_2008.pdf.. Consistent quality that ties loyal customers to the firm. The fact that the company has been consistent in quality is expressed by the manner in which the market absorbs new products or brand extensions. According to the company website a third of the company’s subscribers are opting to take up the three broad product categories that the firm is offering. This is expected to grow stronger with time as some of the products are relatively new in the market such as Sky Player. The capability Sky TV as an organisation is the basis for the company’s competitive advantage. The marketability of the Sky channels in franchise (wholesale) and its position as the choice of more than one in three households in the UK and Ireland provides a strong foundation for growth. Market identification and segmentation. Sky TV has bee able to correctly identify its market and segment it in order to service the market well. This ensures that marketing initiatives reach the target market and products and services are developed with the needs of a particular market in mind. 5.2.2 Weaknesses The fact that the company offers a very wide products and services range transcending across various markets denies it the aspect of specialization which can be viewed as a weakness. This aspect denies Sky TV the opportunity of specializing, developing and improving the quality of a single service/product and meeting the needs of that particular market exclusively. 5.3 Opportunities and threats 5.3.1 Opportunities There lays a substantial opportunity in the coming together of previously contiguous markets in telephony, satellite TV and broadband connection. By creating a homogenous market that consumes the three products simultaneously provides significant headroom for growth for Sky TV and other players in the industry (Colley et al 2004). Increasing popularity of the English Premier League and sports in general, globally plays a vital role in expanding one of the major target markets of Sky TV. 5.3.2 Threats The global economic downturn has had its effect on UK consumers who have had to cut down on their consumer spending as the credit crunch bites. This has affected almost all industries and more so the luxury market in this case entertainment. Competition from industry other players such as BBC and Telewest, with the BBC having bigger international presence and brand recognition than Sky TV. http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/1ffb247d89b6490c9cd3dc7a4f24f4eb/annual_report_2008.pdf 5.4 Fiveforces analysis 5.4.1 Entry of competitors The TV viewership industry can be said to be affected by created barriers to entry with no natural barriers present as of now. The presence of strong brand names such as Sky TV and the BBC in the UK market makes it hard for new players to challenge their market share after gathering a faithful and loyal market following. Experience with quality service from existing players will deny new entrants the opportunity to attract new customers as there is little brand experience to market the new entrant. http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/1ffb247d89b6490c9cd3dc7a4f24f4eb/annual_report_2008.pdf 5.4.2 Threat of substitutes Sky TV is facing remote competition in certain market segments such as Sky+. Other popular entertainment websites such as YouTube and Facebook are offering their customers opportunities to download movies and songs and they currently dominate this market. This makes it hard for Sky+ to retain and grow the small market sharing it has obtained as their consumers will feel alienated from the mainstream in the short run. On the other hand the increased cost of living and inflation means that consumers have less and less to consume by the day. Hence there is a lot of competition for Sky TV in terms of resource allocation on the side of the consumers who have to contend with the high cost of living and other goods/services (Colley et al 2004). 5.4.3 Bargaining power of buyers Segmenting the market and offering their products as packages has been very effective in capping the bargaining power of buyers. This is carried out by grouping their products and services as ordinary and premium in order to fit different market segments existing both in the high income earners market and the medium to low income earners category. 5.4.4 Bargaining power of suppliers Earlier on, the company used to rely on the services of other companies in terms f satellites before owning theirs. This has alienated the power of suppliers to some extent. From another perspective, Sky TV has placed itself more as a supplier of programmes than a buyer of one. The company broadcasts many of its programs such as Sky Sports while programmes and channels sourced elsewhere have relatively little power on the company as it has a strong brand name and equity in the market than the out sourced programmes and channels. 5.4.5 Rivalry The company faces a lot of competition in the UK but its strong brand name and consistently highly quality products and services have given the company a huge number of loyal customers who are willing to take up other additional products offered such as broadband and telephony services apart from the conventional TV satellite connection. In other markets, Sky Broadband is facing competition from satellite cable operators who through fibre optic cables offer the same service which is viewed to more efficient than when offered via satellite dishes. 5.5 Sustainable competitive advantage This is one of the most relevant terms in corporate management that defines the path of an organisation’s future in the market in regard to competition. Lynch (2006, pp. 142) defines the term as the long-term competitive advantage of a firm that cannot be matched by its rivals. The position of Sky TV in the market is affected by new developments in customers wants and desires who are not willing to wait but want their needs to be met there and then as long as they can afford it. For Sky TV, sustainable competitive advantage will be based on the company’s ability to uphold and protect its core competences and capabilities as presented by opportunities and supported by the company’s strengths. These capabilities and competences however need to constantly re-evaluated and reinvented (process reengineering/redesigning) to update them to new market developments (Lynch, 2006, pp. 763). Some of the distinctive capabilities for Sky are effective leadership, adept innovation and tacit knowledge gained from experience. These core capabilities will thus have to undergo evaluation and reinvent them if Sky TV is to achieve long term competitive advantage. 6.0 Market segmentation and coverage This is one of the unique strengths of Sky TV that makes it a dominant player in the market whereby one out of three households consuming satellite TV in the UK and Ireland choose this brand. In the UK for example, there are 60 million TV sets according to Ofcom consisting of 25.3 main sets (positioned in sitting rooms) and 34.7 million secondary sets (positioned in bedrooms, kitchens etc). Conventionally, this means that households can only connect the main set to digital set box. In realization of this, Sky TV introduced the multiroom product that allows their existing digital subscribers to connect more than one TV set to satellite. Again, the Mutiroom product is posed for even greater growth as Ofcom reports that on average UK homes have 2.4 TV sets with a majority (55%) converted to multichannel where Sky Multiroom comes in handy as it cheaper and more convenient than an a second cable box or a another DTT device. http://www.broadbandmarket.co.uk/digital-tv-service.html In 2001, Sky discontinued its analogue service in favour for digital service. This was in line with the technologic advancements in this industry which favoured digital television sets for their picture quality and clarity as compared to analogue ones. This has been strengthened by the UK government’s commitment to completely replace analogue terrestrial television in the country by 2012 through the programme dubbed the “Digital Switchover”. The Sky Broadband market is categorized as Base, Mid and Max. Base broadband is for remote internet users with downloads speeds of up to 2Mb and monthly usage allowance of 2GB and no monthly charges. Existing Sky customers are charged an installation fee of £75 while new customers taking up Sky TV are not charged. The Broadband Mid comes at an additional fee of £5 a month with downloads speeds of 8 Mb. The Max broadband goes for £10 a month with download speed of 16mb and unlimited usage http://www.broadbandmarket.co.uk/digital-tv-service.html. This segmentation of the market allows customers to choose and pay for what they only need. 7.0 BCG Growth model This model seeks to show the relative resource allocation and relative market share of different categories of a wide portfolio of products and services offered by a particular firm and in this case Sky TV. Wide market share is assumed to translate into high revenue. 7.1 Cash cow According to Campbell et al (2002, pp. 101), a cash cow is supposed to be milked in order to satisfy the needs of others who in this case take the milk. In other words, a cash cow in a firm is the product portfolio of a company which is well established in the market and in the maturity stage where little investment towards the project is needed but the returns is high and as such the mainstay of the whole company. In the case of Sky TV, the digital terrestrial satellite TV seems to be the cash cow of the company. The returns growth rate of this category is higher than growth in market share. Campbell et al (2002, pp. 101) recommends that further investments into cash cow should not be made as with time it might fade out hence the money is used in developing new products that we recognize from the table above as the question marks. 7.2 Question marks This includes areas of high investment where resource allocation is high but the products portfolio in this category is yet to gain a substantial market share that will guarantee high return on investment Lynch 2007. The uncertainty and the risk factor in this category thus make it to be labelled as the question mark category because the company is not sure of anything and the risk factor is relatively high. According to the company’s quarterly report released in September, transmission costs increased by £48 million to £168 million from the previous quarter in this portfolio. Another area where there has been high resource allocation with low market share/returns in on Easynet. The report also indicates that adding new customers and connecting them has consisted the bulk of the spending http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/1ffb247d89b6490c9cd3dc7a4f24f4eb/fact_book_2008.pdf Though certainty in this category is low, the portfolio grouped in this side has the potential of developing into a high yielding venture or a flop. In case it develops to a high yielding venture it transforms into a star where else if it fails it is labelled as a dog. 7.3 Star category This is a product portfolio whereby a lot of resources are invested in developing the product such as marketing. In the process the money invested in developing in portfolio is at the same time resulting into increased market share thus higher revenues. It is usually a development of the question marks portfolio. For Sky TV the star category consists of the Easy Net 7.4 Dog portfolio This usually consists of underperforming products and services and is in most cases candidates for disinvestment (Hill, et al 2007, pp. 230). For Sky, the acquiring of the Electronic firm was not a wise decision and it represents non performing funds. The company was acquired in order to reduce Sky’s outsourcing of Electronics parts such as Set boxes and Set box remote controls but apparently the company still sources the gadgets from Thomson, an independent company. The Free view (terrestrial) channels are classified in this category. There have been earlier attempts to divesture this portfolio and allocate the resources in terms of bandwidth to other channels though the idea was shelved. The portfolio consists of Sky News, Sky Sports News, Sky Three and Sky Text 8.0 Resource allocation According to Lynch (2006, pp.283), this branch of management studies aims at achieving 100% utilization of available resources to a company. Unfortunately, such a level of utilization of resources is not achievable in reality due to market dynamics. For Sky TV then the idea of allocating resources such as personnel and finances has to at striking a favourable balance between the stocks at hand for maximum returns and at the same time avoid developing excess inventories i.e. aims at creating star ventures and avoiding dog ventures as per the above BCG model. This is demonstrated by the firms ability to reduce the cost in marketing their and services as shown by the company’s financial report while at the same time registering growth. Increased growth in internet accessibility in the UK and globally has seen the company direct its efforts in developing new products such as the recently launched Sky player that allows viewers to access movies and programmes as HD over the internet. Such developments show that research and financial resources at Sky are allocated to areas that have the highest chances of growth and increase the company’s competitive advantage over its rivals and create value on the side of their customers (Hill, et al 2007, pp. 245). http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/1ffb247d89b6490c9cd3dc7a4f24f4eb/annual_report_2008.pdf 9.0 Strategic alliances 9.1 Mergers and acquisitions As one of the most favoured growth models by big corporations, Sky TV has since inception been very active in forming alliances (Hill, et al 2007, pp. 233). This has been achieved by merging with competitors in order to gain a favourable market share and consolidate their financial position (Johnson Scholes 2004, pp 128). One of the major examples was the merging of Sky with British Satellite Broadcasting to form British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB). The merger was necessitated by a declining market share for the two companies and failing finances. After the merger, the new found company had the financial strength, resources and a considerable market share that formed the basis of the company’s growth and position on the market. With a new Brand name the company was posed for growth as indicated by the number of mergers made afterwards http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/1ffb247d89b6490c9cd3dc7a4f24f4eb/annual_report_2008.pdf Over time, other major acquisitions have been made by Sky. One of them is Mykindaplace.com with a view to expanding the company’s internet presence. Still aimed at increasing presence of the company over the internet was the buying of Aura Sports Limited. In 2006, Sky bought a 17.9% stake at ITV which was contested by Ofcom as irregular and has been has attracted legal action with pending cases in court over unfair competition rules. In 2007, the company made another acquisition of Amstrad as an electronic manufacturer to increase the company’s competitiveness by making of its set top boxes http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/1ffb247d89b6490c9cd3dc7a4f24f4eb/fact_book_2008.pdf 10.0 Future prospects 10.1 For the market With the implementation of the Digital Switchover underway, the industry is posed to have a new look altogether that will lock out analogue services in favour of digital services. This will eventually increase the bandwidth for digital market and thus increase content aired. It will also facilitate better coverage through grater signal strength. As a result this will likely lead to increased advertisements by corporations over the TV medium. Sky TV has then to reengineer some of its business processes to accommodate this change in order to achieve sustainable competitive advantage that will take note or anticipate other future changes in market trends. 10.2 For Sky TV-Recommendations The ability of the company to incorporate other services to its customers at subsidized prices has managed to cultivate customer loyalty and in return the company enjoys increased revenue and an increased customer base (Lynch 2006, pp. 167). The positioning of Sky as the preferred choice of ISP to many households will face a lot of competition from traditional ADSL ISP players who offer relatively cheaper unlimited monthly usage. This is because ADSL is preferred for its higher downloading speed preferred by home users than uploading speed preferred by business users. While Sky broadband targets, home users it will tend to gradually lose in this market unless it addresses this issue by lowering cost further. The attempt by Sky to scrap its free to view channels in favour of pay to view channels was met with a lot of resistance. Though this plan seems to only have been postponed and not entirely discarded, I would recommend that the company reviews the new technology of compressing of signals such that two channels can be broadcasted on the same bandwidth the same as for one channel as part of the company’s technology diffusion strategy. With the ownership of digital TV sets in the UK now standing at 90%, it high time that Sky ventured into new markets. One of the most promising markets for Sky I would recommend is in-car TV. Though the trend is relatively new, it has high potential for growth going by the popularity of the trend especially among the young and hip generation. Pioneering by way of developing services to suit this market early enough than their competitors will ensure that the company creates a new market segment. References Ahlstrand, B. Mintzberg, H. & Lampel, J. (2005) Strategy safari: A guided tour through the wilds of strategic management, New York: Simon & Schuster, 416 Boddy. D. (2008) Management: At Introduction 4th ed, London: Pearson Education Ltd Campbell, D. Stonehouse, G. & Houston B. (2002), Business Strategy 2nd ed., (London, Heinemann) Colley, J., Doyle, J., & Hardie R. (2004) Corporate Strategy, New York: McGraw Hill 256 Hill, L., Jones, R., Galvin, P. & Haidar, A. (2007), Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach, Sydney: Wiley Johnson, G., and Scholes, K. (2004) Exploring corporate strategy, London: Prentice Hall Keller, H. (2003), Principles of business management, London: Penguin Lynch, R (2003) Corporate Strategy, London: Prentice Hall Palmer, A. and Hartly, B. (2006) The business Enviroment 5th ed London: McGraw Hill Education Thompson, A., Strickland, J. & Gamble, E. (2005), Crafting and Executing Strategy: The Quest for Competitive Advantage, Concepts and Cases, 14th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill, Chapter 3. Mintzberg, H. (1987), ‘The Strategy Concept 1: Five P’s for Strategy’, California Management Review, 30 (1), pp.11-24 http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/cm/cmr08/, (Accessed on 19th Dec 2008) http://www.ofcom.org.uk/static/tvlicensing/dtt/main.htm, (Accessed on 19th Dec 2008) http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/1ffb247d89b6490c9cd3dc7a4f24f4eb/annual_review_2008.pdf, (Accessed on 19th Dec 2008) http://www.broadbandmarket.co.uk/digital-tv-service.html, (Accessed on 19th Dec 2008) http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/latest_results/interim_results_30_september_2008, (Accessed on 19th Dec 2008) http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/1ffb247d89b6490c9cd3dc7a4f24f4eb/annual_report_2008.pdf , (Accessed on 19th Dec 2008) http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/1ffb247d89b6490c9cd3dc7a4f24f4eb/annual_review_2008.pdf, (Accessed on 19th Dec 2008) http://corporate.sky.com/documents/pdf/1ffb247d89b6490c9cd3dc7a4f24f4eb/fact_book_2008.pdf, (Accessed on 19th Dec 2008) http://www.digitallook.com/cgi-bin/dlmedia/security.cgi?csi=10024&username=&ac, (Accessed on 19th Dec 2008) Appendix BSB 6 month chart Income & Efficiency Latest F'cast Div Yield 3.6% 3.7% Div Cover 1.5 1.6 Op Mrgn 14.6% 14.4% ROCE 16.6%   Valuation Latest F'cast P/E 18.7 15.9 PEG n/a 0.9 Pr/Revenue 1.7 1.6 Pr/Book n/a   Growth Latest F'cast Revenue 8.8% 5.2% PBT -91.7% 1153.4% EPS -4.6% 17.4% DPS 8.1% 8.0% BSY Fundamentals Year Ending Revenue (£m) Pre-tax (£m) EPS P/E PEG EPS Grth. Div Yield 30-Jun-04 a3,656.00 a480.00 18.30p 34.0 0.4 +79% 6.00p 1.0% 30-Jun-05 3,842.00 787.00 28.20p 18.7 0.3 +54% 9.00p 1.7% 30-Jun-06 4,148.00 798.00 30.70p 18.7 2.1 +9% 12.20p 2.1% 30-Jun-07 4,551.00 724.00 26.30p 24.3 n/a -14% 15.50p 2.4% 30-Jun-08 4,952.00 60.00 25.10p 18.8 n/a -5% 16.75p 3.5% a. Based on UK GAAP presentation of accounts - includes discontinued activities Read More