Successful Strategic Management on Example of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Career in Juventus

Strategic management is a unique approach training formulated to understand how firms and businesses compete by learning about critical operational strategies (Robson, 2015). It’s a central tool for managers of organizations to determine right and working management systems. This paper will look at the critical elements of strategic management with emphasis on learning approach based on class activity, independent management theories, and dedicating time to the analysis of practical examples. To have successful Strategic management requires that there is a fit in the company’s activities complementing each other for maximized value delivery to customers and the firm (Robson, 2015). This paper will give a comprehensive, in-depth summary framework in perspective with a top-down approach.

Cristiano Ronaldo a world renown football player made a shocking move to Juventus- a giant Italian club also known as the “the old lady.” (Santos et al., 2017). The unprecedented move made shockwaves across the football fraternity. The 33-year-old striker signed on the clubs record-breaking fee of 99.2 million pounds, made a move to the Bianconeri to a charged pack of fans in Turin (Santos et al., 2017). He will wear his trademark striped black and white number 7 printed t-shirt.

With five Ballon dOr’s, five champions league winner medals caped with a Europeans Championship title to his name; the enigma Ronaldo himself is a walking business and a brand (Santos et al., 2017). From his millions of followers on social media to the brand CR7 his influence is unmatched making him the most marketable footballer in the world. Juventus just hit a gold mine! (Santos et al., 2017). Additionally, Juventus FC shareholders already started capitalizing on the players transfer. On that day of his transfer news breaking, shares value shot upwards in Stuttgart Germany by 40%.

The decision by Ronaldo to move from his former club Real Madrid to Juventus got influenced by personal reasons of growth, accomplishments and just the need for change (González-Díaz et al., 2016). Remember, this is the idea of progress. His move was an ideal situation since the transfer had a sense of purpose. Ronaldo has a total of 332 million followers online; Juventus needed growth, and they responded with a sense of purpose by offering him a 30 million a year hefty wage package in return, the Azuris portfolio went up almost immediately. It is known as a strategic fit. Both the move to get Ronaldo by Juventus and Ronaldo himself deciding to make a move impacted positively on both folds (Sarmento et al., 2018). Everyone made money and gained numbers to compete on a bigger platform.

The striker's success for Manchester United, Real Madrid and Portugal have made Cristiano a magnet for sponsors, branding and marketing companies (Pollard and Armatas, 2017). The man is a walking brand. It’s expected that their projected revenues from shirt sales and match fee from match attendances to significantly surge up in the calendar year 208/219 and to even more in the following years. This will give an edge to Juventus over its rivals in their Italian league and Champions league platform that is if they qualify, which is expected. And there is no doubt the signing of Ronaldo gives the club stronger bargaining powers with the clubs’ main sponsors and willing sponsors too (Won and Chelladurai, 2016). With renewed belief, the clubs’ fortunes will from signing Ronaldo go up and up always giving it an edge over its competitors.

With Juventus aiming to break into universal markets, the signature appended by Ronaldo already put them a foot in front to achieve this feat (Sana, 2017). The club since signing Ronaldo has been on marketing and rebranding drive banking on the success of Ronaldo’s previous achievements (Hase and Busch, 2018). Having a universally accepted player within your ranks makes it easier for any organization to strategically position themselves for success and dominance in the market of choice; for Juventus football-the business.

Ronaldo’s social media exposure spans several continents from Asia, South America to the U.S (Clemente et al., 2014). Juventus is therefore strategically expanding on these markets, and their presence felt. Their Twitter followers jump up by millions and this even before Ronaldo stepped on to the pitch.

If we are to put a value on Cristiano Ronaldo transfer to his new club; we would be mentioning hundreds of millions of pounds from t-shirt sales, to pitch attendance to sponsorship from big conglomerates to licensing agreements. The club has gained superior visibility, and soon Juve will establish a strong brand presence (Szymoszowskyj et al., 2016). Its predicted more prominent player will quickly follow in Ronaldo’s footsteps to Juventus making it a powerhouse in the business of football across the globe.

With social media net worth so extensive, Juventus is scoring huge from just interactions with Ronaldo. Its reported that in the year 2016/2017 he posted several pieces of sponsored content which generated millions of interactions. Being a celebrity comes with a massive perk of benefits. Being a celebrity of stature Ronaldo is a media entity of his own, this will have both short and long-term benefits to Juventus (Szymoszowskyj et al., 2016). Several celebrity players are also lining up for Juventus. Both Ronaldo and Juventus are already benefiting from the big-money transfer and the Italian football as a whole.

Strategic management involved decisions on what path companies to follow given the opportunities in its environment. Juventus strategized on its future, and where it wants to go, with this, they signed a phenom. Their concept of capturing a larger universal audience and market will soon come to fruition. It might take time, but eventually, they will arrive at their preferred destination (Trost, 2016). Their star players profile Cristiano Ronaldo will make this possible.