ABSTRACT
Alignment is often missing between the firm and environment, its mission/vision and realised outcomes, as well as its internal structure across, up and down the organisation, such as innovation and learning. Cadbury demonstrated an extraordinary degree of alignment with its values and the treatment of its stakeholders throughout its history, as exemplified by the wonder of the Bourneville manufacturing facility. Of all the international markets in the world in the 1970s, North America remained the most prized, but also the one most resistant to penetration by Cadbury. Lack of alignment between firm's internal competencies/resources and the external environment and markets in which it chooses to compete can have a significant impact on performance. Porter suggests that strategic fit among many activities is fundamental not only to competitive advantage, but also to the sustainability of that advantage. The foregoing provides us with an appropriate strategic response to the dilemma of maintaining continual alignment.
