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Question 1

what is strategy?

Answer 1

long term direction and scope of an organisation- an advantage in a changing environment by order, resources and competencies to fulfilling stakeholder obligations.

Question 2

what is a competency?

Answer 2

the way that an organisation uses or deploys its resources and capabilities.

Question 3

what are the three levels of strategy?

Answer 3

1- corporate strategy
2- strategic business unit- SBU
3- operational strategy

Question 4

where is corporate strategy determined ?

Answer 4

which is determined at main board level for the whole business

Question 5

what is strategic business unit?

Answer 5

a section within a large business responsible for planning developing and producing and marketing its own products and services to compete within their particular markets.

Question 6

what is operational strategy?

Answer 6

refers to the main functions within each SBU such as productions and finance etc. how they deliver the strategies effectively to compliment the strategiesis determined at corporate level

Question 7

what is policy?

Answer 7

a set of rules made by an organisation to guide its decision making?

Question 8

what is the rational model of strategy?

Answer 8

it is used to explain how an organisation determines strategy

Question 9

what are the stages of rational model of strategy? how many are there?

Answer 9

3
1- analysing
2- choice
3- implementation

Question 10

in the rational model of strategy what happens in stage 1

Answer 10

analysing- assessing the impact on organisations, strategic position and options by analysing organisations external environment for threats and opportunities and strategic purpose.

Question 11

in the rational model of strategy what happens in stage 2

Answer 11

choice- identifying and evaluating alternative strategies and selecting the one to pursue and determine the way it will be achieved. e.g what products to continue/ discontinue

Question 12

in the rational model of strategy what happens in stage 3

Answer 12

implementation- how strategies are put into action
- organisation needs to consider if the strategy is acceptable and feasible to key stakeholders

Question 13

what is intended strategy?

Answer 13

strategy and organisation that is set after analysis and discussion which it will implement
- if full realised it becomes a deliberate strategy
( no change to strategy)

Question 14

what is emergent strategy

Answer 14

when managers or directors of the SBU interpret the intended strategy and adapt it to changing external circumstances to take advantage of opportunities or mitigate threats

Question 15

what is realised strategy

Answer 15

strategy that an organisation really follows
the product of the organisation’s- intended, deliberate, emergency strategies

Question 16

what are the differences between private and public sector strategies?

Answer 16

1. public- operate political rather market environment ( private is opposite)
2. private - key is profitability but public is about accomplishing organisations mission and giving best service

3.private - important to provide value to shareholders/customers where the end user pays directly for goods and services - aka business value
BUT in public- the end user does not pay directly for services but would pay via tax for services- called public value

Question 17

what is public value?

Answer 17

relates to the value an organisation contributes to society

Question 18

what are mandates?

Answer 18

defined as what an organisation is formally/ informally required to do or not do by external authorities

Question 19

what is globalisation?

Answer 19

refers to the many ways in which countries are connected by transactions beyond nation stay boundary e.g foreign exchange markets.

Question 20

characteristics of globalisation

Answer 20

• globalisation services- e.g banking
• global financial markets- e.g international trading of financial assets and currencies
• multilateral agreements
• increased power of supranational organisations e.g the EU

Question 21

layers of business environment

Answer 21

1- the macro- environment ( broad environmental factors that impact to a greater or lesser extent to organisations)
2- industry of sector- ( the organisation operates within, micro environment)
3-competitors
4- the organisation
3- markets
( numbers mean each layer)

Question 22

what is pestle analysis ?

Answer 22

used to identify the broad environmental factors within the macro environment that impact an organisation positively or negatively

Question 23

pestle stand for? ( external environment analysis)

Answer 23

P olitical factors- regulation, taxes
E conoomic factors- employment, interest rates
S ocial factors- demographic, age, population growth
T echnological factors - AI, benefits+limitations of tech
L egal factors- business, employment laws, data protection
E cological factors- climate change, disasters, pressure groups and consumer demands

Question 24

what is scenario planning ( external environment analysis)

Answer 24

• useful tools for organisations where the high levels of uncertainty arising from complexity/ dynamism in external environment.
• it includes a detailed view of how the business environment of an organisation may develop in the future based on groupings of key environmental influences and drivers of change where theres a high levels of uncertainty

Question 25

what are the stages of scenario planning?

Answer 25

4
1- identify key drivers
2- build scenarios
3- developer contingency plans
4- monitor environment and adjust plans

Question 26

scenario planning stage 1

Answer 26

• identify key drivers
  -identify key assumptions or forces in environment which will be the basis of scenarios ( can be taken from a pestle analysis)
• seek to understand the determinant of and trends in key assumptions/ factors
• focus on the forces that have had or are expected to have the most impact and forces that have the greatest potential uncertainty.

Question 27

scenario planning stage 2

Answer 27

• build scenarios
  build scenarios from different and logically consistent configurations of assumptions about outcomes.
• No numerical probabilities here

Question 28

scenario planning stage 4

Answer 28

• monitor environment and adjust plans
  closely monitor environment indicators to determine when a particular scenario is becoming reality so that a contingency plan can be activated

Question 29

what are porters five forces ( external environment analysis) ( definition)

Answer 29

a framework that analyses an organisation industry in terms of 5 competitive forces

Question 30

what are the 5 stages of porters forces?

Answer 30

1 - threat of new entrance
2- threat of substitutes
3 - power of buyers
4- power of suppliers
5- extent of rivalry between competitors

Question 31

what is stage 1 in porters forces

Answer 31

• threat of new entrance
  how easy or difficult it is for new organisation to enter the industry
• barriers of entry- high start up costs
• response of existing firms- price discrimination/ collusion

Question 32

what is stage 2 in porters forces

Answer 32

threat of substitutes
concerned with availability of different products or services that meet the same need of customers
look outside traditional industry

Question 33

what is stage 3 in porters forces

Answer 33

-powers of buyers
concerned with where the buyers of the industries products or services are powerful enough to demand lower prices or better quality
- can be done on bargaining powers and individual negotiation and depends on the number of customers ( greater influence)

Question 34

what is stage 4 in porters forces

Answer 34

power of suppliers
where the suppliers to the industry can exert a pressure and charge higher prices
dominant suppliers will exert higher pressure on fewer suppliers leads to higher pressure

Question 35

what is stage 5 in porters forces

Answer 35

extent of rivalry
concerned with direct competitiveness, rivalry between an organisation and immediate competitors.
factors that effect competitive rivalry-high fixed cost,
high exit barriers

Question 36

what are factors that effect competitive rivalry

Answer 36

high fixed cost
high exit barriers

Question 37

what is porters diamond?( external environment analysis)

Answer 37

a model to understand competitive advantage that nations or regions within a nation possess due to certain factors that characterise them
used for organisations if they should move or expand in another nation or region

Question 38

what are the four factors that porters diamond proposes?

Answer 38

porters diamond proposes that location and national advantages are due to the following four factor:

1. local factor conditions- raw materials/ labor, strong technology industry, more skilled workers, excellent infrastructure to create advantages
2. local firm strategy- structure and rivalry, domestic rivalry can drive domestic firms to compete and have competitive advantage ( Lower prices) allow them to move into international market
3. local demand conditions- refers to the size and nature of the customer base within the nation for products/ service which also drives innovation and product improvement
4. Local related support industries- groups of supporting firms and their proximity can help give competitive advantage for a particular industry. e.g supply chains