3.10.3 Managing strategic implementation

Question 1

What is a business’s strategy?

Answer 1

A plan for achieving its corporate objectives. For example, if the main objective is growth, it needs a strategy for how it can go about growing.

Question 2

What does the strategic planning process involve?

Answer 2

Question 3

What is a strategic plan?

Answer 3

Document that defines a business’s corporate objectives and strategy, along with an outline of how the strategy will be implemented and monitored throughout the business

Question 4

What are the internal factors businesses look at when planning a strategy?

Answer 4

Question 5

What are the external factors businesses look at when planning a strategy?

Answer 5

Question 6

How is sensitivity analysis a useful tool for assessing risk of strategies?

Answer 6

A useful tool for assessing risk of strategies is sensitivity analysis. This looks at each assumption that a strategy relies on, and predicts how well the strategy would still do if these assumptions change.
For example, could the business cope if the increase in costs is greater than expected.
Based on this analysis, the business will assess whether the strategy is worth the risk.

Question 7

How is feasibility an important factor in strategic decision making?

Answer 7

The business needs access to the resources or skills necessary to implement the strategy.

Question 8

What are contingency plans?

Answer 8

Plan that outlines what to do in case the unexpected happens

Question 9

Give examples of contingency planning can help a business respond to different crises.

Answer 9

For example, a hostile takeover bid, a fire that destroys a factory, bad news or PR in the media, a sudden change in demand for products, or lost or corrupt data caused by computer network problems.

Question 10

What is crisis management?

Answer 10

When an unexpected situation occurs and a business has to respond.

Question 11

How does contingency planning affect crisis management?

Answer 11

Question 12

How can strategic planning help businesses?

Answer 12

• Helpful as a strategic plan gives the business a clear direction, communicates what the business is trying to achieve, so everyone works towards the same goals.
• Helps managers think about SWOT, helping to spot opportunities that they might’ve not noticed, and matching their strategy to the current situation.

Question 13

How can strategic planning hinder businesses?

Answer 13

• Restricts flexibility – employees think they have to follow the plan even when the situation’s changed since it’s making, or if there’s a better way of doing things.
• Based on analysis - can be inaccurate
• Likely more useful to businesses in stable markets, not innovative businesses responding regularly to change. Those innovative businesses are suited for emergent strategies.

Question 14

What are the things that need to be considered when implementing a strategy?

Answer 14

Question 15

Explain why good leadership is important in implementing strategy.

Answer 15

Question 16

How can different leadership styles like authoritarian and laissez faire affect employees reaction to change?

Answer 16

In times of change, authoritarian leadership might make employees more fearful of change, and they might be more likely to resist it. Laissez-faire leadership can mean that employees don’t have confidence that changes will work out well, so they won’t be supportive The most suitable forms of leadership for helping employees cope with change are the paternalistic and democratic styles.

Question 17

What is the purpose of communication?

Answer 17

Clearly pass on info and ideas, to motivate people.

Question 18

Explain the importance of good communication to implementing strategy

Answer 18

Question 19

What are the four organisational structures?

Answer 19

• Functional
• Product based
• Regional
• Matrix

Question 20

Explain functional structures

Answer 20

1) Businesses can be organised into several departments, which group jobs together by function.
2) The main four departments are finance, marketing, operations and HR, which are all run separately.
3) Each function can work in its own area of expertise, which can make implementing strategy simpler.
4) However, this could mean each department has its own culture and focuses on its own priorities.
If communication between departments isn’t good, it will be hard to coordinate strategy.

Question 21

Explain product based structures

Answer 21

1) In a business that produces lots of different products, each group of products can be run almost as a separate business. Each product division has its own director, marketing team, finance team, etc.
2) This would be an ideal structure for implementing certain strategies - for example, a business may want to grow the market share of one particular product, while keeping another product’s market share steady.
3) But there may be unnecessary duplication of roles - e.g. instead of each division having its own research team, it might be more efficient to have just one research department for the whole company.

Question 22

Explain regional structures

Answer 22

1) Regional structures are based on location. A business might have branches all over the country, which are grouped into regional divisions that run themselves.
2) A global company could have headquarters on each continent, which oversee national divisions.
For example, an Asian HQ oversees the Japanese and Indian divisions.
3) A regional structure tends to suit a market development strategy where the business is expanding into new geographical markets. If there are different market demands in different locations, control can be decentralised so each division can run itself independently and adapt to local needs.

Question 23

Explain matrix structures

Answer 23

Question 24

What is network analysis?

Answer 24

Works out the quickest way to finish a set of tasks

Question 25

What happens in the process of network analysis?

Answer 25

Question 26

What does a node look like?

Answer 26

Left - Number node
Top right - Earliest start time of activity following the node
Bottom right - Latest finishing time of activity before node or of activity with longest duration if there’s more than one activity going in
EST = LFT means the node is on the critical path

Question 27

Explain Earliest start time

Answer 27

EST = earliest start time (in number of e.g. days, weeks, months) since the start of the project. An activity
can’t start until the activity before it has been completed - e.g. you can’t ice a cake before it’s baked. EST is worked out by adding the duration of the previous activity to its EST. The EST of the first activity is always 0.

Question 28

Explain Earliest finishing time

Answer 28

EFT = earliest finishing time. It’s the time that an activity will finish if it’s started at the earliest start time.
You can work out the EFT for an activity by adding its duration (in months here) to its EST.

Question 29

Explain latest finishing time

Answer 29

LFT = latest finishing time. This is the latest time by which the activity can be completed without holding up the completion of the project. It’s calculated by working backwards from the final node. The LFT of the final node is equal to the EST of the final node.
To work out the LFT of the node before, you subtract the duration of the next activity from its LFT.

Question 30

Explain latest start time

Answer 30

LST = latest start time. It’s the latest time an activity can be started and still be finished by its LFT.
To calculate LST, subtract the duration of the activity from its LFT.

Question 31

Explain float time

Answer 31

Float time is the spare time available for an activity. Only non-critical activities have float time.
Total float is the length of time you can delay an activity without delaying the completion of the project.
Total float = LFT - duration - EST

Question 32

Explain this example of network analysis

Answer 32

Question 33

Where is the critical path on this?

Answer 33

Question 34

Explain how network analysis can be used for time management of strategies

Answer 34

Question 35

List the advantages of network analysis

Answer 35

Question 36

List the advantages of network analysis

Answer 36