4. Technology & Organization Strategy

Question 1

What is a business strategy?

Answer 1

the strategy you make around your innovation.

Question 2

What are the 4 goals for a business strategy?

Answer 2

1. The future direction and actions of a company
2. Approaches to achieve specific objectives
3. Fundamental choices about your organization
4. Fit between organization & strategy

Question 3

Which 3 types of stakeholders are there?

Answer 3

1. Internal stakeholders: Employees, owners, board of directions, etc.
2. External stakeholders (the task environment) Customers, competitors, media, government
3. External stakeholders (the general environment) Economic force, technological force, international force

Question 4

What are strategy, mission, and vision, and how are they related?

Answer 4

1. Strategy: Defines future direction and actions to achieve specific objectives.
2. Mission: Describes what the business wants to achieve and its purpose in addressing stakeholders.
3. Vision: An image of the organization’s future direction, derived from the mission and guiding strategy.
4. Relationship: Mission and vision guide the organization’s strategy.
   Strategy leads to strategic objectives and specific goals.

Question 5

Why are mission and vision statements important? 3 points

Answer 5

1. Define what the company is and aspires to be.
2. Guide the development of strategy, goals, and objectives.
3. Influence the innovations a company pursues.

Question 6

How do mission and vision statements influence strategy? 3 points

Answer 6

They provide a foundation for strategic objectives.
Objectives are derived from the mission and vision or vice versa.
Serve as a basis for determining innovation priorities and long-term goals.

Question 7

What is IS strategy?

Answer 7

the plan that defines how an organization will use information systems and technology to achieve its business objectives

Question 8

How is the IS strategy aligned with the business strategy? 3 points

Answer 8

1. Business Aligning: Use technology to support business goals (e.g., better customer service).
2. Business Impact: Technology changes the business strategy (e.g., newspapers moving online).
3. Interaction Model: A mix, sometimes strategy leads, and sometimes technology drives the strategy.

Question 9

What 7 tools help define a strategy?

Answer 9

1. PESTEL
2. Porter’s Five Forces
3. Porter’s Strategies
4. Tracy & Wiersema
5. SWOT
6. Balanced Scorecard
7. McFarlan’s Grid

Question 10

What is PESTEL, and what does it look at?

Answer 10

A tool to understand external factors:
P → Politics: Government rules, taxes.
E → Economy: Growth, interest rates.
S → Society: Population age, culture.
T → Technology: Innovation, automation.
E → Environment: Climate, weather.
L → Legal: Safety laws, consumer rights.

Question 11

What are Porter’s Five Forces?

Answer 11

1. Threat of new entrants
2. Threat of substitutes
3. Bargaining power of buyers
4. Bargaining power of suppliers
5. Rivalry among existing competitors (competitive rivalry)

Question 12

What are Porter’s business strategies?

Answer 12

1. Cost: Be the cheapest
2. Differentiation: Be better than others
3. Focus: Serve a specific group or market.

Question 13

What do Tracy & Wiersema’s value disciplines describe?

Answer 13

Focus on all Porter’s business strategies a bit.

Question 14

What is SWOT analysis?

Answer 14

S → Strengths: What you’re good at. internal
W → Weaknesses: What you’re bad at. internal
O → Opportunities: Chances to grow. external
T → Threats: Risks or dangers. external