HR Strategy

Question 1

3 Levels of Strategy

Answer 1

• Organizational Strategy- general vision of the future the organization seeks and its long term goals
• Business unit strategies
• Operational strategy (how these strategies are translated into actions at the functional level)

Question 2

Strategic Planning

Answer 2

the process of setting goals and designing a path toward a competitive position. The strategic plan helps create alignment of efforts and provides a layer of control.
(planning/design)

Question 3

Strategic Management

Answer 3

includes the actions that leaders take to move their organizations toward the goals set in strategic planning and to create value for all stakeholders. It makes incremental adjustments to the plan as needed and to the organization itself. These adjustments often represent the innovative capacity of the organization.
(actions)

Question 4

Strategic management provides organizations with:

Answer 4

• Consistent, long term goals
• Consistent decision making by leaders
• Better competitive and external vision
• Better internal vision

Question 5

Success Factors for Strategic Planning & Mangement

Answer 5

Alignment of Effort
Control of Drift
Focus on Core Competencies

Question 6

Common mistakes to avoid in strategic planning

Answer 6

Taking Shortcuts
Little Follow through
Overreliance on the comfortable and familiar
Insufficient commitment from management
Insufficient involvement of the rest of the organization
Inadequate communication

Question 7

Deliberate Strategy

Answer 7

A carefully articulated plan for future actions.

Question 8

Emergent Strategy

Answer 8

a predictable pattern of decisions that management makes as it uses the organization’s mission, vision, and values to respond to external conditions

Question 9

Strategic Planning & Management Process

Answer 9

Formulation- info gathering/analysis
Development
Implementation
Evaluation

Question 10

PESTLE analysis

Answer 10

Political, economic, social, technological, legal, environmental

Question 11

Growth-Share Matrix

Answer 11

Stars- A business line that is growing and has a dominant share
Cash Cows- A static but dominant business line
Question Marks- could be winners or losers; their future is unclear
Dogs- consuming resources without offering strong value or future growth

Question 12

Scenario Analysis

Answer 12

Comparison of the impact of changes in the environment on the organizations outputs

Question 13

Mission vs Vision

Answer 13

Mission- concise statement of the organizations strategy. Often expresses a sense of priorities.

Vision- the organizations desired future, what leadership envisions for the organization. Aspirational

Question 14

Value Drivers

Answer 14

Actions, processes, or results needed to deliver a desired value

Question 15

Balanced Scorecard

Answer 15

Ensures objectives used o measure performance are strategically aligned to the various sources of value to the organization.
KPI’s:
Finance
Customers
Internal Business Processes
Learning & Growth

Achieve balance in 3 key areas:
- Between financial and nonfinancial indicators of success
- Between internal and external constituents in the organization
- Between lagging (effects that have already occurred) and leading (predictive, can change future performance) indicators of performance

Question 16

SMARTER for effective objectives

Answer 16

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Time Based
Evaluated
Revised

Question 17

Benchmarking Process

Answer 17

Defining KPI’s
Measuring current performance
Identifying appropriate benchmarks and securing their performance data
Identifying performance gaps between oneself and the benchmark organization
Setting objectives and implementing any necessary support activities

Benchmarks can be internal or external, based on orgs own historical performance or performance of specific divisions. External benchmarks can be pulled from trade associations, research, government agencies.

Question 18

Organizations Strategy must describe:

Answer 18

1. How an organization can create a strategic position- where it has a competitive edge; Business strategy
2. Where an organization will compete (markets & industries); Corporate Strategy

Question 19

Growth Strategies
(Corporate Strategy)

Answer 19

Strategic Alliance- companies agree to share assets
Joint Venture- 2+ companies invest in forming new company
Equity Partnership- Acquired ownership through purchase of shares
Merger/Acquisition- Purchase assets of firm outright
Franchising- licensed for an initial fee and ongoing royalties
Licensing- firm is granted rights to produce or sell a product
Contract Manufacturing- hiring manufacturer to product components or products
Management Contract- company is brought in to run daily operations
Turnkey Operation- existing facility & operations acquired an run w/o major changes
Greenfield Operation- new global location built from ground up
Brownfield Operation- repurpose of existing industrial or commercial property

Question 20

Steps in Divestiture

Answer 20

Identify the candidate for divestiture
Identify a target buyer
Restructure
Execute the deal

Question 21

Communication Strategy

Answer 21

Communication outward to entire team
Communication inward to leaders
Leadership support of decisions made by subordinates
Free flow of information across organizational boundaries
Enough information to allow team members to connect their work to the strategy

Question 22

Project Management- Planning Stage

Answer 22

Works with stakeholders to define strategically aligned project objectives (metrics)
Creates the project charter
Definers the projects deliverables
Create project schedule (critical path analysis, GANTT Chart)
Assembles a team

Question 23

Performance objectives measure:

Answer 23

Effectiveness
Efficiency
Impact

Question 24

Environmental Scanning

Answer 24

Process that involves a systematic survey and interpretation of relevant data to identify external opportunities and threats and to assess how these factors affect the organization currently and how they are likely to affect the organization in the future.

Question 25

Systems Thinking

Answer 25

Process for understanding how seemingly independent units within a larger entity interact with and influence one another.

Question 26

Kaizen