Strategic Leadership

Question 1

strategic management process

Answer 1

method put in place by strategic leaders to formulate and implement a strategy, which can lay the foundation for a sustainable competitive advantage

Question 2

strategic leadership

Answer 2

executives’ use of power and influence to direct the activities of others when pursuing an organization’s goals

Question 3

vision

Answer 3

a statement about what an organization ultimately wants to accomplish; it captures the company’s aspirations

Question 4

mission

Answer 4

description of what an organization actually does- the products and services it plans to provide, and the markets in which it will compete

Question 5

strategic commitments

Answer 5

actions to achieve the mission that are costly, long-term oriented, and difficult to reverse

Question 6

core values statement

Answer 6

statement of principles to guide an organization as it works to achieve its vision and fulfill its mission, for both internal conduct and external interactions, it often includes explicit ethical considerations

Question 7

organizational core values

Answer 7

ethical standards and norms that govern the behavior of individuals within a firm or organization

Question 8

upper-echelons theory

Answer 8

a conceptual framework that views organizational outcomes–strategic choices and performance levels-as reflections of the values of the members of the top management team

Question 9

level 5 leadership pyramid

Answer 9

a conceptual framework of leadership progression with five distinct, sequential levels

Question 10

strategy formulation

Answer 10

the part of the strategic management process that concerns the choice of strategy in terms of where and how to compete

Question 11

strategy implementation

Answer 11

the part of the strategic management process that concerns the organization, coordination, and integration of how work gets done, or strategy execution

Question 12

strategic business unit (SBU)

Answer 12

a standalone division of a larger conglomerate, with its own profit-and-loss responsibility

Question 13

top-down strategic planning

Answer 13

a rational, data-driven strategy process through which top management attempts to program future success

Question 14

scenario planning

Answer 14

strategy-planning activity in which top management envisions different what-if scenarios to anticipate plausible futures in order to derive strategic responses

Question 15

dominant strategic plan

Answer 15

the strategic option that top managers decide most closely matches the current reality and which is then exectuted

Question 16

illusion of control

Answer 16

a tendency by people to overestimate their ability to control events

Question 17

intended strategy

Answer 17

the outcome of a rational and structures top-down strategic plan

Question 18

realized strategy

Answer 18

combination of intended and emergent strategy

Question 19

emergent strategy

Answer 19

any unplanned strategic initiative bubbling up from the bottom of the organization

Question 20

strategic initiative

Answer 20

any activity a firm pursues to explore and develop new products and processes, new markets, or new ventures

Question 21

autonomous actions

Answer 21

strategic initiatives undertaken by lower-level employees on their own volition and often in response to unexpected situations

Question 22

serendipity

Answer 22

any random events, pleasant surprises, and accidental happenstances that can have a profound impact on a firm’s strategic initiatives

Question 23

resources-allocation process (RAP)

Answer 23

the way a firm allocates its resources based on a predetermined policies, which can be critical in shaping its realized strategy

Question 24

planned emergence

Answer 24

strategy process in which organizational structure and systems allow bottom-up strategic initiatives to emerge and be evaluated and coordinated by top management