Week 2 - What is Strategy

Question 1

What are the elements of Sustainable competitive advantage?

Answer 1

• The central issue of strategic management
• Exists in all walks of life
• The ability of the firm to outperform other firms in the market (customers and profit)
• Need not be destructive

Question 2

What are the three Horizons for strategy?

Answer 2

-suggests that an organisation should think of themselves as comprising 3 types of business.

Horizon 1: Extend and defend core business
Horizon 2: Build emerging businesses
Horizon 3: Create viable options

Question 3

what are the three levels of strategy?

Answer 3

• Corporate-level strategy - (Diversifying)
• Business-level strategy - (Marketing and improvement to attract more customers)
• Operational strategy - ( meeting investment needs and raising finance to manage resources)

Question 4

Three themes of strategy statement

Answer 4

Goal, Scope, Advantage

Question 5

Explain the areas of the exploring strategy model.

Answer 5

Strategic positon -> impact on strategy from external environment, the organisation’s strategic capability (resources and competences), the organisation’s purpose and the organisation’s culture.

Strategic choice -> options for strategy in terms of directions in which strategy might move and the methods by which strategy might be pursued. (Business, corporate, international, innovation, Acquisitions and alliances)

Strategy in action -> how strategies are formed and implemented.
The emphasis is on the practicalities of managing. (Evaluating, changing, practice, organising, processes)

Question 6

Strategy developmental process (Two views)

Answer 6

• The rational-analytic view sees strategy development as a linear, planned process, typically led by top management.
• The emergent view sees strategy development as incremental adaptation, often inspired by actions low down in the organisation.

-Both views have validity and it is unwise to rely on just one.

Question 7

Elements of a strategic plan?

Answer 7

• The strategy statement
• Mission, vision and objectives
• Environmental analysis
• Capability analysis
• Strategic options
• Proposed strategies
• Required resources
• Key changes

Question 8

What is strategy?

Answer 8

1) Long-term direction of the business.
(Long -term strategies -measured over years)

-3)Can be similar - but varies by organisation contex.

Question 9

What is the purpose the strategy framework?

Answer 9

so managers can avoid focusing on short-term issues of thier existing activities.

Question 10

What is a corporate level strategy?

Answer 10

1) looks at overall scope of the organisation - value adding to constituent business
- diversifying of products and services
-acquisition of new businesses
how resources are better allocated.

Question 11

What is a business-level strategy？

Answer 11

how individual business should compete in thier market.
AKA - competitive strategy
- innvovation
-measures taken against the competition.

Question 12

What is an operational stratgy ?

Answer 12

Looks at how the organisation delivers effectively the corporate and business level strategies.
- resources, processes and people.

Question 13

Strategy statement must include：

Answer 13

1) Mission – Purpose of the organisation
2) Vision – Desired future state of organisation (achievement)
3) Objectives – are statements of specific outcomes that are to be achieved and are often expressed
in financial terms. (goals are over a period of time)
4) Scope – three dimensions (customers & clients/ geographic locations and external& internal activities
5) Advantage - Competitive advantage

Question 14

Who is strategy work done by?

Answer 14

Managers, consultants and strategic planners

Question 15

what does the strategic model offer?

Answer 15

offers a comphrensive framework for:

• analysisng an organisations position
• cosidering alternative choices
• selecting and implementing strategies

Question 16

What is a strategy lense and what does it include:

Answer 16

look at strategy issues differently in order to generate additional insights.

Includes:

• Strategy as design
• Strategy as experience
• Strategy as variety
• Strategy as discourse

Question 17

What is Strategy as Design

Answer 17

• Encourages a detached approach to planning and analysis
• Value hard facts and objectivity
• Very systematic, analytical and logical approach.

Question 18

What is Strategy as experience

Answer 18

future strategy influenced by its experience and that of its managers.

• Strategy driven by taken for granted assumptions and ways of doing things embedded in people’s personal experience and the organisational culture.
• Strategic dilemmas resolved by rules of thumb, appeals to precedent and standard fixes – low expectations for radical change.

Question 19

Whar is Strategy as variety

Answer 19

New ideas develop through unpredictable selection processes.

Promotes diversity in and around organisations – to develop many new ideas.

Question 20

What is Strategy as discourse

Answer 20

way managers use language to frame strategic problems, make strategy proposals, debate issues and communicate strategic decisions.

• It is a tool for managers to shape objective strategic analyses in their favour and to gain influence, power and legitimacy.
• The discourse lens tries to look under the surface of strategy to uncover the personal interests and politicking in organisation – encourages a sceptical view.

Question 21

Can Strategy view offer a complete view of a strategic situation?

Answer 21

No. they are used to explore different perspectives and look from different point of views.

Question 22

What does Grents strategic planning cycle involve?

Answer 22

1. Planning guidlines, Forecasts, scenarios and assumptions, strategy targets and directives
2. Draft business plans
3. Discussion with corporare
4. Revised business plans
5. Annual capital and operating budgets
6. corporate planning
7. Approval by Board
8. Annual performance targets
9. Performance appraisal

Question 23

Is strategy planned ?

Answer 23

• Strategic planning takes too much time

- Enviroments tend to change rapidly

Question 24

is strategy planned or does it emerge?

Answer 24

intended strategy -> deliberate strategy -> Realised strategy
| |
unrealised strategy emergent strategy

Question 25

What are the Strategy three branches

Answer 25

1) Context - (Internal and external)
- industry analysis , cultural anaysis, resource based view

2) Content - (Strategic options)
- Strategy and performance

3) Process (formation and implementation)
- strategic planning , choice and chnage, strategy as a practise

Question 26

What is strategic planning ?

Answer 26

The process of an organization deciding their corporate direction, objectives and priorities, and then aligning their resources to accomplish the actions necessary to meeting them.

Question 27

Example of a strategic statement:

Answer 27

“to build the world’s largest online media group, focused on youth and with competitive advantages in terms of the diversity and international range of our businesses and the strength of our relationships and with key partners”

Question 28

What is the statement of corporate value

Answer 28

to communicate the underlying and enduring core ‘principles’ that guide an organisation’s strategy and define the way that the organisation should operate.