...Not Enough Management Support: Quite often a strategic plan is created just for the sake of creating it. The management team creates this plan in order to show to stakeholders that they have a clear mission and vision about the company’s future. However no efforts are put in place to enforce the strategic objectives upon the employees. Employees are not explained how their individual contributions will contribute to the overall effectiveness of the company and ultimately help them to achieve strategic objectives. Once the plan is put in place, no follow up is done whether or not if they are on track and aligned to achieve those objectives. Management may be side tracked with other initiatives and totally skips the process of monitoring. In today’s dynamic environment where things are changing on the daily basis, it is critical to monitor your strategic plan more frequently than ever and modify the plan accordingly. You simply cannot create a plan and forget about it. Overall objectives may be realistic or too vague: Sometimes the strategic objectives are not SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Timely). Management may set up an objective to double their revenue in the current fiscal year without analyzing the external and internal factors such as economy, resources, competition etc., which may be impossible to achieve no matter how many resources are put on that initiative. No buy in from the stakeholders:...
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...Schuler and Walker define Human Resource Strategy (HRS) as “a set of processes and activities jointly shared by human resources and line managers to solve business-related problems”. I believe this definition assists on tackling the above question. However, Bamberger and Meshoulam “Conceptualise human resource strategy as an outcome: the pattern of decisions regarding the policies and practices associated with the HR system”. In my view, HRS is a set of ‘processes and activities’ that when implemented, result in an outcome. In aim to justify this statement by discussing the topic of human resource strategy in relation to the sub-headings listed above. By examining the reasons or ‘rationale’ for the emergence of human resource strategies in the modern business environment, the value, various strategy approaches, types and the concept of fit, I believe I can underline the importance of a well devised HRS to any overall business strategy or plan. Modern businesses and the economic environments in which they operate are very different from the organizations and economies examined by Chandler in his studies of ‘managerial capitalism’ (late 19th Century through to the 1970s). The development of technology, and the creation of global economies have resulted in a significant increase in efficient and effective competition within all industries operating in market economies. Firms con longer rely on competing aggressively simply on the reliable favorites of achieving economies of...
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...enable competitive advantage, with an emphasis on understanding the current environment and innovation in which the organization competes and forecasting how that environment may change. Course assignments focus on the practical application of writing and critical-thinking skills and the integration of professional practice at the doctoral level. Learning Objectives Stated in Terms of Learning Outcomes By the end of this course, you will be able to: * Demonstrate an understanding of the evolution of traditional concepts of strategic management and thinking, including models of business-level competitive advantage * Evaluate contemporary challenges to traditional strategic management and thinking models * Apply systems-thinking principles to the framing and analysis of business problems and opportunities * Develop innovative business strategies designed to achieve sustainable solutions * Synthesize principles of sustainable strategic management and thinking into a viable problem statement for use in the Doctoral Study project Course Materials Texts Harvard Business School Press. (2005). Strategy: Create and implement the best strategy for your business.Boston, MA: Author. Senge, P., Smith, B., Kruschwitz, N., Laur, J., & Schley, S. (2010).The necessary revolution: How individuals and organizations are working together...
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...changes, and analyze the supply chain operations. By identifying the major issues or opportunities that the company faces with the synopsis, the author can generate a hypothesis surrounding each issue and research questions. The author will conclude by identifying the circumstances surrounding each issue, classifying the circumstances; attributing the importance of each classification; and test the accuracy of the importance for each classification. Strategic Planning is a tool the organizations use to concentrate its energy, to ensure that the workforce and all members of the company are working towards the same goal previously establish. The primary purpose of strategic planning is to assess and adjust the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment. Strategic planning is necessary to allow the firm to keep its competitive advantage, and that is what makes the difference on successful companies. For Lusti Laundromat, a coin laundry store in South Florida, the administration understand the importance of strategic planning to pursue the goals previously set and to make sure the workforce meets the standards of the organization. Given the success achieved so far Lusti Laundromat management decided to expand and open more stores throughout South Florida. The main tool in order to get started with this expansion is a SWOTT analysis, which helps give a picture of the internal and external forces and trends. SWOTT is a short term for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities...
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...Basics of Strategy: Strategy decisions are different from other decisions taken for the company. They are distinguished on three levels; Scale: A strategic decision covers the whole circle. Strategy decisions are big decisions and concerns competitors, suppliers as well as customers. Time-span: These decisions mostly impact the medium term and long term objectives of the company although there out come can also be seen in short term. Dedication: This means resources commitment and investment that cannot be undone simply. This is done in the marketing of the company, operation changing etc. (Haberberg A. and Rieple, A. 2008) A company's strategy refers to the when, how and why of its existence and working. It basically entails the efforts that the company's management put in to achieve its objectives that pertains to selection of type of clientele, market situation and market form, what competitive advantage to follow and how to perform successfully in long term with taking into the its implications in short term. (Thompson, A.A. and Strickland, A.J. 2003) Strategic Analysis Strategic analysis is very important for any company, whether operating on small or large scale. If an organization has a vision for long term existence then it has to follow the ground rules. As taken from Business Dictionary, strategic...
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...Introduction: Using strategic management and strategic planning has many advantages as it increases the overall performance and assists in improving management efficiency, which will translate in the ability of identifying and capitalizing on market opportunities and will encourage employees as they will have a higher positive attitude such acceptance to change. SMEs have high importance in the economy accordingly strategic management has lots of benefits for their survival and obtaining high performance. Strategic management process: Strategic Management Can be defined as the art and science of formulating implementing and evaluating cross functional decisions that enable the organization to achieve its objectives Strategy is a plan of action and the main way to achieve organization goals and objectives the will lead to improve long term performance of the company. Strategic management process involves four main components which is a model of dynamic strategic management process illustrated as follows: Strategic analysis: It involves internal and external environment analysis to identify strategic factors that will affect the future of the company. Strategy formulation: To establish vision, mission and long term objectives also to generate and identify strategic options to strengthen the competitive edge of the company. Strategy implementation: It requires building an organization that is capable of performing a successful strategy , setting budgets , building performance...
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...Strategic Initiatiative FIN/370 Strategic Initiative Whether the example is a sports team, small convenience store or major franchise, organizations generally adhere to several common practices in an effort to succeed. The first of these actions usually starts with a game plan for the future. The game plan is named differently depending on the organization establishing it. However, in the end, it is a strategic plan initiative that identifies how the organization plans to achieve its goals in the future. These goals not only include financial but also community, environmental, and charitable goals. The following data will cover Wal-Mart’s latest strategic initiative while answering several key questions concerning the initiative, which include: 1. How the initiative affects the organizations financial plan 2. How the initiative affects costs and sales 3. Risks and affects associated with the initiative Strategic Planning Initiative for Wal-Mart and Initiative Identified in Annual Report A strategic planning initiative Wal-Mart implemented to help grow the company is the “Save Money, Live Better” initiative. To ensure the initiative was a success, the company identified several components that needed to be addressed. For example, one of the “Save Money, Live Better” initiative’s objectives is to achieve price leadership for Wal-Mart. The company’s plan to achieve price leadership is to do everything in its power to...
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...BMGT500 – Strategic Management Review: Chapter 1-2 Class: ________________________ Student: ________________________ C 1. A company's strategy is most accurately defined as A. management's approaches to building revenues, controlling costs and generating an attractive profit. B. management's concept of "who we are, what we do, and where we are headed." C. management's action plan in responding to economic and market conditions, competing successfully, conducting operations, and improving the company's financial and market performance. D. the business model that a company's board of directors has approved for outcompeting rivals and making the company profitable. E. the choices management has made regarding what financial plan to pursue. 2. A company's mission statement typically addresses which of the following questions? A. "Who are we and what do we do?" B. "What objectives and level of performance do we want to achieve?" C. "Where are we going and what should our strategy be?" D. "What approach should we take to achieve sustainable competitive advantage?" E. "What business model should we employ to achieve our objectives and our vision?" c3. A winning strategy is one that A. results in a company becoming the dominant market leader. B. produces exceptionally high levels of customer satisfaction and is both ethical and highly profitable. C. fits the company's internal and external situations, builds sustainable competitive advantage, and improves...
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...Strategic leadership: ability to anticipate, envision, maintain flexibility, think strategically – work with others to initiate changes that will create a vision future for organization – create and articulate an inspiration vision reflecting the future of organization – monitor internal & external – build company resource & capability – track industry & competitive trends – spot market opportunities – identify business threat & develop a vision for business future – involve top management. Analysing the environment: SWOT, assessing an organisation’s market strength, financial position capability, core competencies, culture & structure – influence by the degree of fit or alignment between internal capability and external opportunity.Role of leadership in change: identify and analyse the needs for change before – clear and accurate assessment to adapt internal and external – recognise the needs to communicate new mission & priority – real change doesn’t start until the org in experiencing some external threat of significant loss due to an internal weakness – ability to inspire follower to transcend their interest – effective manage the new strategy – having a plan deal with resistance – eliminate policy, products & behaviours undermine the change efforts – see & understand followers behaviours in change. Unfreezing: replace old habit, value, attitude, mindset – new behaviours, attitude - complete when the design change in behaviours become habitual...
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...Strategic planning details an organization’s processes and procedures for defining its direction and decision making, in regard to resource allocation for the pursuit of that direction. Starbucks has been in existence since 1971 and has opened more than 17,000 retail stores in 50 countries, to serve millions of customers every day. It is no secret that careful and well executed strategic planning has been a catalyst for the organization’s continued success. When taking a glance at the company’s 2009 annual report, management can see how various planning initiatives impact the company’s financial prowess. In 2009, Starbucks launched an initiative to streamline operational procedures, in an effort to provide a more disciplined focus on unit economics. According to the Starbuck’s 2009 annual report, “We focused on operational excellence – from supply chain to back-end IT systems to store operations. We also developed a better go-to-market engine, with stronger creative execution and more effective channels to reach our customers” (Starbucks, 2009). The leadership at Starbuck has reported that this initiative, along with other improvements in cost structure, resulted in $580 million in costs savings in fiscal 2009. In more recent times, one of the more ground-breaking strategic initiatives that Starbucks has launched was the purchase of The Coffee Equipment Company and its Clover brewing® system. The Clover® machine uses a proprietary brewing process and has been regarded as the gold...
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...Cisco Strategic Planning and Strategic Intent Introduction The purpose of this essay is to understand the core concepts behind strategic planning and strategic intent and then to compare and contrast those concepts in regards to the strategies of Cisco Systems Inc. Description of Theories/Core Concepts Strategic Planning Strategic planning is the process of identifying a desired future, then transforming that vision into goals or objectives, and then to establish a set of task lists or sequences to achieve the goals. Strategic planning starts with an end-state then works backwards to the organizations currents state. In general, the strategic planning process begins with identifying the mission and/or vision for the company, then setting up the goals and objectives, followed by analyzing the company’s current state, and then setting up a plan based on the current state to meet the established goals and objectives. Lastly strategic planning calls for the implementation of the plan while getting feedback and establishing controls to keep the organization on track. (Stacey, 2007) Strategic Intent Strategic intent is a different approach although there are some similarities. The main principle behind strategic intent is to establish “an obsession with winning at all levels of the organization and then sustained that obsession over the 10-20 year quest for global leadership.” (Hamel, 1989) Using Strategic Intent to provide the path ahead, organizational leaders...
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...INTRODUCTION TO STRATEGIC MANAGENT 1.0 Introduction This chapter introduces the concept of strategic management and provides an overview of strategic management. This chapter is divided into six sections. The first section explains the evolution of the strategic management concept. This is followed by the second section on definition of strategic management. The third section describes the context in which strategic management takes place. This is followed by the fourth section which covers the scope of strategic management. The fifth section shows some of the benefits of strategic management for organizations. Finally the sixth section describes the process of strategic management. Upon the completion of this chapter you should be able to: 1. understand the concept of strategic management 2. know the brief history of the strategic management concept 3. understand the definition of strategic management 4. know the context in which strategic management occurs 5. comprehend the scope of strategic management 6. describe the benefit of strategic management 7. know the strategic management process 1.1 Introduction to the Strategic Management Concept Strategic management is a concept that originated from the military field. The concept of strategic management was first applied in ancient battles. The period around 500 B.C. saw numerous battles that took place Greece and China. The early written record on strategic management can be traced back during this warring...
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...challenging environment which is competitive and filled with changes. In order to improve the performance and success in this environment, organizations would need effective strategic leadership. It has also found that in the last few years, there have been explicit contributions from researches which help the managers to adapt today’s business environment by understanding and implementing the strategic leadership (Mary et al, 2008). This paper will discuss strategic leadership by introducing the definition of the strategic leadership as a start. The paper will then analyse what does the strategic leadership mean to the organizations and explain why organizations need strategic leadership in three angles: the change of business environment; the inadequacy of traditional management role for organizations; the importance of strategic leadership in terms of organizations’ strategy implementation. Furthermore, this paper will discuss three implications that the strategic leadership could bring to organizations from the perspectives of: stakeholder, business culture and globalization, respectively. The paper will also give examples for each implication to illustrate why organizations would be benefit from good strategic leadership from all the three perspectives. What is the strategic leadership? The strategic leadership, as defined by Ireland & Hitt (2005, p. 63) which has been popularly used in many academic papers, is “a person's ability to anticipate, envision, maintain flexibility...
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...IT STRATEGIC PLANNING “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you are going, because you might not get there.” Yogi Berra BACKGROUND Henry Mintzberg, former president of the Strategic Management Society, points out that “strategy can not be planned because planning is about analysis and strategy is about synthesis.” 1 Failure to recognize this basic distinction accounts for the frequent failure of such exercises, as does an excessive focus on technical detail, lack of suitable leadership, and perhaps most important, failure to align technology to institutional mission and priorities. Strategic planning involves a structure or framework, a set of procedures (both formal and informal), and of course content. Beyond these basic elements, the underlying assumptions about strategic planning are that the future can be anticipated, forecasted, managed or even controlled, and that the best way to do so is to have a formal and integrated plan about it in place. The process of planning itself may turn out to be more important than the results, and that process requires, as Mintzberg suggests, both analysis and synthesis. Planning simply introduces a formal “discipline” for conducting long-term thinking about an institution, and for recognizing opportunities in and for minimizing risks from the external and internal environments. Among the hundreds available, perhaps the most well-know model of strategic planning has the SWOT (for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities...
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...Strategic Management Process MGT/498 Abstract The primary components of the strategic management process are strategic planning and strategic execution. The strategic management process is an important factor to the success of an organization. Components to consider are the planning and execution of the strategy. Wal-Mart is trying to increase their sales by reinventing how they do business and building on the Internet side of the business. Strategic Management Process Organizations begin because someone had an idea and wanted to share it with the world. However, an organization cannot be successful based on the ideal alone. Some planning must take place to establish the internal and external components of the organization. In other words, policies on how the company will operate, procedures on how the product is developed, and how to reach the customer base is imperative prior to starting a business. This is when strategic management is most effective. According to Wheelen and Hunger (2008), strategic management is “a set of managerial decisions and actions that determines the long-run performance of a corporation” (p.5). The purpose of the paper is to explain the primary components of a strategic management process, indicate why a strategic management process is needed, and examine a strategic management process of Wal-Mart. Primary components of strategic management Strategic planning and strategic execution are the primary components of strategic management...
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