(Strategic Planning Models)

Alan M. Zuckerman speaks about the state of strategic planning among health care organizations. Zuckerman describes ten current health care strategic planning best practices and recommends five additional innovative approaches from path breaking companies outside of health care.

1.Consider the approaches described by Zuckerman in relation to your own organization- are any of these approaches currently used?

2. Which of the approaches described by Zuckerman do you feel would help improve strategic planning in your own organization?

3. If you were to implement any of the approaches proposed by Zuckerman in your own organization-which ones would you attempt to implement and why?

4. What barriers to implementation could you foresee?

(Reading material!!! )

Advancing the State of the Art in Healthcare Strategic Planning
Alan M Zuckerman. Frontiers of Health Services Management. Ann Arbor:Winter 2006. Vol. 23, Iss. 2, p. 3-15 (13 pp.)


Abstract (Summary)
A recent survey of the state of strategic planning among healthcare organizations indicates that planners and executives believe that healthcare strategic planning practices are effective and provide the appropriate focus and direction for their organizations. When compared to strategic planning practices employed outside of the healthcare field, however, most healthcare strategic planning processes have not evolved to the more advanced, state-of-the-art levels of planning being used successfully outside of healthcare. While organizations that operate in stable markets may be able to survive using basic strategic planning practices, the volatile healthcare market demands that providers be nimble competitors with advanced, ongoing planning processes that drive growth and organizational effectiveness. What should healthcare organizations do to increase the rigor and sophistication of their strategic planning practices? This article identifies ten current healthcare strategic planning best practices and recommends five additional innovative approaches from path-breaking companies outside of healthcare that have used advanced strategic planning practices to attain high levels of organizational success. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Full Text
(5239 words)

Copyright Health Administration Press Winter 2006

[Headnote]
SUMMARY
A recent survey of the state of strategic planning among healthcare organizations indicates that planners and executives believe that healthcare strategic planning practices are effective and provide the appropriate focus and direction for their organizations. When compared to strategic planning practices employed outside of the healthcare field, however, most healthcare strategic planning processes have not evolved to the more advanced, state-of-the-art levels of planning being used successfully outside of healthcare. While organizations that operate in stable markets may be able to survive using basic strategic planning practices, the volatile healthcare market demands that providers be nimble competitors with advanced, ongoing planning processes that drive growth and organizational effectiveness. What should healthcare organizations do to increase the rigor and sophistication of their strategic planning practices? This article identifies ten current healthcare strategic planning best practices and recommends five additional innovative approaches from path-breaking companies outside of healthcare that have used advanced strategic planning practices to attain high levels of organizational success.


STRATEGIC PLANNING has become an accepted and common management discipline, both inside and outside of healthcare. A relatively new management tool, strategic planning dates back to the 19603 outside of healthcare and the late 19703 within healthcare. Over the last 25 years, strategic planning in healthcare has matured in its approaches and is increasingly used by healthcare organizations of all sizes and types throughout the United States.

To gauge the state of the art in healthcare strategic planning, The Society for Healthcare Strategy and Market Development (SHSMD) of the American Hospital Association and Health Strategies & Solutions, Inc., an independent management consulting firm, carried out a study in 2005 and 2006 (see Appendix on page 14 for more information). This study induded a survey of the provider-based members of SHSMD, case studies of Healthcare organizations exhibiting advanced strategic planning approaches and/or best practices, and a review of the literature and case reports outside of healthcare for advanced approaches and best practices.

The results were both revealing and somewhat surprising. The overwhelming majority of respondents were senior executives in their organizations as indicated both by tenure in their organizations and in the healthcare field generally. The survey's questions covered a broad range of topics related to strategic planning, including planning frequency, stakeholder involvement, core strategic planning tasks and outputs, and results achieved.

The study presents a mixed picture for healthcare strategic planning today. On the one hand, basic strategic planning practices employed by Healthcare organizations appear to be sound and effective. Strategic planning seems to be well accepted, used regularly, and integrated increasingly well with other management functions; it carries out its main role of providing appropriate direction and focus to the development of healthcare organizations. On the other hand, strategic planning in healthcare has not progressed past a second stage of development, with the first stage being the most basic processes and activities characteristic of the first decade or two of healthcare strategic planning. This failure to evolve to more advanced levels leaves healthcare strategic planning quite far behind the state of the art outside of healthcare.

STATE OF THE ART IN HEALTHCARE STRATEGIC PLANNING

If the results of the SHSMD/Health Strategies & Solutions survey provide a picture of "what is" now, how can the outer reaches of what constitutes best practices in healthcare strategic planning today be characterized?

Based on research, analysis, and field experience, a list often best practices in healthcare strategic planning appears in Figure 1 and is described below. The first five practices relate to the product of strategic planning, while the second five address the process of strategic planning. Implementation of these practices will place any organization in the top tier of healthcare organizations practicing strategic planning nationally.

1. Establish a Unique, Far-Reaching Vision

Healthcare leaders tend to resist adopting the fundamentals of a good vision-one that is long range, a big stretch, and tangible rather than general. Driven by nearterm pressures and a desire to get things done quickly, most tend to undershoot or not shoot at all. Healthcare executives must develop an understanding and appreciation of what a vision can help accomplish. According to the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, president emeritus of the University of Notre Dame, "The very essence of leadership is [that] you have a vision. It's got to be a vision you articulate clearly and forcefully on every occasion. You can't blow an uncertain trumpet." Sony's vision in the early 19505, to "become the company most known for changing the worldwide poor-quality image of Japanese products" is an outstanding example of a unique and farreaching vision with a long-term commitment and a desire to have a truly transformational effect on an organization (Collins 2006).

2. Attack Critical Issues

Strategic plans usually lack focus because organizations identify and attempt to address too many issues. This problem is compounded by having both strategic and operational issues put in the mix and aggravated further by a failure to clearly specify what the exact problems are that the organization is trying to address. Good strategic plans recognize that, as Michael Porter noted, "a sustainable strategic poition requires trade-offs" and choices must be made explicitly so that resources can be applied to the areas where they will yield the greatest return (Porter 1996). It all starts with prioritization of the most important issues and a commitment to direct organizational energy and resources to address them.

3. Develop Focused, Clear Strategies

Prioritization must be followed by strategy development. Attacking issues effectively requires a clear means (the "how") leading to a tangible end (the "what"). The means must directly and forcefully address the critical issue identified, while incorporating contingency plans and recognizing likely barriers and constraints. The ends must be definable targets at a point in the future so it is possible to measure progress, make adjustments along the way, and facilitate accountability. A near laserlike focus is required to attack the truly critical issues.

For example, health systems frequently set goals to develop premier clinical programs. One such organization's goal-"Be recognized in the region by 2010 for the best (as measured by volumes and the results of blinded consumer research) cardiovascular program"-was driven by a strategy related primarily to quality outcomes, innovative care, and star physicians.

4. Differentiate from Competition

The concept of differentiation is slowly catching on among not for profits in healthcare. The challenge is to be significantly different from competitors in a way that consumers truly value. For profits outside of healthcare, such as Wal-Mart, the low-cost price leader, and Nordstrom, with its outstanding customer service, have recognized the benefit of effective differentiation. Many for profits in healthcare, particularly niche firms like Concentra, Inc., in occupational medicine, and Curative Health Services, in wound care, are differentiated, too. In an increasingly competitive market, differentiation may be critical to survival.

5. Achieve Real Benefits

Many strategic plans fail to achieve significant, measurable benefits for their organizations. In some cases, particularly for those organizations with too many resource-intensive strategies, the results of the plan may have a negative impact, especially financially. Benefits may ordinarily be derived in four general areas: products/markets, finances, operations, and meeting community needs. Strategic plans should target benefits realization from the outset and drive toward achieving more benefits throughout the process and into implementation.

In the clinical program example cited in number 3 ("Develop focused, dear strategies"), two principal benefits were desired for the cardiovascular program: direct financial improvement resulting from more volume in the most profitable service line, cardiovascular care, and direct and indirect effects for the overall quality improvement strategy of the system. In both cases these benefits are being realized. Contribution margin is up about $10 million on cardiovascular services after the third full year of implementation of the plan, and outcome measures have experienced similar improvements, most noticeably in cardiovascular services but also in the lines that serve the most critically ill patients.

6. Organize Preplanning

Some strategic planning efforts stray off course early on or lose momentum later because of the failure to adequately prepare the organization and its leaders for the strategic planning process. Before actually beginning strategic planning, at a minimum identify objectives, describe the planning process to be used, prepare a schedule, describe roles and responsibilities of organizational leaders, and identify the strategic planning facilitator. This information should then be communicated to affected parties clearly and consistently, potentially through an orientation meeting. Only then should the real work begin.

7. Structure Effective Participation

Time spent at the outset of strategic planning thinking about the scope and extent of participation required will set the stage for maximizing effective participation throughout the process. Identifying who the key participants are and where their contributions will be needed should be followed by a review of where leaders will want to provide their input, whether or not it is substantively needed. These two activities help create the best possible plan with the broadest degree of support. Also important are the participative mechanisms-interviews, surveys, focus groups, task forces, review meetings, and retreats-and figuring out which meet participant and overall process requirements. Smart process managers use participant involvement to build buy-in and consensus on whatever will result from strategic planning right from the start.

8. Think Strategically

Much dissatisfaction exists both inside and outside of healthcare with many of the results of strategic planning. Most planning efforts suffer from a lack of future-oriented, revolutionary, or at least highly provocative thinking and dialog. Farsighted strategic thinking is most helpful when applied to developing assumptions about the future, visioning, and strategy formulation, but need not be limited to these areas. Because strategic thinking is alien territory for most, articles, books, and research reports should be consulted and a highly skilled facilitator used to ensure that a forward-thinking and creative orientation characterizes the planning process.

9. Manage Implementation

Many healthcare organizations report that although their strategic plans are quite good, they experience a high rate of failure in implementing the plans. Research shows that the transition from planning to implementation is susceptible to pitfalls such as a loss of energy and focus, lack of management of the transition, and subsequent disconnect from operations. Successful organizations not only manage the transition well but also manage implementation and retain the dual linkages to ongoing strategic planning and operations. Strong, effective management and tight linkages result in a high rate of successful implementation.

Both research and concrete examples of organizations that are especially adept at implementing their plans show that there are five keys to successful implementation.

1. Communicate the plan's priorities.

2. Assign responsibilities for implementation and hold individuals accountable for progress.

3. Make sure the right people with the right skills are involved in implementation.

4. Drive the plan down into the organization so that the plan is real and meaningful to everyone.

5. Establish and use a structured progress monitoring system.

10. Manage Strategically

The most advanced organizations evolve to a planning process that is neither episodic nor just ongoing but interrelated in a continuous manner to operations and finance. Outside of healthcare, but also now within it, the concept of strategic management is gaining traction. Strategic management is characterized by continuously evolving plans; sustained, managed implementation; finance and operations integrated with planning; and daily management with a strong strategic orientation. Strategic management increases the likelihood of breakthrough thinking about the future while supporting an organizational culture that adapts easily to change.

Healthcare CEOs who practice strategic management report that their plans are living and dynamic. At these organizations the strategic plan is formally updated annually, but revisions occur throughout the year, and implementation occurs continuously, driven by the plan's priorities. The strategic plan is used to review and test opportunities that arise frequently throughout the year, and the plaris strategies and actions may be adjusted, as warranted, as a result. Truly, in these situations, strategic planning is no longer episodic and a project but a legitimate management process akin to operations, finance, and the like.

If the current state of the art in healthcare strategic planning can be described as a stage-two level of development, then strategic management would be stage three. Outside of healthcare, as noted earlier, strategic planning practices are even more highly evolved (stage four) and the key aspects of these approaches are described in the next section.

STATE OF THE ART IN STRATEGIC PLANNING OUTSIDE OF HEALTHCARE

Stage-four strategic planning, as practiced by some pathbreaking companies outside of healthcare, embodies the advanced characteristics described in this article. More significantly, it is characterized by aspects of some or all of the following five qualities.

1. Systematic, ongoing data gathering, leading to use of knowledge management practices

2. Encouragement of innovation and creativity in strategic approaches

3. More bottom-up than top-down strategic planning

4. Evolving, flexible, continuously improving planning processes

5. A shift from static to dynamic strategic planning

Use Knowledge Management

Data assembly and analysis in healthcare are still largely done in an ad hoc and unsystematic manner. Rarely does an organization bring much structure to the information-gathering part of the process, and those organizations that do largely confine that structure to internal data assembly.

The best companies outside of healthcare are far more systematic in their use of information to drive strategic planning.

* Strategic planning starts with having regular, formal, structured systems for data compilation covering both key internal as well as external elements. Probably the two most critical parts of this activity are the breadth and depth of the data collection effort and the regularity of data assembly, so that data are always available when needed.

* Building on the strength of the data is the range of analytic capabilities available and used. Much of the analysis found in healthcare is quite simplistic, involving linear techniques, correlations, and the like. Progressive strategic planning companies have and use a range of nonlinear methods, including sophisticated modeling, game theory, and other advanced analytic approaches.

* The primary research capabilities available in-house are similarly extensive and impressive. Surveying (often ongoing), focus groups, and so forth are regularly employed to provide fresh and up-todate information.

* Finally, some of the leading companies have taken all of this effort to another level through the use of knowledge management programs. Such programs sort information into structured databases that allow easy access and use by personnel throughout the organization. These databases become a readily available asset, not just to "those in the know" but to all involved in management and planning anywhere in the company. Knowledge management programs facilitate planning throughout the organization, as described further in the sections that follow.

Encourage Innovation and Creativity in Strategic Approaches

Healthcare is still a predominately riskaverse industry. Few truly pathbreaking companies exist, especially in the not-forprofit sector. Being second or third to market, followership, and mimicry still characterize the overwhelming majority of healthcare organizations. Given this proclivity, the cultural norm of risk avoidance is diametrically opposite to what leading non-healthcare strategic firms practice. The concepts of innovation and creativity are not hard to understand. Employing them is another matter.

Innovation and creativity commonly manifest themselves in a number of ways in strategic planning: input is sought and is valued from all parts of the organization; a climate of receptivity for new ideas is present; emphasis is placed on looking at alternatives and generating options that are new and innovative; a high priority is given to developing ideas that create "new market space"; and the planning process employed is relatively simple and ongoing so as to make contributing to it fairly easy and clearly important.

The key issue here for healthcare organizations is less one of "what to do" than "how to do it"-how to create a climate where innovation and creativity are valued, how to move from followership to leadership, and how to move from risk averse to (at least somewhat) risk tolerant. Only under these circumstances can the "what" of innovation and creativity assume an important place in the strategic planning process.

Emphasize Bottom-Up Versus TopDown Strategic Planning

Strategic planning in healthcare is still very much a top-down process. Dominated by senior management, and to some degree, the board, planning in most organizations engenders very little participation, awareness, and ultimately support from the majority of employees, and even less from customers. Strategic planning in large healthcare organizations is still very corporate driven, with business units and other subsidiary entities reacting and responding to edicts and directives from on high.

Practices in leading firms outside of healthcare are almost exactly the opposite. While corporate leadership provides high-level direction and guidance, planning is increasingly focused in the business units or other subsidiary parts of the company and driven up, rather than down, the organization. This approach has many benefits: it allows broaderbased, more substantial, and more meaningful participation in the planning process; generally encourages creativity and innovation; has the "real action" of planning taking place closer to the customer; facilitates organizational support for what results from the planning process; and leads to greater implementation success. In addition to senior management providing vision and direction and championing the process, such organizations must have a culture of trust and accountability, outstanding communication including formal and informal networks, and sound strategic skills across the organization.

A decentralized planning process is much harder to manage than a centralized one, and, of course, such a process risks loss of control. However, leading companies have found the benefits of a decentralized process far outweigh the negatives and that it delivers much more overall value. Some healthcare organizations are beginning to move in this direction, but as an industry, we have a long way to go to approach this best practice outside of healthcare.

Use an Evolving, Flexible, and Continuously Improving Process

Even today, too many Healthcare organizations are wedded to a process that has worked well historically and are reluctant to make any significant changes. "Why fix what isn't broken?" some ask. While there is value and security in the tried and true, regular advances in approaches and methods are occurring in strategic planning in healthcare and outside of it. Therefore, aspects of a process that is five or ten years old-or even one year-may not be current enough to keep the organization in the forefront. Executives certainly aren't content with yesterday's operations management or financial planning and management approaches, so why shouldn't strategic processes be evolving too?

Examining the quality and continuous improvement orientation of an organization's strategic planning process can be carried out by examining the process at three increasingly challenging levels of inquiry.

* First and most basic, is the current process comprehensive, objective, timely, and highly participatory throughout the organization (and does it meet the stage-two process requirements described earlier)?

* Second, does the process link effectively to operations and to individual and group performance objectives in the organization (and does it meet the stage-three process requirements described earlier)?

* Third, does the process include continuous learning so that process deficiencies are identified and corrected before the next planning cycle begins (and does it have the stage-four process characteristics described in this section)?

Organizations with flexible, continuously improving planning processes are able to adapt more readily to the changing environment that is certainly characteristic of healthcare today. These organizations employ planning processes that are far more externally oriented than the typical healthcare organization. They use external factors and forces to create the platform for change that is necessary to keep strategic planning alive and vital as a key asset for the continuously improving organizations.

Shift from Static to Dynamic Strategic Planning

For firms operating in the most rapidly changing industries where change is constant and revolutionary (healthcare being the exception), strategic planning is not just continuously improving but dynamic. Some of the key aspects of dynamic strategic planning include:

* Greater use of vision statements that inspire and stretch the organization versus more static mission statements

* Development of revolutionary goals to achieve the vision

* A more horizontal approach to the planning process, where input and participation are equalized throughout the organization

* Use of dynamic (nonlinear) learning processing, including training, information systems, and rewards to increase the strategic IQ of the entire organization

* Encouragement and cultivation of strategic thinking at all levels of the organization

* The driving of strategic decision making down to all levels of the organization

* The embedding of strategic planning in the culture of the organization, so that it is both ongoing and everyone's job

The overall vision and corporate values provide the company-wide strategic framework. The strategic planning process of the firm is also managed corporately. However, business unit leaders, managers, and staff, who are closer to the customer and to the external environment in which the firm operates, are critical in determining whether and how to pursue new markets, products, services, locations, and breakthrough technologies and other innovations. Strategic planning in these settings is truly everyone's job, every day, not just that of the board and executive leadership annually or periodically. Only by driving strategic planning down, into, and throughout the organization and practicing it in a continuous manner can companies operating in the most rapidly changing environments not merely survive, but flourish.

Motorola's Advanced Techniques

Motorola exhibits many of the qualities of pathbreaking companies that employ advanced strategic planning techniques. For both the short-range (one-year) and long-range (three-year) planning horizons, a broad range of data is gathered and analyzed for use in the strategic planning process, including customer and market needs and expectations, the competitive environment, technological changes, human resource and operational capabilities, and financial, societal, and technical risks. Sources for this information are as varied as customer surveys, regional operations reviews and strategy meetings, and customer and industry forums (Motorola 2002).

Strategic objectives are then developed and reflected in a Performance Excellence Scorecard. This scorecard is used to develop subsequent scorecards for all groups and functions so that strategic objectives cascade down throughout the company until they reach individual employee scorecards worldwide. All scorecards include action plans and measures that are aligned with corporate strategies. Human resource planning is then fully aligned with the overall strategic planning process (Motorola 2002).

The strategic planning process is overseen by a corporate strategy council that meets quarterly to review progress with the Performance Excellence Scorecard and the overall planning process to ensure that it is continuously adapting and improving. This dynamic planning process has enabled the company to move nimbly when needed. For example, in China, Motorola learned that its strategy was just coasting on momentum. The company took a hard look at different scenarios and decided to increase their investment, go after more market share, and solidify their position as a market leader rather than letting momentum fizzle and miss out on massive market opportunity (Motorola 2002).

Making Strategic Planning and Corporate Success Everyone's Job

Motorola has strategically adapted to its volatile environment. Knowing that it is in a turbulent, highly competitive industry, it has a fully decentralized bottom-up structure (Halal 1998). No titles are allowed on Motorola's intranet so that suggestions and ideas are evaluated on merits rather than the status of the person making the suggestion (Pasternack, Williams, and Anderson 1998). Workers are organized into selfmanaged units that are held accountable for performance and given wide latitude to choose coworkers, hours, and other approaches to their work. This flatter organizational structure is empowered to solve problems more directly and quickly (Halal 1998).

Motorola also understands that having the right people in place is crucial to developing and executing strategies. Motorola spends over $100 million annually on education and training and has determined that a return of $3 in sales is realized for every education dollar spent (Pasternack and Viscio 1998). The company has developed an innovative approach to employee issues-the Individual Dignity Entitlement Program. Each quarter, employees are asked to answer a set of questions about whether they feel their job contributes to the success of the company and other similar items. For every no answer to a question, there is an established process for bringing the issue to the attention of senior management (Pasternack, Keller, and Viscio 1998).

Motorola's outlook for 2006 and beyond looks bright, with a strong balance sheet and healthy cash flow. Over 50 million of Motorola's ultrathin RAZR phones have been sold, with sales expected to stay steady (Lashinsky 2006). The company also unveiled its Q handset in May 2006, which runs Windows software and competes head to head with Blackberry. A workforce reduction in the company's networks division is expected to give the company more flexibility in pursuing strategic acquisitions (Roney 2006). In May 2006, the Motorola board approved a 25 percent increase in the quarterly dividend (Motorola 2006). Increased operating earnings, decreased working capital requirements, and reduced capital spending were approaches used to get the company back on track after several lackluster years and a subsequent change in key leadership positions.

CONCLUSION

The results of the SHSMD and Health Strategies & Solutions' strategic planning survey demonstrate that healthcare organizations appear to be using strategic planning regularly and effectively. However, sizable gaps appear in the level of rigor and sophistication of strategic planning processes being used by hospitals and systems when compared to the advanced stages of strategic planning occurring outside of the healthcare sphere. With widespread forecasts of continuing and increasing competition among healthcare providers, healthcare leaders must look outside their field to learn about strategic planning best practices in other competitive industries that can move their organizations to higher levels of growth and success. Incorporating knowledge management systems, encouraging innovation and creativity, promoting bottom-up participation, and ensuring that planning processes are continuously improving and dynamic should be the key areas of focus for healthcare leaders and planners.


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Discuss Phoenix Organic's approach to strategic decision making, with an emphasis on strategies that both generate profits and contribute to the firms social concerns. What trade-offs exist with the firms profit objectives and its social concerns?

Discuss the current strategic alternatives presented in the case, including new products, new channels, and new markets.

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The organisation may be a domestic organisation or a multinational company. It can be a service provider or a manufacturer and can also be from the public sector. The specific question is whether or not and to what extent the organisation's strategic decision-making process can be considered "rational". Justify your answer-in other words, explain why or why not. In doing so, you will need to explore the major factors influencing strategic decision-making processes in your chosen organisation. You should specifically, but not exclusively, refer to Unit 2, Section 1 of your course book(especially Mintzberg's work). See also the material in Unit 1 on the nature of decision-making.(unit 1 and 2 will emailed to you)
If the organisation is based in your own country, then this should enable you to gain access to both secondary and primary data concerning the firm and its operating environment. If you do experience any difficulty in gaining information, let us know in your essay. If this happens, then intelligent assumptions about your organisation may be made, as long as you justify them. The assignement is not about how much data you can collect, but rather how you use your knowledge to analyse the organisation's activities and make recommendations. We are not looking for a formal strategic plan as an answer. Instead we want to see a well-argued, critical essay, backed up by appropriate empirical data and academic thoeries.
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This is an Aviation based study program. Please include airline and military refrence to the applications for topic on Human Resource Management and Strategic Decision Making.

The First part already submitted is as under with the remarks of the instructor
The organization in the strategic context week 4 mp1:
INTRODUCTION :
Strategic decisions often face controversial public reputation which impacts the entire organization. The effect of globalization, technological advancement and increased role of media has required strategic managers an increased sensitivity to the public appearances. Since companies are operating in the international business structure, their strength of making a choice from the available suppliers on the international board, the capacity of the business to satisfy their international customer needs and operation of business all are now given the increasing importance to be taken under ethical consideration. Therefore, in today?s business environment the firm?s actions are evaluated from its strategic decisions that require a firm to have strong analytical strategy formulation processes, resource-focused approaches to sufficiently consider the importance of working capital (Holt and McNulty, 2008). During this process of strategic decision making and strategy formulation phases, the firm?s establishes a sense of responsibility and credibility to all stakeholder that are considered on ethical grounds.
The increased focus of consumer needs and public awareness has emerged the conceptual framework of ?risk society?. The concept of risk society has given rise to a completely new horizon of the dialogue between the individual, institutions, social and political levels. The ethical framework has strong tangled the risk society creating ?ground rules? of communication between firm and public (Jones, 2002). In view of the changing business environment and the emergence of risk society, the communication mechanism in the strategic decision making process is focused more and is given more importance from organizational members. It actually establishes the basis upon which the strategy implication can be evaluated and carried forward for future sustainability of the organization.
The case of BP deep water horizon oil spill, portrays one such example of corporate strategic decision making under risk society at international front.
STRATEGIC IMPLICATION OF SHELL OIL SPILL : THIS WAS WRONG AS THE ARTICLE WAS ALL ON BP
The strategic parameter for oil & gas companies in general is to make sure how safe their companies are in general? And how much are they prepared to respond such crisis? These two questions that are core to the strategic management process of companies like oil & gas whose business are at risk under the consideration of Health and Safety Executive committee. The challenging position for BP in the case under review was that in the post inquiry inspection the Health and Safety Executive committee have found a number of fragile points regarding the failure on the Deepwater Horizon were uncovered among which the most prominent ones were the dead batteries in the operation process and devices of weak and non technical nature were found that was insufficient to control the oil spill in the event of explosion (O?Murchu, 2010).
Further to this comment made by Health and Safety Executive committee also retrieved from the article of O?Murchu (2010) the two main sources of company?s risk position inspected during some of the critical scenarios that the company has gone through. These were highlighted as:
a) The company had lacked clear chain of command. The chain of command describes who reports to whom and makes every person within the chain accountable of their duties and reporting authorities. In the case when there is perplexed chain of command, the workers are unaware of the reporting line and are not sure who to report under the situation of crisis. Companies when undergoing sensitive operation like deepwater drilling in it a slightest mistake or even a slight manhandling of the instrument can result in massive disaster that not only effects the environmental elements of the society, the resources of the affected bodies and the financial loss of the company but it is a major risk to the company reputation as well. Therefore, it is critically important for a company to have clear spam of control, line of instruction and well defined roles and responsibility of each worker in case of emergency.
b) The Health and Safety Executive committee has pointed out another area that had exhibited weak position during the time of emergency was the lack of communication system. It was reported that the communication devices like satellite phone and handheld radio were not remitting and receiving signals, thus not operative at the time of emergency. This has let the company in the sensitive position to support themselves in defense of their accusation. It is the primary responsibility of the company to foresee that all the communication system is in proper working conditions before any accidental situation arises. The company despite having a contingency plan were not even prepare for the emergency situation.

REGULATORY FRAMEWORK OF STRATEGIC RISK ASSESSMENT :
The Social Amplification of Risk Framework has formulated the risk communication system that is based on the ?risk signals? which has taken the form of risk images, risk signs and risk symbols. These risk signals interplay their part in the whole communication process of risk assessment through their interaction with social, cultural, institutional and psychological processes of the business to communicate the presence of risk in the process flow and possible mitigation and management procedures (Kasperson, 2003). The risk is communicated in three possible potential risk signals which can be termed as: The toxic risk signal, Shell as a polluting agent risk signal and the moral purity of the deep ocean risk signal.
BP in response to the lawsuits that were assumed to cover-up the economic losses suffered by gulf fishermen, hotels, seafood processors, restaurants and other associated businesses have been filed impulsively in response to the breach of the 1990 Oil Pollution Act without any descriptive proof for the looses being incurred. In response to these lawsuits company has asked for the detail of claims which will initially be presented to the special BP-financed fund manager. BP has decided the time space of 90 days before any claims would be lodged from court. This action of BP was well supported by many academic leaders in the field of law. They are in support of the BP?s action and argue that the company has right to get time and debatable points of law in their support to amend the charges made against them. However in doing so the company might have to face certain social, political and media restriction and opposition which can bring bad name to the company (Peel, 2010).
In the formulation of best strategic framework for the company, there are certain management issues that intervene in the process. The management issues not only contributes to setting of the internal process system to its right order after the solution has attained but also is responsible for managing the external environment of the company (David, 2000). Some of the major management issues are listed below:
a) Matching organization structure to the strategy
b) Linking performance and pay to the strategy
c) creating organization climate conducive to change
d) managing political relations
e) creating a strategy supportive culture
f) adapting production/operation processes
g) managing human resource
h) establishing annual objectives
i) devising policies
j) Allocating resources.

In addition to the points identified by David (2000) in strategic development and strategy implementation, organizations must empower their team to operate under risky situations. The success of Greenpeace over Shell in North Sea, June 1995 was the example of organizations slow with respect to modernity in their operation. In the well developed, highly advanced and technically sound economies risk consideration is as important as any other wealth and financial resource. In the societies inherited with risk ?symbolic power? is as important as any other economic, social or public power that adds value to the resources and public image of the organization (Tsoukas, 1999). The companies like Shell in such an environment are not only competing with the market competition but are also experiencing challenges. However, in response to these challenges they conducted public discussions and arguments to make the point clear. The strategic development team of Shell thinks that these public discussions and arguments are equally important as producing a quality product that creates competitive advantage.
The strategy adopted by BP in respond to the litigation was defensive strategy, where the company was aggressively using measure to defend their point of weak strategic decision making process and technical insufficiency that resulted in the company?s bad image and ruined financial position among the share holder.
NEW OUTLOOK OF STRATEGY IN BP CASE :
Michael Porter (1996) has defined strategy in terms of competitive strategy, which can be based on the argument for the company, creating its competitive position during the time of risk. According to him a company can outperform its competitor only if:
a) A company can have long term sustainability and can beat its rival provided it can create a clear difference that it can conserve.
b) Strategic position can be achieved through customer needs, customer?s convenience and a wide range of product or services being offered.
c) Competitive value of individual duties cannot be segregated from the whole unit.
d) Strategic positions are long term not limited to a single process flow or product or service cycle.
e) Management?s role is to define strategy, make trade-offs and finding the best fit among business functions.
Many organizations in response to the global competitive environment are finding it difficult to differentiate between operational effectiveness and strategy. Technological innovation and advance level of learning and training in the field have made it possible for firms to introduce new operating procedures, quality control measures and time and resource management tools for increasing the profitability of the company. But these firms have failed to understand what drives these forces. It is actually the corporate strategy that molds these operational procedures and gives it a shape of long term sustainability and profitability. Within this strategic process is the company?s ability to respond under emergency or crisis situation. Organizations role in risk management process is idealistically of preemptive in nature, capturing the risk signals, understanding those signals and taking measures to mitigate and manage the causes of these signals. When establishing a risk symbol strategic framework in an organization the following points needs to be taken into consideration:
a) Defining Roles and responsibilities of each work team: This phase is part of the risk assessment in which company is responsible to define the roles and responsibility of each individual, in the normal course of business and under the emergency situation as well. For the purpose of clarity and standardization, these duties and roles are laid out in the human resource instrument of the job description and job specification duly signed by the employee and supervisor.
b) Spam of control and chain of command: Employees are being aware of the reporting line and supervisory control. In case of work groups functioning in the form of teams, team leader is responsible to play the necessary role.
c) Health, Safety and Security sensitive workplace: When the company is operating in the business which is sensitive to the health and security of the staff then measures to be adopted by the company not only to safeguard the heath and security issues of its employees but also of the surrounding bodies being affected through business operation. This should be held as an important element in the standard operating procedure guidelines of the business and should also be legally bound on the part of the employer.
d) Setting up benchmarks: Besides setting financial goals for the company, benchmark on the risk measurement and control mechanisms should also be set. Risk sensitive areas to be evaluated against non risk sensitive areas and risk gap should be assessed to have control of the company business operations.

CONCLUSION:
BP has undergone a strategic change in their management practice due to the issue of underwater oil spill. This case is an example for many of the companies either operating in similar industry or in diversified business. Strategic development of the company not only limits itself to concentrate on the corporate goals and missions subjected to financial benefits of the company but also view its importance on the risk requirement framework that sees the sustainability of the business from multiple dimensions.
In this regard, the role of management in the strategy formulation and process flow have been dynamic and widened. All the business functions are interlinked to its operation. Communication lapse in any of the area can break this network and bring the company in great loss. The loss under such circumstances is also not limited to the financial loss but it unfolds the company?s responsibility towards the stakeholders and the general public which can be distorted through bad public image portrayed in media. Therefore, the ability of the company to create its sound strategic image in the media and the general public is also important integral part of strategic management process that ensures the perseverance of company?s policy and sustainability long term. Every function of the business is equally held responsible in the process flow.


References
David, R. F., (2000) Strategic management concepts & cases. Prentice hall publications, upper
saddle river, New Jersey 07458
Holt, R. & McNulty, T. (2008) ?Securing the license to act: a foundational capability?, Journal of
Strategy and Management, 1 (1): 72-92.
Jones, R. (2002) Challenges to the notion of publics in public relations: implications of the risk
society for the discipline. Journal of Public Relations Review, Vol-28, issue Feb. 2002.
pp. 49-62
Kasperson, J. X., Kasperson, R. E., Pidgeon, N. and Slovic, P. (2003) The social amplification of
risk: assessing fifteen years of research and theory, The Social Amplification of Risk,
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
O?Murchu, C. (2010) BP?s failures are symptomatic of wider problems. Retrieved on 2 August 2011 through: http://blogs.ft.com/energy-source/2010/09/15/bps-failures-are-symptomatic-of-a-wider-problem/#axzz1TqXNBcwO
Peel, M. (2010) Opposition grows to BP?s legal strategy. Retrieved on 2nd August 2011 through:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/caabc8d6-c0f7-11df-99c4-00144feab49a.html
Porter, M. (1996) what is strategy? Breakthrough Ideas, Harvard Business Review, issue Nov-Dec 1996
Tsoukas, H. (1999) ?David and Goliath in the risk society: making sense of the conflict between

Shell and Greenpeace in the North Sea?, Organization, 6 (3): 499-528.


THE INSTRUCTOR?S REMARKS

Your MP1 was good. It was the right length, and had references at the end. RE: "STRATEGIC IMPLICATION OF SHELL OIL SPILL :" - the assignment is about BP, not about Shell. I wasn't really happy about the coherence and logic of the writing, but you did raise a lot of good issues. The second half of your paper was forward looking (i.e. recommendations) and so would have fitted better in the Week 7 MP2. (the second part which you are going to write now)

PLEASE MAKE IT CUSTOM
Analyze a (global) FORTUNE 500 company (other than Nestle, Proctor & Gamble, Levi Strauss, Starbucks, Merck, Kraft, Apple, or Dell)
I. Current Situation
A. Current Performance
How did the corporation perform the past year overall in terms of return on investment,
market share and profitability?
B. Strategic Posture
What are the corporations current mission, objectives, strategies and policies?
1. Are they clearly stated or are they merely implied from performance ?
2. Mission: What business(es) is the corporation in? Why?
3. Objectives: What are the corporate, business, and functional objectives?
Are they consistent with each other, with the mission and with the internal and
external environments?
4. Strategies: What strategy or mix of strategies is the corporation following?
Are they consistent with each other, with the mission, objectives, and
strategies, and with the internal and external environments?
5. Policies: What are they? Are they consistent with each other, with the
mission, objectives and strategies and with the internal and external
environments?
6. Do the current mission, objectives, strategies and policies reflect the
corporations international operations, whether global or multidomestic?
II. Corporate Governance
A. Board of Directors
1. Who are they? Are they internal or external?
2. Do they own significant shares of stock?
3. Is the stock privately held or publicly traded? Are there different classes of
stock with different voting rights?
4. What do they contribute to the corporation in terms of knowledge, skills,
background, and connections? If the corporation has international operations,
do board members have international experience?
5. How long have they served on the board?
6. What is their level of involvement in strategic management? Do they merely
rubberstamp top managements proposals or do they actively participate and
suggest future directions?
1. Source: Essentials of Strategic Management Thomas L. Wheelen and J. David Hunger
Prentice Hall
B. Top Management
1. What person or group constitutes top management?
2. What are top managements chief characteristics in terms of knowledge, skills,
background and style? If the corporation has international operations, does top
management have international experience? Are executives from acquired
companies considered part of the top management team?
3. Has top management been responsible for the corporations performance over
the past few years? How many managers have been on their current position
for less than three years? Were they internal promotions or external hires?
4. Has it established a systematic approach to strategic management?
5. What is its level of involvement in the strategic management process?
6. How well does top management interact with lower-level managers and with
the board of directors?
7. Are strategic decisions made ethically in a socially responsible manner?
8. What role so stock options play in executive compensation?
9. Is top management sufficiently skilled to cope with likely future challenges?
III. External Environment: Opportunities and Threats
(SWOTs)
A. Societal Environment
1. What general environment forces are currently affecting both the corporation
and the industries in which it competes? Which present current or future threats?
Opportunities?
a. Economic
b. Technological
c. Political-legal
d. Sociocultural
2. Are these forces different in other regions of the world?
B. Task Environment
1. What forces drive industry competition? Are these forces the same globally or
do they vary from country to country?
a. Threat of new entrants
b. Bargaining power of buyers
c. Threat of substitutes products or services
d. Bargaining power of suppliers
e. Rivalry among competing firms
f. Relative power of unions, governments, special interest groups, etc.
2. What key factors in the immediate environment (that is, customers,
competitors, suppliers, creditors, labor unions, governments, trade associations,
interest groups, local communities, and shareholders) are currently affecting the
corporation? Which are current or future threats? Opportunities?
C. Summary of External Factors (List in EFAS Table)
Which of these forces and factors are the most important to the corporation and to the
industries in which it competes at the present time? Which will be important in the
future?
IV. Internal Environment: Strengths and Weaknesses
(SWOTs)
A. Corporate Structure
1. How is the corporation structured at present?
a. Is the decision-making authority centralized around one group or
decentralized to many units?
b. Is it organized on the basis of functions, projects, geography, or some
combination of these?
2. Is the structure clearly understood by everyone in the corporation?
3. Is the present structure consistent with current corporate objectives, strategies,
policies, and programs, as well as with the firms international operations?
4. In what ways does this structure compare with those of similar corporations?
B. Corporate Culture
1. Is there a well-defined or emerging culture composed of shared beliefs,
expectations, and values?
2. Is the culture consistent with the current objectives, strategies, policies, and
programs?
3. What is the cultures position on important issues facing the corporation (that
is, on productivity, quality of performance, adaptability to changing
conditions, and internationalization)?
4. Is the culture compatible with the employees diversity and backgrounds?
5. Does the company take into consideration the values of each nations culture in
which the firm operates?
C. Corporate Resouces
1. Marketing
a. What are the corporations current marketing objectives, strategies,
policies, and programs?
i. Are they clearly stated, or merely implied from performance
and/or budgets?
ii. Are they consistent with the corporations mission, objectives,
strategies, policies and with internal and external environments>
b. How well is the corporation performing in terms of analysis of market
position and marketing mix (that is, product, price, place and
promotion) in both domestic and international markets? What
percentage of sales comes from foreign operations? Where are current
products in product life cycle?
i. What trends emerge from this analysis?
ii. What impact have these trends had on past performances and
how might these trends affect future performance?
iii. Does this analysis support the corporations past and pending
strategic decisions?
iv. Does marketing provide the company with a competitive
advantage?
c. How well does this corporations marketing performance compare with
that of similar corporations?
d. Are marketing managers using accepted marketing concepts and
techniques to evaluate and improve product performance? (Consider
product life cycle, market segmentation, market research, and product
portfolios.)
e. Does marketing adjust to the conditions in each country in which it
operates?
f. What is the role of the marketing manager in the strategic management
process?
2. Finance
a. What are the corporations current financial objectives, strategies,
policies, and programs?
i. Are they clearly stated or merely implied from performance
and/or budgets?
ii. Are they consistent with the corporations mission, objectives,
strategies, policies and with internal and external environments?
b. How well is the corporation performing in terms of financial analysis?
(Consider ratios, common-size statements, and capitalization structure.)
How balanced in terms of cash flow is the companys portfolio of
products and businesses?
i. What trends emerge from this analysis?
ii. Are there any significant differences when statements are
calculated in constant versus reported dollars?
iii. What impact have these trends had on past performance and
how might these trends affect future performance?
iv. Does this analysis support the corporations past and pending
strategic decisions?
v. Does finance provide the company a competitie advantage?
c. How well does this corporations financial performance compare with
that of similar corporations?
d. Are financial managers using accepted financial concepts and
techniques to evaluate and improve current corporate and divisional
performance? (Consider financial leverage, capital budgeting, ratio
analysis, and managing foreign currencies.)
e. Does finance adjust to the conditions in each country in which the
company operates?
f. What is the financial managers role in the strategic management
process?
3. Research and Development (R&D)
a. What are the corporations current R&D objectives, strategies, policies
and programs?
i. Are they clearly stated, or merely implied from performance or
budgets?
ii. Are they consistent with the corporations mission, objectives,
strategies, policies and with internal and external environments?
iii. What is the role of technology in corporate performance?
iv. Is the mix of basic, applied and engineering research
appropriate given the corporate mission and strategies?
v. Does R&D provide the company with a competitive advantage?
b. What return is the corporation receiving from its investment in R&D?
c. Is the corporation competent in technology transfer? Does it use
concurrent engineering and cross-functional work teams in product and
process design?
d. What role does technological discontinuity play in the companys
products?
e. How well does the corporations investment in R&D compare with the
investments of similar corporations?
f. Does R&D adjust to the conditions in each country in which the
company operates?
g. What is the role of the R&D manager in the strategic management
process?
4. Operations and Logistics
a. What are the corporations current manufacturing/service objectives,
strategies, policies and programs?
i. Are they clearly stated, or merely implied from performance or
budgets?
ii. Are they consistent with the corporations mission, objectives,
strategies, policies and with internal and external environments?
b. What is the type and extent of operations capabilities of the
corporation? How much is done domestically versus internationally?
Is the amount of outsourcing appropriate to be competitive? Is
purchasing being handled appropriately?
i. If the corporation is product-oriented, consider plant facilities,
type of manufacturing system (continuous mass production
intermittent job shop, or flexible manufacturing), age and type
of equipment, degree and role of automation and/or robots, plant
capacities and utilization, productivity ratings, availability and
type of transportation.
ii. If the corporation is service-oriented, consider service facilities
(hospital, theater, or school buildings), type of operations
systems (continuous service over time to same clientele or
intermittent service over time to varied clientele), age and type
of supporting equipment, degree and role of automation and use
of mass communication devices (diagnostic machinery,
videotape machines), facility capacities and utilization rates,
efficiency ratings of professional and service personnel and
availability and type of transportation to bring service staff and
clientele together.
c. Are manufacturing or service facilities vulnerable to natural disasters, local or
national strikes, reduction or limitation of resources from suppliers, substantial
cost increases of materials, or nationalization by governments?
d. Is there an appropriate mix of people and machines, in manufacturing firms, or
of support staff to professionals (in service firms)?
e. How well does the corporation perform relative to the competition? Is it
balancing inventory costs (warehousing) with logistical costs (just-in-time)?
Consider costs per unit of labor, material, and overhead; downtime; inventory
control management and scheduling of service staff; production ratings; facility
utilization percentages; and number of clients successfully treated by category
(if service firm) or percentage of orders shipped on time (if product firm).
i. What trends emerge from this analysis?
ii. What impact have these trends had on past performance and how might
these trends affect future performance?
iii. Does this analysis support the corporations past and pending strategic
decisions?
iv. Does operations provide the company with a competitive advantage?
f. Are operations managers using appropriate concepts and techniques to evaluate
and improve current performance? Consider cost systems, quality control and
reliability systems, inventory control management, personnel scheduling,
TQM, learning curves, safety programs, and engineering programs that can
improve efficiency of manufacturing or of service.
g. Does operations adjust to the conditions in each country in which it has
facilities?
6. Information Systems (IS)
a. What are the corporations current IS objectives, strategies, policies and
programs?
i. Are they clearly stated, or merely implied from performance and/or
budgets?
ii. Are they consistent with the corporations mission, objectives,
strategies, policies, and with internal and external environments?
b. How well is the corporations IS performing in terms of providing a useful
database, automating routine clerical operations, assisting managers in making
routine decisions, and providing information necessary for strategic decisions?
i. What trends emerge from this analysis?
ii. What impact have these trends had on past performance and how might
these trends affect future performances?
iii. Does this analysis support the corporations past and pending strategic
decisions?
iv. Does IS provide the companu with a competitive advantage?
c. How does this corporations IS performance and state of development compare
with that of similar corporations Is it appropriately isomg the Internet,
intranet and extranets?
d. Are IS managers using appropriate concepts and techniques to evaluate and
improve corporate performance? Do they know how to build and manage a
complex database, establish Web sites with firewalls, conduct system analyses,
and implement interactive decision-support systems?
e. Does the company have a global IS and Internet presence? Does it have
difficulty moving data across national boundaries?
f. What is the role of the IS manager in the strategic management process?
D. Summary of Internal Factors (List in IFAS Table)
Which of these factors are core competencies?
Which, if any, are distinctive competencies?
Which of these factors are the most important to the corporation and to the industries in
which it competes at the present time? Which might be important in the future?
V. Analysis of Strategic Factors (SWOT)
A. Situational Analysis (List in SFAS Table)
What are the most important internal and external factors (Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities, Threats) that strongly affect the corporations present and future
performance? List eight to ten strategic factors.
B. Review of Mission and Objectives
1. Are the current mission and objectives appropriate in light of the key strategic
factors and problems?
2. Should the mission and objectives be changed? If so, how?
3. If changed, what will be the effect on the firm?
VI. Strategic alternatives and Recommended Strategy
A. Strategic Alternatives (See Towns Matrix)
1. Can the current or revised objectives be met by the simple, more careful
implementing of current strategies? (for example, fine-tuning them?)
2. What are the major feasible alternative strategies available to this corporation?
What are the pros and cons of each? Can corporate scenarios be developed
and agreed upon? (Alternatives must fit societal environment, industry and
company for next 3 to 5 years,)
a. Consider stability, growth, and retrenchment as corporate strategies.
b. Consider cost leadership and differentiation as business strategies.
c. Consider any functional strategic alternatives that might be needed to
reinforce an important corporate or business strategic alternative.
B. Recommended Strategy
1. Specify which of te strategic alternatives you recommend for the corporate,
business and functional levels of the corporation. Do you recommend
different business or functional strategies for different units of the corporation?
2. Justify your recommendation in terms of its ability to resolve both long- and
short-term problems and effectively deal with the strategic factors.
3. What policies should be developed/ revised to guide effective implementation?
4. What is the impact of your recommended strategy on the companys core and
distinctive competencies?
VII. Implementation
A. What kinds of programs and action plans (for example, restructuring the corporation
or instituting TQM) should be developed to implement the recommended strategy?
1. Who should develop these programs?
2. Who should be in charge of these programs?
B. Are the programs financially feasible? Can pro forma budgets be developed and
agreed upon? Are priorities and timetables appropriate to individual programs?
C. Will new standard operating procedures need to be developed?
VII. Evaluation and Control
A. Is the current information system capable of providing sufficient feedback on
implementation activities and performance? Can it measure strategic factors?
1. Can performance results be pinpointed by area, unit, project, or function?
2. Is the information timely?
B. Are adequate control measures in place enable the recommended strategic plan?
1. Are appropriate standards and measures being used?
2. Are reward systems capable or recognizing and rewarding good performance?

Question 1

The impact of glabalization and the internet presents real challenges for corporate strategic planners across the world. What is the impact of globalization and the internet on corporations? Why is astute strategic planning a must in today's competitive business world?

Question 2

Compare and contrast the two models, strategic mgmt model, and the strategic decision making process, and reconcile the strategic the strategic decision making process with the strategic mgmt model. Do the tow models complement each other or do they clash? Explain

After reading chapters 7 and 10, answer those questions. Thank you.

1) Identify a public company that is of interest to you and perform an analysis using commonly used ratios based upon their financial report. Based on changes over time and a comparison with industry norms, evaluate the firm?s strengths and weaknesses in terms of its financial position. Don't forget to provide references in APA format!

2) Explain how the three primary internal governance mechanisms ownership concentration, the board of directors, and executive compensation are used to monitor and control managerial decisions. Which of these do you believe has had the least effect in both monitoring and controlling, and why? Use an example from your current business reading to support your position.

3) Briefly describe how the external corporate governance mechanism the market for corporate control acts as a restraint on top-level managers strategic decisions. Also, while corporate governance should foster ethical strategic decisions, what are at least two crucial factors that can negate this?

4) The goal of restructuring is, most commonly, to gain or reestablish effective strategic control of the firm. Pick a company that youve heard about and/or know something about in either the video, auto, or computer software industry and describe the likely and/or desirable short- and long-term outcomes of the firm taking either a (1) downsizing or (2) down-scoping restructuring approach.


Note:
To access e-book, follow these directions:

1) Go to www.coursesmart.com
2) Click on "Sign In" on top of the page and log in.
E-mail: [email protected]

3) Then, pick a book from the list (Strategic Management, 8th Edition)
4) Click on "Read Online Version" button (green).
5) For easy navigation around chapters, click on "Detailed Table of Contents" (on the left column).

Topic:

4. Identify viable alternatives to strategic decision making and discuss their consequences, defend one of them as the most appropriate for the company at the time of the case scenario.
5. Discuss implementation, evaluation, and control issues.

Answer the above 2 questions using APA format.

Please note this is ONLY a part of the full paper that I need to have done.

Attached is a completed Sample analysis of a different case study that has been completed already.

Another attachment is the actual case study "Southwest airlines" to focus on. This is the full reading in pdf format for you and you must answer #4 and #5 questions above on how to better it.

This uses opinion and actual factual data as well.

The 2 sources MUST be reputable.

Format: APA


Topic: Analyzing The Impact of IT on Strategic Decision Making



Please address the below questions in essay format. Please do not respond question by question. IMPORTANT: The responses must flow as an essay.

- Can IT be used to reengineer core value activities and change the basis of competition?
- Can IT change the nature of relationships and the balance of power among buyers and suppliers?
- Can IT build or reduce barriers to entry?
- Can IT increase or decrease switching costs?
- Can IT add value to existing products and services or create new ones?




Please follow this Format:

A. Abstract: a very short description of what you intend to do in the paper or report. No more than 3 or 4 sentences. This abstract must show your understanding of the subject

B. Introduction: an introductory discussion of the subject matter of your paper or report. You can give background information related to the subject matter.

C. Summary: a detailed discussion of your paper or report. Here you should answer all the questions (not directly) but in an essay form maintaining the flow and connectivity of the concepts originating from the given questions. Use subheadings (highlight them) in the Summary section for different concepts that you will go through in this section. It will be easy for the reader to follow through different concepts/ideas presented in the summary section.

D. Interpretation and/or Analysis of your or report. A detailed analysis of the summary and introduction sections based on your findings. Here you should try to bring it all together. Why this report - the implications, impact, analysis, consequences, and etc should be thoroughly documented here.

E. Conclusion: a concluding remark must be made here. This section should be short. Next steps and/or needs for improvement should all be discussed in this section.


F. References:

The emphasis here is on strategic decisions that companies make and their ethical implications. You should briefly summarize the ethical dilemmas based on the strategic decision they made.

If you need more information please feel free to contact me at my e-mail address.
Quotes need to be limited we have a restriction of only 25% matching allowance.

Performance a strategic analysis on Best Buy in today's market. The following is a list of what must be included in the paper to achieve the highest grade. There is not a required number of pages or references.


I. Current Situation
A. Current Performance
B. Strategic Posture

II. Corporate Governance
A.Board of directors
B. Top management

III. External Environment: Opportunities and threats
A. Natural Physical Environment
B. Societal Environment
C. Task Environment
d. Summary of external factors

IV. Internal Environment: Strengths and Weakness
A. Corporate Structure
B. Corporate Culture
C. Corporate Resources
1. Marketing
a.What are the corporation?s current marketing objectives, strategies, policies, andprograms?i.Aretheyclearlystatedormerelyimpliedfromperformanceand/orbudgets?ii.Are they consistent with the corporation?s mission, objectives, strategies, andpolicies and with internal and external environments?b.Howwellisthecorporationperformingintermsofanalysisofmarketpositionandmarketingmix(thatis,product,price,place,andpromotion)inbothdomesticandin-ternationalmarkets?Howdependentisthecorporationonafewcustomers?Howbigisitsmarket?Whereisitgainingorlosingmarketshare?Whatpercentageofsalescomesfromdevelopedversusdevelopingregions?Wherearecurrentproductsintheproductlifecycle?i.What trends emerge from this analysis?ii.Whatimpacthavethesetrendshadonpastperformanceandhowmightthesetrendsaffectfutureperformance?iii.Doesthisanalysissupportthecorporation?spastandpendingstrategicdecisions?iv.Does marketing provide the company with a competitive advantage?c.Howwelldoesthecorporation?smarketingperformancecomparewiththatofsim-ilarcorporations?d.Are marketing managers using accepted marketing concepts and techniques to eval-uate and improve product performance? (Consider product life cycle, market seg-mentation, market research, and product portfolios.)e.Does marketing adjust to the conditions in each country in which it operates?f.Does marketing consider environmental sustainability when making decisions?g.What is the role of the marketing manager in the strategic management process?2.

2.Finance

a.What are the corporation?s current financial objectives, strategies, and policies andprograms?i.Aretheyclearlystatedormerelyimpliedfromperformanceand/orbudgets?ii.Are they consistent with the corporation?s mission, objectives, strategies, andpolicies and with internal and external environments?b.How well is the corporation performing in terms of financial analysis? (Consider ra-tio analysis, common size statements, and capitalization structure.) How balanced,in terms of cash flow, is the company?s portfolio of products and businesses? Whatare investor expectations in terms of share price?i.What trends emerge from this analysis?ii.Arethereanysignificantdifferenceswhenstatementsarecalculatedincon-stantversusreporteddollars?iii.Whatimpacthavethesetrendshadonpastperformanceandhowmightthesetrendsaffectfutureperformance?iv.Doesthisanalysissupportthecorporation?spastandpendingstrategicdecisions?v.Does finance provide the company with a competitive advantage?c.How well does the corporation?s financial performance compare with that of simi-lar corporations?d.Are financial managers using accepted financial concepts and techniques to evalu-ate and improve current corporate and divisional performance? (Consider financialleverage, capital budgeting, ratio analysis, and managing foreign currencies.)e.Doesfinanceadjusttotheconditionsineachcountryinwhichthecompanyoperates?f.Does finance cope with global financial issues?g.What is the role of the financial manager in the strategic management process?

3.0Research and Development (R&D)

a.Whatarethecorporation?scurrentR&Dobjectives,strategies,policies,andprograms?i.Are they clearly stated or merely implied from performance or budgets?ii.Aretheyconsistentwiththecorporation?smission,objectives,strategiesandpoli-ciesandwithinternalandexternalenvironments?iii.Whatistheroleoftechnologyincorporateperformance?iv.Is the mix of basic, applied, and engineering research appropriate given the cor-porate mission and strategies?v.Does R&D provide the company with a competitive advantage?b.What return is the corporation receiving from its investment in R&D?c.Is the corporation competent in technology transfer? Does it use concurrent engi-neering and cross-functional work teams in product and process design?d.What role does technological discontinuity play in the company?s products?e.How well does the corporation?s investment in R&D compare with the investmentsof similar corporations? How much R&D is being outsourced? Is the corporation us-ing value-chain alliances appropriately for innovation and competitive advantage?f.Does R&D adjust to the conditions in each country in which the company operates?g.DoesR&Dconsiderenvironmentalsustainabilityinproductdevelopmentandpackaging?h.What is the role of the R&D manager in the strategic management process?4.

4. Operations and Logistics

a.What are the corporation?s current manufacturing/service objectives, strategies,policies, and programs?i.Are they clearly stated or merely implied from performance or budgets?ii.Are they consistent with the corporation?s mission, objectives, strategies, andpolicies and with internal and external environments?b.What are the type and extent of operations capabilities of the corporation? Howmuch is done domestically versus internationally? Is the amount of outsourcing ap-propriate to be competitive? Is purchasing being handled appropriately? Are sup-pliers and distributors operating in an environmentally sustainable manner? Whichproducts have the highest and lowest profit margins?i.If the corporation is product oriented, consider plant facilities, type of manu-facturing system (continuous mass production, intermittent job shop, or flexi-ble manufacturing), age and type of equipment, degree and role of automationand/or robots, plant capacities and utilization, productivity ratings, and avail-ability and type of transportation.ii.Ifthecorporationisserviceoriented,considerservicefacilities(hospital,theater,orschoolbuildings),typeofoperationssystems(continuousserviceovertimetosameclienteleorintermittentserviceovertimetovariedclientele),ageandtypeofsupportingequipment,degreeandroleofautomationanduseofmasscommu-nicationdevices(diagnosticmachinery,video machines),facilitycapacitiesandutilizationrates,efficiencyratingsofprofessionalandservicepersonnel,andavailabilityandtypeoftransportationtobringservicestaffandclienteletogether.c.Aremanufacturingorservicefacilitiesvulnerabletonaturaldisasters,localornationalstrikes,reductionorlimitationofresourcesfromsuppliers,substantialcostincreasesofmaterials,ornationalizationbygovernments?d.Is there an appropriate mix of people and machines (in manufacturing firms) or of support staff to professionals (in service firms)?e.Howwelldoesthecorporationperformrelativetothecompetition?Isitbalancingin-ventorycosts(warehousing)withlogisticalcosts(just-in-time)?Considercostsperunitoflabor,material,andoverhead;downtime;inventorycontrolmanagementandschedulingofservicestaff;productionratings;facilityutilizationpercentages;andnumberofclientssuccessfullytreatedbycategory(ifservicefirm)orpercentageof ordersshippedontime(ifproductfirm).


5. Human Resources Management (HRM)

a.What are the corporation?s current HRM objectives, strategies, policies, and pro-grams?i.Aretheyclearlystatedormerelyimpliedfromperformanceand/orbudgets?ii.Are they consistent with the corporation?s mission, objectives, strategies, andpolicies and with internal and external environments?b.How well is the corporation?s HRM performing in terms of improving the fit be-tween the individual employee and the job? Consider turnover, grievances, strikes,layoffs, employee training, and quality of work life.i.What trends emerge from this analysis?ii.Whatimpacthavethesetrendshadonpastperformanceandhowmightthesetrendsaffectfutureperformance?iii.Doesthisanalysissupportthecorporation?spastandpendingstrategicdecisions?iv.Does HRM provide the company with a competitive advantage?c.How does this corporation?s HRM performance compare with that of similar cor-porations?d.AreHRMmanagersusingappropriateconceptsandtechniquestoevaluateandim-provecorporateperformance?Considerthejobanalysisprogram,performanceap-praisalsystem,up-to-datejobdescriptions,traininganddevelopmentprograms,attitudesurveys,jobdesignprograms,qualityofrelationshipswithunions,anduseof autonomousworkteams.e.Howwellisthecompanymanagingthediversityofitsworkforce?Whatisthecompany?srecordonhumanrights?Doesthecompanymonitorthehumanrightsrecordofkeysuppliersanddistributors?f.DoesHRMadjusttotheconditionsineachcountryinwhichthecompanyoper-ates?DoesthecompanyhaveacodeofconductforHRMforitselfandkeysup-pliersindevelopingnations?Areemployeesreceivinginternationalassignmentstopreparethemformanagerialpositions?g.What is the role of outsourcing in HRM planning?h.WhatistheroleoftheHRMmanagerinthestrategicmanagementprocess?6.

6. Information Technology (IT)
a.What are the corporation?s current IT objectives, strategies, policies, and programs?i.Aretheyclearlystatedormerelyimpliedfromperformanceand/orbudgets?ii.Are they consistent with the corporation?s mission, objectives, strategies, andpolicies and with internal and external environments?b.How well is the corporation?s IT performing in terms of providing a useful database,automating routine clerical operations, assisting managers in making routine deci-sions, and providing information necessary for strategic decisions?i.What trends emerge from this analysis?ii.Whatimpacthavethesetrendshadonpastperformanceandhowmightthesetrendsaffectfutureperformance?
d. Summary of Internal Factors

V. Analysis of Strategic Factors (SWOT)
A. Situational Analysis
Review of Mission and Objectives

VI. Strategic Alternatives and Recommended Strategy
A. Strategic Alternatives
B. Recommended Strategy

VII. implementation
A. what kinds of programs should be developed (example restructuring the corporation or instituting TQM) to implementthe recommended strategy
B. Are the programs financially feasible? can pro forma budgets be developed and agreed on? are priorities and timetables appropriate to individual programs?


VIII. Evaluations and control
A. Is the current information system capable of providing sufficent feedback on implementing activities and performance? CAn it measure strategic factors?
b. Are adequate control measures in place to ensure conformance with the recommended strategic plan?

All parts of the grading rubrix must be met for full credit:
Grading Rubric for Individual Case Paper:

Current Performance
Provides a succinct overview of the company?s current and recent performance in its competitive markets.

Key Issue Identification
Accurately identifies the key strategic issue(s) facing the organization.
Analysis of Mission and Objectives
Describes the company?s mission and objectives and analyzes their appropriateness and fit.
Corporate-Level Strategies
Accurately identifies specific growth, stability, or retrenchment strategies being used by the firm; analyzes the fit of strategies with mission/objectives.

Business-Level Strategies
Accurately identifies cost leadership, differentiation, or focus strategies and analyzes fit4
Policies
Accurately identifies key policies of the firm and analyzes fit with strategies.
Board of Directors
Strategic Orientation
Composition
Accurately analyzes the composition, strategic orientation, and direction of the firm?s Board of Directors.

Top Management
? Strategic Orientation
? Composition
Accurately analyzes the composition, strategic orientation, and direction of the firm?s top management team.

Societal Environment Analysis
? Economic
? Political
? Technological
? Sociocultural
Accurately identifies key strategic factors from the firm?s external environment.
Industry Analysis
? Entrants
? Suppliers
? Buyers
? Substitutes
? Rivalry
? Overall
Accurately analyzes competitive factors in the firm?s industry or industries and assesses the overall attractiveness of the industry or industries.
Structure

Accurately identifies the firm?s structural type and characteristics and analyzes the fit of the structure with the firm?s strategy.

Culture
Accurately assesses the firm?s culture and the fit of the culture with the firm?s strategy.
Marketing Analysis
Accurately assesses the ?4 P?s? and the key marketing strategies of the firm in relation to the firm?s strategy.

Financial Analysis
Accurately analyzes the firm?s finances using a ratio analysis and assesses the firm?s growth potential in relation to its financial structure.

R&D
Accurately analyzes the firm?s R&D capabilities in light of the firm?s strategy.
Operations
Accurately analyzes the firm?s key operational characteristics in relation to its strategy.
Human Resources
Accurately assesses the human resources competencies of the firm in relation to its strategy.

Information Systems
Accurately assesses the firm?s IS capabilities in relation to its strategy.
VRIO
Performs an accurate assessment of the firm?s competitive advantages using VRIO analysis.

SWOT
Develops an appropriate summary of the key strategic factors (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) affecting the firm.

Analysis of Strategic Alternatives
Presents and analyzes several realistic strategic options for the firm.


Recommendation
Recommends appropriate strategies.

Justification
Provides a logical justification for the recommended strategy or strategies.
Implementation
? Programs
? People
? Finances
Provides a detailed implementation for each strategy recommended.
Evaluation/Control
Provides the standards that will be used to determine if the strategy is successful and designates who will monitor the implementation of the strategy.

TEXT: The Management of Technology and Innovation: ISBN-13: 9780538478229

Strategic Information Technology Plan
The audit exercises collectively comprise the Strategic Information Technology Plan. Students will each select a business organization which the will refer to for every assigned audit exercise. Students respond to each audit exercise as it applies to their chosen organization, integrating citations from the text and other scholarly sources. Each audit exercise should be accompanied by a title page and reference page formatted according to APA style.

Include side headings, according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center, where appropriate in longer audit exercises. For instance, in the Audit Exercise in Appendix 1, you would include the side headings:
? Assessing sustainability, CSR, and Ethics
? Responsibility to Stakeholders
? Social Responsibility and the Bottom Line
? Innovative Actions
The first audit exercise paper should include an introductory paragraph about the student?s selected business, its mission, and its immediate management of technology and innovation (M.T.I.) goals. This introductory paragraph should be included in each audit exercise paper submitted in the course.
The length of the audit exercise papers should be about two pages per exercise, not including the title and reference pages. The audit exercises can be found at the end of each respective chapter of the textbook, The Management of Technology & Innovation: A Strategic Approach.

Focus of the Final Paper
During Week Five, the student cohesively brings together the four audit exercise papers, the final two audit exercises, and an executive summary to form a Strategic Information Technology Plan. This final paper should be eighteen to twenty pages in length and should incorporate any comments or suggestions made by the instructor on the audit exercise papers.
The executive summary is an abbreviated overview of the entire plan, and as such, it should touch upon all major points while engaging the reader. It should make the reader want to read the plan. Students should assume that the target audience is familiar with the computer terminology learned throughout this course.

Audit Exercises
? Audit Exercise, Chapter 1: This exercise involves assessing a firm?s M.T.I capabilities with strategy.
? Audit Exercise, Appendix 1: This exercise involves assessing sustainability and evaluating company stakeholder responsibility, the bottom line, and technology and innovation responsibility of the company.
? Audit Exercise, Chapter 3: This exercise involves the evaluation of the firm. Addresses: demand for the product, factors that could block success of an innovation, competitive response, standards, level of novelty of the innovation, and other factors.
? Audit Exercise, Chapter 4: This exercise involves assimilating a checklist for innovation for the organization to consider and determining the organization?s readiness to implement an innovation strategy.
? Audit Exercise, Chapter 5: This exercise involves synthesizing a strategy score card of four elements: financial results, customers, human resources, and sustainability.
? Audit Exercise, Chapter 6: This exercise involves developing Information Technology plans and strategy for mergers and acquisitions, planning for the acquisition of new technology during a merger, and measuring evaluation and control.
? Audit Exercise, Chapter 7: This exercise involves assessing value analysis and costs in acquiring new technology or the company buying a smaller firm. This includes the information phase, speculation phase, evaluation and analysis phase, and implementation phase.
? Audit Exercise, Appendix 3: This exercise involves applying the process model (risk assessment, decision analysis, options, current position) and relating the processes to internal innovation and obtaining technology. Evaluating the effect each strategy will have on organization structure and processes.
? Audit Exercise, Chapter 9: This exercise involves ensuring the results of new technology, evaluating the process for implementing the building of capabilities, measuring capabilities (external environmental factors, strategic capabilities, and strategic decisions).
Writing the Final Paper
The Final Paper:
1. Must be eighteen to twenty double-spaced pages in length, and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
2. Must include a title page with the following:
o Title of paper
o Student?s name
o Course name and number
o Instructor?s name
o Date submitted
3. Must begin with an introductory paragraph that has a succinct thesis statement.
4. Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought.
5. Must end with a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis.
6. Must use at least five scholarly sources.
7. Must document all sources in APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.
8. Must include a separate reference page, formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.

Please note this is a part of coursework I have already completed, you do not need to create an introduction and conclusion , however treat this as a portfolio / presentation work where you have to tackle the problem directly and relate the strategic objectives to KPI's.


Background:


Housing associations in the United Kingdom are independent non for-profit bodies which provide low-cost housing for people in housing need. Any trading surplus is used to maintain existing homes and to help finance new ones. They are now the UKs major providers of new homes for rent while many also run shared ownership schemes to help people who cannot afford to buy there homes outright. Housing associations day-to-day activities are funded by rent and service charge payment made by, or on behalf of those living in its property. In this sense, housing associations are run as commercial entities and the majority do not depend on donations for their general activities. New housing however tends to require subsidies to be economic- the source of which comes from the public purse. In principle, housing associations tend to be risk averse.
Bushmead Housing Association
The Bushmead Housing Association (BHA) was formed in 1991 when Buschmead Borough Council decided to transfer its entire housing stock of approximately 10,000 properties. BHA remit included the maintenance of the existing stock and creation of new homes for local population of Bushmead. The transfer also included most of the employees of Bushmeads Building Maintenance Department. Now under a new CEO , Ms T Day , BHA have established a number of strategic objectives including revamping its housing stock to comply with the Green Agenda


Coursework:
1)Set the strategic objectives for BHA
2)Create BHAs Critical Success Factors (CSF)
3)Key performance Indicators (KPIs)


The above points will be linked to each other and relevant, you will be also required to create a diagram showing that each strategic objective , will lead to number of CSF, then each CSF will have a KPI, the diagram will look like a tree diagram. Fish-bone diagram, or you can use a tables. you will also need to mention the role and responsibility/job title for strategic decision makers.
KPIs are numbers, and percentages.

There are faxes for this order.

It's a group project and I am responsible for sections 1 , 2 and 6. I have uploaded the whole template for you to have an idea what the final writing should be. Please write 4 pages for Section 1 and 2 and 3 pages for section 6



Strategic Audit of a Corporation1
I. Current Situation
A. Current Performance
How did the corporation perform the past year overall in terms of return on investment,
market share and profitability?
B. Strategic Posture
What are the corporation?s current mission, objectives, strategies and policies?
1. Are they clearly stated or are they merely implied from performance ?
2. Mission: What business(es) is the corporation in? Why?
3. Objectives: What are the corporate, business, and functional objectives?
Are they consistent with each other, with the mission and with the internal and
external environments?
4. Strategies: What strategy or mix of strategies is the corporation following?
Are they consistent with each other, with the mission, objectives, and
strategies, and with the internal and external environments?
5. Policies: What are they? Are they consistent with each other, with the
mission, objectives and strategies and with the internal and external
environments?
6. Do the current mission, objectives, strategies and policies reflect the
corporation?s international operations, whether global or multidomestic?
II. Corporate Governance
A. Board of Directors
1. Who are they? Are they internal or external?
2. Do they own significant shares of stock?
3. Is the stock privately held or publicly traded? Are there different classes of
stock with different voting rights?
4. What do they contribute to the corporation in terms of knowledge, skills,
background, and connections? If the corporation has international operations,
do board members have international experience?
5. How long have they served on the board?
6. What is their level of involvement in strategic management? Do they merely
rubberstamp top management?s proposals or do they actively participate and
suggest future directions?

B. Top Management
1. What person or group constitutes top management?
2. What are top management?s chief characteristics in terms of knowledge, skills,
background and style? If the corporation has international operations, does top
management have international experience? Are executives from acquired
companies considered part of the top management team?
3. Has top management been responsible for the corporation?s performance over
the past few years? How many managers have been on their current position
for less than three years? Were they internal promotions or external hires?
4. Has it established a systematic approach to strategic management?
5. What is its level of involvement in the strategic management process?
6. How well does top management interact with lower-level managers and with
the board of directors?
7. Are strategic decisions made ethically in a socially responsible manner?
8. What role so stock options play in executive compensation?
9. Is top management sufficiently skilled to cope with likely future challenges?

VI. Strategic alternatives and Recommended Strategy
A. Strategic Alternatives (See Towns Matrix)
1. Can the current or revised objectives be met by the simple, more careful
implementing of current strategies? (for example, fine-tuning them?)
2. What are the major feasible alternative strategies available to this corporation?
What are the pros and cons of each? Can corporate scenarios be developed
and agreed upon? (Alternatives must fit societal environment, industry and
company for next 3 to 5 years,)
a. Consider stability, growth, and retrenchment as corporate strategies.
b. Consider cost leadership and differentiation as business strategies.
c. Consider any functional strategic alternatives that might be needed to
reinforce an important corporate or business strategic alternative.

B. Recommended Strategy
1. Specify which of the strategic alternatives you recommend for the corporate,
business and functional levels of the corporation. Do you recommend
different business or functional strategies for different units of the corporation?
2. Justify your recommendation in terms of its ability to resolve both long- and
short-term problems and effectively deal with the strategic factors.
3. What policies should be developed/ revised to guide effective implementation?
4. What is the impact of your recommended strategy on the company?s core and
distinctive competencies?

Assignment required 3 strategic decision papers from 3 different organizations. Each strategic require 1 page long. Use the APA style manual for the citations and bibilography,
and use five sources so the other half page can be free bibilography all total 3pages excluding bibilography. Please include scenario on each paper (e.g. Microsoft was trying to buy Yahoo, what do they know for a fact).

I have attached the original instruction to the e-mail. If you have any question, please let me know.


There are faxes for this order.

200 words per question

question 1
The impact of globalization and the Internet presents real challenges for corporate strategic planners across the world. What is the impact of globalization and the Internet on corporations? Why is astute strategic planning a must in today's competitive business world?

question 2
Review the strategic Management Model (Fig 1-2 page 11) and the Strategic Decision-Making Process (Figure 1-5) page 22. Compare and contrast the two models and reconcile the strategic dicision-making process with the strategic management model. Do the two models complement each other or do they clash? Explain your answer. Sending pages.


There are faxes for this order.

After reading chapters 9 and 12, answer those questions. Use two answers on each page. Thank you.

1) Drawing upon your own experience with a business or other organization, explain the concept of organizational culture and outline what must be done to sustain an effective

culture. When new leadership comes in and takes over the helm of an organization, does it [i.e., he or she] have an obligation to sustain its culture, or to re-shape it, or . . .? Explain.

2) What is a top management team [TMT] and how do such teams affect company performance and the ability to innovate and make effective strategic decisions? Also, describe an example of a TMT thats doing either exceedingly well or, exceedingly poorly drawing upon your current business reading or a firm youre familiar with.

3) Firms who work together to achieve a shared objective are using a cooperative strategy [of one sort or another]. Discuss the key reasons that some firms choose to use a cooperative strategy. Are these reasons of equal validity or legitimacy? And, given that not all cooperative endeavors achieve success, what are a few of the reasons why this might be so?

4) Choose a firm which you are familiar with from the local business community. Is the firm successful in the following one (or more) generic strategies? Why or why not? What do you believe are some of the challenges the firm faces in implementing these strategies in an effective manner?


Note:
To access e-book, follow these directions:

1) Go to www.coursesmart.com
2) Click on "Sign In" on top of the page and log in.
E-mail: [email protected]

3) Then, pick a book from the list (Strategic Management, 8th Edition)
4) Click on "Read Online Version" button (green).
5) For easy navigation around chapters, click on "Detailed Table of Contents" (on the left column).

I WOULD LIKE INFOCEO FOR THIS ORDER.
It is important to integrate the course content to ensure a comprehensive understanding of the concepts presented in each module. It is also important to "step back" and reflect on new levels of understanding, skills, and knowledge that were developed. Write a 4 page reflective essay on the following course objectives (what you were intended to learn in this course):
1. Explain the distinction between data, information, and knowledge, and why it should matter.
2. Describe the basic sociotechnical structure of the firm, distinguishing between the technology components and the organizational and procedural elements that constitute the social system in interaction with the technology.
3. Distinguish between operational decisions, tactical decisions, and strategic decisions, and describe the different kinds of information required for each and the kinds of organizational personnel typically involved in each kind of decision making.
4. Describe the general structure of a computer network, typical procedures for securing and maintaining networks, and the links between the technological components and the overall sociotechnical framework of the firm.
5. Outline the typical governance structure for information systems, its relationship to the rest of the management structure and processes, and the basic political process of information resource allocation.
6. Differentiate between the major categories of information technology applications such as transaction processing systems, decision support systems, executive support systems, expert systems, and archival records, and describe the business functions served by each.

For Glo-Bus, company managers jointly prepare a "Five Year Business Plan" (Strategic Plan) and monitor and evaluate their own and competitors' performance, revise objectives and strategies as necessary, and continually evaluate their overall performance. Glo-Bus will run for the full semester and will cover five years (Years 6-10). One last report -- Lessons Learned (i.e. the Strategic Assessment) -- will be prepared individually after Year 10 of company operations. The report will be in an "annual report" format and will evaluate the performance of the company in the context of the competitive global environment of the simulation. It is strongly recommended that each team of managers maintains a record of their strategic decisions, changes in strategy, etc., throughout the Glo-Bus game so that they will be better able to assess individually their performance at the conclusion of the game.

Listed below are areas which should be addressed in your analysis:

Identify and discuss which of the five basic competitive strategies that your digital camera company employed in the simulation. Summarize how consistently your company stuck to its strategy.
Identify and discuss at least three offensive and/or defensive strategic options that your digital camera company took to improve the company?s market standing and financial performance.
Identify and discuss the strategic approach your company took to compete successfully in four geographic regions that comprise the global digital camera market:
Think local, act local
Think global, act global
Think global, act local
Describe your company?s decisions to shift resources from one area to another to better support strategy execution efforts. Be specific and cite at least 2 instances.
Describe your company?s spending on corporate social responsibility and corporate citizenship efforts. Be specific re: the percentage of the company?s revenues used to support such efforts. Explain the rationale that you would give to shareholders for these decisions.
Finally, turn the focus on the internal operations of the company and describe the style of decision making (decentralized, consensus, ?) and team functioning. What do you feel were the advantages and disadvantages of the decision making approach your company employed?
I ATTACHED SOME RESOURCES FOR YOU.

First carefully read all of the background readings. These readings
discuss (1) the options beyond budgeting which may be used for managerial planning and control, (2) the relationship between budgeting and strategic decision making, and (3) the budgeting practices in different countries. Reading these materials carefully should help you complete and respond to the assignment expectations adequately.

Required Readings

Libby, Theresa and Lindsay, R Murray, (2007). BEYOND BUDGETING OR BETTER BUDGETING? Strategic Finance, 89(2), 46-51. Retrieved July 26, 2010, from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=1324267731&sid=2&Fmt=6&clientId=2944 0&RQT=309&VName=PQD

Max, Mitchell, (2005). Beyond Budgeting: Case Studies in North American Financial Services. Journal of Performance Management, 18(1), 3-15. Retrieved July 26, 2010, from http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=842579001&sid=2&Fmt=6&clientId=29440 &RQT=309&VName=PQD

Shastri, Karen and Stout, David E., (2008). Budgeting: Perspectives from the Real World. Management Accounting Quarterly.

http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=1&did=1625887741&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=3&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1301589320&clientId=29440

With, Elbert De and Dijkman, Aagtje, (2008). Budgeting Practices of Listed Companies in the Netherlands. Management Accounting Quarterly. Retrieved July 26, 2010, from http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0OOL/is_1_10/ai_n31369438/?tag=r bxcra.2.a.33

Becker, S., Messner, M., Schaffer, U. 2010. The Evolution of a Management Accounting Idea: The Case of Beyond Budgeting. SSRN Working Paper Series. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1535485

Scarlett, B. 2007. Management Accounting ? Performance Evaluation. Financial Management. London: Sep 2007. pg. 54. http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?index=31&did=1370019771&SrchMode=1&sid=1&Fmt=2&VInst=PROD&VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&TS=1315212378&clientId=29440

ASSIGNMENT

In a 3 to 4 page essay you are to address the following questions. Be sure to support your assertions with proper citations and other support.

When is budgeting an adequate tool for planning and control in organizations and when should alternative approaches be considered? Is budgeting obsolete in the 21st Century organization?

Use information from the modular background readings as well as any other reliable resources you use. Please cite all sources and provide a reference list at the end of your paper.

LENGTH: 3-4 pages typed and double spaced, 12 pt font, News Times Roman, 1 inch Margin (all margins).

The following items will be evaluated in particular:

Ability to explain the key factors related with a budget and the relationship between strategy and budgeting
Include the options beyond budgeting which may be used for planning and control in organizations
Analyze the budgeting?s obsolescence in 21st century

Grading rubric:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/16251375/Graduate/ACC%20504%20grading%20rubric.docx

THE BUSINESS WILL BE ASDA..PLEASE WRITE ABOUT ASDA STORES (http://www.asda.com/)
1. Internal business environment: Background to organisation, structure, culture & communication.
2. External business environment: Review of Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental factors with a summary of guidance for strategic decision making.
3. Resource Management - Overview of organisational approach to Fincial, Human, Physical and Intangible resource management.
4. Special project: Recruitment & Selection process management: identify vacancy within organisation, develop job description & person specification along with detailed account of what the advertising campaign should include and how this would fit with the culture and communication strategy of the business, thinking 'employer branding'. Review the selection methods available and provide suggestions to which choice(s) would provide the highest validity and the 'best fit' candidate for the role.
5. The above operational aspects should include theoritical and academic underpinning, referenced accordingly.
Appendix: While there is a limit on the word count, maximum use of the appendices should be exercised to include supporting information relevant to endorsing learning outcomes of this assessment task.

Criteria: 1. Background of the chosen organisation. 2. Overview of organisational structure. 3. Overview of organisational culture. 4. . Overview of organisational Communication. 5. External Business environment review(PESTLE ANALYSIS) 6. Resource Management Overview. 7.Recruitment & Selection Process Management.

Assesment:
1. -Backrgound
- Structure =>Theory
-Culture
- Communication
2. -Swot analysis
-Pest analysis =>affecting strategy
3.Resources used to be effected
4. - Job description
- Person specification
- Advertising strategy

The format is as follows:
Title page
Acknowledgements (if any)
Contents page
Executive summary (about 300 words, not included in word count)
Introduction including terms of reference: 'The aim of this report is to critically examine Organisation X in terms of ..........
Main body: 4 sections covering each of the 4 tasks you have been asked to discuss in the assignment
Conclusions
Bibliography
Appendix: including Job Description and Person Specification
Personal reflective critique (300 words)

Select a publicly-traded company (My choice of company is ENTRAVISION COMMUNICATIONS). Download the
annual report for the most recent year reported for use in this assignment. Based on your review and
analysis of the annual report, prepare a 6-8 paper in which you:
1. Identify the company?s mission, vision, and primary stakeholders.
2. Identify the five (5) forces of competition and how it impacts the company.
3. Create a SWOT analysis for the company identifying the major strengths, weakness,
opportunities, and threats.
4. Based on the SWOT analysis, recommend how the company may capitalize on its strengths and
opportunities, and minimize its weaknesses and threats.
5. Discuss the various levels and types of strategies the firm may use to maximize its
competitiveness and profitability.
6. Determine the recent corporate governance issues that are currently affecting the company's
decisions and report how the company is or should be handling the issues.
7. Use 4-5 external sources as part of your assignment.

Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
? Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all
sides; references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any
additional instructions.
? Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student?s name, the professor?s
name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in
the required page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
? Identify the vision, mission, and stakeholders of a firm.
? Identify how the six segments of the general environment affect an industry and its firms.
? Identify the five forces of competition.
? Analyze the external environment for opportunities and threats that impact the firm.
? Analyze the internal environment of a company for strengths and weaknesses that impact the
firm?s competitiveness.
? Identify various levels and types of strategy in a firm.
? Describe how corporate governance affects strategic decisions.
? Describe the relationship between strategy and organizational structure.
? Analyze strategic leadership, strategic entrepreneurship, and corporate entrepreneurship.
? Use technology and information resources to research issues in business administration.
? Write clearly and concisely about business administration using proper writing mechanics.

This week?s paper is required to be 4 -6 pages in length, not including the title page and the reference page. Each page should be approximately 350 words, so no paper should be less than 1400 words. Double space your work, cite your work, limit quotes, and edit your work well for spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors.

After reading chapters 9 & 10 from week 5 and reading chapters 11 & 12 from week 6 you should have an understanding of the types of strategic control, the need for balance between rewards, culture, and boundaries, the pros and cons of different organizational structures, the elements of effective leadership, ethics programs, the types of risk a company may take. After reading the linked articles below, you then can incorporate all of these strategies with the managerial economic impact certain decisions will have on a company


Your essay will address these items:

A. Select a company that we are all familiar with. DO NOT select Walmart, the Police, or the Military. Your choice must be a company (other than Walmart), not a government entity. Research this company using at least (3) outside scholarly articles. Do not use a website as a reference. Your reference source must have an author. Discuss six selected topics from our studies throughout weeks five and six (chapters 9 ? 12). Discuss these six topics in relation to your company and also incorporate the issue of managerial economics within your company and how the economic situation of today influences the strategic decisions your company is making. For example, one topic you may choose may be how your company attains balance between culture, rewards, and boundaries. Another topic may be your company?s organizational structure and why they have the structure they have.

Give examples using the terms and concepts in your textbook and your research articles.

B. What is the importance of each of the six topics within your company?

C. What is the usefulness of understanding this topic in today's corporate structure?

D. How does managerial economics fit into your topic?

Module: Sustainable Strategy - from Planning to Implementation
Main Text: Exploring Strategy (TEXT & CASES 9th. ed. 2011) Gerry Johnson, Richard Whittington, Kevan Scholes)

Company/Organisation: Tesco UK


The Executive Brief represents the culmination of all your work on this module. Having undertaken an environmental audit for the first module assignment and studied the strategic options available to the business you are now required to independently evaluate the existing strategy of the business and make recommendations to the Board of Directors as to the future development of the business' strategy. Your evaluation and recommendations should be presented as an Executive Brief.
Your brief should include:

Executive Summary
Table of contents
Introduction
Analysis and critical evaluation of the organisation's (Tesco's UK) strategic position ( This should concisely incorporate the relevant analysis and findings from your first assessment) (as in the external/internal audit)
Analysis of the organisation's strategic direction, with a clear identification of the methods by which the organisation's strategies have been pursued. (as in the ANSOFF MATRIX, BCG,STRATEGIC CLOCK FRAMEWORK, COMPETITIVE STRATEGY?)
Critical evaluation of the organisation's (Tesco's UK)strategy in terms of its suitability(, acceptability, feasibility and sustainability.
Conclusions and Recommendation regarding possible new strategic directions
References
Appendix (if required)

Your brief must show evidence of your ability to research independently both relevant data, using appropriate sources and databases, as well as relevant academic literature, to support your arguments. The Executive Brief must be professionally presented and appropriately referenced.


the Executive Brief, will assess the following learning outcomes:

LO1 Organisation and Coherence . Ability to provide the Brief with a clear and coherent structure. The introduction must state the aim of the Brief and explicitly identify the relevant arguments and areas to be addressed. The areas, once identified, must be followed up logically, in the main body of the analysis. There must be a firm conclusion of the areas discussed that follows on from the analysis.(10 marks)

LO2 Critically analyse Tesco's(UK) strategic position, clearly identifying which theoretical models have valid applications in different contexts and making practical use of mainstream strategy concepts to assess the organization's strategic position. (20 marks)

LO3 Critically analyse Tesco's strategic direction, determining which theoretical models have valid applications in different environmental contexts and making practical use of mainstream strategy concepts to assess the organisation strategic direction. (30 marks)

LO4 Synthesise your understanding and knowledge of critical aspects of Tesco's strategy and the strategic process in your Conclusions and Recommendations. (20 marks)

LO5 Demonstrate an ability to independently research, present, analyse and critically evaluate relevant data and appropriate academic literature to support your analysis, conclusions and recommendations.(10 marks)

LO6 Demonstrate effective communications skills to enable a clear presentation of key findings, results and recommendations, both in writing and orally. These include : (1) Clarity of written communication, including accurate spelling and grammar; (2) Consistency and appropriateness of writing style; (3) Appropriate use of standard Executive Brief template; (4) Correct and consistent use of Harvard Referencing System. (10 marks)

The Executive Brief's Learning Outcomes assess the following Module Learning Outcomes:

LO1 Critically analyse situations and determine which different theoretical models have valid application in differing organisational contexts.

LO2 Make practical use of the mainstream strategy concepts in simulated/real business situations.

LO3 Through practice have a critically informed understanding of the strategic decisions that are crucial in particular situations.

LO4 Synthesise knowledge of critical aspects of strategy and the strategic process.

LO5 Analyse environmental and operational business issues.

LO6 Develop effective communication skills to enable the presentation of key results and recommend appropriate strategic direction

Word Limit : 2000 words, using the standard Executive Brief format described above .Please note that you will lose marks if you exceed this word limit by more than 10%.