The exponential growth of the Internet has also served as the catalyst for the growth of highly collaborative, interactive forums and platforms on which Delphi-like brainstorming can be accomplished (Decker, Wagner, Scholz, 2005). Conversely many of the external relationships companies have and that are essential to understanding how the strategic planning process will impact an organization lend themselves to quantification. An example of this level of quantification of external factors is the use of frameworks for evaluating the performance of supply chains over time, a process area that can be highly quantified through the use of maturity models and measurements of performance over time (Gilmour, 1999). Both of these extremes, qualitative data analysis through the use of techniques including writing of scenarios, brainstorming and the Delphi technique to the extremely quantitative, both require organizations to have a fairly high level of interprocess maturity and development to be able to manage divergent points based on the analysis however (Lester, Parnell, 2008).
In what ways may corporations' structure and culture be internal strengths or weaknesses? Look at your organization analyze its' structural and cultural strengths and weaknesses? How can the weaknesses be improved?
A company's structure will over time reflect its culture, and in that structure, there will be clear definitions of interprocess dependencies, inter-role-based workflows and the continual need for interprocess communication. A company's structure will also over time grow to reflect the level of trust in the culture over time. In companies who have a high level of trust there will be more informal, process-based workflows of communication where formality is not necessary. In low-trust cultures however there is much focus on how to audit, check on and ensure communications are being actually sent and received. A company's structure and culture, when externally focused on customers' needs and having a high degree of process is extremely agile and creative in attaining its objectives over time. Within Cincom the structure is a hybrid of purely being focused on informal workflows relative to being purely rigidly hierarchical in structure. The strength of this hybrid approach include the ability to cross-functionally get more work done with less red tape, and also the ability to create collaborative plans and programs with other departments. The weaknesses of the culture include the lack of focus on accountability that occurs when cross-functional teams attempt more complex projects. There is also a lack of focus on measurable results at times when there are larger cross-functional teams that do not have shared responsibility for results. On smaller, more focused projects however the culture and structure of Cincom are highly effective.
Discuss the value of the TOWS Matrix in strategy formulation. Do you agree with this way of generating strategic alternatives? Why or why not?
The TOWS Matrix (Weihrich, 1982) is specifically designed to provide organizations with a strategic planning framework for aligning their strengths with opportunities and to minimize their weaknesses relative to threats. It is an analytical framework that is based on two dimensions and therefore limited in its scope of capturing the more complex dynamics of any given market, product strategy, or broader technological change, the Internet being the most prevalent. Despite the limitations of not capturing the more complex aspects of a given set of industry dynamics, it does serve its purpose of serving as the catalyst of creating strategic alternatives that align with the broader strategic strengths of a given organization. Since its introduction there have been literally dozens of studies of those companies who have adopted it as a framework for strategic planning, many of them German auto manufacturers (Weihrich, 1982). There are also parallels often made between the TOWS Matrix and Dr. Micheal Porter's Five Forces Model (Porter, 2008), stating that the TOWS Matrix actually captures localized competitive strength better than the Porter Model, as Porter assumes centralized competitive strength is how global, long-term competitive advantage is gained. Between these divergent points is a fascinating point about the TOWS Matrix, and that is it was originally developed career planning (Weihrich, 1982). Based on the analysis of the TOWS Matrix and its relative effectiveness, there is much value in using it as one of many strategic planning frameworks. As with any strategic planning process, it is wise to better focus on multiple approaches, concepts and frameworks to attain the widest perspective of market opportunities and threats. The bottom line is that the TOWS Matrix is a valuable framework to be used in conjunction with the Five Forces Model (Porter, 2008) and the widely used Boston Consulting Group Growth/Share Matrix.
What are the tradeoffs (pros and cons) between...
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