WEEK 6 : Job Advert

WEEK 5 : Learning Journal

Strategist Definition:

A strategist is a person who is responsible for determining the long-term direction and scope of business organization.
Chief executive officers, senior managers, non-executive directors, strategic planners, strategy consultants and middle managers are people who have strategy elements in their jobs and responsible for making different strategy for the business.

Difference between Strategic Planner and Strategy Consultant:

Strategy planner are managers who are responsible for coordinating the strategy process. They help the organization to gather, analyse and organize information in order to achieve the goals and objectives.Strategic planners are internal to organization.Some of the strategic planners in the organization are Top managers and Directors and Middle level managers whereas Strategy  Consultant are usually a part of a separate management consultant company and hired by other organization for a short period of time. They help the organization to analyze, prioritize and generate options, transfer knowledge, promote strategic decision and implement the changes in the strategy.

reference:
Strategy and startegist. [Online] Available at: www.fpmseta.org.za. [Accessed on 18th march, 2013]

Strategic Management Alliance and Trade. (Online). Available at <http://www.icsi.in/Study%20Material%20Professional/
STRATEGIC%20MANAGEMENT,%20ALLIANCES%20AND%20INTERNATIONAL%20TRADE.pdf> [Accessed on 18th march, 2013]

WEEK 4: Learning journal

STRATEGY AS

Science:

Strategy is like science because it involves mathematical terms where analysis and formulation methods are applied. It requires requires true scientific evidence and experimentation.

Art and Craft:

The strategic process involves creativity and innovation. Just like an art it is generated from experiences and practical learning. Creating a strategy needs a planned vision and insights.

Difference between emergent strategy and intended strategy:

• emergent strategy is a strategy that emerges from all over the company, over time, as the environment changes and the organization adapts to apply to the changing reality whereas intended strategy relies on senior leaders to set goals and develop plans to achieve them.
• emergent strategy is formal and unstructured whereas intended strategy is formal and structured.
• emergent strategy encourages ideas from everyone whereas intended strategy relies on stand alone brain trust.
• In emergent strategy employees are free to create new ideas whereas in intended strategy employees should work together to achieve a specific organizational goal.
• emergent strategy is developed by experimentation and learning what really works whereas intended strategy stresses more on action.

Schools of Strategy:

1) Cultural school: 

Strategy formation is based on social interaction, based on the beliefs and understandings shared by the members of an organization. In this type of strategy, culture and ideology do not support the strategic changes so much as the perpetuation of existing strategy. 

Example: McDonald's company wanted to expand its market to Asian countries. After conducting a survey and researching they came up with chicken burgers though they were famous for their beef burgers. As this raise their revenue. So, this strategy was based on the social forces of the culture.

2) Environment School:

It is based on the fact that the strategy should be designed that it should be reactive based on the external environment. The premises of this type of strategy are:

• environment is central factor for any strategy of an organization
• organization should respond to the external environmental forces
• leadership is passive for reading and adapting to the environment.

Example: When Toyota felt that there were issues in the cars it manufactured and that the environment was turning hostile, they recalled the cars in huge numbers even though it was turning against them.

My experience On today's case:

The case study was about Google Company and how it came into existence. It was very interesting to know about the strategy used by the Google to expand and survive in today's market. The short video about the employees of the company at Googleplex was fun. The working environment of the google was very unique and motivational. 

References :
J. Boone Bartholomees Jr. Theory Of War and Strategy. (Online). Available at <http://www.strategicstudiesinstitute.army.mil/pdffiles/PUB1004.pdf> [Accessed on 13th March 2013]

Breda McCarthy.The Strategy formation Process.(Online) Available at <http://doras.dcu.ie/19010/1/Breda_McCarthy_20130613150613.pdf> [Accessed on 13th March 2013]

WEEK 3 : Case study

Google Case Study:

Q.1 )Would you describe Google‟s strategy as more deliberate or more emergent?

Answer:  Deliberate strategy relies on senior leaders to set goals and develop plans to achieve them whereas emergent strategy is a strategy that emerges from all over the company, over time, as the environment changes and the organization adapts to apply to the changing reality.
Therefore, after reading the case study, I would describe it as an emergent strategy because it is more experimental based. Most of the Google's resources are devoted to improving search and advertising. Their engineers are allowed to be creative and gave time to develop new ideas. They are practical and experimental as they learn by doing and learn by making mistakes. Their employees are encouraged to make decision. The company seeks for new opportunities and allows for innovation by accessing the changes in the   environment and the market.

Q.2) What are the advantages of being very "experimental"?

Answer:  The advantages of being experimental are:

• It increases creativity and generates innovative ideas
• the findings will be more realistic and practical
• employees find more enjoyment in work leading to increase in productivity
• organization becomes more flexible and easily adaptable to changes in the market.

Q.3) What are the disadvantages of being very "experimental"?

Answer:  The disadvantages of being experimental are:

• they can be costly with uncertain return
• there may be loss of consistency 
• there is no guarantee in the success of experiments so it may be waste and loss in valuable time.

Q.4) What do you think of their strategy?

Answer: The strategy developed by the Google is very diverse because it offers unique and distinct product and services to different kinds of customers. It focuses on experimentation and develop innovative ideas from their employees that are more realistic and practical. The flexibility allows them to enter into the changing market and create many opportunities. They create product that are very much in trend like internet applications, cloud based spaces and hardware offerings which will allow them to prosper and gain profit as well as competitive advantage. 

WEEK 2 : Learning Journal

Strategic Management:

According to Alfred D. Chandler, "strategy is the determination of long sun goals and objectives of an enterprise and adoption of courses of action and allocation of resources necessary for carrying out these goals." (www.oxford.co.za,2013)

Strategic Management is a art and science of formulating, implementing and evaluating a decision of an organization to enhance its success both in present and in the future. It helps managers to identify the direction in which the organization is moving. (fngovernance.org, 2013)
It is a continuous process that evaluates and controls the business and the industries in which an organization is involved; evaluates its competitors and sets goals and strategies to meet all existing and potential competitors; and then reevaluates strategies on regular basis to determine how it has implemented and whether it was successful or does it need replacement.


It is an on-going process which contains three elements:

• strategic analysis: which covers the environment, resources, objectives and expectations
• strategic choice: which covers generation of option, evaluation and selection of strategy
• strategy implementation: which about resource planning, organization structure, people and systems.(www.sagepub.com,2013)

The similarities between business and military strategy are:

• both military and business strategy's key aim is to gain competitive advantage
• both use their strength to exploit competitors' weakness
• it is important for military to always improve its weakness and same goes for the business which is similar to SWOT analysis
• they always seek for higher technology to keep a significant advantage
• training and engaging staffs or troops is important to both
• good coordination and communication is crucial for both to progress
• team approach is important to both.

The differences between business and military strategy are:

• they both have different purpose. the military's focus is security- to fight and win nation's war whereas the business aim is to promote the interests of stakeholders
• the military have a exact rules of conduct, defined roles and ranks and; they have shared values and traditions that differ from the business.

Strategic analysis:

The process of developing strategy for a business by researching the business and the environment in which it operates is known as strategic analysis. 

Strategic analysis is about looking at what is happening outside your organization now and in the future. It takes two questions:

• How might what's happening affect you?
• What would be your response to likely changes

Strategic analysis helps to:

• anticipate what might happen
• evaluate how likely it is to happen 
• prepare for it happening

It will lead to clearer goals, better quality decisions, and a more secure future as you are better prepared for what will happen.

Strategic development:
Strategic development is about change. How management handles the new realities in technology, information flow, global competition and political accountability is key to success.
It is a question based process like: Where are we now?, Where do we like to go ?, and  How do we get there?
 It has four components:

1. Awareness
2. Planning'
3. Development 
4. Results

Strategic implementation:

Strategic implementation is translation of chosen strategy into organization action so as to achieve strategic goals and objectives.
According to Steiner, "the implementation process covers the entire managerial activities including such matters as motivation, compensation, management appraisal, and control processes"

About the case study:
The case study was bit difficult to understand at first but it became easy as we continue to read it the second time. The case study was about the cities in the UK which followed a certain strategy to develop it rapidly. The questions were easy to answer as we discussed it in the class and we agreed with each other on the answers.

Reference:
Strategic Management. Available at <http://www.oxford.co.za/download_files/catalogues/Strategic%20Management.pdf> (Accessed on: June 3, 2013)
Strategic management and accountability for first nation. available at<http://fngovernance.org/resources_docs/Strategic_Management_and_Accountability_for_First_Nations.pdf> (Accessed on: June 3, 2013)
http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/36579_02_Harzing_Ch_01.pdf (Accessed on: June 3, 2013)

WEEK: 2 Case Study

TEXAS IN THE SHIRES: 

1)  Why are Milton Keynes, Peterborough and Swindon growing rapidly?

Answer : The cities that are Milton Keynes, Peterborough and Swindon were chosen by the government as locations for expansion due the rapid growth in population. The reasons for the growth of these cities are because of the direct motorways connected to London which have decent train links. All these cities are near to the important and famous cities such as London, Oxford, Cambridge, Bristol and Birmingham.Further reasons for growth is because of the advertisement campaigns given on the TV during the 1980s  and gave brand names as “Opportunity Peterborough” and “Forward Swindon” to attract the families, businesses and investors.

Moreover, Milton Keynes has plots on land wait ready to be built on with  roads and other infrastructure already in place. The edge of Swindon is marked by building sites and brand new houses and the administration of Peterborough. This policy results in cheap commercial property and housing cost compared to the nearby spots. Hence, cutting the cost of living. 

2) Why might their growth strategy be ‘mad’?

Answer : Their growth strategy might be considered mad because the lifestyles of the long standing residents  will be affected immensely. Since the growth mainly came from the immigrants, local people will feel hard to fit in with such cultural diversity.

3) What do you think – is it a good strategy to continue with?

 Answer : I think it is a good strategy to continue with because rapid growth of the cities will create more opportunities and facilities so that it can balance out the population growth over time. These growth will naturally lead to development creating new jobs, advancement in technology, quality educations, etc which are likely to attract local as well as foreign investors. 

4) Would you live in any of these three towns?

Answer : I would live in those places because the houses are cheap and so are the living expenses. Moreover the cities are located near the main cities where all the major universities are located. Since it is a newly built city I will have more opportunity in getting a good job. 

WEEK 1 Introduction

From this module, I hope to have a better understanding about different strategic activities. I also look forward to gain more knowledge about strategic tools and strategy management. Discuss about the strengths and weakness of a particular organization and find out the different strategic alternatives suitable for it. I also hope to learn more about the current situations and look into present cases and scenario of businesses and organizations. Furthermore, I want to have a broad knowledge about the industry I look forward to work in. I hope to develop my confidence level and presentation skills.

This module will help me gain more knowledge about the industry I want to work i and will be more informed about the present business situations because of the research activity. This will help me get  practical knowledge about strategy and its impact.

In order to get good grades I will work hard and complete my task on time. I will try to participate during class activities and also do my share of research work.

From the lecturers I hope to learn and understand about the topic clearly and learn about the current market scenario.  My classmates will help me research more about the subject by cooperation and share information together and they will also help me in various research activities.