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]