Paper 13

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

The aim of the paper is to strengthen the strategic thinking capability of the candidate in formulating and implementing a corporate strategy that can help organisations build a sustainable competitive advantage.

On completion, a candidate should be able to

Analyse an organization’s environment and formulate an actionable business strategy that is grounded in theory and practice from multiple business disciplines
Demonstrate an ability for critical and strategic thinking
Develop and implement a realistic strategic plan
Understand the strategic decisions that organisations make in strategic management
Effectively react to and incorporate emerging issues in strategic management.

Content

1
Overview of Strategic Management
1. 1.1
  Concept of strategy
2. 1.2
  Purpose of strategy
3. 1.3
  Characteristics of strategy
4. 1.4
  Advantages and disadvantages of strategic planning
5. 1.5
  Strategy approaches
6. 1.6
  Strategic versus tactical decisions
7. 1.7
  Patterns of strategy development
2
History of the Organisation and Culture
1. 2.1
  History of the Organisation
  1. 2.1.1
    Importance of history
  2. 2.1.2
    Path dependency
  3. 2.1.3
    History as a resource
  4. 2.1.4
    Historical analysis
  5. 2.1.5
    Mission: stated and perceived
2. 2.2
  Organisational culture
  1. 2.2.1
    Influence of culture on strategy
  2. 2.2.2
    Undertaking cultural analysis
  3. 2.2.3
    Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory
3
Strategy Levels and Intent
1. 3.1
  Corporate strategy
2. 3.2
  Business strategy
3. 3.3
  Operational strategy
4. 3.4
  Functional strategy
5. 3.5
  Vision statement
6. 3.6
  Mission statement
7. 3.7
  Strategic objectives
8. 3.8
  Statement of corporate values (49)
4
Strategic Management Process
1. 4.1
  Steps in the strategic management process
2. 4.2
  Strategic management in different contexts
3. 4.3
  Uncertainty and strategic drift
4. 4.4
  Limitations of strategic management
5
Strategic Analysis: The External Environment
1. 5.1
  Policy and administrative framework
2. 5.2
  Political environment
3. 5.3
  Economic environment
4. 5.4
  Sociocultural environment
5. 5.6
  Technological environment
6. 5.7
  Ecological environment
7. 5.8
  Legal environment
8. 5.9
  Key drivers for change
9. 5.10
  Industry and sector analysis
10. 5.11
  Tools for external analysis
11. 5.12
  Competitor Analysis
6
Strategic Analysis: The Internal Environment
1. 6.1
  Distinctive resources and capabilities as a basis of competitive advantage
2. 6.2
  VRIO- value of resources and capabilities, rarity, inimitability, organisational support
3. 6.3
  Organisational knowledge as a basis of competitive advantage
4. 6.4
  Diagnosing resources and capabilities
5. 6.5
  The value chain and value system
6. 6.6
  Activity systems
7. 6.7
  Benchmarking
8. 6.8
  Strengths and Weaknesses
9. 6.9
  The Balanced Scorecard and Strategy map
10. 6.10
  Critical success factor analysis
11. 6.11
  Scenario planning
12. 6.12
  Gap Analysis
13. 6.13
  SWOT and the business model ▪ Key features of corporate culture ▪ Health cultures that aid strategy execution ▪ Unhealthy cultures that impede strategy execution ▪ Influence of culture on strategy ▪ Undertaking cultural analysis
7
Business Strategy and Models
1. 7.1
  Generic competitive strategies ▪ Cost leadership strategy ▪ Differentiation strategy ▪ Focus strategy ▪ Hybrid strategy ▪ The Strategy Clock
2. 7.2
  Interactive strategies ▪ Interactive price and quality strategies ▪ Cooperative strategy ▪ Game theory (50)
3. 7.3
  Business models ▪ Value creation. configuration and capture ▪ Business model patterns
8
Corporate Strategy and Diversification
1. 8.1
  Strategy directors
2. 8.2
  Diversification and performance
3. 8.3
  Vertical integration
4. 8.4
  Value creation and corporate parent
5. 8.5
  Portfolio matrices ▪ The BCG (growth/share) matrix ▪ The directional policy (GE- McKinsey) matrix ▪ PIMS (Profit Impact on Marketing Strategy ▪ Parenting matrix ▪ The Scenario/vision – building approach
9
International Strategy
1. 9.1
  Internationalisation drivers
2. 9.2
  International business environment and challenges
3. 9.3
  Geographical sources of advantage ▪ Locational advantage: Porter’s Diamond ▪ The international value system ▪ International strategies ▪ Market selection and strategy ▪ Internationalisation and performance
10
Strategy Development Processes
1. 10.1
  Strategic thinking ▪ The paradox of logic and creativity ▪ The art and science of strategic thinking ▪ The “Deep Dive” analogy: acumen, allocation of resources and action
2. 10.2
  Strategy formation ▪ Deliberate strategy developers ▪ Emergent strategy developers ▪ Logical incrementalism ▪ Strategy as an outcome of political processes
3. 10.3
  Implications for managing strategy development ▪ Strategy development in different contexts ▪ Managing deliberate and emergent strategies
11
Matching Organisational Structure to Strategy
1. 11.1
  Value chain activities to be performed internally
2. 11.2
  Value chain activities to be outsourced
3. 11.3
  Aligning structure with strategy (51)
4. 11.4
  Organisational structure ▪ Simple structure ▪ Functional structure ▪ Divisional structure ▪ Matrix structure ▪ Multinational structures ▪ Project-based structures ▪ Strategy and structure fit
5. 11.5
  Delegation of authority
6. 11.6
  Systems ▪ Planning system ▪ Performance targeting systems
7. 11.7
  Configurations and adaptability ▪ The McKinsey 7-Ss ▪ Agility and resilience
8. 11.8
  Collaboration with external parties and strategic allies (network structure)
12
Leadership and Strategic Change
1. 12.1
  Strategic Leadership vision and change
2. 12.2
  Theories of leadership and change
3. 12.3
  Types of strategic change
4. 12.4
  Levers for strategic change
5. 12.5
  Methods of introducing strategic change
6. 12.6
  Strategic leadership roles and effectiveness
7. 12.7
  Strategic change: revolution versus evolution
8. 12.8
  Diagnosing the change context
9. 12.9
  Managing major changes
10. 12.10
  Problems of formal change programmes
11. 12.11
  Managing corporate politics
12. 12.12
  Managing complexity
13. 12.13
  Leadership in practice
13
The Practice of Strategy
1. 13.1
  The strategists ▪ Top managers and directors ▪ Strategic planners ▪ Middle managers ▪ Strategy consultants
2. 13.2
  Strategising ▪ Strategy analysis ▪ Strategy issue-selling ▪ Strategic decision making ▪ Communicating the strategy (52)
3. 13.3
  Strategy methodologies ▪ Strategy workshops ▪ Strategy projects ▪ Hypothesis testing ▪ Business cases and strategic plans
4. 13.4
  Strategy Implementation ▪ Relationship between strategy formulation and implementation ▪ Plans Programs and budgets ▪ Steps for effective strategy implementation ▪ Resource allocation
14
Strategic Control
1. 14.1
  Evaluation and control in strategic management
2. 14.2
  The strategic control process
3. 14.3
  Monitoring evaluation and reporting
4. 14.4
  Measuring corporate performance
5. 14.5
  Strategic information systems
6. 14.6
  Strategic surveillance
7. 14.7
  Guidelines for proper control
8. 14.8
  Balance Scorecard as a tool for control
9. 14.9
  Sustaining organisational effectiveness
15
Contemporary issues and Case Studies in Strategic Management