Strategic Management: A Competitive Advantage Approach Concepts and Cases 17th Edition Instructor ma
Step 4 Determine who in the class has the lowest summed difference score. This student(s) scored best in the class on this exercise based on the author rankings.
Answer:
All nine of the military maxims listed in this exercise do have direct business applications, as indicated below. Rankings as to relative importance with rationales will vary by industry and situation.
- Objective – Numerous benefits of objectives are given in Chapters 1 & 5; objectives are vital for business success.
- Offensive – As revealed in Chapters 5 & 6, being aggressive is appropriate in many business strategy settings, but not all. Sometimes defensive strategies are best, such as retrenchment and divestiture.
- Mass – This is almost always applicable in a business setting. Rarely can firms pursue a little bit of many strategies. In contrast, tough strategic decisions must generally be made among many alternative strategies that could benefit the firm – and then commit substantial resources to the chosen direction.
- Economy of Force – Businesses must cull unprofitable and secondary endeavors, and focus on profitable, growth segments and areas.
- Maneuver – Gaining and sustaining competitive advantage is a huge need for businesses; this can be achieved by knowing the rival firms and continuously putting those firms at a disadvantage in terms of price and service.
- Unity of Command – Businesses commonly assign a “champion” for new products, i.e., a lead person. In addition, businesses increasingly delegate accountability and responsibility to a President of various segments.
- Security – Businesses continuously gather and analyze competitive information trying to never let rival firms surprise them with new products/services/strategies.
- Surprise – Businesses do seek to put rival firms out of business by aggressively identifying and attacking their weak areas in unsuspecting ways.
- Simplicity – Businesses realize that good communication leads to excellent understanding which leads to high commitment to achieve objectives; simplicity rather than complexity is necessary.
Exercise 1BB
Strategic Planning at a Local Company
Purpose
This activity is aimed at giving you practical knowledge about how organizations in your city or town are doing strategic planning. This exercise also will give you experience interacting on a professional basis with local business leaders.
Instructions
Step 1 Contact several business owners or top managers. Find an organization that does strategic planning. Make an appointment to visit with the strategist (president, chief executive officer, or owner) of that business.
Step 2 Seek answers to the following questions during the interview:
• How does your firm formally conduct strategic planning? Who is involved in the process? Does the firm hold planning retreats? If yes, how often and where?
• Does your firm have a written mission statement? How was the statement developed? When was the statement last changed?
• What are the benefits of engaging in strategic planning?
• What are the major costs or problems in doing strategic planning in your business?
• Do you anticipate making any changes in the strategic-planning process at your company? If yes, please explain.
Step 3 Report your findings to the class.
Answer: Answers will vary for each student. The following questions could be used to guide the class discussion.
- Were organizations more formal versus informal planning? How did formality vary by size and type of firm?
- How many of the firms had a written vision and/or mission statement? How did this vary by size and type of firm?
- Did the persons interviewed recognize the benefits of strategic planning? How did the persons interviewed inform the organizations’ employees of the strategic plans and the benefits of strategic planning?
Exercise 1CC
Get Familiar With the Author Website
Purpose
You may use for free all the resources provided at the author website, www.strategyclub.com, including the downloadable Excel student template. Thousands of students have found this template to be immensely useful in preparing a strategic management case analysis.