Week 2

1. In your own words and using referenced quotes describe what “strategic management” is?

Alfred Chandler has defined strategy as ‘...the determination of the long-run goals and objectives of an enterprise and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resource necessary for carrying out these goals’

In other words we can say strategy management is a never ending process in an organization. It evaluates its internal and external environment constantly by constantly analyzing them through SWOT and PESTEL analysis and formulating and implementing strategic plan that they see fit. 

Strategic management is formulated by the top brass in the organization by the corporate level management. 

2)  How is business strategy similar to military strategy? How is it different?

Am i in a boardroom or in war-zone ??? 

Business strategy has its roots in military strategy hence it has a number of similarities. In the case of

 Strategic analysis :- In the military the top generals continuously study and review their strategy and changes and advancements and adapting such to current situations. The constantly will try to gather as much as intelligence as possible by deploying spies and through enemy observation to understand weakness. This goes for the business world as well the business leader needs to constantly study their strategy and adapt to current changes in situation. As the business environment is dynamic in nature strategist in business world needs to constantly be updated with business environment intelligence , the can collect it through various data and research

Formulating analysis :- After assessing own and rival’s strength and weakness the top level should be able to formulate a good strategy with that information that was obtained. For example in military since going head to head with enemy are costly generals tries to focus on the weak points and attack it with its full power. For example during the Iraq-US war the US used it airpower (own strength) to the fullest since Iraq was weakest in air warfare (enemy weakness). This has lead to similar development in business strategy which is known as SWOT analysis. A business organization while formulating strategy needs to fuscous on its core competencies to beat its rival. For example Apple Inc was able to use its core competencies of product innovation to create touch screen smart phone to compete with Nokia in which Apple was able to excel as Nokia weakness was its lack of innovation and slow change.  

 Implementation:- There is a famous saying among the top military brass ‘military theory is only as good as its execution’.  A good general with the best of strategies cannot win a war if the solders on the ground do not apply effective it on the ground.  This applies in the world of business as well and studies has shown that most business strategy fail not because it was inferior but it lacked execution. There has been cases in business where there was a really good product with a good strategy

Differences

• Leadership and organizational structure in military and business world are different . In the military the leadership is very hierarchical in nature and only follows autocratic style of leadership. There is no chance of question a superior order no matter how bad it may seem. The tactical strategy made on the ground by commanders will be made without any discussion with their subordinate  
• In business there is more flexibility in the leadership in business world. Democratic style of leadership is fairly common. They are open to all suggestion and advice from its employees while formulating strategy which are unthinkable in military.   

3) What do you understand by the terms “strategic analysis”, “strategic development” and “strategic implementation”

Strategic analysis: - It is analyzing the internal environment of the firm and the external environment through means of PESTEL. Through the use of SWOT and PESTEL analysis in strategic analysis we will find our strength and weakness and identify opportunities and threats.  For example Apple Inc was able to see opportunity in smart phone market way before its rivals did. It was able to make full use of its strength in product innovation to introduce a new product.

Strategic development: - The information gained from the strategic analysis should be used to develop a strategy. It should also go along with its mission and vision which time frame that is at the least of 5years.  Strategy development ultimately leads the organization to a single direction. For example IBM inc determined that it was no longer possible for them to compete in the hardware market. So they decided to leave their traditional stronghold of hardware and went into consulting, this became a successful venture and eventually IBM went full direction in consulting business.    

Strategic implement: - Once the strategic development the one which is the best will be selected and in order to carry the strategy, it will be implemented by various means. It will involves the use of the organization resources

 4. Write about your experience with today’s case study. What answers did you give? Was it easy to answer the questions? Did your group agree with each other?

Today in class we discussed about the increasing number of housing and population in the suburbia of England and how it is driving the local economy. It states how the cheaper house rent and cheaper lifestyle is attracting students and immigrants. During our group discussion we agreed that ,lower income groups such as students are getting benefited by this as it is providing affordable accommodation  . However we also came to conclude the future plan of building a new university in those town will be a bad idea as it close to Cambridge, home to the world famous Cambridge University and the town long term strategy can fail.


References 

Balanced Scorecard Institue . 2012. The Basics of Strategic Planning and Strategic Management . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.balancedscorecard.org/BSCResources/StrategicPlanningBasics/tabid/459/Default.aspx/. [Accessed 05 December 12].

Management Study Guide . 2012. Strategic Management - A Complete study guide . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.managementstudyguide.com/strategic-management.htm/. [Accessed 05 December 12].
 
QuickMBA . 2012. Strategic Management . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/. [Accessed 05 December 12].