December 31, 2016

Executive Eclogue 2017 - Enhance Effectiveness, Efficiency, Engagement


Elevate 2017 - Enthusiastic Encore


Enjoy Excellent Economy

Enhance Effectiveness, Efficiency, Engagement,

Engineer Enthusiasm - Execute Eagerly, Earnestly

Elaborate Education, Experiment Enabling Ethos

Emend Earlier Exercises

Elegance Extraordinary Expected Effect




Eager - Full of keen desire, Strongly desirous

Earnest - Serious, Zealous, ardent

Easeful - Comfortable, Soothing

Economy

Education

Educe - Develop,

Effectiveness

Efficiency

Elaborate

Elegant - Ingeniously simple and effective

Elevation

Embellish

Emend - Remove errors

Enable

Encore - Call for repetition as audience has enjoyed the performace

Engagement

Engineer

Enlighten

Enthusiasm

Ethos - Characteristic spirit and belief

Excellence

Execution

Experience

Experiment - Based on experience






December 23, 2016

Must Reads from Harvard Business Review of 2016




HBR's 10 Must Reads 2017: The Definitive Management Ideas of the Year from Harvard Business Review
BOOK by Clayton M. Christensen, Adam M. Grant, and Vijay Govindarajan

This collection of articles includes
"Collaborative Overload," by Rob Cross, Reb Rebele, and Adam Grant;  January 2016

"Algorithms Need Managers, Too," by Michael Luca, Jon Kleinberg, and Sendhil Mullainathan;  Jan - Feb 2016

"Pipelines, Platforms, and the New Rules of Strategy," by Marshall W. Van Alstyne, Geoffrey G. Parker, and Sangeet Paul Choudary;  April 2016

"What Is Disruptive Innovation?," by Clayton M. Christensen, Michael Raynor, and Rory McDonald;

"How Indra Nooyi Turned Design Thinking into Strategy," an interview with Indra Nooyi by Adi Ignatius;

"Engineering Reverse Innovations," by Amos Winter and Vijay Govindarajan;

"The Employer-Led Health Care Revolution," by Patricia A. McDonald, Robert S. Mecklenburg, and Lindsay A. Martin;

"Getting to Si, Ja, Oui, Hai, and Da," by Erin Meyer;

"The Limits of Empathy," by Adam Waytz;

"People Before Strategy: A New Role for the CHRO," by Ram Charan, Dominic Barton, and Dennis Carey; and
"Beyond Automation," by Thomas H. Davenport and Julia Kirby.

https://hbr.org/product/hbr-s-10-must-reads-2017-the-definitive-management-ideas-of-the-year-from-harvard-business-review/10064E-KND-ENG

November 12, 2016

Leadership - Books - Bibliopgrahy - Information




Leadership in Administration: A Sociological Interpretation

Philip Selznick
University of California Press, 1959 - 162 pages


"Philip Selznick has profoundly affected how all serious students of organizations think about their subject. Leadership in Administration is, perhaps, his masterpiece: a lucid, rigorous, yet humane analysis of the essential task of leadership that brilliantly reaffirms the organic, value-infused character of a successful enterprise, whether private or public. The central concepts of the book--'mission,' 'distinctive competence'--have become so much a part of our vocabulary that we sometimes forget they had to be invented and that Selznick invented them. His reminder that the true exercise of leadership transcends a concern with mere efficiency is even more appropriate in today's era of quasi-scientific thought about organizations than it was when, presciently, he first set it forth in 1957."--James Q. Wilson, Harvard University

https://books.google.co.in/books?id=baExQc8ARDEC


Organizational Culture and Leadership
Edgar H. Schein
John Wiley & Sons, 24-Mar-2006 - Business & Economics - 464 pages


In this third edition of his classic book, Edgar Schein shows how to transform the abstract concept of culture into a practical tool that managers and students can use to understand the dynamics of organizations and change. Organizational pioneer Schein updates his influential understanding of culture--what it is, how it is created, how it evolves, and how it can be changed. Focusing on today's business realities, Schein draws on a wide range of contemporary research to redefine culture, offers new information on the topic of occupational cultures, and demonstrates the crucial role leaders play in successfully applying the principles of culture to achieve organizational goals. He also tackles the complex question of how an existing culture can be changed--one of the toughest challenges of leadership. The result is a vital resource for understanding and practicing organizational effectiveness.
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=xhmezDokfnYC



November 1, 2016

November - Management Knowledge Revision


November (Strategic Management & Financial Management)


Strategic Management


First week


What is Strategy - Review Notes
The Strategic Management Process - Review Notes

Analysis of Firm's External Environment for Strategy Making


Financial Management


An Overview of Financial Management - Introduction to Financial Management of Companies
Financial Markets and Institutions

Financial Statements and Taxes
Financial Statement Analysis for Financial Decision Making

Time Value of Money
Determination of Interest Rates in Financial Markets

Bond Valuation
Risk and Rates of Return on Financial Assets


Third Week


Valuation of Common Stock and Preferred Stock
Cost of Equity and Debt Capital

Capital Assets - Projects - Proposals Appraisal
Capital Budgeting and Risk Analysis of Projects

Capital Structure and Leverage
Dividend Policy

Working Capital Management
Financial Management of Inventory

Management of Investment in Accounts Receivable
Management of Cash and Marketable Securities


Fourth Week


Long Term Finance for Companies - USA
Financial Management Aspects of Mergers and Acquisitions

Role of Finance Managers in Enterprise Risk Management
International Finance and Financial Management in Multinational Company



December Revision Plan


Industrial Engineers support Engineers and Managers in Efficiency Improvement of Products, Processes and Systems


One Year MBA Knowledge Revision Plan


January  - February  - March  - April  - May   -   June

July  - August     - September  - October  - November  - December


Updated  2 November 2016,  28 November 2016




October 26, 2016

Marketing Warfare - Confronting The Competition in the Market Place


Marketing Management Revision Article Series

Marketing Warfare - Based on the Art of War by Tsuntzu

Paul Hoyt
______________________

______________________

Defensive Warfare


Principles

Principles given by Al Ries and Jack Trout, Marketing Warfare, McGraw Hill, 1986
https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Marketing_Warfare.html?id=5hKvXzoEvIYC

1.  Only the market leader should consider playing defense.

2. The best defensive strategy in marketing is to attack yourself.

3. Strong competitive moves should always be blocked.


Don't spend all your resources in defense. Spend only what is necessary to defend and keep the rest for reserve. Only add more as the intensity of the attack increases.

The goal of defensive warfare is marketing peace.


Offensive Marketing Warfare


Principles

Principles given by Al Ries and Jack Trout, Marketing Warfare, McGraw Hill, 1986
https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Marketing_Warfare.html?id=5hKvXzoEvIYC

1. The main consideration is the strength of the leader's position (it is actually an understanding of the market strength, resources, competencies and capabilities of the leader).

A company want to launch an offensive attack on a leader has to assess the strength of the leader's position in the market.

2. Find a weakness in the leader's strength and attack that point (It means, a weakness which can be attacked successfully by the offensive company).

3. Launch the attack on as narrow front as possible.

Narrow front means attack an individual product.

Remember that odds favor the defender.
Find weakness in leader's largest selling products.
Good offensive ideas are extremely difficult to find. Be prepared to do a lot research to the weakness you can exploit.
You can afford to spend more on an offensive attack because you know the market is there for you to get a share.

Flanking Marketing Warfare


Principles

Principles given by Al Ries and Jack Trout, Marketing Warfare, McGraw Hill, 1986
https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Marketing_Warfare.html?id=5hKvXzoEvIYC

1. A good flanking move must be made into an uncontested area (in the same generic product).

2. Tactical surprise ought to be an important element of the plan.

3. The pursuit is just as critical as the attack itself.

In a flanking move, after you taste success, you have to reinforce it. The best time to build a strong position is in the beginning period of a new product. Flanking is always done with a new product category which is the company is introducing. Hence, if it is successful, more resources must be spent on it to build a strong position. A flanking attack is to earn market share.

Flanking Alternatives

Product category
Low price - no frills product
High price niche product
Small size product - small screen, pocket size
Large size product - Big screen
New distribution channel
New product from - ex: liquid in place of solid, new colors symbolising different things,
Diet products in food items

Guerilla Marketing Warfare

Al Ries and Jack Trout, Marketing Warfare, McGraw Hill, 1986
https://books.google.co.in/books/about/Marketing_Warfare.html?id=5hKvXzoEvIYC


The enemy advances, we retreat. The enemy camps, we harass. The enemy tires, we attack. The enemy retreats, we pursue.  Mao Tse-Tsung.


Trouble a leader, survive, injure a leader, survive, defeat a leader, win.

Guerillas need to have a survival plan. If they survive they can fight the battle once again on a different day. The cost incurred in defeating a guerilla is very high for the opponent.

Al Ries and Jack Trout give the following as principles of guerilla warfare in marketing.

1. Find a segment of the market small enough to defend.

There has to be market from which you can earn revenues. Guerilla marketers may have a diffuse market which the leaders cannot even identify.

2. No matter how successful you become, never act like the leader.

Don't declare victory early. Guerilla strategy and tactics are essentially opposite of what's right for Fortune 500 companies.

3. Be prepared to bug out at a moment's notice.

Whenever you venture into the main visible markets, get out at the first instance of trouble. Conserve your resources.

References

Al Ries and Jack Trout, Marketing Warfare, McGraw Hill, 1986


Al Ries, Jack Trout, "MARKETING WARFARE", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 3 Iss: 4, 1986, pp.77 - 82


October 23, 2016

The Emergence of Chief Growth Officer

World Class Operations Management


In the global market, world class companies have to deliver performance (customer satisfaction and company profit) that is more than the performance of their strongest competitors. Company has to concentrate on  the efficiency and effectiveness of operations, but also needs to manage the culture for future performance. World Class Operations Management (WCOM) is a significant concept for simultaneous improvement of effectiveness, efficiency and culture.

Traditional manufacturers have not achieved  a balance between efficiency and effectiveness. F.W. Taylor pointed out that, managers and business owners of his time (1885 to 1915) have not developed any understanding of the use of machines and manpower. Therefore, the factory operations were inefficient. He developed methods for improving efficiency and published Scientific Management and Shop Management. Industrial Engineering was started in engineering institutions due to the strong advocacy of Taylor that there is big scope and opportunity for implementing scientific management in engineering organizations by industrial engineers. Larry Miles developed value engineering after world war II. He strongly mentioned that performance (effectiveness) oriented work is only taken care of value (efficiency) oriented work is neglected in the organizations


WCOM (World Class Operations Management): Why You Need More Than Lean


Carlo Baroncelli (https://www.efeso.com/ ), Noela Ballerio
Springer, 19-Apr-2016 - 277 pages


This book deals with World Class Operations Management (WCOM), detailing its principles, methods and organisation, and the results that this approach can bring about. Utilising real-world case studies illustrated by companies that have adopted this model (interviews with Saint-Gobain, L’Oréal, Tetra Pak, Bemis, and Bel Executives), it describes common patterns drawn from decades of hands-on experience, so as to present a theoretical approach together with the concrete application of its principles.

WCOM, adopted by several multinational companies, is one of the more innovative management practises, as it integrates the best Continuous Improvement approaches (Lean, Total Productive Management, World Class Manufacturing) as well as the most innovative approaches in human dynamics like Change Leadership, Performance Behavior, Shingo Model, to name a few.

Maximising reader insights into the successful implementation of such an approach, and explaining not only its potentialities, but also its implementation dynamics, the critical points and the ways it can be integrated into different situations, this book is also about how to create a culture of excellence that is sustainable over a long period of time and delivers consistent (or ever-improving) results.



Operational Excellence: A Concise Guide to Basic Concepts and Their Application


Gilad Issar, Liat Ramati Navon
Springer, 14-Jan-2016 - 194 pages


As industrial companies are placing a higher focus on operations, this book comes at the right time with a compilation of basic concepts of Operational Excellence and their application.

Operational excellence allows companies to recover from reductions in gross margins and low profitability, which largely occur due to a rise in agile competition and the short life span of new technologies. This book helps managers and consulting academicians as a ready reference for cross-industry implementation of operational excellence.
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=odxlCwAAQBAJ

October 19, 2016

Importance of Manufacturing, Construction and Engineering in World Economies



Japan Economy

Industries by GDP value-added 2012.
Based on the exchange rate on April 13, 2013.

Industry GDP value-added $ billions 2012 % of total GDP

Other service activities 1,238 23.5%
Manufacturing 947                         18.0%
Real Estate 697 13.2%
Wholesale and retail trade 660 12.5%
Transport and communication 358 6.8%
Public administration 329 6.2%
Construction 327                           6.2%
Finance and insurance 306 5.8%
Electricity, gas and water supply 179 3.4%
Government service activities 41 0.7%
Mining 3 0.05%
Total 5,268 100%

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Japan


German Economy


The service sector contributes around 70% of the total GDP, industry 29.1%, and agriculture 0.9%. Exports account for 41% of national output.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Germany

October 12, 2016

GE's Management New Management Initiatives




GE is a company that is used to reinventing itself by implementing new management methods and techniques periodically. It has implemented a strategic focus on simplification over the last several years. The company builds complex products. Employees and customers were noting that the company itself had become too complex: Customer outcomes were slowing as processes grew burdensome. Simplification is now an integrated part of GE’s strategy, encompassing lean management, speed and competitiveness, commercial intensity, and digital capability.

First, GE is asking leaders to implement lean management: remove layers, increase spans of control, and reduce the number of checks and approvals needed to get things done. Wherever there is complexity and duplication, shared activity and services is being advocated. The company is implementing new digital technologies that simplify work and make employees more productive wherever possible.

Second, GE has developed a  program called FastWorks.  FastWorks involves a new way of working that begins with an intensified focus on—and understanding of—customer needs. Experimenting and iterating quickly to create solutions that add value or create value are hallmarks of the approach. FastWorks is being used throughout GE to help teams move faster, bring GE closer to customers, and to maintain a high level of customer input and involvement across the product lifecycle.

Third, GE is promoting belief, and behavioral changes to help leaders and employees reduce complexity and to create a new culture within GE. The culture of simplification is coming to life through a set of new “GE Beliefs,” which are focused on delivering fast, better solutions to customers. The GE Beliefs, created through a crowdsourcing process within GE, are:

Customers determine our success
Stay lean to go fast
Learn and adapt to win
Empower and inspire each other
Deliver results in an uncertain world

The GE Beliefs play are  used to change how GE recruits, how it manages and leads, and how its people are evaluated and developed.

Fourth, GE has recently redesigned its performance management process, with an emphasis on agility, continuous discussions, and customer outcomes. Today,  managers emphasize priorities, helping employees continuously adapt and channel their efforts to the most important customer needs. The old world told people to “do more with less.” Today, GE tells its people to “do fewer things better.”   The focus on simplification is helping employees to focus as well as helping the company to operate faster, compete more vigorously, reduce costs, and improve quality. For GE, simplification is now part of its new culture, as the new behavior is giving positive results. Culture is the result of behavior that leads to positive outcomes.

http://dupress.deloitte.com/dup-us-en/focus/human-capital-trends/2015/work-simplification-human-capital-trends-2015.html

Organizational Health - Introduction - Measurement and Management


The concept of organizational health


The concept of organizational health was first put forward in 1969 by Matthew Miles (Miles, 1969: 376). The relations between the students, teachers and managers in school were defined and observed through a simulation.

Miles suggested a model for organization health analysis of schools, and defined the healthy
organization as follows. “Healthy organization is one that does not survive only in the environment it exists, but also constantly develops in the long term, improves its coping and surviving skills.” (Miles, 1969: 378).

In general, organization health is expressed as the capabilities possessed by an organization to adapt to its environment successfully, create cooperation between its members and achieve its targets.

According to another definition; it is such an organization that supports organizational success, environment, employees’ welfare and happiness with its authority structure, values system, norms, reward and sanction systems.

The Organization Health Dimensions Developed by Miles


According to the model brought forward by Miles, dimensions of the organization health may be summarized as follows (Hoy&Feldman, 1987: 30).

The Task Needs Dimension
1. Objective-Focus: The objectives are easily understandable, acceptable and achievable by the
organization members.

2. Communication Adequacy: An in-organization communication system preventing misunderstandings is available. Thus, the employees access correct information and increase organization efficiency.

3. Optimal Power Uniformity: Distribution of the power within the organization is relatively uniform. They always think that those at lower levels can influence those at the immediate upper level.

• Survival Needs Dimension
4. Effective Use of Resources: Task distribution within the organization is done in the most effective way - neither less nor more than as required. There is a coherence between the demands and needs.

5. Organizational Commitment: The employees like the organization and want to stay there. They are
influenced by the organization, and they make efforts for unity of the organization.

6. Morale: There is employee welfare and team satisfaction in the organization in general.

• Growth and Development Needs Dimension
7. Innovativeness: The organization develops new procedures, sets new targets and constantly develops.
8. Autonomy: It is proactiveness in the organization. It shows several independent characteristics to the outer factors.
9. Adaptation: The organization has the skill of making the necessary changes in itself for growth and
development.
10. Problem Solving Competency: The problems are solved with minimum energy expenditure. Problem solving
mechanism is constantly supported and strengthened.

Organization Health Dimensions Developed by Hoy


Hoy and Feldman examined organization health in seven dimensions. These seven dimensions are as follows (Hoy&Feldman, 1987).

1. Organizational Integrity: The organization’s ensuring integrity in its programs through its capability of adaptation to its environment.
2. Influence of the Organization Manager: The organization managers can influence decisions of the senior system they are subordinate to. The ability to convince their decision organs, having reputation and not being blocked by the hierarchic impediments are important factors of the organization managers.
3. Respect: This involves the friendly, supportive, overt and sincere behaviors exhibited by the organization managers to the employees. Such behaviors are important for increase of performances of the employees.
4. Work Order: This involves behaviors of the organization manager relating to various tasks and achievements. Expectations from the employees, performance standards and polices are clearly expressed by the organization manager.
5. Resource Support: This involves availability of sufficient machinery and equipment in the organizations, and procurement of additional resources when requested.
6. Morale: This is the sum of friendship, openness between the organization members, and the senses of excitement and confidence they feel about the work they do. The employees treat each other tolerantly, they help each other, feel proud of the organization they work in, and completing the works make them happy.
7. Importance of the work: This is about the organizations’ efforts for increasing work excellence. Work is started by setting high but achievable targets for the employees, and production activities are carried out in a serious and orderly fashion.


It is possible to group these dimensions as organization health dimensions at the institutional, managerial and technical level. Accordingly, Institutional Level consists of institutional integrity dimension, Managerial Level consists of the dimensions of work order, respect, influence of the organization manager and resource support, and Technical Level consists of the levels of morale and importance of the work.

Measuring Organization Health



Likewise, people who take their health for granted till some trouble appears, in the organization management also, managers usually do not measure organization health until they encounter a crisis. However, in order to achieve and sustain organizational health, a healthy organization structure should be formed beginning from establishment of the organization, measures should be taken against the problems that may occur, and organization health should be measured periodically. The measuring health of the organizations may reveal some weaknesses, but it may also give some clues to prepare improvement plans based on the obtained results. The organization’s being healthy or unhealthy is an evidence for need of change and innovation. But we need to determe what causes the unhealthy organization structure. Briefly, measurements set the conceptual basics in identification and solution of the problems. The strengths and weaknesses of the organization as well as the opportunities and threats it has are revealed through measurement of organization health.


Characteristics of Healthy and Unhealthy Organizations


It is required to know the characteristics of healthy and unhealthy organization so as to derive the desired benefit from organizational health. In the light of these characteristics, the organization should be analyzed, the revealed data should be interpreted, and solution of the problems leading to the unhealthy structure should be ensured.



                         Table : Characteristics of Healthy and Unhealthy Organizations

Healthy Organizations                                 Unhealthy Organizations
Open to innovation and improvement         Not open to innovation and improvement

Its long term effectiveness is high               Its long term effectiveness is low

Employees are ensured to participate          Employees apply the decisions made by top management
in the decisions
Organizational commitment is developed   Organizational commitment is not developed

Responsible to the environment and employees      Not responsible to the environment and employees

Proactive, takes preventive measures              Reactive, corrective actions are taken

Work stress is low                                        Work stress is high

Work satisfaction and workplace peace       Work satisfaction and workplace peace is low
is high
Importance is attached to employees               Importance is not attached to employees

Number of absences and quits is little            Number of absences and quits is big

Communication between the individuals       Communication between the individuals and top              and top management is strong                        management is weak
 
Worker safety is present,                               Worker safety is not present, work accidents are
work accidents are scarcely encountered      frequently encountered

Employees work with high motivation          Employees work with low motivation
and exhibit high performance                        and exhibit low performance

Unfavorable internal and external                 Unfavorable internal and external environmental
environmental conditions cannot                   conditions can damage the organization
damage the organization
                                               
Team spirit is developed, employees act         Team spirit is not developed,        
with the sense of “us”                                       employees act towards their personal interests

Employees feel themselves safe in the organization     Employees do not feel themselves safe in the organization
Information flow is robust and timely            Robust and timely information flow is unavailable
Strategies are put into practice successfully    Incapable to put strategies into practice
An open, trust-focused and encouraging organization culture is present     A closed, retributive and unfair organization culture is present
Problems are solved by digging                       Evidences of the problem are addressed, the                   into their causes                                                core cause cannot be identified
The organization is efficient and effective       The organization is not efficient and effective
Source: Karagüzel, 2012: 21 (Turkish paper)



What to do to enhance Organization Health


As in the human organism, healthy structure is hereditary in most of the organizations (Aguire et al., 2005:1).

According to Miles, the following five approaches are very important for increasing the organization health (Miles, 1969: 376):

• Supporting personal development
• Placing importance on communication
• Strengthening information flow
• Establishing an open-to-change organization culture
• Specialist support


The above content is based on:

The Relation Between Organizational Health and Organizational Commitment

Asst. Prof. Dr. Aydan Yüceler, Asst. Prof. Dr. ú. Didem Kaya
Necmettin Erbakan University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Konya, Turkey

Dr. Burcu Doøanalp
Selcuk University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Konya, Turkey

Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences
 MCSER Publishing, Rome-Italy 
Vol 4 No 10
October 2013, pp. 781-788 


Aguire, D. M., L. W. Howell, D. B. Kletter ve G. L. Neilson (2005), A Global Check- Up: Diagnosing The Health of Today’s Organizations,
Organizational DNA Research Report. 

Hoy, W. K., ve Feldman, J. A. (1987), Organizational Health: The Concept and Its Measure, Journal of Research and Development in Education,
20, Summer. 

Miles, M. B. (1969), Planned Change and Organizational Health: Figure and Ground, in F. D. Carver & T. J. Sergiovanni (Eds.) Organizations and Human Behavior: Focus on Schools, New York, McGraw Hill


McKinsey on Organizational Health


McKinsey consultants have given importance to Organizational Health concept in recent days in their consultancy practice.

Organizational health: The ultimate competitive advantage
By Scott Keller and Colin Price
McKinsey Quarterly June 2011 


Organizational Health Index

Organizational health matters more than you might expect.
Leadership in context
By Michael Bazigos, Chris Gagnon, and Bill Schaninger
McKinsey Quarterly January 2016

October 10, 2016

Entrepreneurial Finance




Strategic Entrepreneurial Finance: From Value Creation to Realization

Darek Klonowski
Routledge, 27-Nov-2014 - Business & Economics - 420 pages

Entrepreneurial finance is a discipline that studies financial resource mobilization, resource allocation, risk moderation, optimization in financial contracting, value creation, and value monetization within the context of entrepreneurship. However, without proper strategic consideration the discipline is incomplete. This book examines how the activity of entrepreneurial finance can be enhanced via a concentration on value creation and through improved strategic decision-making.

The most unique feature of the book is its focus on value creation. For entrepreneurs, value creation is not a one-off activity, but rather a continuous cycle of incremental improvements across a wide range of business activities. Entrepreneurial value creation is described in four comprehensive stages: value creation, value measurement, value enhancement, and value realization, referred to as the C-MER model. This book focuses on what creates value rather than merely presenting value creation in a straight accounting framework.

At the same time, deliberate and tactical planning and implementation ensure that the firm does not ignore the components necessary for it to survive and flourish.Vigorous strategic deliberations maximize the entrepreneurial firm’s chances of making the right business decisions for the future, enable the firm to manage its available financial and non-financial resources in the most optimal manner, ensure that the necessary capital is secured to progress the development of the firm to its desired development level, and build value.

While financial considerations are important, the field of strategic entrepreneurial finance represents a fusion of three disciplines: strategic management, financial management, and entrepreneurship. This orientation represents a natural evolution of scholarship to combine specific domains and paradigms of naturally connected business disciplines and reflects the need to simultaneously examine business topics from different perspectives which may better encapsulate actual entrepreneurial practices.

https://books.google.co.in/books?id=IDOcBQAAQBAJ

Corporate Global Profits



Report McKinsey Global Institute September 2015
The new global competition for corporate profits
By Richard Dobbs, Tim Koller, Sree Ramaswamy, Jonathan Woetzel, James Manyika, Rohit Krishnan, and Nicolo Andreula

http://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/strategy-and-corporate-finance/our-insights/the-new-global-competition-for-corporate-profits

The Theory of the Growth of the Firm


Theory Developed Edith Penrose

Firms are collections of productive resources that are organized in an administrative framework which partly determines the amount and type of services that the resources yield. As they go
along with their productive operations, firms - or, more precisely, the management team - obtain increased knowledge of the services that may be obtained from resource. The results of such learning processes is, first, the expansion of the firm’s “productive opportunity set” (the opportunities that the
firm’s management team can see and can take advantage of) and, second, the release of managerial excess resources that can be put to use in other, mostly related, business areas. Since the opportunity costs of excess resources are zero, there will be a strong internal incentive for such diversification which in turn causes the firm to grow - an idea that according to Penrose destroys the notion of
the firm’s optimum size

However, the managerial resources inherited from the past set a limit to the firm’s rate of growth - what has become known in the literature as “the Penrose effect” (Slater 1980). (In mergers and acquisitions we see the point. Firms with manageral slack, that is excess managerial resources do acquisitions).

 In Penrose (1959), this is rationalized by pointing to the difficulties of socializing new managers that are needed for the expansion of the firm.

Later models (Baumol 1962; Marris 1964) imposed the Penrose effect exogenously (Gander 1991), but eventually it became subordinated under supposedly more general theories of adjustment costs in the theory of investment of the firm (Treadway 1970). Given this, and using a dynamic control theory
approach, the Penrose effect arises naturally as the profit-maximizing firm calculates its optimal time-profile of outputs.


The resource-based analysis of (sustained) competitive advantages may be seen as starting out from two basic empirical generalizations, namely that 1) there are systematic differences across firms in the extent to which they control resources that are necessary for implementing strategies, and 2) that these differences are relatively stable. The basic structure of the RBP emerges when these two generalizations are combined with fundamental assumptions that are to a large extent derived from economics. Among these assumptions are that 3) differences in firms’ resource endowments cause
performance differences, and 4) that firms seek to increase their economic performance. The fundamentals of the resource-based analysis of the conditions for sustained competitive advantage are basically simple (Peteraf 1993).

Some argue that Penrose's theorizing leads us to what would in modern management studies be called “strategic human resource management” where the focus is on the development of the firm’s pool of talents with particular goals in mind.

Imposing the requirement of choosing the optimal trade-off between the gains from diversification and the costs of managing a diversified firm then allows one to derive the optimal/equilibrium degree of diversification of the firm.


If services are produced endogenously (and continuously) through various intra-firm learning processes involving increased knowledge of resources, “new combinations of resources” (1959: 85), and an expanding productive opportunity set, there is no equilibrium size. Moreover, because of the difficulties of managing new resources and services, and of assimilating new managers in the firm, firm growth is not smooth or “balanced” (as in Marris 1964; Slater 1980). On the contrary, growth rates in succeeding periods will typically be negatively serially correlated, so that high growth in one period is followed by low growth and vice versa. In fact, this is the true “Penrose effect”, and a first indication that even on this fundamental level, Penrose has been partly misrepresented in the literature.

“In the long run”, Penrose explains, ... the profitability, survival and growth of a firm does not depend so much on the efficiency with which it is able to organize the production of even a widely diversified range of products as it does on the ability of the firm to establish one or more wide and relatively impregnable ‘bases’ from which it can adapt and extend its operations in an
uncertain, changing and competitive world (1959: 137).

A firm is basically a collection of resources. Consequently, if we can assume that businessmen believe there is more to know about the
resources they are working with than they do know at any given time,
and that more knowledge would be likely to improve the efficiency
and profitability of their firm, then unknown and unused productive
services immediately become of considerable importance, not only
because the belief that they exist acts as an incentive to acquire new
knowledge, but also because they shape the scope and direction of the
search for knowledge (Penrose 1959: 77).

Thus, firm
development is essentially an evolutionary and cumulative process of “resource
learning” (Mahoney 1995), in which increased knowledge of the firm’s resources
both help create options for further expansion and increases absorptive capacity
(Cohen and Levinthal 1990), or, to use Penrose’s terminology an expanding
“productive opportunity”.


The firm’s productive opportunity, arguably the key concept of The Theory of
the Growth of the Firm (cf. also Fransman 1994: 744), is “... the productive
possibilities that its ‘entrepreneurs’’ see and can take advantage of. A theory of
the growth of the firm is essentially an examination of the changing productive
opportunity of firms” (1959: 31-32). Thus, the notion of productive opportunity
is quite a central notion in The Theory of the Growth of the Firm.

 Penrose notes that “... the decision to search for opportunities
is an enterprising decision requiring entrepreneurial intuition and imagination
and must precede the ‘economic’ decision to go ahead with the examination of
opportunities for expansion” (1959: 34).


Source: Paper by Foss






October 8, 2016

Competitor - Competitive Intelligence Analysis Techniques


You need to get objective or subjective information about your competitors and potential competitor that provides output created by the following analyses.  Your strategy is based on your view of competitor's likely actions in the future based on their current products, markets, R&D activities, capabilities, competences, resources and relationships.


SWOT
SCP Framework ( Structure-Conduct-Performance)
ADL Matrix
Porter's Five Forces Analysis
Industry cost curves
Value Net
The Space Matrix
PEST
Inflection point analysis
Hypercompetition


50 Competitive Intelligence Analysis Techniques
7 OCTOBER 2013 | BY ESTELLE METAYER
http://competia.com/50-competitive-intelligence-analysis-techniques

Strategy for Growth in Mature Industries



Growing When Your Industry Doesn’t
Success and profits flow to companies with uniquely valuable market propositions — regardless of their sector.

by Kasturi Rangan and Evan Hirsh
strategy+business: Corporate Strategies and News Articles on Global Business, Management, Competition and Marketing
Published: April 28, 2014 / Summer 2014 / Issue 75
http://www.strategy-business.com/article/00251?gko=cb1ac

How to thrive in a slow-growth industry
LRed - Sunday 24th May 2015
http://www.leadershipreview.net/how-thrive-slow-growth-industry

http://www.pm.lth.se/fileadmin/pm/Exjobb/Exjobb_2014/Sara_Tavakolizadeh/Growth_strategies_in_mature_markets.pdf

October 7, 2016

Strategic Leadership



According to Hoskisson et al (2004) Strategic Leadership is:
“…the managerial ability to anticipate, envision, maintain flexibility, and empower others to create
strategic change as necessary”.

Rowe (2001) emphasises the need at the top of organisations of what he labels “Strategic Leadership”. He describes Strategic Leadership as the …ability to influence others to voluntarily make day to day decisions that enhance the long-term viability of the organisation while maintaining its short term financial stability.


Hoskisson, R., Hitt, M. and Ireland R. D. 2004. Strategic Leadership. In Competing for Advantage. South Western: Thompson.

Rowe, W. G. 2001. Creating Wealth in Organisations: The Role of Strategic Leadership. Academy of
Management Review, 2001, Volume 15, No. 1.


THE IMPORTANCE OF DIFFERENT LEADERSHIP ROLES IN THE STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PROCESS
MOJAKI S MOSIA
THEO H VELDSMAN
Leadership in Performance and Change
Department of Human Resource Management
Rand Afrikaans University
SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 2004, 2 (1), 26-36
http://www.sajhrm.co.za/index.php/sajhrm/article/viewFile/36/36

STRATEGY AND THE IMPORTANCE OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP
By James Redmond, BBS, MBS, ACMA: Examiner - Professional 2 Strategy &
Leadership
http://www.cpaireland.ie/docs/default-source/Students/exam-related-articles-2015/cpa-article---strategy-and-leadership-final.pdf?sfvrsn=2

10 Principles of Strategic Leadership
How to develop and retain leaders who can guide your organization through times of fundamental change. See also "Find Your Strategic Leaders.”

by Jessica Leitch, David Lancefield, and Mark Dawson, PWC
http://www.strategy-business.com/article/10-Principles-of-Strategic-Leadership?gko=25cec

WHAT SENIOR LEADERS DO: THE NINE ROLES OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP
BY
LOREN APPELBAUM
EXECUTIVE CONSULTANT,
SUCCESSION
MANAGEMENT PRACTICE,
DDI
MATTHEW PAESE, PH.D.
PRACTICE LEADER,
EXECUTIVE SUCCESSION
MANAGEMENT,
DDI
http://www.ddiworld.com/DDI/media/white-papers/WhatSeniorLeadersDoTheNineRoles_wp_ddi.pdf

Distribution Warehouse

A distribution warehouse is a building and a place where items for distribution are stored. It serves as storage for products form the manufacturer to the distributor before these products are distributed to various retail customers.

Who uses a distribution warehouse?

The Manufacturing Company. They use the warehouse in order to store the goods and the items that they have manufactured and are to be delivered to the distributors.
Third party distributors. These are the entities that the manufacturing company delivers their products to. These entities are the ones responsible for supplying a place with certain goods and products from the manufacturing company.
Retail stores. This refers to the stores that sell products in retail. The items they usually place inside the distribution warehouse are those items that they sell. They use the warehouse to store the stocks or inventory they have.

The Benefits of Having a Distribution Warehouse

Distribution centers or companies need to have a distribution warehouse if they want to avail of these benefits:

Time-savings. A distribution warehouse can really save distributors a lot of time when it comes to distributing all the items. The distribution warehouse with its warehouse storage system can give convenience since it makes the items and the products to be distributed more organized. It can save workers a lot of time and effort trying to distribute the products or in managing their products.

Money-savings. A distribution warehouse is the best solution to protect the goods or the products that distributors are trying to distribute to retail outlets. When you have a distribution warehouse, you are ensuring that all the goods are kept in good condition and retain their quality. This is because a distribution warehouse is built to achieve these things. They are usually built with the right temperature that can help distributors achieve their purpose in terms of preserving the quality and the condition of the products. This way, they can save a lot of money as they are going to prevent spoiled goods and damaged items.

http://www.kardex-remstar.com/en/lift-storage-systems/distribution-warehouse.html

Jobs in Distribution Warehouse

Store distribution manager
The store distribution manager analyses the supply chain, ensuring distribution centres can accommodate the volume of goods required by stores.

Customer distribution manager
The customer distribution manager is responsible for operating and developing the order distribution business, from warehouse to customer.

Transport operational coordinator
The transport operational coordinator is the lynchpin between the firm and its carriers, ensuring an efficient flow of goods.

Warehouse operations manager
The warehouse operations manager ensures efficiency within the distribution centre and responds to the needs of the supply chain.

Quality manager
The quality manager is responsible for quality control in the warehouse and efficiency of delivery to the customer.

Transport business developer
The transport business developer builds and maintains relationships between the firm  and its carriers whilst negotiating mutually beneficial transport scenarios.

Goods flow coordinator
The goods flow coordinator secures the highest product availability to the customer with the lowest possible supply chain costs.

http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_US/jobs/business_types/distribution_logistics/


Warehouse & Distribution Science - Free Text book


Warehouse & Distribution Science by J. Bartholdi and S. Hackman
http://www.warehouse-science.com/


You are also welcome to use any of these:

Supplementary materials
Warehouse software
Warehouse tours
Class projects
Order-picking by bucket brigade
http://www.warehouse-science.com/


https://www.stitchlabs.com/resource/guides/optimizing-warehouse-management/


Updated 10 October 2016

September 30, 2016

Resourcing - Resource Management Related Issues

Obtaining the resource and Protecting the resource.


Step 1: Obtaining the resource




Traded  resources



Mathews (2003) identifies three steps in the process of strategic resource acquisition: search, acquisition and absorption. Mathews (2003)  principally discusses the external acquisition of technology and know-how and  absorption is the most demanding phase of the whole process and requires the firm to possess the capabilities to integrate the resource (new technology) with the firm’s existing resource base. Cohen and Levinthal (1990) suggest that the firm’s absorptive capacity is largely a function of the firm’s level of prior related knowledge. In consequence, even when markets for resources exist, incumbents are somehow protected from competition by firms that do not use the same resources (in particular technologies) because these firms will find it difficult to absorb the resources they might acquire on the markets.

To be source of competitive advantage for its buyer a resource traded on a market must generate rents that the firm is able to appropriate. This will be the case when the firm purchases the resource for less than its marginal productivity when used in combination with the firm’s stock of other resources (i.e. resource cospecialization, synergies and complementarities increases the resource marginal productivity). When the resource price is above the firm’s reservation price, the firm may turn to internal resource creation. The firm will be able to purchase the resource for less than its marginal productivity when it possesses superior information, has bargaining power on the resource supplier or is lucky.


The firm may choose to build the resource internally when no market for the resource exists
or when external resource acquisition is more costly than resource building. Mathews (2003),
who sees external resource acquisition as an important strategic option, compares the
potential competitive advantages and disadvantages of external sourcing with those of internal
resource building. He shows how the features of the resource accumulation process (time
compression diseconomies, asset mass efficiencies, asset stock interconnectedness, prevention
of asset erosion and causal ambiguity) may favor the internal development of resources. According to Dierickx and Cool (1989), some factors may favor the internal development of resources, but it may turn to be competitive disadvantages in some circumstances.

Competition to be first may be an important competition process when the firm that develops
first the resource can get it protected by property rights or when first-mover advantages are
significant (e.g.. learning and network effects).


Step 2: Protecting the resource

Once a firm has acquired or built a new resource, it deploys the resource in order to make it contribute to the firm’s competitive advantage. Sooner or later competitors in the product market perceive the change in the firm’s competitive advantage and wonder about its source. When competitors have been able to identify which new resource the firm has acquired or built they may consider imitating  the resource or the resource functionality through acquisition or internal building.

However, the firm’s resource or the bundle of resources in which it is integrated may be
protected by barriers to imitation. A barrier to imitation, also called isolating mechanism,
barrier to resource mobility and resource protection barrier, is a phenomenon that restrains or
obstructs imitation by competitors (Reed and Defillippi, 1990). The isolating mechanisms were discussed by Rumelt, 1984; Ghemawat, 1986; Dierickx and Cool, 1989. Some of these mechanisms are discussed here.  Causal ambiguity regarding the source(s) of competitive advantage prevents competitors from knowing exactly what to imitate and how to do it. Even if competitors have been able to identify the source(s) of the firm’s competitive advantage, imitation may be costly to carry on or to carry on rapidly. Isolating mechanisms which make imitation costly for competitors are superior
access to resources or customers (e.g. reputation and buyer switching costs), minimum efficient scale large relative to market demand, intangible barriers to imitation (causal ambiguity, dependence on historical circumstances and social complexity), and strategic fit. Imitation in the short-term may be costly because of barriers to imitation such as legal restrictions  (patents, copyrights, trademarks, and government control over enry into markets) and diseconomies of time compression. In addition to protecting the firm’s resources early-mover advantages are isolating mechanisms that increase the economic power of the first-mover’s competitive advantage over time. Besanko, Dranove and Shanley (2000) present four isolating mechanisms that fall under this category: learning curve, network externalities, reputation for quality in the sale of experience goods, and buyer switching costs. Imitation is a competition process. Barriers to imitation will have different height for
different competitors because of factors such as the competitors’ competitive aggressiveness


 All isolating mechanisms erode over time, the firm must invest to maintain the barriers that protect its resources.


Besanko, David, Dranove, David and Shanley, Mark, Economics of Strategy, 2000, USA,
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Cohen, Wesley and Levinthal, Daniel, “Absorptive Capacity: A New Perspective On
Learning And Innovation”, Administrative Science Quarterly, March 1990, Vol. 35, No. 1,
128-152.

Dierickx, Ingemar and Cool, Karel, “Asset Stock Accumulation and Sustainability of
Competitive Advantage”, Management Science, 1989, Vol. 35, No. 12, 1504-1513.

Mathews, John, “Strategizing by firms in the presence of markets for resources”, Industrial
and Corporate Change, 2003, Vol. 12, No. 6, 1157-1193.

Reed, Richard and Defillippi, Robert, “Causal Ambiguity, Barriers to Imitation, and
Sustainable Competitive Advantage”, The Academy of Management Review, 1990, Vol.
15, No. 1, 88-102.

Rumelt, Richard, “Towards a strategic theory of the firm”, in Lamb, R., (Ed.), Competitive
Strategic Management, Prentice-Hall, 1984, Englewood Cliffs (NJ).

Rewrite once again.




September 23, 2016

Management by Values

Management by Values (MBV) differentiates between three terms: vision, mission and other operating values.

Every company should have explicitly defined two important groups of values or shared principles.

1. The basic values associated with its vision (Where are we going?) and its mission (What for? or Why does the company exist?).

2. The instrumental or operating values associated with the organization's way of thinking and way of doing things to meet the challenges of  understanding market, new product development, producing and selling.


The differentiation between basic or final values and operating values: The basic values give meaning and cohesion to the collective effort to move the company towards where it wants to go in the long-term. They clarify the reason for its existence,  the kind of business it wants to become, the differentiation that it will provide, any. Every business company has a double mission: one economic and , the other social; the second depends clearly on the first. The economic mission  is to earn revenues and distribute the share of partners in business in timely way and retain the profit. The social mission expresses the supply of specific products or services to the society and take care of other social obligations that demand that it takes care of the people involed in its business activities on the supply and distributive sides.

The operating value determine or define its "operating culture". They are the explicit principles of action that regulate the daily conduct of individual employees in their work to achieve the vision and mission of the company. Some examples include: mutual trust, customer satisfaction, honesty, teamwork, etc.


Construction of new beliefs and values as the foundation of new structures, new processes and new
human resources policies:

Managers have to "think through" what new beliefs and values must underpin the new organization structures, new internal processes (including introduction of new technologies), new colleagues (recruitment) new human resources policies (selection, compensation, training, etc.).

MBV helps the leadership in constructing a collective sense of what the company "should be", and some freely chosen and accepted "rules of the game", to channel future action. In this way, MBV provides a way for effecting transformation and introducing coherence, across the length and breadth of the company.

MBV proposes the need to manage values, to guard them as the scarce resources they undoubtedly are. Managing values means managing the culture (behavior, artifacts, values and beliefs) of the company, strengthening it day by day and always revitalizing it, to face the unknowns of the future.


In today’s ever-increasing globalized, complex, chaotic and fast-changing world, leaders need to develop and enshrine an organizational culture based on shared values.  The values have to be selected from the bedrock of mankind and distilled by millennia of the human civilizing experience

Dolan and colleagues (Dolan et al., 2006; Dolan et al., 2008; Dolan, 2011) proposed that the set of values followed by an organization has to be a combination of three facets (or axes):
1) economicpragmatic values;
2) ethical-social values;
and 3) emotional-developmental values.


• Economic-Pragmatic Values: This group of values are necessary to sustain the various organizational subsystems by allowing them to participate in the production-consumption system. Encompassing efficiency, performance standards and discipline etc. these values guide such activities as planning, directing and controlling.

• Ethical-Social Values emerge from norms and mores as to how people should conduct themselves in public and at work and go about their personal and professional relationships. Values such as honesty, integrity, respect and loyalty belong to this group.

• Emotional-Developmental Values create impetus for action. These values are related to intrinsic motivation: optimism, passion, perceived freedom, satisfaction and happiness are a few examples of such values. Deficiency in these values hinder involvement and and organizational commitment.

Simon L. Dolan and Yochanan Altman (2012) in Managing by Values: The Leadership Spirituality Connection, advocated that the fourth axis of spiritual dimension has to be added to three groups of values.


The task of an effective leader is to select the value set that is aligned with the mission and vision of the organization and manage so that they become shared values. Leader has the ability to influence his followers but he has to use his influence in a rational way and emotional way so that the followers achieve their economic and emotional needs under his guidance as an organization.

Practicing MBV

MBV is a process for making lasting, positive performance improvements impacting their culture, strategy, processes and people.

DEFINING VALUES

Leaders have to define the values for their organization first. Vaues become the basis for decision-making and action/behavior in the organization.

COMMUNICATING VALUES

Values have to be communicated and articulated. Everyone becomes informed about the organization’s mission, vision, values and aspirations—including their importance. This may include formal and informal meetings, resource materials for individuals and printed communications. Most important is the examples set by the leaders of the organization in living the values being communicated.

ALIGNING VALUES

This step takes lot of effort and time.  Behavioral rountines that reflects the values have to be developed and the members of the organization have to be provided opportunities to exhibit the recommended behavior through role plays and actual situations. Monitoring by the leaders to identify the deviations and to correct the deviations has to be done and this responsibility is to be given more and more people so that organization wide monitoring of value reflecting behavior becomes the norm in the organization.

Management by Value has to result in behaviour change to give results.




References

Dolan, Simon L. and García, Salvador, Managing by Values in the Next Milenium: Cultural Redesign for Strategic Organizational Change (June, 2000). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=237628 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.237628


Managing by Values: A Corporate Guide to Living, Being Alive, and Making a Living in the 21st Century
S. Dolan, S. Garcia, B. Richley
Springer, 28-Jul-2006 - Business & Economics - 236 pages


This book develops a new framework, Management by Values (MBV), for strategic and competitive advantage. Through its step-by-step guide to implementation, it serves as a necessary strategic leadership tool whose practical application will mine market potential through its relevance to individual organizational members.
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=AdXrBNp0mlUC

Simon L. Dolan and Yochanan Altman (2012), "Managing by Values: The Leadership Spirituality Connection", PEOPLE & STRATEGY, Volume 35/Issue 4

MBV Consultant
http://www.hopenn.com/company/managing-by-values/

Managing by Values
Kenneth H. Blanchard, Michael J. O'Connor, Jim Ballard
Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 1997 - Business & Economics - 154 pages


Today's business world is characterized by increasing change - technological, cultural, social, economic, and personal - the net effect of which is increasing anxiety, insecurity, and more pressure than perhaps ever before on today's employees, managers, and business owners. Managing By Values provides a practical, proven new solution for addressing these issues. Blanchard and O'Connor provide a framework for stability, continuity, and growth in the midst of these challenges. Written in the simple, direct story format that has become a trademark of Ken Blanchard's previous books, Managing By Values builds on the mass of diverse research, experiences, and literature on organizational, group, and individual performance and satisfaction. Based on the authors' research and applied real-world experience with client organizations, Managing By Values provides a practical, proven approach for how to give your organization the gift of a promising future while also discovering a way for all of its stakeholders to be satisfied in the process.
https://books.google.co.in/books?id=G-wYcokcKn8C


September 1, 2016

Productivity Orientation




As a result of these technological and cultural trends, consumers are constantly concerned with being productive, making progress, and accomplishing more in less time—a tendency that we label “productivity orientation.”
Productivity Orientation and the
Consumption of Collectable Experiences
ANAT KEINAN and RAN KIVETZ
JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc. ● Vol. 37 ● April 2011



Jun Ye , Jesse King , (2016) "Managing the downside effect of a productivity orientation", Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 30 Iss: 2, pp.238 - 254

Findings
The authors find evidence of a trade-off when a productivity orientation is adopted. A productivity orientation improves frontline service employee productivity performance but indirectly harms quality performance and job satisfaction. The authors find further evidence that trust in management helps to mitigate these negative effects.

This paper suggests that a productivity orientation must be managed carefully.
http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/JSM-10-2014-0351

Strategic Marketing Capabilities



Strategic marketing capabilities are the firm’s capabilities involved in sensing and
relating  to the market. Firms with strong strategic marketing capabilities  (a) acquire, develop and use market information to serve their market and (b) perform activities to connect to the  key customer and channel partners.


The strategic marketing capabilities construct include the following six categories:
(1) customer-driven capabilities,
(2) competitor-driven capabilities,
(3) supplier-driven capabilities,
(4) technology-monitoring capabilities,
(5) customer-relating capabilities and
(6) supplier-relating capabilities.

As a broad classification the first four components are a part of market-driven capabilities and customer-relating and supplier-relating capabilities are a part of market-relating capabilities.

August 27, 2016

Evaluating a Company’s External Environment - Summary and Key Points

Crafting and Executing Strategy: Concepts and Readings

20TH EDITION

By Arthur Thompson and A. J. Strickland III and John Gamble
Copyright: 2016, Mcgraw Hill
Publication Date: January 19, 2015





Observing, studying and analyzing company's external situation involves probing for answers to the following seven questions. These seven questions form the strategic analysis of external environment which is essential to develop effective strategy.

Does the industry offer attractive opportunities for growth? 


Identifying the industry's basic economic features and growth potential sets the stage for the analysis to come, since they play an important role in determining an industry's potential for providing sales revenue and profits. Industries differ significantly on such factors as market size and growth rate, geographic scope, life-cycle stage, the number and size of competitors,  industry capacity, and other conditions that describe the industry's demand-supply balance and opportunities for growth.

What kinds of competitive forces are industry members facing, and how strong is each force? 


This analysis examines: (1) competitive pressures exerted by industry rivals, (2) competitive pressures created by the sellers of substitutes, (3) Threat of new entrants into the market, (4) supplier bargaining power, and (5) buyer bargaining power. The nature and strength of the competitive pressures have to be examined force by force and their collective strength must be evaluated. Porter's five-forces model forces strategy makers to assess competitive forces and come out with ideas of capturing or growing market share in the presence of the competitive forces. How do you neutralize the competitive force and gain your market share and profit is determined in the competitive force analysis.

What factors are driving changes in the industry, and what impact will these changes have on competitive intensity and industry profitability? 


Industry and competitive conditions change because due to industry's macro-environment and changes originating within the industry. Such changes include: increasing globalization, changing buyer demographics, technological change, Internet-expansion, product and marketing innovations, entry or exit of major firms, diffusion of know-how, efficiency improvements in adjacent markets, reductions in uncertainty and business risk, government policy changes, and changing societal factors. Once an industry's change drivers have been identified, the analytical task becomes one of determining  the effect on of them industry growth and competition.

Are the change drivers causing demand for the industry's product to increase or decrease?
Are they acting to make competition more or less intense?
Will they lead to higher or lower industry profitability?

What market positions do industry rivals occupy—who is strongly positioned and who is not?


Strategic group mapping is a valuable tool for understanding the similarities, differences, strengths, and weaknesses inherent in the market positions of rival companies. Rivals in the same or nearby strategic groups are close competitors, whereas companies in distant strategic groups usually pose little or no immediate threat. The profit potential of different strategic groups varies due to strengths and weaknesses in each group’s market position. Often, industry competitive pressures and change drivers favor some strategic groups and hurt others. A strategic group analysis can be done to select the most profitable and suitable strategic group in which the company wants to enter, or even shift. The second use is that of creating a competitive strategy within the strategic group.

What strategic moves are rivals likely to make next? 


Competitor intelligence is collected to  anticipate their actions and take effective counteraction. Managers have to take rivals' probable actions into account in designing their own company's best course of action. Managers who fail to study competitors and know their strategies, risk being caught unprepared by the strategic moves of rivals.

What are the key factors for competitive success? 


An industry's key success factors (KSFs) are the strategy elements, product attributes,   and capabilities that all industry members must have in order to survive and prosper in the industry. KSFs vary by industry and may vary over time as well.

For any industry, KSFs can be deduced by answering three basic questions:

(1)Customer related - On what basis do buyers of the industry's product choose between the competing brands of sellers,

(2) Competition related - what resources and competitive capabilities must a company have to be competitively successful, and

(3) Weaknesses -  what shortcomings are almost certain to put a company at a significant competitive disadvantage?

Correctly diagnosing an industry's (KSFs) raises a company's chances of crafting a sound strategy.

What is the outlook for the company in the industry with the present strategy?  


Analysis of economy and industry analysis has to be summed to provide a forecast of performance of the company with the present strategy.  Clearly, insightful diagnosis of a company's external situation is an essential first step in crafting strategies that are well matched to industry and competitive conditions.

To do cutting-edge strategic thinking about the external environment, managers have to use analytical tools to answer the relevant questions.

Analytical Tools

PESTEL Analysis

Competitive Weapons for Increasing Market Share


Discounts, Clearance Sales
Offering discounts through coupons
Improving warranties
Offering attractive financing terms
Building a bigger and better dealer network
Increasing Advertising
Innovating and increasing product features and benefits
Innovating and improving quality so that external failures are minimum
Innovating and reducing cost and decreasing the price
Increasing the number packsizes, flavours, styles etc. so that customer gets a bigger choice
Increasing the customisation of the product or service

What weapons are being used by competitors?






What Is Strategy and Why Is It Important? - Summary and Important Points


What Is Strategy and Why Is It Important?

Chapter 1 of
Crafting and Executing Strategy: Concepts and Readings

20TH EDITION

By Arthur Thompson and A. J. Strickland III and John Gamble
Copyright: 2016, Mcgraw Hill
Publication Date: January 19, 2015


The tasks of crafting and executing company strategies important for a business enterprise to win in the marketplace by getting an economic market share and produce and deliver the goods or services demanded at profit to the organization.

A company's strategy is the plan management is using to identify a favorable market position, conduct its operations, attract and please customers, compete successfully, and achieve the desired performance targets.

The central thrust of a company's strategy is undertaking marketing and operations moves to build and strengthen the company's long-term competitive position and financial performance by undertaking value chain activities differently from rivals so that customers are attracted to its offerings and thus provide a  sustainable competitive advantage over competitors.

A company achieves a sustainable competitive advantage when it can meet customer needs more effectively or efficiently (at lower cost and price) than rivals and when the basis for this is durable, despite the best efforts of competitors to match or surpass this advantage.

A company's strategy typically evolves over time, emerging from a blend of (1) proactive and deliberate actions on the part of company managers to improve the strategy and (2) reactive, as-needed adaptive responses to unanticipated developments and actions by customers and competitors.

A company's business model is management's estimate of revenues and costs that indicates  profit. It contains two crucial elements: (1) the customer value proposition —a plan for satisfying customer wants and needs at a price customers will consider good value, and (2) the profit formula —a plan for a cost structure that will enable the company to deliver the customer value proposition profitably. In effect, a company's business model sets forth the economic logic for making money in a particular business, given the company's current strategy. Both demand estimates and cost estimates have to satisfy the theories of economics in the area of consumer or business demand and production/productivity economics.

A winning strategy will pass three tests: (1) Fit (external, internal, and dynamic consistency - It satisfies all stakeholders and all constraints of the company resources and market demand), (2) Competitive Advantage (durable competitive advantage), and (3) Performance (outstanding financial and market performance).

Crafting and executing strategy are core management functions of top management of a company. How well a company performs and the degree of market success it enjoys are directly attributable to the caliber of its strategy and the strategy is execution of the strategy. Strategy is a plan and is the primary step of top management. Execution phase consists of the next four steps of management organizing, resourcing, execution (allocation or resources, directing and leadership) and control.  

Values of Business Schools




Melbourne Business School -  Mission, Vision & Values


OUR MISSION
We enable individuals and organisations to be global leaders through the creation, application and dissemination of business and economics knowledge.

OUR VISION
Our aspiration is to become one of the leading global providers of business and economics education and research.
We aim to critically evaluate and influence policy design, corporate governance, and business practices to secure the best possible outcomes for our stakeholders and for the broader societies in which we operate.

OUR VALUES
We are a non-discriminatory learning community in which there is respect for our diverse backgrounds and interests and where there is a shared joy in learning and scholarship.
Rigour and relevance are the foundations of all that we do.
Integrity and ethical behaviour guide all of our actions, policies and decision making.
Openness and transparency characterise our organisational culture.
Academic freedom is paramount.
http://mbs.unimelb.edu.au/our-mission-vision-and-values

Olin Business School - Mission and Values


​Mission
We live our mission everyday. Since our founding in 1917, Olin Business School has been guided by these words: Create knowledge. Inspire individuals. Transform business.

Core Values

Excellence: We have an unwavering commitment to excellence in all that we do, continually striving to provide the highest level of educational experience, learning opportunities and research.

Leadership: Olin cultivates a leadership mind-set, infusing students with both the value of acting responsibly and the desire to make an impact in whatever path they pursue.

Integrity: Our Midwestern heritage is the cornerstone of our character – we are honest, hard working, authentic, loyal and supportive.

Collaboration: Our culture fosters a collaborative community that creates innovative ideas, unique opportunities, and strong personal bonds.

Diversity: We embrace the diversity of individuals, cultures, ideas, and opinions for the richness it brings to our school.

The UNC Kenan-Flagler:  Core Values

The UNC Kenan-Flagler community lives by its core values: excellence, leadership, integrity, community and teamwork.

Excellence

We, the members of the UNC Kenan-Flagler community, strive for the very highest standards in everything that we do. We challenge each other to produce important new knowledge at the leading edge of our disciplines, to create an intellectually rigorous learning environment and to show uncompromising dedication to those we serve.

Leadership

Leadership Development: We offer the best, most comprehensive leadership program of any top business school.
UNC Kenan-Flagler Faculty: The thought leadership of UNC-Kenan Flagler professors is recognized in both academic and corporate circles and makes an impact on the practice of business. R.O.I. Magazine, a school publication, features UNC Kenan-Flagler experts.

Integrity

We cultivate an environment of honesty, sincerity and trust in which we hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards. We believe integrity is the foundation of all moral character and is an essential trait for truly successful professional and personal lives.

Required Ethics Course: While other schools offer ethics courses as an elective, all UNC Kenan-Flagler MBAs take ethics during their first year as part of the required curriculum.
Graduate Honor Court: The business school joins the graduate and professional programs of law, dentistry, pharmacy and medicine with its own student-run honor court.

Community

From its earliest days, UNC Chapel Hill has honored and cherished its special responsibility to serve the people of North Carolina. We at UNC Kenan-Flagler extend this notion of responsibility to include service to the nation and the world through research, teaching and community leadership.


Teamwork

We create at UNC Kenan-Flagler a unique atmosphere of collaboration, mutual support and genuine interest in each other's success. Our diverse mix of cultures, races and experiences provides a variety of perspectives and talents that, when united through teamwork, strengthens our ability to achieve our goals.

http://www.kenan-flagler.unc.edu/about/core-values



University of Leeds Business School - Mission - Values




Our Mission is to make an exceptional impact on business and society globally through leadership in research and teaching.

Professor Peter Moizer, Dean of Leeds University Business School


We Are International
Create knowledge. Make an impact.


Research

To produce and disseminate research of world-class quality, within the School and through international partnerships, which increases knowledge, skills, understanding and impact.

Student education

To enable individuals to develop their academic potential, their employability, their global and cultural insight and their ethical awareness to enhance their potential to benefit business and society.


http://business.leeds.ac.uk/about-us/mission-and-values/