Week 4 - Learning Journal

Journal 4

1) Who is a strategist? Describe the main types of jobs that have a strong strategy implement.

Strategist is a person who does all the jobs related to development and implementation of strategy. A strategist is a person who has got all the required sensibilities and skills required to develop the best possible strategy and implement it.

The main types of jobs that requires strong strategy element can be:-

There are basically 3 levels of managers in an organization. They are top level managers, middle level managers and operation level managers. An organization can not run smoothly if all of these 3 levels don’t work cooperatively and effectively. The top level managers like COO, CEO are not the ultimate strategists for the organization, but they are the ones who grants the permission to formulate and implement the strategies. Middle-level managers and operation level managers are assigned with the duty to implement the strategy which are usually formulated by the top level managers.

2) What’s the difference between strategic planners and a strategic consultant?

Strategic Planners	Strategic Consultant
Strategic planners are the one who develops the strategies for the organization to achieve the desired goals.	Strategic consultant are the one who help in providing resources, analysis and information to assist in strategy formulation.
Strategic planners have a good idea on how organization works.	Strategic consultant have a better idea of how other companies works, and helps the one’s company out-do other companies.
Organization itself is the source of information and knowledge for Strategic planners.	Strategic consultant transfers information and knowledge that they have had gained from experience.
Internal consultants is the most common job that most of the Strategic planners works as in the organization.	For an organization, they are only the external consultants not more than that.

3) What answers did you give to questions 1 and 2 on the group exercise this week?

i)  Name one “strategist” for each of the following five categories, and explain why you consider them to have Strategic ability and Strategic impact in their field.

a)      Business Leader:-

Ratan Tata is the name that i would like to take because he is a great business leader and a great strategist too. He is the current chairman of the “Tata Group’ from India. He made a strategy to make the world’s cheapest car that would be affordable to middle-class people too, he started to manufacture the cars in very large quantities which reduced the cost of the cars. The car was offered at a price of IRS. 100000 only, it was an instant hit and resulted in very huge sales of those cars. He has been ranked as the most  powerful CEO of India too.

b)      Inventor or Scientist:-

The first person who comes in my mind when the word “Inventor or scientist” comes up is Steve Jobs. He revolutionized the world of music by first introducing a portable music playing device called the iPod. Through this innovation, people were no longer bound to carry cassettes, CD's with them or go to music stores to buy CD and cassettes. Now, they were able to download music and movies from their home and enjoy them in their devices through iTunes. It became a success and hence, justifies Steve jobs to be a great strategist too.

c)      Sports Manager:-

Gary Kirsten,a is the one who i consider to be a sport manager and a great strategist too. He was the coach of Indian Cricket Team during the World Cup of 2011, he made a strategy of picking the talented and young players in the team, and not selecting the senior players. His strategy was that with the existence of young players, their fielding department would improve and they would become perfect in all three parts of the game from batting, bowling to fielding. His strategy proved correct and they comfortably won the World Cup.

d)      Civil Rights Campaigner:-

In context of Nepal, Anuradha Koirala is the best example of the civil rights campaigner with strategic capabilities. She is the founder of the non-profit organization called “Maiti Nepal” which is working against women trafficking. She made a strategy of seeking help and alliance from Indian authorities to help women's trafficking because majority of women's from Nepal are taken in the Brothels of India. She is also the CNN Hero for the year 2011.

e)      Musician, writer, film maker or artist:-

I think the musician Bryan Adams is a good strategist too. He came to give the concert in a country that many of the western musicians would never come to and also would not have heard of. He came to give the concert in Nepal, which was a clever move on his perspective. After that concert, Bryan Adams and his songs are very much popular in Nepal and it has dramatically increased his fan following in Nepal too.

ii) What sort of strategy job would you like to do? What skills do you have that would be valuable in a strategy roles? What skills do you think you need to work on?

The most preferred job for me would be as a general manager or as a human resource manager, if it ought to be a strategy job.

I am quiet capable in leading people and also a good communicator. I could effectively make people clear and understand about the strategies and their personal and joint roles. I would know more about the process in development, formulation, planning and implementation of strategies inside and outside the organisation by the end of this module. I am pretty sure that i could make a good general manager &, the ability to communicate and handle people effectively could  also make me a candidate for the job of human resource manager.

The skills that i need to work on would be technical skills. I am not much aware about different technical aspects of an organisations. I think i should be working hard and seriously in this area, and i know i can achieve this.

Week 3 - Learning Journal

Journal 3

1) Why is strategy making like a science and why is it also like an art or craft?

Strategy making is like a science because it uses the scientific analytical tools to get the best result. Hypothetical testing, conducting multiple experiments of numerous samples are done to get the best result. The strategies are not developed based on simple decisions and conclusions, it takes a very long scientific process like different hypothetical testings and multiple experiments to pass-out the strategy. Hence, we can justify that strategy making is like a science.

Meanwhile, strategy making is also like an art or craft because like in art or craft one should be skillful and should have practical knowledge of the related field and the same applies here in strategy making process.

2) In your own words and using referenced quotes, describe the difference between intended strategy and emergent strategy.

The difference between intended strategy and emergent strategy are listed as follows:-

·Intended strategies are those strategies that are done deliberately to identify the intention of action in a corporation.

While, emergent strategies are those strategies that have to be developed in an instance and in short-notice, but both strategies focuses on the content of the strategy.

·Intended strategies marks visions or acts that emphasizes intention. It marks exact business intention.

While, emergent strategy is referred as a realized strategy.

·Emergent strategies are considered more upcoming and flexible than Intended strategies by most of the business theorists.

·Intended strategies are developed in an organization in the presence of organizational goals and missions.

While, Emergent strategies are developed in an organization in the absence of specific goals and mission.

  

3) Choose two of the 10 schools of strategy thought and describe them in your own words. Try and provide a real world example for each e.g. an organization or a situation.

The two of the 10 schools of strategy thoughts that i have chosen to explain in my own words are as follows:-

i) The Entrepreneurial School:-

The entrepreneurial school describes the strategy formation as a visionary process.

Approach:-

The charismatic leader or the founder is the person who does the visionary process inside his/her mind.

Basis:-

Economics

In Short:-

Architect of the strategy is the CEO of the organization. Envision!

Contribution:-

A visionary CEO with a sound vision can help the business organization to operate and survive effectively through difficult times too. From the early stage to the later stage of the organization.

Limitations:-

Potentially unexpected dangers or developments of dangers can arise any time when we walk on a pre-defined course. Its an extremely demanding job for the CEO in this perspective.

The real world example of “The Entrepreneurial School” can be taken as “Apple Inc.” Its then CEO late Steve Jobs was a very visionary and effective leader of this organization, who took this company to the very top level.

ii) The Learning School:-

The learning school describes the strategy formation as an emergent process.

·        Approach:-

“What does work” and “what doesn't work” is the main observations that the management do. Then in their plan of action, they include “lessons learned”, and focus on doing best afterwards.

·        Basis:-

Learning theory, Education

·        In short:-

“Try again, even if you don’t succeed at first attempt.” Learn!

·        Contributions:-

Strategy formulations has complexities and unpredictability in the process, and the main contribution of “The Learning School” is to offer a solution to deal with the complexities and unpredictability in strategy formulation.

As for the real world example of “The Learning School”, I have chosen the once mobile phone leader “Nokia”. Nokia was at first a leader in mobile phone market and, with the time gone many other mobile companies came up with brilliant ideas, designs and better operating systems. This resulted in the decline of Nokia. Now, Nokia learned from its mistakes and has worked really hard on their mobile designs and has adopted a new operating system from Microsoft, which is Widows Phone. Now, it is rapidly increasing its sales and is progressing steadily. This can be the perfect example for “The Learning School”.


Case Study:-

Today's case study provided us with the information's related to Google, informing us about different activities that Google was undertaking. Everyone had different opinions about Google’s strategies being deliberate or emergent.

How much will Google’s magic last?

i) Would you describe Google’s strategy as being deliberate or more emergent? (list reasons for your answers)

Google has deliberate strategy due to the following reasons:-

·Advertisements are spreaded to the targeted users through softwares which are very carefully executed and planned, which is a deliberate act by Google.

·Use of environment friendly projects like those related to wind energy, cars without drivers which makes us think that Google really cares for the future and environment.

·Google tends to consume very long time in planning, analyzing their products and activities so that it gives them benefits over long term not just for short-run. Google has a very lengthy decision making process.

Google has Emergent strategy due to the following reasons:-

·Apple Inc had a complete autonomous dominance in the smart phone market, that's why Google came up with its own operating system which is “Android”, and its getting popular day by day. That's why it can be considered as an emergent strategy.

·At first, Google was only a search engine but Google wanted to spread their business much wider, So as an emergent strategy it acquired YouTube. It doesn't just wanted to be known as a search engine.

·Google applies emergent strategy to retain its employees too. It provides them with many offers like free meals, massage, etc, which is a very good and effective strategy.


ii) what are the advantages of being experimental?


The advantages for Google being experimental are as follows:-

·By experimenting Google could be able to create attractive designs and innovative products and services, which could give them the competitive advantages over their competitors, and also attract more people towards its products and services.

·Clean and green energy exploration and experimentation could help Google is gaining people’s faith towards it and garner its reputation of being a socially responsible company.

·Innovation and creativity, experimentation and exploration, socially responsible, etc all of these factors would help Google to be successful in all areas it works on.


iii) What are the dis-advantages of being experimental?


The dis-advantages of being experimental for Google are as follows:-

·Involvement in any projects which we are not experts on, has the high probability of becoming a failure, this can also happen with Google.

·The top management has to look all the projects areas that Google is planning to expand, which makes the decision making process very lengthy, it is also indicated by Xooglers.

·They would be vying and arguing between the employees because they will be competing with each others.

4)      What do you think of their strategy, try and justify and support your views?


Google is always trying to experiment, innovate and come up with unique ideas that would make them unique and get them competitive advantage over the rivals. It has got the never ending thirst for market expansion. From just a search engine, now it has acquired YouTube, which is a big hit. It has landed itself in the smart phone market by launching its own operating system “Android”, which is doing very good. It has launched Google Plus to compete with the social networking giant Facebook. It is adapting itself very well in the ever-changing technological world. This makes them the horse of a long race. They have every capabilities to survive and sustain in long-run.

Week 2 - Learning Journal

Journal 2:

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

Any important initiative that are taken by a company’s higher level management involving performance and resource in external environment and which is on behalf of the owners is known as strategic management. It incorporate with developing plans and policies, specifying the company’s objectives, vision & missions, which is mostly in terms of programs & projects, which are designed to achieve these objectives, and afterwards allocating the resources to implement plans and policies, programs & projects.

We can find many quotes given by some brilliant persons to justify our explanation of strategic management.

“If an artist can manage his career, well, that is half the battle to becoming successful.”

                                                                                                     -Martin Dansky

                                                                                                 (Actor, Producer, Director)

“Effective leadership is putting first thing first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.”

                                                                                                      -Stephen R. Covey

                                               (American Educator, Author, Businessman & Key speakers)

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

If we analyze the similarities between business strategy and military strategy, than we can find out numerous similarities. Here are some of them:

·By observing & analyzing both, we can find out the similarities, why neglecting fundamentals leads to failure and why others lead to success. They have this thing in common.

·Continuous study and observation of change & advancement, strategies, history of strategies, adapting such to current situation are the basic things that every top business leaders and top military leaders do. This is another similarity.

·Without any experience one cannot have good intuition, and business strategy includes intuition based on extensive experience, and the same applies to military strategy/ leaders too.

·Better co-ordination of strategies and good communication with strategic alliance is critical for both military & business leaders/ strategy.

And, the differences can be listed as follows:-

·        Purpose are different:-

The main purpose and mission is the ultimate difference between the two types of organizations. It can be simply denoted as “Security Vs. Stakeholders Value”.

·        Progression of Career:-

Another difference between business strategy and military strategy is, the way of career progression. Military has a progression like “The Ladder”, while the business has a progression pattern of “Self-Managed”. Its like “The Ladder Vs. Self-managed”.

·        Organization:-

Another important differences between the military strategy and business strategy is that the military strategy follows the policy of “Command and Control” while the business strategy follows the policy of “Collaborative/Matrix Model”. It can be explained as “Command and Control Vs. Collaborative/Matrix Model”.

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

·        Strategic Analysis:-

The term “strategic analysis” means observing, looking, and analyzing at the events that are taking place outside the organization currently and that would occur in future. There are two questions that it asks us:-

i) How might what’s happening affect you?

ii) What would be your response to likely changes?

·        Strategic Development:-

Strategic development is also known as strategic planning. Strategic development is the basic fundamental to creating and operating a business. Well, its a game plan that sets objectives and goals which can be changed according to the dynamics of the market shift.

·        Strategic Implementation:-

In simple words, strategic implementation is the process that puts the strategies and plans into action to achieve organizational goals and objectives. Without strategic implementation, a strategic plan cannot achieve its desired goals and objectives.

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

It was a fun experience to know about the growth and development story of UK and development of many towns over there in the past couple of years.

Answering the questions was not that hard for me to answer because most of the answers are already there in the case study, but we needed to study seriously all the case studies.

Our group members agreed in all of the answers of the questions.

Case study: Texas in the Shires

i) Why are Milton Keynes, Peterborough and Swindon growing rapidly?

The reasons for the rapid growth of these towns are as follows:-

·        All of the towns has access to train links and motor ways to London.

·        Commercial property and housing cost are cheaper than London.

·        Both Swindon and Peterborough are close to Oxford and Cambridge.

·        Due to the closeness to motorways and railways, many big companies were attracted to these cities.

· In the 1980s, Milton Keynes and Peterborough had advertisements that were done to attract businesses and families. This helped these two cities to develop very rapidly.

· Milton Keynes had large lands where the roads could be built while, Swindon has building sites which is helping it to expand.

ii) Why might their growth strategy be mad?

Their growth strategy may be considered mad because, now they have centralized their efforts to attract more high skilled employees and students, and are building restaurants, bars and universities. They are losing their homely suburban feel which was their forte. Oxford and Cambridge are very close to them, so the idea to build universities is ludicious.

iii) What do you think – is it a good strategy to continue with?

Due to the cheap property and housing, these towns have many immigrants living there. The immigrants and locals living together creates diversity. This will help them both to adapt and learn about each-others culture. By attracting many businesses, we can say that the town have made the best utilization of their advantage of being close to the train lines and motor ways.

iv) Would you like to live in any of these towns? (list reasons why and why not)?

I first reason why i would like to live in any of these towns would be cheaper housing and property. The other things that attracts me to these towns are closeness of transportation options like motor ways and train links. Employment opportunities would also be higher their of the much attraction of the businesses in these towns.

Meanwhile, the only reason that would keep me away from living in any of these towns would be the noise pollution. These towns are still under construction which means there would be a lot of noise while the construction work takes place. There would not be the environment where i would like to live or work.

REFERENCE

About strategic management, [online] accessed from www.strategicmanagement.net  accessed o0n 2012/12/02

About management, [online] accessed from www.managementstudyguide.com/strategic-management.htm   accessed on 2012/12/03

About management, [online] accessed from onlinelibrary.wiley.com › ... › Strategic Management accessed on 2012/12/03

Week 1 - Learning Journal

JOURNAL 1:
A.   What are you hoping to learn from this module?

(Think generally about both knowledge & skills)

From the module “strategy choice & impact” the first thing that I am hoping to learn is about strategy, what it means, its types, its impact, different factors needed to be considered, best possible planning & development of strategies and its implementations in real world and business scenarios. I am also hoping to learn the basic knowledge and skills that are required to be a good strategist from this module.

B. How might this module be useful to you after passing out of institutions?

(Think specifically about what you want to do when you have)

Establishing any own business will be the main objective for me after passing out of this institution. Hence, I am very positive about learning the important skills and ideas that would be useful for me to run and establish my business from this module. It would be useful in many ways. For a business man, good strategy development and planning is very important and then the ability to implement those strategies is also very important, this module would help me achieving this. This module can help me analyzing & observing my business scenario and would help me in developing the best strategy for the scenario and implementing it in possible best way.

C. Describe three things you will do that will help you to learn and to get good marks on this module?

The first and foremost thing that I would do is try to attend all of the lectures, and if I miss any of the lecturer and class-mate after the class and discuss on the topics that I have had missed in my absentees, it would help me to be up-to-date with the cause of study. Being a student, researching helps us very much for learning the module very well. I will do all possible researching on the topics and modules on the internet, different reference books, reading journals, etc. I think all of these things that I am planning to do would help me in getting good marks in this module.

D. Describe three things that others (your lecturer, classmates, others…) could do that would help you to learn and to get good marks on this module.

The things that my lecturer could do to help me learn and secure good marks in this module could be helping me to understand and be clear the problems and queries that I would have regarding any topics or lessons in and after the classes. My classmates could also help me in understanding and be clear on any topic or questions that I could have problems. The lecturers and my classmate can help me to recover and be up-to-date with the course of study in case I am absent or unable to take any lecture. Good environment at home can also help me learn better & secure good marks in exams, which can be created by parents.