Chapter 2: Strategic Leadership

Question 1

what strategic leaders do:
__% face to face meetings

Answer 1

67

Question 2

being a strategic leader is a function of _____ _____ and _____

Answer 2

innate abilities
learning

Question 3

leadership actions reflect (2)

Answer 3

1. age, education, career experiences
2. personal interpretations of situations

Question 4

upper echelons theory

Answer 4

organizational outcomes reflect values of top mg team –> orgs are reflections of their top execs

Question 5

great companies transition from average performance to _____ _____ _____,
have stock returns __x the market,
and have consistent _____ of _____

Answer 5

sustained competitive advantage,
7,
patterns of leadership

Question 6

strategic leaders: level 5 pyramid

Answer 6

level 1 (bottom of the pyramid): highly capable individual
2: contributing team member
3: competent manager
4: effective leader
5: executive

Question 7

level 1: highly capable individual capabilites

Answer 7

productive contributions through motivation, talent, knowledge, etc.

Question 8

level 2: contributing team member capabilities

Answer 8

uses high individual capability to work effectively with others

Question 9

level 3: competent manager capabilities

Answer 9

efficient, effective organization of resources

Question 10

level 4: effective leader capabilites

Answer 10

presents compelling vision and mission

Question 11

level 5: executive capabilities

Answer 11

builds enduring greatness through willpower and humility

Question 12

vision

Answer 12

captures an org’s aspiration, spelling out what the org wants to accomplish in the long-term

Question 13

an effective vision… (3)

Answer 13

1. expressed as a statement
2. should be forward-looking, inspiring
3. should provide meaning for employees in pursuit of org goals

Question 14

research shows that vision statements and firm performance are related; the relationship is strongest when… (3)

Answer 14

1. vision is customer-oriented
2. internal stakeholders help define the vision
3. org structures align with the vision (ex. compensation)

Question 15

product-oriented vision statements

Answer 15

define a business in term of goods and services provided

they force managers to take a myopic view, hindering understanding of the competitive landscape
(ex. US railroad companies SHOULD have been focused on transportation/logistics)

Question 16

customer-oriented vision statements

Answer 16

define business in terms of providing solutions to consumer needs, understanding those needs and the means of meeting those needs may change

Question 17

mission

Answer 17

what an organization actually does, defining how the vision ought to be accomplished

Question 18

organizational core values, such as ethical standards that govern behavior provide _____ to the _____ and serve as _______ to keep the company on track.

Answer 18

stability to the strategy
guardrails

Question 19

_____ _____ are key in the strategy process

Answer 19

strategic leaders

Question 20

strategy formulation

Answer 20

choice of strategy; where and how to compete

Question 21

strategy implementation

Answer 21

organization/coordination/integration – essentially how the work gets done

Question 22

3 distinct areas where strategy process is implemented:

Answer 22

1. corporate
2. business
3. functional

Question 23

corporate strategy

Answer 23

where to compete; industry, market, geography

Question 24

business strategy

Answer 24

how to compete; differentiation, value innovation, etc.

Question 25

functional strategy

Answer 25

how to implement business strategy; the actions/activities

Question 26

strategic /scenario planning

Answer 26

formal, top-down approaches to organizational strategy; data-driven

Question 27

strategy as planned emergence

Answer 27

begins with strategic plan, but less formal and allows for bottom-up emergent strategy

Question 28

AFI Framework in Strategic Planning

Answer 28

analysis -- external/internal; vision/mission/values formulation -- corporate/bus/functional strat implementation -- structure, control, corporate governance, business ethics

Question 29

4 shortcomings of the top-down approach

Answer 29

1. may not adapt well to change 2. formulation separate from implementation 3. information flows one-way 4. leaders' future visions can be wrong

Question 30

scenario planning

Answer 30

asking "what if" questions and deriving strategic responses; plans for best and worst case scenario (ex. considering naw laws, demographic shifts, economic change, etc.)

Question 31

AFI Framework in Scenario Planning

Answer 31

Analysis -- identify future scenarios Formulation -- develop strategic plans --> create strategic options Implementation -- execute dominant plan

Question 32

strategic decision making can be limited due to our cognitive limitations, such as choosing "good enough" versus _____ solutions, aka _____ vs _____.

Answer 32

optimal satisficing vs. maximizing

Question 33

managers can become better at decision making through using _____ and _____ to help make sense of uncertain information.

Answer 33

theories frameworks

Question 34

ways to avoid decision biases (2)

Answer 34

1. promote diversity in decision groups 2. collect broader ranges of information, explicitly stating underlying assumptions and questioning others

Question 35

surface-level vs deep-level diversity

Answer 35

ex. demographics vs. ex. values, beliefs, personalities

Question 36

illusion of control

Answer 36

our tendency to overestimate our ability to control events

Question 37

escalating commitment

Answer 37

continuing to support a project when it shows signs of being unsuccessful

Question 38

conformation bias

Answer 38

searching for info to support existing beliefs

Question 39

reason by analogy bias

Answer 39

tendency to use simple analogies to make sense of complex issues

Question 40

representativeness bias

Answer 40

drawing conclusions based on small samples

Question 41

groupthink

Answer 41

when opinions coalesce around a leader without critical evaluation

Question 42

dialectic inquiry

Answer 42

alternatives are explored and compromises are discussed

Question 43

using devil's advocacy to improve decision making (5 steps)

Answer 43

1. team 1 generates a course of action 2. team 2 play's devil's advocate 3. team 1 revises their proposal based on team 2's input 4. team 2 questions criticizes the revised course and team 1 continues revision 5. both teams come to agreement

Question 44

using dialectic inquiry to improve decision making (3 steps)

Answer 44

1. team 1 generates a thesis; team 2 generates antithesis 2. debate 3. synthesis -- executive makes decision