Strategic capability

Question 1

Strategic Capability

Answer 1

An organisations ability to survive ad prosper depends on its strategic capability, defined as the suitabikity of its resouces and competences.

Question 2

Threshold competences

Answer 2

Those activities and processes needed to meet the customers minimum requirements

Question 3

Threshold resources

Answer 3

Those needed to meet the customers minimum requirements, tangible or intangible.

Question 4

Core competencies

Answer 4

The activities and processes through which resources are deployed in such a way as to achieve a competitive advantage in ways that others cannot imitate or obtain

Question 5

Unique resources

Answer 5

Those resources that critically underpin competitive advantage and that others cannot easily imitate or obtain. Tangible or intangible.

Question 6

Competitive advantage

Answer 6

The ability to egnerate greater returns than those of competitors over the long term as opposed to short term tactics which provide a temporary advantage.

Question 7

What are the four qualities per Johnson for a competitive advantage?

Answer 7

Value - placed on by the customer or organisation

Rarity - A single unique resourceor core competency may have the potential to create competitive aadvantage. Rarity ensures competitors do not have access

Inimitability - Difficult to imitate

Organisational support - Supporting capabilities. For example could have a good product but not have a good sales team to promote it.

Question 8

Dynamic capabilities

Answer 8

An organisations abilities to develop and change competences to meet the needs of rapidly changing environments

Question 9

Knowledge

Answer 9

Can be. an important resource and therefore constitute a competence or underpin many competences.

Question 10

The aim of knowledge management is

Answer 10

to exploit current knowledge and create new knowledge that may be exploited

Question 11

Tactic knowledge

Answer 11

the knowledge locked inside ones mind

Question 12

Porters value claim model

Answer 12

Used to assess the strategic capabilities of an organisation. as it offers an overview of the organisation, what it does and how its activities and value to the end customer.

Question 13

Value activities

Answer 13

The means by which a firm creates value in it’s products.

Question 14

Primary activities

Answer 14

Directly linked to production, sales, marketing, delivery and service.

Question 15

Support activities

Answer 15

Provide purchased inputs, HR, Infrastructure, technology to support primary activities.

Can help corporate and responsibility and sustainability.

eg - if an organisation claims to have recyclable packaging the procurement must know the materials need to be recyclable.

Question 16

Linkages and coordination

Answer 16

A more costy product design may reduce after sales support and warrantee repairs.

A JIT system requires smooth coordination between departments.

Question 17

Human capital theory

Answer 17

Invetsment in Human Resource Development is like an investment but requires evidence of a benefit before being done and restricts any development that have an uncertain possibility although these could still be of a benefit.

eg deskilling and a careful job design.

Question 18

Developmental humanistic

Answer 18

Emplowerment and lifelong learning. Productivity through meaningful work.

Question 19

HRD

Answer 19

Benefits the
Individual - qualifications, experience and pay
Organisation - recruitment, staff turnover, adaptation to change and productivity are enhanced by HRD.
National economic level - link between general education and economic growth.

Question 20

Competency frameworks

Answer 20

Concerned with the behavious related to the job and the performance of that job.

Can be used for recruitment, managing performance, setting benchmarks for rewards and promotion, training and development (identify the training needs of staff).

Question 21

Workplace learning

Answer 21

HRD suggest that learning is fundamental if an organisation is to cope with environmental change, uncertainty and complexity.

Workplace learning includes:
Organisational
Knowledge Management
The learning organisation
E-Learning.

Question 22

Knowledge work

Answer 22

A major part of the economies of developed countries.

Resulted in a shift away from procedure and control to a looser and more flexible system based on problem solving and empowerment.

Service industries more important to developed countries as a knowledge worker is a vital feature of modern business.

Question 23

Knowledge work implications

Answer 23

A vital asset and crucial to business success. Therefore organisations must be able to acquire, organise and exploit the knowledge if they are to survive.

Exists in the brains of workers and is controlled by them and therefore workers should be organised in a way that will stimulate both learning and creativity.

Question 24

The move to knowledge work

Answer 24

Question 25

Impact on the organisation

Answer 25

Question 26

Date, information and knowledge

Answer 26

Data is reorganised to create information, knowledge is patterns of information that are strategically useful.

Question 27

Data

Answer 27

Typically copnsists of individual facts but in a business context could include more complex info such as opinions, reactions and beliefs. A quantity fo data no matter how large is not information.

Question 28

Information

Answer 28

Data that is organised in some useful way. For example, a bunch of invoices are data until you organise it in a way to create information such as sales for the year, sales for each product and to each customer. This information is useful to management.

Question 29

Difference between information and knowledge

Answer 29

Pattern - knowledge tends to originate in the discovery of trends or patterns in information. For example, if in the information of invoices a certain comination of goods were purchased by a certain type of customer, this could influence overall stretegy of cross selling by creating customer profiles based off of this. Context - A sales invoice is useless out of context, for example, a marketing person finds an invoice, this is of little help, if they found a list of customers in order of annual turnover though, that. would be more interesting. The information is sueful outside of it's original context.

Question 30

Progression from data to knowledge

Answer 30

Question 31

Scale of operations

Answer 31

The progression from data to knowledge is not the same in all circumstances. In one context something may be information and in another it be knowledge. for example, if a customer is 4 months behind paying, that is information, but being aware that. this customer is a subsidary of the businesses largest customer that. always ays on time, this is knowledge that would prevent you from starting legal procedings.

Question 32

Value chain

Answer 32

Question 33

Value network

Answer 33

As well as managing a valuechain, a competitive advantage can be sought by managing the relationships with the value chains of it's suppliers and customers. an organisations value chain is not bounded by an organisations borders it is connected. by a value network.

Question 34

Define value network

Answer 34

The set of interorganisational links and relationships that are. necessary to create a product or service

Question 35

Relationships in the value network

Answer 35

it is possible for large organisations to exercise power over suppliers and customers in the value network by using their bargaining power. to achieve preferential purchase and selling prices. Careful management of these relationships can promote innovation and the creation of knowledge between organisations. e.g - when a restaurant sells a meal the quality of it's ingredients are determined by the grower. The grower has added value and this value is important to the customer.

Question 36

SWOT analysis

Answer 36

Summarises the key issues from the business environment and the strategic capability of an organisation that are most likely to impact strategy and development.

Question 37

SWOT in action

Answer 37

Remember that the orgabisations strengths and weaknesses relate to it's strategic capabilities whereare opportunities and threats come from the external environment. By conducting the SWOT an organisation is aiming to match it's strengths with the available market oppotunities that it can exploit.. Strngths that do not match up to an opportunity are of limited use whilst opportunities which do not have. any matching strengths are of immediate value. Once conducted a SWOT should form the starting point from which future strategic options can be assessed. convert weaknesses into strengths or a threat into an opportunity.