Strategic leadership Flashcards
1
Q
Strategy should…
A
- Identify actions and activities
- Position with respect to rivals
- Not be confused with operating efficiency
- Coordinate actions through the whole organization (not isolated initiatives)
- Involves trade offs
2
Q
What are the 5 elements of the strategy diamond?
A
- Staging and pacing - speed and sequence of moves (eg. Expansions, initiatives, new released)
- Differentiators - eg. Image, customizations, pricing, reliability
- Arenas - where will we be active and with what emphasis (eg. Product categories, distribution channels, geo area, market segment)
- Vehicles - how will we get there/grow? (Eg. Internal development, joint ventures, alliances, acquisitions)
- Economic logic - how will make a profit? (Eg. Through low costs and economies of scale, high costs and great service)
3
Q
What are the 3 processes for leading? (To develop and administer strategy)
A
- Planned process
- Visioned process
- Discovered process
4
Q
What is planned process?
A
- assumes future can be predicted
- decided and implemented by top management
- “rational planning”
5
Q
What is the value of planned process?
A
- High certainty
- Good for stable/mature industries
- Good when analysis identifies problems and necessary actions
6
Q
What are the weaknesses of planned process?
A
- Assumes available info
- Bad in uncertainty or volatile conditions
- Top management is often disconnected from what’s happening
7
Q
What is visioned process? (Also outline 3 elements of vision)
A
- the key to superior strategy execution is ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
- top management provides vision
- vision: core values, core purpose and LT objectives
- formal rules are sufficient
8
Q
What is the value of visioned process?
A
- More applicable to everyone
2. Increased commitment
9
Q
What are the weaknesses of visioned process?
A
- Fluffy and indirect on its own
- Hard to translate into behaviours at all levels
- Tunnel vision
- More public accountability
10
Q
What is discovered process?
A
- anyone can generate strategic ideas
- top management chooses the best
- assumes that environment is too complex or volatile to come to a consensus on strategy
- all about continually revising the strategy
11
Q
What is the value of discovered process?
A
- Strategy evolves while company adapts to environment
2. Adaptability can lead to first mover advantage
12
Q
What are the weaknesses of discovered process?
A
- Managers can block ideas that don’t align with their own
- Limiting and demeaning ideas based on past (too focused on stability)
- How do you get people to support their own decisions and actually contribute?
13
Q
What are elements of a good strategy?
A
- It involves focus (aka you CHOSE)
- Identifies critical issues (pivot points)
- Focuses energy on those pivot points
