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Strategy Readings
Strategy Readings
56
Business
Undergraduate 3
03/31/2009

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Cards

Term
The 7 S's
Definition
Structure, Strategy, Skills, Systems, Staff, Style, Superordinate goals
Term
orginizational culture
Definition
the specific collection of norms, standards, and values that are shared by members of an organization and affect the way an organization does business. *It is the product of strategic leadership!
Term
socialization
Definition
term used to describe how people learn organizational structure.
Term
intertia
Definition
organizational cultures can promote this, managers become used to the way they operate and rarely recognize the important effect structure has on cultural norms and values.
Term
successful organizations show these 3 common value sets:
Definition
values promoting a bias for action, nature of an organizations mission (staying with what they know best), and how to operate the organization
Term
3 steps a company must do to establish an orginaztional climate that emphasizes ethics:
Definition
top managers have to use their leadership position to incorporate an ethical dimension into the values they stress, ethical values must be incorporated into the company's mission statement, ethical values must be acted on.
Term
4 steps to thinking through an ethical decision:
Definition
evaluate a proposed strategic decision from an ethical point and look to see which stakeholders you affect, judge the ethics of the proposed strategic decison, establish moral intent, engage in ethical behavior.
Term
2 issues that are above the rest as current change topics:
Definition
stimulate orginizational innovation, create a learning organization
Term
3 sources of innovation:
Definition
structural variables (ex. organic structure), all innovative companys have similar cultures (encourage experimentation), Human Resources (idea champions)
Term
strucural variables to innovation:
Definition
organic structure, long tenure in management, innovation is nurtured where there are slack resources, interunit communication is high in innovative organizations
Term
Idea Champions
Definition
Individuals who take innovations and actively and enthusiastically promote the idea, build support, overcome resistence, and ensure that the innovation is implimented. (Human Resources part of sources of innovation)
Term
single loop learning
Definition
(most organizations engage in this) When errors are detected, the correction process relies on past routines and present policies.
Term
double loop learning
Definition
when an error is detected, its corrected in ways that involve the modifaction of the orginizations obejectives, policies, and standard routines.
Term
5 characteristics of a learning organization:
Definition
shared vision, discard old way of thinking, members think of all processes and activities and functions etc as a system of interrelationships, People communicate without fear of criticism, people sublimate their personal self-interest and fragmented departmental intrests to work together to achieve a shared vision.
Term
3 problems inherent in traditional organizations:
Definition
fragmentation, overemphasis on competition, reactiveness(dont put out fires, prevent them).
Term
3 ways managers can make their firms learning organizations:
Definition
establish a strategy, redesign the organiztions structure(flatten it), reshape the organizations culture
Term
4 basic strategies to enter and compete in the international enviroment:
Definition
International strategy, multidomestic, global, transnational
Term
international strategy:
Definition
try to create value by transferring valuable skills and products to foreign markets where indigenous competitors lack those skills and product. It fails to exploit experience curves effects.(Centralize product development) only makes sense when there is weak pressure for local responsivness. (cost is high for international)
Term
multidometic strategy:
Definition
try to achieve maximum local responsiveness. Disadvantages are that it does not experience learning curve effects, does not transfer distinctive competencies to foreign markets. It also costs a lot.
Term
global strategy
Definition
focus on increasing profitability by reaping the cost reductions that come from experience curve effects and locations economies. This pursues a low cost strategy. There is very little local responsivness tho. customer responsiveness is low too.
Term
transnational strategy
Definition
exploit experience based cost economies and location economies, transfer distinctive eompetencies within the company, and also pay attention to local responsiveness. (basically trying to achieve low cost and differentiation simultaneously). This is very hard to implement however.
Term
Icarus Paradox
Definition
tendency of an org. to continue to rely on the skills and capabilities that made them successful even though thos capabilities do not mathc the new competetive enviroment.
Term
strategic change
Definition
The movement of a company away from its present staet toward some desired future state to increase it competetive advantage.
Term
3 major kinds of strategic change:
Definition
Reengineering, Restructuring, Innovation
Term

Reengineering:

Definition
fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary meaures of performance such as cost, quality, service, and speed. (dont focus on functions focus on processes)
Term
Restructuring
Definition

Step 1. Reduce level of differentiation. by eliminating divisions, depts, or levels in heirarchy.

Step 2. Downsizes by reducing number of employees to reduce operating costs.

Term
innovation (1 of 3 strategic changes like reengineering)
Definition
process by which they use skills ade resources to create new tech or goods and services so they change change to adapt to customers. Has a high level of risk.
Term
Stages in the Change process
Definition

1. Determining the need for change

2. Determining the obstacles of change

3. Implementing change

4. Evaluating change

Term
Determining the need for change
Definition

managers realize there is a gap between desired performance and actual performance. Can be discovered by swot analysis.

Term
7 rules to turning great strategy into great performance.
Definition

1. Keep it simple, make it concrete.

2. Debate assumtions, not forecasts

3. Use rigorous framework, speak a common language.

4. Discuss Resource Deployments Early.

5. Clearly identify priorities

6. Continuously monitor performance.

7. Reward and Develop Execution Capabilities.

Term
Rule 1. Keep it simple, make it concrete
Definition
Make sure your strategy is clear so all levels can see it. Strategy is often confused with vision or aspiration.
Term
Rule 2. Debate Assumtions, Not forecasts
Definition

Higher levels of management Overestimate what can be expected in the long term to make them look good, while lower levels of management underestimate what they can deliver in the near turn so they dont look bad if they dont reach their goals.(Hockey Stick Charts)

Use corporate center dialogue in economic reality. (Fact-based discussion to get rid of unrealistic goals)

Term
Rule 3. Use a rigorous framework, speak a common language
Definition

First step is for the corporate center and the unit team to agree on the size and growth of each profit pool. (PP's = long term performance is tied to total profit available in each market and its share of the profit)

Term

Our understanding of leadership has focused on these 5 variables:

Definition

1.Leader effectiveness

2. leader characteristics and style

3. follower characteristics

4. leader behavior

5. leadership context

Term
leader characteristics and style
Definition

a. Strong traits dont guarantee a strong leader. Traits predict leadership more in weak situations than in strong situations.

b. Experience not a very powerful predictor of leadership effectiveness.

c. Regardless of actual effectivness, people characterize leaders when they are smart, strong verbal skills, etc.

d. low self-monitors tend to meet every leadership challenge with the same response. High self monitors are able to adjust their style to the situation. 

Term
Follower characteristics (leader)
Definition

a. Leader effectivness is enhanced by having followers with good follwer behavior

b. Leaders choose favorites, those who are favored tend to have higher performance and greater satisfaction with the leader.

Term
Leader Behavior
Definition

a. actions of a leader are influenced by a followers personality, experience, ability and motivation.

b. Proper amount of employee participation in decision making is influenced by situational factors(ex. quality requirements, subordinate commitment)

Term
Leadership context
Definition

a. no leadership style is consistantly effective you must use best style for context ur in.

b. Key situational variables to determine leadership effectiveness include task structure, position power, leader-member relations, organizational culture.

c. Formal leaders dont always make the difference. There are substitutes for leadership and neutralizers that can negate the formal leaders influence.

Term
13th piece of knowledge about leaders:
Definition
Before we can lead anyone, we must lead ourselves! (u570)
Term
timing results when ASAP occurs:
Definition

A - Anticipation

S - Speed

A - Agility

P - Perceptiveness

AS provide opportunity to capitalize on opportunities. AP provide quick impov for discontinuous change.

Term
Anticipation
Definition

What-if scenarios: offensive-(indicate emerging market, product, and service opportunity)ex. amazon 

defensive - (reduce likelihood that an event will be detrimental and management will be blind sighted)ex. IBM

QUEST- Quick Enviromental Scanning Technique provides a systematic way to identify future events that could affect their firms.

Three I's of anticipatory management:

Inquires: What future may hold. Identifying certain possibilities can allow management to direct its attention to certain events.

Insights: Allow management to see the world differently, acting as a catalyst for new initiatives

Initiatives: that are incorporated in the firms plans and strategies to position itself and capitalize on emerging opportunites and prevent potential problems.

Most Succesful managers spend their time preventing problems rather than fixing them.

Term

QUEST

Definition
(Part of anticpatory management) Quick Enviromental Scanning Technique provides a systematic way to identify future events that could affect their firms.
Term

Three I's of anticipatory management:

Definition

Inquires: What future may hold. Identifying certain possibilities can allow management to direct its attention to certain events.

Insights: Allow management to see the world differently, acting as a catalyst for new initiatives

Initiatives: that are incorporated in the firms plans and strategies to position itself and capitalize on emerging opportunites and prevent potential problems.

Term
Speed: A Decisive advantage in the race to win customers.
Definition

real time is shortest possible lapse between idea and action

 

When change is the problem, speed is the solution.

 

Four races against the clock:

1. developing innovations in tech., products, or work proccess.

2. getting innovation off the drawing board and into hands of customers.

3. increasing the efficiency or quality of the inovation or developing new applications.

4. using what has been learned in 1-3 to start to make new innovations.

 

Speed must be handled with finesse. "Extend" firms headlights or improve steering to aviod objects in path before hitting them. No matter how fast something is, it cannot be productive without the right software.

Term

Four races against the clock (speed):

Definition

1. developing innovations in tech., products, or work proccess.

2. getting innovation off the drawing board and into hands of customers.

3. increasing the efficiency or quality of the inovation or developing new applications.

4. using what has been learned in 1-3 to start to make new innovations.

Term
real time
Definition
the shortest possible lapse between idea and action, between initiation and result.
Term
Agility
Definition

Ability to identify, develop, and intro new products and services.

 

Agility is not a survival skill, it is for thriving in the years ahead.

 

Multi-Domensional competency -

ability to identify, develop, and inro new products and services.

ability to respond to customers concerns.

ability to change from one process to another.

ability to compress the cycle time associated with recieving an order (all the way through).

 

Focus on what really matters: Enhances ability to respond quickly when variances occur. The sooner variance is recognized, the quicker the firm can respond.

 

Sensing windows of opportunities: windows are opening and closign quicker than ever.

 

Lead time: 4 types of firms

(Lead time determines whether the firm will be an agile leader in the marketplace)

Laggard - miss or ignore first signs of change in mktplace

Reactive - Defensive agility, sense change in enough time to keep firm alive, but at a high cost.

Proactive firms - leading indicators are looked at to identify changes within and outside the firm (has lead time which gives them time to respond to changes positively).

Vanguard- higher degree of perceptiveness that allows them to spend time always preparing for a different tomorrow. (prevent problems rather than solve them).

 

Triage Management: Decisiveness develops corporate agility.

1. size up the situation 2. determine what is truly critical and urgent  3. take swift action can make the difference between life and death.

Caution against paralysis by analysis (dont analyse too much, you have to make a decison!)

 

Term

Lead time: 4 types of firms

 

 

Definition

Lead time: 4 types of firms

(Lead time determines whether the firm will be an agile leader in the marketplace)

Laggard - miss or ignore first signs of change in mktplace

Reactive - Defensive agility, sense change in enough time to keep firm alive, but at a high cost.

Proactive firms - leading indicators are looked at to identify changes within and outside the firm (has lead time which gives them time to respond to changes positively).

Vanguard- higher degree of perceptiveness that allows them to spend time always preparing for a different tomorrow. (prevent problems rather than solve them).

Term

Triage Management:

Definition
Decisiveness develops corporate agility.

1. size up the situation 2. determine what is truly critical and urgent  3. take swift action can make the difference between life and death.

Caution against paralysis by analysis (dont analyse too much, you have to make a decison!)

Term
Perceptiveness:
Definition

The ability to time corporate initiatives:

offensive timing initiatives: when to start venture, when to introduce a new product and new process, when to enter a new territory and when to initiate major expansion.

Defensive timing initiatives: when to drop product, when to exit existing markets, when to consolidate ops and when to sell part or all of venture.

 

Firms with perceptiveness are able to sense a window being formed, position themselves to serve the market when the window opens, capitalize on the market, then exit before the window closes.

 

Must be slightly ahead of its time, not way ahead of its time. First to market firms are at risk bc of lack of resources for rapid growth. Firms that are late are at risk too bc there may be nothign left for them.

 

Many firms are adopting responsive rather than proactive type of strategy. (bc of difficulty forecasting the future)

 

Futuring - instead of rigidly planning for the long-term, focus on identifying the position the firm desires to occupy in the future. (ties ASAP together)

 

Best way to predict the future is to invent it.

 

Insights into possible future situations give incentive for contingency plans.

Contingency plans must be developed when :

1. the probability of being derailed is too high

2. the consequences of being derailed are too high

3. both conditions exist

Term

offensive timing initiatives:

 

 

Defensive timing initiatives:

 

Definition

offensive timing initiatives: when to start venture, when to introduce a new product and new process, when to enter a new territory and when to initiate major expansion.

Defensive timing initiatives: when to drop product, when to exit existing markets, when to consolidate ops and when to sell part or all of venture.

Term

Contingency plans must be developed when :

 

Definition

Contingency plans must be developed when :

1. the probability of being derailed is too high

2. the consequences of being derailed are too high

3. both conditions exist

Term

2 things to know about corporate timing

 

Definition

1. the accelerating rate of change will increase the need for asap competencies in the years ahead.

2. There will be times when anticipation and speed will provide the opportunity to capitalize actively on emerging opportunities. However, in other times such as discontinuos change, the firm may need to improvise using perceptiveness and agility.

Term
Thing to be taken from The Road not taken by Robert Frost:
Definition

Sigh - He wishes he could have known this stuff when he was younger, but he is still glad he knows it now.

 

Knowledge is timeless

 

I = you, everyone

 

you have all made the difference.

Term

(Contemporary Change issues for todays managers)

Timeline

Definition

1980's - TQM

early 1990's - Reengineering

late 1990's - Learning Organizations

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