Strategic Management Discussion
There are seven different questions. Each question must have at least 250 words. Please have each reference at the end of each answer.
Defining Strategic Management
Choose ONE (1) of the questions below and answer (in your own words please – do not copy from the text):
1 – Explain the three components of strategic management (Figure 1.1)
2 – Find a company with a “mission statement”. Pick a commercial company that is not routinely discussed. Select a company with a mission statement and tell us whether or not you think the statement is constructive and provides employees with motivation and strategic direction. When reading the mission statement does it reveal the nature of the business? Include the mission statement in your post in italics.
3 – Describe the differences between a vision statement, values statement and mission statement and why are they all important?
Assessing External and Internal Environments
Select ONE (1) of the following questions to answer:
1 – What is meant by the industry life cycle stages and give an example of a company that has moved through the stages.
2 – Explain Porter’s five competitive forces. What are they and what is their importance?
3 – What is the meaning of VRIO framework and why is it important?
4 – What are the two types of benchmarking and when are they used?
Company objectives and SWOT
1 – Managerial objectives are essential. What are these objectives for and how does the SMART concept help the process?
2 – What are the most important principles of a SWOT analysis and when should it be used?
Business Level Strategy
Select ONE (1) of the questions listed here to discuss this week.
1 – Describe Michael Porter’s four generic strategies. Give examples of a company that adopted each one and explain why.
2 – Describe a company’s value chain and explain the various elements of the chain. Where does marketing fall in the chain? Choose a company and explain the elements of its chain.
3 – What is meant by best-cost differentiation?
Corporate Level Strategy and Global Level Strategy
Select ONE (1) of the questions below for your discussion:
1 – Why do companies merge or acquire another company? Give a real example of this process (one company buying another) and explain whether it was successful or a failure.
2 – What is the principal behind the “growth share matrix”? What is the advantage of this process? Give an example of a “question mark” company.
3 – Explain the four strategies that companies must choose from when expanding into the international market. Give an example of a company who expanded into the international market and the strategy that they used (and explain why).
Strategy Implementation and Control
Choose ONE (1) of the following questions for this discussion:
1 – Describe the four basic types of organizational structure and give an example of a company that has adopted each type of structure and why that structure is best for them.
2 – What is the McKinsey 7S framework and explain the elements.
3 – What is meant by “soft strategy”?
Strategic Leadership
Choose ONE (1) of the following questions for this discussion:
1 – What are the four leadership styles as outlined by James McGregor Burns (1978) and explain each one and when it would be effective?
2 – Evaluate Bennis’s (1993) opinion of the differences between leaders and managers (Figure 11.2). Do you agree with his view? Should most positions share these roles? i.e. should a manager also know how to lead and should a leader have managerial skills to do the best job?
3 – As organizations grow and change over time, new strategies and possibly new cultural changes are essential. What is Kotter’s opinion on the eight necessary stages of this type of change?
