...University of Pennsylvania Management 223 - Business Policy & STRATEGY Spring Semester, 1999 Course Description and Syllabus Instructors: Phanish Puranam (PP) & Michael G. Jacobides (MGJ) Office: 2061(PP) /2055(MGJ) SH-DH (Management Dept. Suite) Tel: 898-1231 (PP) / 898-1224 (MGJ) Email: puranam@management.wharton.upenn.edu jacobides@management.wharton.upenn.edu Class Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays 12:00 to 1:30pm Office Hours: By appointment (PP) Course Overview This course focuses on strategic management and strategic decision making and examines issues central to the long-term and short-term competitive position of the company or division / business unit. Students are placed in the role of key decision-makers or their advisors and asked to solve problems related to the development or maintenance of the competitive advantage of the firm. We start the course by looking at strategy at the level of the business unit, which is the fundamental level for competitive analysis. The perspective taken is of a manager in a given unit with particular assets, capabilities and competitive challenges. We look at industry analysis, examine the sources of competitive advantage, and explore generic strategies: How can we analyze the competitive environment, and what are the basic options for business-unit level strategy? What are the bases of competitive advantage? What is the nature of the value chain? Following that, we look at how business units...
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...characteristics of E-Land’s knowledge management? As you can see from Fig.1)KM model, by constructing the cycle which integrates performance management, knowledge management and learning organizations, BSC process is used as the Knowledge Management tool. This structure creatively applies structural characteristics of BSC to Knowledge Management and is expected to systematically raise knowledge workers’ productivity. KM formed the cornerstone of E-Land Group’s operational excellence strategy. Following four reasons are ① Capturing and sharing best practices: The Chief Knowledge Officer’s team created an integrated KM/performance management structure. Key components included tools and processes for capturing and sharing best practices and lessons learned-specifically, an online KMS is fully integrated with E-Land’s BSC. ② CSO (Chief Strategic Officer)’s communication: To further its knowledge management, a CSO communicates the company’s vision, mission, and strategy to the SBUs ③ Knowledge capital / Value creation connection: E-Land also makes the knowledge capital/value creation connection in ways other than through its CSO and CKO roles. Every year, business leaders use BSC indicators to prepare a Knowledge Asset Management (KAM), an assessment of each unit’s process infrastructure and competencies. They then use this assessment to set mid-to long-range corporate strategy. ④ All employees’ participation and awareness: All employees participate in corporate and SBU evaluation meetings...
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...Introduction to Knowledge Management A light bulb in the socket is worth two in the pocket. —Bill Wolf (1950–2001) This chapter provides an introduction to the study of knowledge management (KM). A brief history of knowledge management concepts is outlined, noting that much of KM existed before the actual term came into popular use. The lack of consensus over what constitutes a good definition of KM is addressed and the concept analysis technique is described as a means of clarifying the conceptual confusion that still persists over what KM is or is not. The multidisciplinary roots of KM are enumerated together with their contributions to the discipline. The two major forms of knowledge, tacit and explicit, are compared and contrasted. The importance of KM today for individuals, for communities of practice, and for organizations are described together with the emerging KM roles and responsibilities needed to ensure successful KM implementations. Learning Objectives 1. Use a framework and a clear language for knowledge management concepts. 2. Define key knowledge management concepts such as intellectual capital, organizational learning and memory, knowledge taxonomy, and communities of practice using concept analysis. 3. Provide an overview of the history of knowledge management and identify key milestones. 4. Describe the key roles and responsibilities required for knowledge management applications. 2 Chapter 1 Introduction The ability to manage knowledge is crucial in today’s...
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...Academy of Management Learning & Education, 2005, Vol. 4, No. 1, 75–91. ........................................................................................................................................................................ Bad Management Theories Are Destroying Good Management Practices SUMANTRA GHOSHAL Advanced Institute of Management Research (AIM), UK and London Business School The corporate scandals in the United States have stimulated a frenzy of activities in business schools around the world. Deans are extolling how much their curricula focus on business ethics. New courses are being developed on corporate social responsibility. Old, highly laudatory cases on Enron and Tyco are being hurriedly rewritten. “What more must we do?”, the faculty are asking themselves in grave seminars and over lunch tables (Bartunek, 2002). Business schools do not need to do a great deal more to help prevent future Enrons; they need only to stop doing a lot they currently do. They do not need to create new courses; they need to simply stop teaching some old ones. But, before doing any of this, we—as business school faculty—need to own up to our own role in creating Enrons. Our theories and ideas have done much to strengthen the management practices that we are all now so loudly condemning. vested interests, which are dangerous for good or evil” Keynes (1953: 306). This is precisely what has happened to management. Obsessed as they are with the “real world” and sceptical...
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...MSc Business Management BS7916 Principles of Responsible Management Semester One 2013- Module Handbook Module Leader : Dr Roz Sunley Room 201 Roz.Sunley@winchester.ac.uk Room 201 West Downs 01962 827339 In this module study guide you will find much of what you need in order to successfully complete the module. Further learning materials and information are available on the learning network under the module code BS7916. Module Code BS7916 Module Name: Principles of Responsible Management It is your responsibility to: * Collect a copy of the reading pack from the faculty office * Attend both lecture and seminar sessions as stated on your timetable * Arrive in time for the start of all taught sessions * Read the preparatory reading before the taught sessions each week * Undertake any directed learning that may be set * Seek help from the module tutor if you are having any problems with any aspect of the module * Hand in assignments on time Tutor contact details: Module leader: Dr Roz Sunley Roz.Sunley@winchester.ac.uk Module tutor: Dr Natalia Yakovleva Natalia.Yakovleva@winchester.ac.uk Module administrator: Karen Robbertze Karen.Robbertze@winchester.ac.uk Contents Introduction and learning outcomes 3 Weekly schedule 4-6 Assessment 7-9 Useful texts 9-11 Feedback, Harvard referencing etc 12 Study guide for each week 12 - 17 Marking criteria 18 – 20 Background...
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...Know how Managing knowledge for competitive advantage An Economist Intelligence Unit white paper sponsored by Tata Consultancy Services Know how Managing knowledge for competitive advantage Acknowledgements Know how: Managing knowledge for competitive advantage is a briefing paper written by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). The findings and views expressed in this white paper do not necessarily reflect the views of TCS, which has sponsored this publication in the interest of promoting informed debate. The Economist Intelligence Unit bears sole responsibility for the content of the report. The main author was Terry Ernest-Jones and the editor was Gareth Lofthouse. The findings are based on two main strands of research: ● The Economist Intelligence Unit conducted an online survey of 122 senior executives in western Europe, 68 of whom were based in the UK. Participants were selected from large organisations with over $1bn in annual sales revenue, and from a cross-section of industries, with a particular emphasis on financial services, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, telecommunications and professional services companies. ● We also interviewed several senior executives and knowledge-management practitioners on the challenges they face in managing corporate knowledge, and on the strategies they have employed to exploit business information for competitive advantage. Our sincere thanks go to all the interviewees and survey...
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...there is a great chance that the project will be of no use to the company that initiates it. The reason why a large number of projects fail to meet their stated objectives, i.e. schedule, cost, scope and performance objectives is because it is rather hard for the project managers to precisely predict the future to which a given project relates. Although, everyone understands that project should meet the SMART criteria, in practice it is rather hard to achieve especially when the corporate resources are scarce (Martin, 232). 2. Effective project manager possesses the attributes applicable to a regular manager (ability to plan, organize, direct and control) as well as specific knowledge/skills related to the projects of a certain industry. The project manager must be able to define the project well and have enough skills to motivate the employees to commit to the project and get it done. 3. There exist a difference between management and leadership. Leadership is the ability to organize and lead people, prompting them to take some action as commanded. Leader typically is a great motivator and may be formal or informal. Also leader my not be a manager, just like a manager may not be a leader. Management, in theory surpasses leadership, since leadership is a part of management and relates to organizing and directing (besides, planning, and controlling). I believe one needs both a project...
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...Introduction to Management – Journal The module of Introduction to Management caught my mind as I felt that if I learn what it takes to have good management, in future I could be able to have good management over my own company or even be a capable manager in other companies. My first lesson for Introduction to Management. I learnt about Evolution of Management and Management’s Culture on the first lesson. At the start of the lesson we were being asked to define the difference between efficient and effective. In my first thought was that the two words have about the same meaning. But I was enlightened that Efficient was to minimize wastage of resources, uses less resources to produce more and Effective was to meet goals to sustain competitive advantage. Management is working with people, resources to achieve organization goal efficiently. I learnt to define whether a manager has leadership and good management. Therefore I have determined that my manager have good management skills but a lack of leadership. Not only I was introduced to the four functions of management Planning is to define goals and establish strategies, Organizing is to assemble resources, Leadings is to lead employees to excel and Controlling is monitoring of work being process. I was introduced to many famous people who were successful in managing and the management evolution and how they manage in the past from before 1800’s to beyond 2000. Today’s lesson was about Ethics, Corporate Social Responsibility...
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...Agile Project Management White Paper 2 Agile Project Management Contents Foreword by Richard Pharro, CEO, APMG-International Introducing Agile Project Management Relationship with DSDM Atern and Key Differences Comparing Agile Project Management with other agile methodologies Benefits of Agile Project Management Agile Project Management and PRINCE2 – one or the other, or both? Qualifications & Training About APMG-International About the DSDM Consortium 3 4 5 6 8 9 9 10 11 3 Foreword from Richard Pharro, CEO, APMG-International Agile Project Management provides an approach that offers agility but retains the concepts of a project, project delivery and project management. It works alongside more formal project management approaches such as PRINCE2® and complements quality processes such as ISO90001 and CMMI. Agile Project Management enables organizations to gain the benefits of an agile approach without introducing unnecessary risks. This ensures ‘going agile’ becomes a measured and balanced change, keeping what is good in the current organization and retaining existing good practices around project management and delivery whilst gaining the benefits of a more agile way of working. Providing a flexible yet controlled process that can be used to deliver solutions, Agile Project Management combines effective use of people’s knowledge together with techniques such as iterative development and modelling to achieve tight project delivery timescales....
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...Training a Cost or an Investment How do you view training and development in your business? Do you need to quantify and measure it? Is the value you place on developing your staff and management purely monetary or is there a greater benefit to the individual and to the organisation? In a study carried out by the International Institute of Management Development 80% of respondents were unable to quantify the effect of development. Yet millions of pounds are invested, in management development alone, each year in the UK. It just doesn’t add up. It is engrained in all good businesses to test, measure and know their numbers. So why spend millions without knowing the result. So what is the value of training? Many organisations say they now agree that their work force is their greatest asset and so investing in their development is both necessary and worthwhile these organisations place a high value on training. However, some still see training as a necessary interruption to work and productivity and place very little value upon it. The fact is that the value of training is and always has been difficult to measure. However we find that in organisations which place a high perceived value upon development the real benefits are far greater than in those organisations which do not. Changing the perception of training in an organisation is like changing any cultural belief but it can be done by ensuring that the true value of this work is communicated clearly and ...
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...On-the job training is provided which give them more practical knowledge They can earn while they learn Performance standards are demanding so their training makes them more tough to handle work load Video cassettes and posters are provided by corporate staff so that they can learn through those videos and apply that in their jobs Shortcomings to train hourly employees: Constant monitoring is not done by corporate staff due to which franchisee owners can skip some training sessions On-the job training means employees are not aware of their corporate headquarters working. Employees should see how their corporate staff actually works They are trained by store managers; therefore, they are bounded only to store operations. Their career will be bounded only up to restaurant operations. Strengths to train Management trainees: Their training program provides them with practical as well as theoretical knowledge They are trained in corporate, therefore, they are aware of how corporate headquarters actually work which will sharpen their skills They have been trained by experienced store managers which give them skills to handle workload as well as they come to know about different experiences which they are likely to face in store operations Shortcomings to train Management trainees: 3 After completing their education, employees already know many things about theoretical aspects, so no need to provide them with 6 months program and spend a lot on...
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...Their work is the culmination of over a quarter century of research that treats consumer behaviour as a phenomenon worth studying. As we have come to develop the field of CCT, so too are we developing our understanding of the consumer, and the broader economy. The work of Arnould and Thompson has provided students of consumer behaviour with the necessary environment to debate, innovate and advance the field of study.1 CCT is important within the scope of consumer behaviour because it places a focus on meaning and identity creation; it delves deeper in the mentality that surrounds consumers in the marketplace, and an understanding of this mentality is useful to all that engage the market (buyers, sellers, producers, etc...). “CCT explores how consumers actively rework and transform symbolic meanings encodes in ads, brands, retail settings, or material goods to manifest their particular personal and social circumstances and lifestyle goals.”2 In understanding CCT, we understand the market in a broad sense, for example, acknowledging that marketing symbols are significant to consumer culture, and the way 1 Eric J. Arnould & Craig J. Thompson. “Consumer Culture Theory (CCT): Twenty years of research” Journal of Consumer Research 31: 868-82. 2 Ibid, 871. 1 that free choice is exercised alongside consumer culture. CCT focuses on meaning: what do brands mean to consumers, and what role consumption plays in the life of these consumers. Is there more to...
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...you’re going to do and how you will achieve it -succession planning requirements -director independence: majority of inidividuals should be unrelated directors -#4. Outside, non-management directors majority of whom are unrelated directors. -some committee that’s nominating directors that aren’t the CEOS golf buddies -#5. Corporate governance committee. Are the directors actively participating? Is it deadlocked like US congress? -#6. Orientation and education for new directors. -#7. Examining size and impact on effectiveness. -#8. Compensation. How much should we be paid as directors? -#11. Board functions independently of management. -#12. Job descriptions are required -#13. Non management chair of board or alternate means for implementing guidelines >>> dual chair and ceo. Why do these companies still exist? This is a good essay topic. Canada is a small country, we don’t have lots and lots of companies so chairs and ceos can get away with it. **make a spreadsheet of what each report says/does to prepare you for tests Why would anyone want to become a director? Five years to the Dey ICD/TSE Report (1999) A report card for companies five years after the Dey report. Snapshot of how to company is doing to show progress on a voluntary basis. -#3. Corporate governance has limited formalization. Saucier Report (2001) Best practices, not black letter law. Purpose: revision of TSX guidelines. For Canadian companies to compete we need to go one step further...
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...Business strategies and human resource management: uneasy bedfellows or strategic partners? John Purcell University of Bath Bath BA2 7AY 01225 386567 J.Purcell@bath.ac.uk 1 Business strategies and human resource management: uneasy bedfellows or strategic partners? One of the assignment questions for this year’s class studying ‘Strategy and Human Resource Management’ (a very popular course) was: Does, and should, competitive strategy determine the design of a firm’s HR system? Give illustrations to support your answer. One of the great advantages in working in a university which has top students is that you can ask them questions you are not quite sure how to answer yourself! The best students gave clear examples of such a link and then got stuck in to the ‘should’ part of the question often noting the critical difference between competitive strategy and business strategy. Some even went further into corporate strategy, the resource based, and knowledge based view as well as ethics, culture and institutional setting. Surprisingly none of them questioned what was meant by a firm’s HR system. I will follow the same line of argument in this paper with thanks to the students, very few of whom have any intention of becoming HR professionals. We start with some of the classics in strategy and HRM, go on to look briefly at some major studies, or the ones that have influenced my thinking. Thereafter the paper notes the problems with the assumed link with competitive strategy as a dominant...
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...Topic no.1- strategic management- A brief introduction: Strategy –definition, scope and importance: A strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a vision. It can also be said that, strategy is a pattern in action over time of getting from here (present position) to there9 desired future position) Everybody is concerned with some strategy as it involves a plan “how and means of getting from here to there”. Strategy the word derives from the Greek word for generalship in army. It is the art and science of planning and marshalling resources for their most efficient and effective use. So, strategy is a method or plan to bring about a desired future prospect to adapt successfully. Three main areas of strategy: Every organization proceeds with some strategies. Corporate strategy is the linking process between the management of the organization’s internal resources and its external relationship with its customers, suppliers, competitors and so on. Every organization manages its resources in three main areas: 1) Resources strategy 2) Environment strategy 3) Adding value Resource strategy includes it resources such as – human skills, investment capital and others. Organization has to develop strategies to exploit those resources in a good pattern. Sometimes innovative ability can be a resource that is necessary to develop continuously. For example – Apple has huge investment in R&D sector. They have exploited their investment in that sector that...
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