...Strategic Planning Concepts 1 Running head: STRATEGIC PLANNING CONCEPTS Strategic Planning Concepts STAN R. KEY Bethel University Kathy Vest MOD 440 Strategic Planning 6/23/2011 Strategic Planning Concepts 2 Strategic Planning Concepts Organizations from all over the world have one thing in common: competition. In order for organizations to compete in today’s marketplace they have to have a plan of action or strategy. Strategic planning refers to a process which defines an organization’s plan to effectively allocate its available resources (Strategic Planning Performance, 2011). A strategic plan is not the same as a business plan. A business plan tells how and why the company’s products or services will garner revenues. A strategic plan identifies the objectives, goals, direction, and opportunities within an organization and how to go about executing them. Different Forms of Planning A strategic plan must be realistic, attainable, feasible, and flexible. A company’s strategy is the game plan management is using to stake out a market position, conduct its operations, attract and please customers, compete successfully, and achieve organizational objectives (Bethel College, 2005). Having a competitive advantage in the marketplace is crucial to an organization’s success. Just to create a strategic plan does not mean that all is complete, it is only the beginning. It cannot be treated as a “cure all” for an organization, but needs to be treated as a viable option...
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...Strategic Leadership Critically evaluate the concept of strategic leadership | Introduction Every business, especially within our current and very intricate global settings, is subject of an extremely challenging venture in terms of features which may influence the function of an organisation (Hakansson and Snehota, 1995; Yli-Renko and Autio, 1998). The achievement or an eventual fiasco of a business is ascribed to these features (Gulati et al., 2000; Möller and Rajala, 2007). Therefore, strategic leaders aptitudes ought to be advanced perpetually and accurately in order to prepare them to face todays challenges as they might be eventually harder in the forthcoming (Hitt et al., 2009). Within the context a lucrative organisation, it is clearly acknowledge that the organisation ought to attempt and reach the level of customers’ contentment in order to be on top of the industry competition as well as generating benefits. In this way, to be capable to achieve its corporate objectives, the management of actual organisation must be directed by the principle of strategic leadership. Principally, the core intention of this paper is to critically evaluate the concept of strategic leadership. In this, possible advantages and restrictions of the execution of strategic leadership will be argued by the author of this paper. Moreover, this paper will attempt to provide a number of understanding information regarding the basic features of strategic leadership for instance strategic...
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...STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND COST MANAGEMENT CONCEPTS Introduction The concepts of cost management and strategic management are the foundations for managers. The growing pressures of global competition and technological innovation have made cost management more critical and dynamic than ever before. Now cost management has moved towards a broader strategic focus than that of product costing. This so-called strategic cost management needs to facilitate strategic management in order to allow the firm to retain its competitive advantage. In order to implement this, benchmarking, value chain, balance scorecard and SWOT analysis should be undertaken. A firm should then identify its strategic positioning in the market: how it will sustain a competitive position. Furthermore, the strategic role of cost concepts will also be described in relation to product/service costing, strategic decision-making (cost driver analysis), planning/decision making and control/feedback purposes. Costs are now more complex than ever since large companies like Proctor & Gamble have a large product portfolio, and costs have become a vital element of a firm’s strategy. In order to understand these concepts fully, we will relate them to real businesses; in particular, we will analyze these concepts with relation to the McDonald’s corporation. Strategic Management Strategic management is the conduct of drafting, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that will enable an organization...
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...John Molson School of Business Strategic Management and Cost Management Concepts April 8, 2010 Section G Table of Contents Introduction 2 1. Overview of Cost Management and Strategy 3 2. Implementing Strategy 5 3. Basic Concepts 10 Conclusion 14 References 15 Appendix I: Product & Period Costs 18 Appendix 2: Balanced Scorecard 19 Companies are constantly trying to improve their business and the quality of their products. While Marketing and Operations Management are two departments that aid in improving a company’s business, the accounting department plays a major role in this transformation as well. Considering the managerial aspect of accounting, a lot of what it takes to improving ones business is cost management and strategy. Strategic and cost management are essential to any business as they provide the foundation for determining problems and improving quality. Strategic and cost management concepts can be broken down into three parts: the overview of strategies that can be used, the ways to implement these strategies and the cost concepts that can be used to manage costs. 1. Overview of Cost Management and Strategy There are several cost and strategic techniques that can be used to improve a company’s overall position. These techniques, however, are within broader topics, such as the business environment, management techniques and competitive strategy. Firstly, a changing...
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...Answer 3 Cummings define the concept of integrated strategic change as a comprehensive intervention that examines how plan change that can add value to strategic management. The integrative piece looks at a synthesis of business strategies and organizational systems responding together to external and internal environment. Focus is on results while simultaneously examining the processes, structure and strategies. It is concerned with implementation, transition states and human resources and not just the conceptual plan (Cummings & Worley 1997). With Lee on-board, VRD is in a state of transformational change, “transformational change involves reshaping organization’s design, elements and culture” (Waddell, Cummings & Worley 2011). Organizational culture is what the employees perceive and how this perception creates a pattern of beliefs, values and expectations. VRD has to go through major changes in environment or technologies. Lee wants to revise the organization’s business strategy, which in turn requires modifying internal structure and processes that are followed in VRD from last three decades. Change in environment will also lead to change the existing culture of VRD that will involve behavior and thinking of the employees in the company. As per evidence in the case study, issues such as conflicts between departments, slow production, emerging competitors, workers attitude and responsibility, low participative management, no measure to control quality and improve...
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...of Theoretical and Applied Economy, National Technical University of Ukraine "Kyiv Polytechnic Institute", Kyiv T. Y. Kalambet, student of the Institute of Applied Systems Analysis, National Technical University of Ukraine "Kiev Polytechnic Institute", Kyiv School of Economics, Kyiv THE RESOURCE CONCEPT IN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Статья посвящена одной из наиболее перспективных теорий стратегического управления — ресурсной концепции. Определен основной понятийный аппарат концепции. Рассмотрена проблема идентификации конкурентных преимуществ в рамках теории рент. Проанализировано внедрение ресурсной концепции с точки зрения управляющих структур. The article is devoted to one of the most promising theories of strategic management — resource concept. The basic concepts of the conceptual apparatus are defined. We consider the problem of identification of competitive advantages in the framework of the rents. The introduction of the concept of the resource from the point of view of the control structures is analyzed. Ключевые слова: конкурентное преимущество, ресурсная концепция, ресурс, способность, компетенция, рента. Keywords: competitive benefits, resource concept, resources, capacity, competence, rent. Введение. Процесс трансформации научных теорий стратегического управления позволяет проследить конъюнктурные особенности каждого этапа экономических отношений. Каждый этап характерен имманентными ему целями и задачами, которые претворялись в совокупность...
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...Abstract The Concept of Strategic Human Resource Management has a widely use but very arrangement of definition. Research has present reasons that if the concept is to have any social systematic value, it should be defined in a way as to characterize it from traditional personnel management, and to allow the development of testable interpretation about its impact. Concept of Strategic Human Resource Management Thought out the research many definitions arose, strategy provides a great structure to support within which is set out what the company is considerate to do about managing people in general or in ordinary areas of human resource management. The strategic is the intention and plan to use human resources to achieve company goals, and it is part of a strategic human resource management process that leads to the development of overall specific performance by human resources management. It depends highly on the viewpoint being taken by human resource management. It can be express as traditional personnel management, as a mixture of personnel management and industrial relations, and as part of strategic, managerial role. Research has demonstrated the benefits of bringing human resource management and knowledge and experience of management. That will reinforces the support and enhance organizational effectiveness of performance. “A typical handbook usually defines human resource management as the management of the company’s employees” ( Scarpello and Ledvinka, 1988, p...
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...150 employees are mostly neighbors and almost all from the same community. The company is suffering from issues that have to do with hard-working employees nearing retirement. Now, they have to deal with replacing all the employees. The other issue that is happening is the market share. The company had a market share of roughly 70%, but is being reduced on a significant level. Also, many other companies have emerged and started to manufacture the same products that Covington does. The company has started losing several industries in the United States because of the bad economy and increased competition. The concepts to be used in doing the analysis of the case: The concept that could be used to help do an analysis for this case would possibly be using the Four Approaches to Effectiveness Values. According to Daft, “Goal, resource-based, internal processes, and strategic constituents are the Four Approaches to Effectiveness Values” (p. 83). This...
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...a brand, product or service utilizing traditional marketing placement strategies (i.e. price, promotion, distribution, packaging, and competition). Positioning is also defined as the way by which the marketers attempt to create a distinct impression in the customer's mind. Positioning is a concept in marketing which was first introduced by Jack Trout ( "Industrial Marketing" Magazine- June/1969) and then popularized by Al Ries and Jack Trout in their bestseller book "Positioning - The Battle for Your Mind." (McGraw-Hill 1981) This differs slightly from the context in which the term was first published in 1969 by Jack Trout in the paper "Positioning" is a game people play in today’s me-too market place" in the publication Industrial Marketing, in which the case is made that the typical consumer is overwhelmed with unwanted advertising, and has a natural tendency to discard all information that does not immediately find a comfortable (and empty) slot in the consumers mind. It was then expanded into their ground-breaking first book, "Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind," in which they define Positioning as "an organized system for finding a window in the mind. It is based on the concept that communication can only take place at the right time and under the right circumstances" (p. 19 of 2001 paperback edition). What most will agree on is that Positioning is something (perception) that happens in the minds of the target market. It is the aggregate perception the market has of...
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...Book Report Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t (Jim Collins, 1996) In his book “Good to Great” Jim Collins asked the question, "Can a good company become a great company and if so, how?" Collins and a devoted team of 22 researchers embarked to discover what transforms good companies into truly great companies. To begin the research for the Good-to-Great study, they searched for companies that: performed at or below the general stock market for at least fifteen years; then at a transition point began to pull away from the competition, and sustained returns of at least 3 times the general market for the next fifteen years. They started with a list of 1,435 companies that appeared on the Fortune 500 list from 1965 to 1995 and ended up with only 11 that made the cut. These eleven companies produced, on average, a return of 6.9 times the general stock market during the 15 years following the transition points. Collins chose a 15-year span to avoid "one-hit wonders" and lucky breaks. The companies that were selected were Abbott Laboratories, Circuit City, Federal Home Loan Mortgage, Gillette, Kimberly-Clark, Kroger, Nucor, Philip Morris, Pitney Bowes, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo. In the book, Collins highlights some important factors which are the result of the research. Although there are several factors involved for taking a company from good to great', what these great companies turned out to have in common was a particular kind of leader...
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...Strategic Program Management Worksheet The purpose of this assignment is to begin the process of Problem Based Learning. In this step, you will be looking at one or more realistic situations and using them, in the context of this course, to identify the key concepts involved that you will need to understand in order to solve whatever problems you might encounter in those situations. Complete the table below by identifying at least five concepts that you will study from the text on the rEsource page in order to resolve the situations presented; list and briefly describe them in column A. You have on the rEsource page a scenario that provides an examples of realistic situation in which these concepts apply. Examine this scenario and in Column B identify specific examples from it which illustrate an application of the concept. The example could be an issue in the scenario which illustrates a concept. Cite in Column C where in the reading you found the concept that the example illustrated. Table for Assignment One A: Concept B: Application of Concept in Scenario C: Citation of Concept in Reading Example from Global Communications Scenario in MBA/500: Building Organizational Commitment, which is developed through the activities of: • Justice & support • Job security • Organizational comprehension • Trusting employees Example from Global Communications Scenario in MBA/500: Sy states that Global Communication’s competitive edge is drawn from loyal employees...
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...Circuit City, Fannie Mae, Gillette, Kimberly-Clark, Kroger, Nucor, Philip Morris, Pitney Bowes, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo maintained great results and accomplished enduring greatness, evolving into companies that were undeniably “Built to Last”. It’s strange that the research performed showed an opposition of what we had always thought, “People are our most important asset”. Instead the researched showed that the right people are the better people, in other words “First get the right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus” and then later decide on when and where to drive the bus. Collins plans out three stages, each with two key concepts. These six concepts are the heart of Good to Great and he dedicates a chapter to explaining each of them: Level 5 Leadership, First Who Then What, Confront the Brutal Facts, The Hedgehog Concept, A Culture of Discipline and Technology Accelerators. “Level 5 leadership” is what separates good companies from great companies. This style of leadership forms the top level of a 5-level triangle or hierarchy that ranges from just about skilled...
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... Student ID: 1102703302 Part A – REFLECTIONS Please provide your reflections of the course (e.g. what you have learnt, what you have improved, what you like about the course, what you dislike about the course, how the course can be improved). ------------------------------------------------- From this course, I have learned on experiences of organizational problems that I probably have not had the opportunity to experiences first-hand. In a relatively short period of time, I will have the chance to appreciate and analyse the problems faced by many different companies and to under stand how managers tried to deal with employees and customers based on group mate discussion on previous case before. In addition, the theory and concept what I learned from various subjects help reveal what is going on in the companies studied and allow me to evaluate the solution that specific companies adopted to deal with the problems. Consequently, when I analyse the case, I will be like a detective who, with a set a conceptual tools, probe what happened and what or who was responsible and then the evidence that provides the solution. It gives me opportunity to participate in class and to gain experience in presenting my idea to others based on the discussion with group mate. This mode of discussion is an example of the dialectical approach to decision making. This is how decision making are made in the actual business world. Furthermore, I also learn about the group process involved...
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...We have carefully studied the qualitative research output and brand positioning strategies that the Project Score team has worked on and developed. Based on further research and analysis, we strongly recommend that Saxonville launch its Italian sausage product under the new name “Italy’s Best by Saxonville”. We also recommend positioning the brand using the “Family Connection” concept. Assessment of Research Methodology Project Score team has done very well in understanding the target consumer behavior, values, and unmet needs using the four-step research methodology. Step one of the process was a round of qualitative research consisting of preparing and conducting pilot group sessions. The groups consisted of 25-50 year old housewives or heads-of-households, identified as the target consumer using Attitude and Usage (A&U) data, and helped gain the insights, behaviors and needs of this demographic. Step two of the process was a sequential round of consumer sessions where researchers used the knowledge from step one to develop themes for strategic positioning. This phase allowed researchers to get the rational and emotional benefits that the Italian-sausage-consumers are looking for: making a quick and wholesome meal that the family could enjoy together, despite their hectic schedules. By analyzing the themes of Family Connection, Clever Cooking, Confidence, Appreciation, Quick and Easy, and Tradition, the team was in a better position to decide where their company had...
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... Strengths Most of my strengths come from my service in the Marines. Furthermore, the concepts that were taught in classes were not just for study, but practical applications of those concepts in real world scenarios. These concepts were most important and driven to the extreme when I joined the Teams (Force Reconnaissance); so, as a result, my primary influence for being an effective leader was in Force Recon. The first strength that was assessed was my decisiveness in making quick and correct decisions in a crisis situation. Decisiveness, from the military definition, reflects a range of possible outcomes. From Exacerbated to Resolution; this is not to be confused with Achievement. In Achievement, the basic concept considers the performance on how someone would execute a strategy; basically, how someone performs in combat. These same characteristics found in decisiveness, can be transferred to business as well. This is one reason for my success in my current business. The second trait I possess is being an excellent communicator whether it is in the military or business. Communication is very important to me and my business; without it, none of the projects would ever be completed. The theory to effective communication is feedback; did my employees understand what I was trying to convey? Did my Marines here the orders and understand what needs to be done? This basic concept is vital to...
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