Questions and Answers of Exploring Strategy

1. What strategy statement would you propose for the Glastonbury Festival?2. Carry out a ‘three horizons’ analysis of the Glastonbury Festival, in terms of both existing activities and possible
1. What motives (strategic, financial and managerial) of corporate strategy can be identified in:a. the three principal M&A events identified in the case – the acquisition of Cadbury PLC, the
1. How does Tesla Motor€™s strategy fit with the various strategy definitions in Figure 1.1?2. What seems to account for Tesla€™s success?Figure 1.1 '..the determination of the
1. Construct short strategy statements covering the goals, scope and advantage of Samsung and the Southampton University. How much do the different private- and public-sector contexts matter?2.
If IKEA chose not to build on sustainable competitive advantage, how could they build on many transient advantages?
1. Besides the public sector, can you think of other business situations where war games could be useful?2. War games could possibly play a role when preparing for strategic change at a university.
1. Rank the elements of Passey’s strategy for Volvo in order of importance. Could any have been dispensed with?2. How sustainable is Volvo’s luxury bus strategy?
1. What type of competitive strategy, low-cost, differentiation, focus or hybrid, would you suggest as a way of competing with Vanguard?2. Using webcam chats is one approach to lower costs in
1. How could you use the design lens, the experience lens and the variety lens to account for the development of the mobile phone business within Nokia?2. How could you use the design lens and the
1. Which scenario would companies like Google and Facebook most desire and which would they most fear?2. What are the implications of these scenarios for industries outside information technology,
1. Using the concept of ‘varieties of capitalism’, in which countries would you expect Uber to be most successful and in which less so?2. What are the costs and benefits of Uber’s aggressive
1. Identify at least one important hub and one important broker in the Unit 8200 network.2. If you were a foreign cyber-security company, what would you do to access Israel’s expertise?
In the light of this analysis, what strategic options would you advise a Western oil producer such as Shell or BP to consider?
1 Sticking to the 35-word limit suggested by Collis and Rukstad in Section 1.2.3, what strategy statement would you propose for Airbnb?2 Carry out a ‘three-horizons’ analysis (Section 1.2.1) of
1. Is it possible for a government owned business to operate strategically and in an entrepreneurial manner given the political context in which it has to function?2. Is risk taking compatible with
1. What is the Influence of history and values on Unilever’s strategy?2. How can we judge Unilever’s performance before 2009?3. Why do you think Unilever decided to hire an outsider?4. Why might
a. Explain how the UK government is changing the strategic style for controlling schools.b. Which specific items are devolved and which remain centrally controlled in Academies and Free Schools
1. In what ways (if any), do you think the strategy development process is different in a small business (as typified by Mormor Magda) from the process in a large organisation (e.g. Apple or
1. What are the key macro-environmental factors that influence the strategy in this case?2. What have been the steps in the strategy development process at KFSH? How deliberative have they been?3.
What challenges were faced by the hospital CEO in implementing the strategy to achieve Foundation status?
1. What strategies are being followed by the main NTOs?2. Which strategic options are available to NTOs (at the time of the case study)?3. How might these strategic options be evaluated?4. What
1. Describe and evaluate the strategy directions pursued by CRH.2. Describe and evaluate the corporate parenting roles employed by CRH.3. Discuss CRH’s acquisition strategy and its contribution.4.
1. What were the drivers for internationalisation that led to Teva’s rapid acquisition programme?2. Describe the key motivations behind Teva’s acquisition programme and comment on how well the
1. How innovative is Apple? Is it a strategic innovator?2. What is your evaluation of Steve Jobs as a leader?3. What are your recommendations to Apple as it continues in its new era under Tim Cook?4.
1. How did Ningbo Smarter Logistics succeed in gaining the attention of very senior global managers in a large multinational like IBM?2. How can MNC relationships be leveraged as a pathway to
1. Handelsbanken is known for its culture being different from that of its competitors. Characterise Handelsbanken’s culture and discuss how the culture is spread and kept alive in the bank.2. What
1. Using Yip (Figure 9.2 in Exploring Strategy), what drivers of internationalisation have encouraged the development of the IPL?2. Considering Porters Diamond (Figure 9.3 in Exploring Strategy),
1. What are the factors driving the diversification of Tune Group?2. What is the Tune Group portfolio, what contribution does each SBU make and, therefore, what is the dominant logic for this
1. Identify the growth directions and corporate logic that SABMiller has adopted in its development and the reasons for its success.2. Explain (a) the strategic position in which SABMiller finds
1. What is the importance of entrepreneurialism and innovation in designing and implementing strategy?2. How are the pillars of strategy defined in both organisational structure and human relations
1. Why has Ryanair been successful thus far?2. Is Ryanair’s new strategy sustainable?3. Would you recommend any further changes to Ryanair’s approach in changing environmental circumstances?4.
1. Was the success of Widespace the result of good business practices (internal view) or were they just in the right place at the right time (external view)?2a. What are concrete options that Patrik
1. What is strategy at Adnams?i) How would you describe the strategy at Adnams? What is making this company successful?ii) What influences are at play on the strategy?iii) What should the future
1. Identify the different forms of ownership that might be adopted by MUFC and how these might lead to different expectations.2. Identify the main stakeholder groups involved in MUFC and using Figure
How might institutional logics shape such strategic choices as diversification, innovation and internationalisation (see Chapters 8, 9 and 10) for (i) a family-business owner looking to pass on
1. Map Vanguard’s corporate culture to the cultural web elements of paradigm, stories, symbols, power, organisation structure, control styles and rituals and routine.2. How do the various elements
1. Why do you think that creating a common culture might be important for a company like AB InBev?2. What mechanisms are used to reinforce such a common culture (see also Chapter 14).
1. Which of the reasons for strategic drift are evident in the Kodak story?2. Drawing on the lessons from Part 1 of the book as a whole, how might Kodak’s problems have been avoided?
1. How would you sum up (i) the strategy (ii) the culture of Indian Railways in the early years of this century?2. In what ways can you trace this strategy and culture to the Indian Railways’
1. Consider the governance chain leading from the various shareholders of UBHL to the managers in the main businesses, with particular reference to United Spirits. Why might there be breakdowns in
What would you argue as a director of a benefit corporation when the survival of your company depended on suspending expenditure on social objectives?
1. Where would you place H&M in terms of the four stances on social responsibility in Table 5.2?2. What are the kinds of triple-bottom-line measures that would be appropriate for a sustainable
1. To what extent does Volkswagen reflect the strengths and weaknesses of the stakeholder model of governance (Section 5.3.2)?2. What should Volkswagen have done with regard to governance and
1. Which parts of the governance chain – principals and agents (see Section 5.3.1) – failed at Toshiba?2. What problems (knowledge, monitoring or incentives) led to the scandal? What would you
1. Compare the power and attention of Mozilla’s various stakeholders with regard to: (i) the former CEO Brendan Eich’s position on gay marriage(ii) the development of the Firefox OS (see
1-Based on the data from the case use the frameworks from the chapter and analyse the resources and capabilities of Rocket Internet:a. What are its resources and capabilities?b. What are its
Pick an organisation mentioned in this chapter (e.g. Apple, IKEA, Microsoft, Ryanair, Starbucks, and Zara) or one you admire and would like to work for. What micro foundations (e.g. individuals and
1. What type of dynamic capabilities could help mobile phone companies like Apple and Samsung avoid becoming stuck in their old resources and capabilities?2. Based on your own experience of using
1. What does SWOT analysis tell us about the competitive position of Pharmcare within the industry as a whole?2. How readily do you think executives of Pharmcare identify the strengths and weaknesses
1. Draw up a value system and value chains for another business and organisation in terms of the activities conducted within each part (see Figure 4.5).2. Would it make sense to integrate or
1. Andrew Mason admits that Groupon has thousands of copycats, yet his assessment is that imitating Groupon is difficult. Do you agree?2. Assess the bases of Groupon€™s resources and
1. Categorise the range of resources and capabilities highlighted by the executives above in terms of Section 4.2 and Table 4.1.2. To what extent and why might these resources and capabilities be the
1 Carry out a five forces analysis of the advertising industry in 2015. What is the strength of the five forces and what underlying factors drive them?What is the industry attractiveness?2 What are
How would you compare the ‘value capture model’ with Porter’s five forces when making an industry analysis? What’s the benefits and drawback of each?
1. How would you describe the current charity industry structure? How could it change if consolidation increases and what would be the benefits and disadvantages?2. Which of Porter’s five forces
1. Help Emily and go through each step above. Answer the questions and make a complete analysis. What is your assessment of the industry?2. Based on your analysis: How should Emily handle the
1. Why are network effects important for Facebook? Would you switch to another social network if it had better features even if it was considerably smaller?2. What other social media networks and
1. Evaluate the strengths of the banking industry’s entry barriers according to Porter’s criteria?2. How would you evaluate the ethical behaviour of banks trying to keep competition out?
1 Carry out a PESTEL analysis of Alibaba at the time of the case. Evaluate the balance of opportunities and threats, using the same kind of figure as in Illustration 2.1.2 Draw a basic sociogram of
1. What do you need in order to succeed in Formula One?2. Why you think your team were successful during this period?3. Why were they unable to sustain this success? What could they have done to
1. In which areas does H&M have significant resources and capabilities and what are they? What are H&M’s threshold and distinctive resources and capabilities? What are the implications of
1. What was Ricoh Canada Inc.’s strategy in the past and why is it no longer sustainable?2. How competitive is the services industry?3. How should Ricoh Canada Inc. compete in the services market?
1. Assess the brewing industry environment, including a PESTEL analysis.2. Assess the UK brewing industry using Porter’s five forces analysis.3. Identify how the factors identified above might be
1. Using the trends identified by Siemens in Figure 1 (or other environmental forces you consider important) which would you consider to be key drivers for change for Siemens and why?2. Are there
1. Identify the main macro-environmental forces that affect the global pharmaceutical industry.2. Use scenario planning techniques to consider the key drivers of change which will affect the global
1. Using the pyramid of strategy practice (Figure 16.1), describe strategy-making in the city of Vaasa.2. Comment on the strategy process being followed at Vaasa. In what ways does this depart from
What skills and experiences should a recruiter look for in hiring each of five types of strategist identified above?
Identify the hypothesis testing steps in the illustration.
1. Evaluate the design of the two workshops in terms of the guidelines in Section 16.4.1.2. If you were a facilitator, how would you have organised the workshops differently?3. What benefits (or
1. Why are informal settings such as dinners useful?2. Could the consultants have influenced the agenda in more formal ways? How?3. If you had been one of the managers at the Italian restaurant, what
1. What do you think were the direct and indirect benefits of Ashok Vaswani’s initiatives to involve Barclays’ employees in the strategy?2. If you were a smaller company, without the information
1. What would be the attractions of this job for you? What would be the disadvantages?2. What relevant skills and experience do you already have, and what skills and experience would you still need
1. In relation to Section 15.3, what were the types of change pursued at Fiat and Chrysler? Were these appropriate to the change contexts?2. How would you describe the leadership style of Sergio
1. Identify the various change levers (Section 15.5) used by these five leaders.2. Do you think that a diabetes charity or the US military have anything to teach business organisations about change?
What might the problems be in devolving strategy to a European division?
1. In terms of the eight contextual features in the change kaleidoscope (Figure 15.2), how receptive is the context for strategic change?2. In the light of capability and readiness (Figure 15.3),
1. Which leaders are more transformational, which more transactional and which situational (see Section 15.2.1)?2. Compare the different views of leadership, particularly with regard to knowledge,
1. Assess the pros and cons of Hirai€™s structural changes.2. What other initiatives beyond structural change might be necessary in order to create €˜One Sony€™?Kazuo
What types of industry or sector would this model be likely to work best in, and in what types might it not work well at all?
1. In this account, what elements of UBS’s systems appear to have been deficient, with regard to Adoboli and more generally?2. What roles might the merger and growth strategy have played in the
1. Consider the kinds of cultural and performance targeting systems the police, fire and ambulance services are each likely to have. How compatible are they?2. Would you agree with Matt Wrack that
1. In what respects is the change consistent with Alfred Chandler’s phrase, ‘structure follows strategy’?2. Why do investors think that the new Alphabet structure is worth an extra $29 billion?
1. How do the pros and cons of the Qwikster structure fit with those associated with the divisional structure (see Section 14.2.2)?2. In the light of the planning, cultural, market and targeting
1. Explain how Google’s strategy has been developed over the years.2. What are the strengths and weaknesses of its approach?3. In what ways should Google’s approach to strategy development change
Pick three different industries and environments. What different strategy development styles (classical, adaptive, shaping or visionary) would be appropriate in them?
1. Are the different accounts mutually exclusive?2. What different insights can the two accounts provide? How can they be useful?3. Do you think Honda would have been more or less successful if it
1. With reference to these views of strategy development, what are the main advantages of developing strategies incrementally? Are there disadvantages or dangers?2. Is incremental strategy
1. What types of strategic issues are likely to be most significant at each stage and level of the planning process?2. How might a planning process differ in other types of organisation (e.g. local
What else would you emphasise as an important contribution CEOs make to strategy development?
1. Identify the main strategic issues facing ITV.2. Suggest a number of strategic options that ITV might pursue.3. Create tables to assess the SAFe of your strategic options (refer to Table 12.1).4.
What strategic fundamentals would you consider for an option if you didn’t trust the numbers?
What are the advantages of the real options approach to this evaluation over other approaches (a) to building the brewery; and (b) to other ideas being considered?
1. What do you feel about the appropriateness of the listed benefits?2. How easy or difficult is it to assign money values to these benefits?
1. Which option would you choose? Why?2. What would be the main risks attached to that option and how would you attempt to minimise these risks?3. Create another option (strategy C) and explain the
What should the company do if its marketing campaigns fail to stop real price erosion:1. Push to achieve more sales volume/capacity fill?2. Reduce unit costs of production?3. Something else?
1. Try reversing the sequence of the three parameters (to diversification, investment and growth) and redraw the decision tree. Do the same eight options still emerge?2. Add a fourth parameter to the
1. Comment on the measures used to evaluate Moss’s performance. What measures would you see as fair and appropriate?2. Should Andrew Moss and Lord Sharman be held responsible for their strategic
1. Why did Sainsbury bid for Argos?2. With reference to the post-acquisition integration matrix (see Figure 11.3) consider how Sainsbury might best integrate Argos?3. With reference to the
What are the arguments for and against using an M&A function in post-acquisition integration?
1. Why did the Bharti–Walmart joint venture break down?2. What issues should Walmart now take into account pursuing its Indian strategy?

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