Crafting And Executing Strategy Concepts And Readings 20th Edition Arthur Thompson, A. J. Strickland, John Gamble - Solutions

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.7 Carry out a full analysis of an industry or sector of your choice (using for example PESTEL, scenarios, five forces and strategic groups). Consider explicitly how the industry or sector is affected by globalisation (see Chapter 8, particularly Figure 8.2 on drivers) and innovation(see Chapter 9,
.6Q Drawing on section 2.4.3, and particularly on Figure 2.10, identify critical success factors for an industry with which you and your peers are familiar (for example, clothing retailers or mobile phone companies). Using your own estimates (or those of your peers), construct a strategy canvas
.5 With regard to section 2.4.1 and Figure 2.8, identify an industry (for example, the motor industry or clothing retailers) and, by comparing competitors, map out the main strategic groups in the industry according to key strategic dimensions. Try more than one set of key strategic dimensions to
.4Q Drawing on section 2.3, and particularly using the radar plot technique of Figure 2.5, choose two industries or sectors and compare their attractiveness in terms of the five forces (a) today;(b) in approximately three to five years’ time. Justify your assessment of each of the five
.3 Drawing on section 2.3, carry out a five forces analysis of the pharmaceutical industry* or Vodafone’s position in the mobile phone industry*. What do you conclude about that industry’s attractiveness?
.2Q For the same organisation as in 2.1, and using Illustration 2.2 as a model, construct four scenarios for the evolution of its environment. What implications are there for the organisation’s strategy?
.1 For an organisation of your choice carry out a PESTEL analysis and identify key drivers for change.Use Illustration 2.1 as a model.
Porter and McGahan’s study suggests that some industries influence member firms’profitabilities more than others: in other words, their profitabilities bunch together. Why might some industries have a larger influence on their members’ profitability than others?
How might the French firm have prevented this cycle of competition from breaking out in the first place?
Which moves were likely to trigger intensely rivalrous behaviour and which were better calculated to minimise destructive competition?
What type of industry structure might the charity industry be moving towards? What would be the benefits and disadvantages of that structure?
Which of Porter’s five forces are creating problems for the United Kingdom’s charity sector?
In the future, what might change to make the steel industry less attractive or more attractive?
Explain the acquisition strategies of players such as Mittal, Tata and Nucor.
In recent years, which of the five forces has become more positive for steel producers, which less so?
Over which of the two drivers – the geo-economic power shift and policy coordination – do companies have the most influence? How should they exercise this influence?
From your more comprehensive list, which of these influences would you highlight as likely to be the ‘key drivers for change’ for airlines in the coming five years?
What additional environmental influences would you add to this initial list for the airline industry?
How to address the role of history and culture in determining an organisation’s position.
How to understand an organisation’s purposes, taking into account corporate governance, stakeholder expectations and business ethics.
How to analyse the determinants of strategic capability – resources, competences and the linkages between them.
How to analyse an organisation’s position in the external environment.
Converting good strategic thinking into action can be a challenge: examine how the Glastonbury Festival has achieved this by considering the elements seen in section 1.5.3.
Following on from the previous question and making use of section 1.5.2, what alternative strategies do you see for the Glastonbury Festival?
Using the headings of environment, strategic capability, strategic purpose and culture seen in section 1.5.1, identify key positioning issues for the Glastonbury Festival and consider their relative importance.
Carry out a ‘three horizons’ analysis(section 1.2.1) of the Glastonbury Festival, in terms of both existing activities and possible future ones. How might this analysis affect their future strategic direction?
Sticking to the 35 word limit suggested by Collis and Rukstad in section 1.2.3, what strategy statement would you propose for the Glastonbury Festival?
Govern your offshored business. Finally, the company needs to develop management mechanisms to oversee activities in different parts of the world, often with different suppliers. The development of sound governance capabilities is vital.
Develop local talent. Another organizational difficulty is learning how to attract, manage and develop talent in the destination countries. Again, this task is easier if you hire the services of an experienced, specialized provider in the chosen country, as BBVA did. If you opt for full
Adapt your organization to the new reality.According to our studies, in most companies, adapting business processes to the new reality entails a long learning curve. Therefore, it pays to make the transition with the help of a specialized company.
Examine destinations carefully. You should take into account variables such as labor costs, availability of talent, market potential, quality of infrastructure, acceptable risks, and the environment of each destination.
Decide what you want to outsource and how.Defining a global strategy requires deciding which activities or processes are suitable for offshoring, how—through subsidiaries or outsourcing—and where. Study the complexity or simplicity of your processes and services, and the interdependencies
Think big picture, not item by item. Offshoring that’s not linked to the overall strategy can be a one-way ticket to failure. In the search for the best capabilities at the best price, a company must adapt both its global strategy and its organization.
What data will be required to optimally digitize your value chain, and what portion will come from internal vs. external sources?
What steps are you taking to embed digitization into your value chain—R&D, marketing, sourcing, production and service, as well as upstream and downstream value chain processes?
What opportunities do you have to leverage digital technologies such as 3D printing, eKanban or RFID in your products, services, organization and processes?
. What impact will digitization have on your products, services, organization, processes and endto-end value chain?
4. What would happen to your company’s performance if you and your co-managers stick with the status quo and fail to make any corrective adjustments after each decision round?
3. Following each decision round, do you and your co-managers make corrective adjustments in either your company’s strategy or the way the strategy is being executed? List at least three such adjustments you made in the most recent decision round. What hard evidence (in the form of results
2. What core values would you want to ingrain in your company’s culture? Why?
1. If you were making a speech to company personnel, what would you tell employees about the kind of corporate culture you would like to have at your company? What specific cultural traits would you like your company to exhibit? Explain.
Illustration Capsule 12.1 discusses W. L. Gore’s strategy-supportive corporate culture. What are the standout features of Gore’s corporate culture? How does Gore’s culture contribute to innovation and creativity at the company? How does the company’s culture make Gore a good place to work?
Based on what you learned about REI from answering the previous question, how do you think the company’s culture affects its ability to execute strategy and operate with excellence?
Go to the company website for REI ( www.rei.com ). Click on the Stewardship tab, and then click on some of the tabs below to learn more about the company’s culture and values. What are the key features of its culture? Do features of REI’s culture influence the company’s ethical practices? If
Explaining how new behaviors and work practices will be more advantageous and produce better results. Effective culture-change leaders are good at telling stories
Explaining why and how certain behaviors and work practices in the current culture pose obstacles to good strategy execution.
illustration Capsule 11.2 provides a sampling of motivational tactics employed by several prominent companies (many of which appear on Fortune ’s list of the 100 best companies to work for in America). Discuss how rewards at SAS, Salesforce.com , DPR Construction, and Hilcorp aid in the strategy
Company strategies can’t be executed well without a number of support systems to carry on business operations. Using your university’s access to LexisNexis or EBSCO, search for recent articles that discuss how a company has used realtime information systems and control systems to aid the cause
Policies and procedures facilitate strategy execution when they are designed to fit the company’s strategy and objectives. Using your university’s access to LexisNexis or EBSCO, search for recent articles that discuss how a company has revised its policies and procedures to provide better
I mplementing a new or different strategy calls for new resource allocations. Using your university’s access to LexisNexis or EBSCO, search for recent articles that discuss how a company has revised its pattern of resource allocation and divisional budgets to support new strategic initiatives.
What value chain activities are most crucial to good execution of your company’s strategy?Does your company have the ability to outsource any value chain activities? If so, have you and your co-managers opted to engage in outsourcing? Why or why not?
What specific actions have you and your co-managers taken to develop core competencies or competitive capabilities that can contribute to good strategy execution and potential competitive advantage? If no actions have been taken, explain your rationale for doing nothing.
How would you describe the organization of your company’s top-management LO 5 team? Is some decision making decentralized and delegated to individual managers?If so, explain how the decentralization works. Or are decisions made more by consensus, with all co-managers having input? What do you see
Keep Valve’s unique structure in mind. Using Google Scholar or your university’s access to online databases, do a search for recent writings on decentralized decision making and employee empowerment. According to these articles, under which conditions should a company strive for more
Review Valve Corporation’s company handbook online: www.valvesoftware.com/company/Valve_Handbook_LowRes.pdf . Specifically, focus on Valve’s corporate structure. Valve has hundreds of employees but no managers or bosses at all.Valve’s gaming success hinges on innovative and completely
Review Facebook’s Careers page ( www.Facebook.com/careers/ ). The page emphasizes Facebook’s core values and explains how potential employees could fit that mold. Bold and decisive thinking and a commitment to transparency and social connectivity drive the page and the company as a whole. Then
Search online to read about Jeff Bezos’s management of his new executives. Specifically, explore Amazon.com’s “S-Team” meetings ( management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/11/16/jeff-bezos-amazon/ ). Why does Bezos begin meetings of senior executives with 30 minutes of silent reading? How does this
The foundation of Nike’s global sports apparel dominance lies in the company’s continual ability to outcompete rivals by aligning its superior design, innovation, and marketing capabilities with outsourced manufacturing. Such a strategy necessitates a complex marriage of innovative product
Instituting policies and procedures that facilitate strategy execution.
Allocating sufficient resources (budgetary and otherwise) to the strategy execution effort.
Creating a strategy-supportive organizational structure.
Developing the resources and organizational capabilities required for successful strategy execution.
Staffing the organization with managers and employees capable of executing the strategy well.
Is your company striving to conduct its business in an environmentally sustainable manner? What specific additional actions could your company take that would make an even greater contribution to environmental sustainability?5. In what ways is your company’s environmental sustainability strategy
In what ways, if any, is your company exercising corporate social responsibility?What are the elements of your company’s CSR strategy? Are there any changes to this strategy that you would suggest?
Is your company’s strategy ethical? Why or why not? Is there anything that your company has done or is now doing that could legitimately be considered “shady”by your competitors?
Go to www.google.com/green/ and read about the company’s latest initiatives surrounding sustainability. What are Google’s key policies and actions that help it reduce its environmental footprint? How does the company integrate the idea of creating a “better web that’s better for the
Based on information provided in Illustration Capsule 9.3, explain how Burt’s Bees’ CSR strategy has contributed to its success in the marketplace. How are the company’s various stakeholder groups affected by its commitment to social responsibility? How would you evaluate its
Prepare a one- to two-page analysis of a recent ethics scandal using your university library’s access to LexisNexis or other Internet resources. Your report should(1) discuss the conditions that gave rise to unethical business strategies and behavior and (2) provide an overview of the costs
Widely known as an ethical company, Dell recently committed itself to becoming a more environmentally sustainable business. After reviewing the About Dell section of its website ( www.dell.com/learn/us/en/uscorp1/about-dell ), prepare a list of 10 specific policies and programs that help the
Is there anything in the proposed action that could be considered ethically objectionable?Would our customers, employees, suppliers, stockholders, competitors, communities, the SEC, or the media view this action as ethically objectionable?
Is it apparent that this proposed action is in harmony with our code? Are any conflicts or potential problems evident?
Is what we are proposing to do fully compliant with our code of ethical conduct?Are there any areas of ambiguity that may be of concern?
The concepts of corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability and how companies balance these duties with economic responsibilities to shareholders.
The costs of business ethics failures.
What drives unethical business strategies and behavior.
How the standards of ethical behavior in business are no different from the ethical standards and norms of the larger society and culture in which a company operates.
How appealing is the whole group of industries in which the company has invested?
Which of the company’s industries are most attractive, and which are least attractive?
Does each industry the company has diversified into represent a good market for the company to be in—does it pass the industry-attractiveness test?
Which is the least costly mode of entry, given the company’s objectives?
Is speed an important factor in the firm’s chances for successful entry?
Are there entry barriers to overcome?
Does the company have all of the resources and capabilities it requires to enter the business through internal development, or is it lacking some critical resources?
Which one of the following best describes the strategic approach your company is taking in trying to compete successfully on an international basis?Multidomestic or think-local, act-local approach.Global or think-global, act-global approach.Transnational or think-global, act-local approach.Explain
To what extent, if any, have you and your co-managers adapted your company’s strategy to take geographic differences in import tariffs or import duties into account?
Assume you are the CEO of an online retailer looking to expand your services into developing-country markets. Much of the success of your business model depends on the ability to ship items quickly and without delays as well as provide unrivaled customer service. What concerns might you have
Your company is an American-based footwear producer. Over the past few years, while demand for your products has been increasing, costs have been rising steadily and your production capabilities are limited. What options might you have to decrease costs and increase production to meet rising demand?
If your company’s product is large home appliances such as washing machines, ranges, ovens, and refrigerators, would it seem to make more sense to pursue a multidomestic strategy, a global strategy, or a transnational strategy? Why?
If your company’s product is dry soup mixes and canned soups, would a multidomestic strategy seem to be more advisable than a global strategy or a transnational strategy? Why?
If your company’s product is mobile phones, which of these strategies do you think it would make better strategic sense to employ? Why?
Assume you are in charge of developing the strategy for an international company selling products in some 50 different countries around the world. One of the issues you face is whether to employ a multidomestic strategy, a global strategy, or a transnational strategy.
Collaborative agreements with foreign companies in the form of strategic alliances or joint ventures are widely used as a means of entering foreign markets. They are also used as a means of acquiring resources and capabilities by learning from foreign partners. And they are used to put together
Chile’s largest producer of wine, Concha y Toro, chooses to compete in Europe, North America, the Caribbean, and Asia using an export strategy. Go to the Investor Relations section of the company’s website ( www.conchaytoro.com/the-company/investor-relations/ ) to review the company’s press
Kaiser Permanente, a standout among managed health care systems, has become a model of how to deliver good health care cost-effectively. Illustration Capsule 6.4 describes how Kaiser Permanente has made vertical integration a central part of its strategy. What value chain segments has Kaiser
Live Nation operates music venues, provides management services to music artists, and promotes more than 22,000 live music events annually. The company merged with Ticketmaster and acquired concert and festival promoters in the United States, Australia, and Great Britain. How has the company used
Will buyers encounter high switching costs in moving to the newly introduced product or service?
When and how strategic alliances can substitute for horizontal mergers and acquisitions or vertical integration and how they can facilitate outsourcing.
The conditions that favor farming out certain value chain activities to outside parties.
The advantages and disadvantages of extending the company’s scope of operations via vertical integration.

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Crafting And Executing Strategy Concepts And Readings 20th Edition Arthur Thompson, A. J. Strickland, John Gamble - Solutions

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