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The Essentials Of Technical Communication 5th Edition Elizabeth Tebeaux, Sam Dragga - Solutions
What are the main ideas?If you answer their questions at the beginning of your document, readers are more likely to continue reading.To answer these questions in the minds of your readers, you will have to answer three questions yourself about the document you are writing:
What will I have to do?
How does it affect me?
Do I have to read it?
What is this?
9 Explain briefly why strategic controls are necessary and indicate how they might be improved. Consider an organisation with which you are familiar and assess its strategic controls with reference to your explanation.1. Determine as fully as possible who will read what you write.2. Know the goals
8 Devise a strategic plan for an organisation with which you are familiar and identify the main elements that you would control during the period of the plan. Consider whether you yourself can be wholly responsible for devising such a plan or whether you would, in practice, not only need to consult
7 ‘If top management devotes more effort to assessing the strategic feasibility of projects in its allocational role than it does to the task of multiplying resource effectiveness, its value added will be modest indeed.’ (Gary Hamel and C K Prahalad) Discuss.
6 How can objectives and tasks be communicated from senior management while at the same time motivating those who have to implement them?
5 What are the implications of bounded rationality and minimum intervention in developing the strategic process?
4 ‘Nothing chastens the planner more than the knowledge that s/he will have to carry out the plan .’ (General Gavin, quoted by George Day) Discuss this comment in the context of the implementation process.
3 Apply the basic implementation process outlined in Figure 13.1 to the current procedures of an organisation with which you are familiar. Where does it differ and where is it the same? What conclusions can you draw about the process?
2 Does a small company need a formal strategic plan?
1 Compare the Canon and Nestlé styles of strategic planning and discuss why they are different. Is one better than the other and, if so, which?
2 What, if any, are the dangers of informal strategic controls such as those operating at Nestlé?
1 What characterises the Nestlé style of strategic planning?To what extent is this a function of its large size? Its product range? Its geographical spread?
explore how strategic planning can be conducted and critically evaluate its merits.
show how the Balanced Scorecard brings together the various elements of the implementation process;
outline the main elements of control and monitoring, and investigate their importance for strategic management implementation;
describe how resources are allocated between parts of the organisation;
understand the way that the objectives, tasks and timing are implemented;
outline the nature and limitations of the implementation process;
How is strategic management changing?
How can we devise a programme to manage such change?
What are the main principles involved in strategic change?
Why do people resist strategic change?
What is the impact of green strategy and sustainability on strategic options and choice?
What are the implications of green strategy for knowledge, technology and innovation?
How does purpose change as green strategy and sustainability principles are adopted?
What additional elements are involved in analysing the green strategy environment and in identifying sustainable resources and capabilities?
What are the main elements of green strategy and sustainability?
What is the role of information processing and systems?
How is strategy controlled?
How is strategic planning conducted and what is its influence on strategy?
How are resources allocated?
How are tasks and objectives set?
What is the process of implementation?
9 ‘The hallmark of many successful business organisations is the attention given to the human element.’ (Laurie Mullins, author of the well-known text Management and Organisational Behaviour ) Is the human element more important than competitive strategy?
8 The managing director of a large company making bicycles has become worried by the lack of growth in sales, believing the company has lost its earlier innovative spark, and has turned to you for advice. What would you recommend?
7 Why is it difficult to develop reward systems to deliver the organisation’s objectives? How might such difficulties be overcome in a small entrepreneurial business venture?
5 ‘Every organisation needs an element of innovation’(see Section 12.5 ). Is this correct?6 ‘All any company has to do to explore its own potential to become a more innovatory organisation is to see what happens when employees and managers are brought together and given a significant problem
4 If you were asked to make PepsiCo – see Case 12.1 –more innovative, what would you do? In answering this question, you should take into account the existing culture of the company.
3 ‘If structure does follow strategy, why should there be a delay in developing the new organisation needed to meet the administrative demands of the new strategy?’ (Alfred Chandler) How would you answer this question?
2 What structure would you expect the following organisations to have?(a) A small management consultancy company based in one country only.(b) A voluntary group providing volunteers to visit the elderly and house-bound.(c) A medium-sized company with 1,500 employees, two factories and a separate
1 Explain the structure of an organisation with which you are familiar, using the elements outlined in Sections 12.2 and 12.3 as your guide.
3 What lessons, if any, on strategy and organisation structure can be drawn from the approach of PepsiCo in developing its new organisation structure?
2 What benefits was the company seeking from its acquisitions?How did the change in organisation structure contribute to such benefits? In order to achieve such benefits, what actions would have to be taken? Would they have any human consequences? If so, what?
1 Why was PepsiCo essentially organised into North American and international divisions? Why were there some variations in this structure? Examining the organisation structures outlined in this chapter, in which category would you put PepsiCo?
explain the formal organisation needed to motivate staff and implement the chosen strategies.
develop the special organisation structures that are more likely to lead to innovative strategies;
outline the six main types of organisation structure and assess their advantages and disadvantages in relation to a particular strategy;
evaluate the importance of changing an organisation’s management style at the same time as changing its strategy;
understand the basic principles involved in designing the structure of an organisation to meet its chosen strategy;
evaluate critically the arguments that strategy and structure have a more complex relationship than that suggested by the early strategists;
10 If you were advising Honda Motorcycles about its strategies in the 1990s, what strategic approach or combination of approaches would you adopt? Give reasons for your views.
9 ‘Management theories are judged, among managers at least, by the demonstrable results that they deliver,’ comments Colin Egan. Apply this comment to the strategic routes described in this chapter and outline your conclusions.
8 The learning-based strategic route emphasises creativity in strategy development. Why is this important and how might it be achieved?
7 Why is negotiation important in strategic management?Why is it not better to have a strong leader who will simply impose his/her will on the organisation?
6 For organisations, such as the telecommunications companies, involved in lengthy investment decisions that take many years to implement, the uncertaintybased route forward, with its very short time-horizons, appears to have little to offer. Can this strategic route provide any useful guidance to
5 Some have argued that the survival-based strategic route is over-pessimistic in its approach. Do you agree?
4 Is it possible for the prescriptive strategy process to be creative?
3 Take an organisation with which you are familiar and consider to what extent it plans ahead. How does it undertake this task? Is it reasonably effective or is the whole process largely a waste of time? To what extent does any planning process rely on ‘people’ issues and negotiation? What
2 Why does context matter in strategy development?What are the main elements of context in the case of European telecommunications? How do they influence strategy development?
1 Charles Handy has described recent technological breakthroughs in global development as discontinuous.He commented that ‘Discontinuous change required discontinuous upside-down thinking to deal with it, even if thinkers and thought appear absurd at first sight.’ Can discontinuities be handled
4 How will the internet impact on travel in the future? Would it be more beneficial to use emergent strategies – if so, which strategies and how should they be used?
3 If you were an established internet provider, which strategic routes would you select to develop your presence further?Why? Give examples of current practice where possible.
2 Are there any strategic routes that you would definitely not employ as a small company? Why?
1 If you were moving into the market for internet travel as a small company, which, if any, of the five routes described in this chapter would you employ? You can also consider the use of classic prescriptive strategy if you wish.
decide the extent to which a learning-based strategy is needed as part of an organisation’s strategy process.
explain the two main elements of the network-based route forward and comment critically on its usefulness;
outline the importance of the uncertainty-based route forward and comment on its relevance, depending on the organisation’s context;
identify the relevance of a survival-based route forward in the context of the circumstances of the organisation;
explain five approaches to strategy development that go beyond the classic prescriptive approach;
understand the importance of context in the development of strategy;
10 ‘Most firms rarely engage in explicit formal strategy evaluation . . . rather, it is a continuing process that is difficult to separate from normal planning, reporting and control.’ (Richard Rumelt) Discuss the implications for the evaluation criteria explored in this chapter.
9 ‘Merger and acquisition is the most common means of entry into new markets.’ ( John Kay) What is the evidence of success from such ventures? What are the strategic implications of your answer for organisations considering this option?
8 With regard to new, fast-growing markets such as that for mobile telephones, the ADL matrix would suggest that weak and dominant companies face quite different strategic opportunities and problems. Is this really true when the market is changing so rapidly?
7 A well-known German company is primarily engaged in supplying motor components such as car radios and gear boxes to car companies in the EU, such as Ford and Toyota. It is considering acquiring a medium-sized US company as the basis for its first expansion outside Europe. What would you advise in
6 ‘Strategy evaluation is an attempt to look beyond the obvious facts regarding the short-term health of a business and appraise instead those more fundamental factors and trends that govern success in the chosen field of endeavour.’ (Richard Rumelt) Discuss this statement.
5 What are the dangers, if any, of using quantified and precise evaluation criteria in strategy selection?
4 ‘Discounting techniques rest on rather arbitrary assumptions about profitability, asset deterioration and external investment opportunities.’ (Robert Hay) Explain the implications of this comment for strategy evaluation and comment on its application in strategy selection.
3 Japanese companies have tended to favour payback criteria while US/UK companies have been more inclined to use DCF criteria in evaluating strategic options.What are the merits of the two approaches? Can you suggest any reasons why one might be preferred to another?
2 If you were developing strategy for a small company with 50 employees and a turnover of around $5 million, would you use all the selection criteria outlined in Section 10.1 or would you select only some for this purpose? Give reasons for your answer and, if only choosing some, explain which you
1 Using Section 10.1 , what criteria would you consider were particularly important if you were evaluating strategy options in the following organisations: a small chain of petrol stations; a large multinational developing a global strategy; a government telecommunications com pany that was about
4 Which option, if any, would you recommend to Eurofreeze?Give reasons for your choice and explain the strengths and weaknesses of your choice.
3 Consider what other strategic analytical tools, if any, might provide useful insights into the strategic choice debate:you might wish to consider a PESTEL analysis, a Five Forces Analysis, generic strategies, a market options matrix, value chain and an innovations checklist (in Chapter 11 ).
2 In what way does the use of the portfolio matrix help the strategic debate? And in what way might it mislead the strategic decisions?
1 What are the relative merits and problems of each option?
3 What strategy lessons can we learn from a market where the barriers to entry are low and the fixed costs are high for the market leaders?
2 Why has Nestlé adopted the strategy of attempting to take a large market share? Do you think that this is viable? What alternative strategies could Nestlé have adopted?
1 What are the main features of the Nestlé strategy in ice cream? How do they differ, if at all, from those of Unilever?
10 Communication of ideas to all those involved: how will this be done? Will we gain the commitment of the managers and employees affected?
9 The possibility of acquisition, merger or joint venture with other companies and the implications:have we fully explored other options that would bring their own benefits and problems?
8 Amount and timing of marketing investment and expertise required: do we have the funds? When will they be required? Do we have the specialist expertise such as advertising and promotions agency teams to deliver our strategies?
7 New products and how they are to be developed: are we confident that we have the portfolio of fully tested new products on which so much depends? Are they real breakthrough products or merely a catch-up on our competition?
6 New technical skills, new plant and costs of closure of old plant: do we have the skills? Do we need to recruit or hire temporarily some specialists?
5 Number of employees and, in the case of redundancy, any costs associated with this: what are the national laws on sacking people and what are the costs?
4 Tax liabilities and dividend payments: what are the implications, especially on timing?
3 Working capital requirements: do we have enough working capital?
2 Projection of cumulative profits: is it sufficiently profitable?
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