1. Our understanding of how strategy development in organizations can be enhanced through employing different strategy lenses.

Describe the design and experience lenses. Give examples to illustrate your understanding. Answer Strategic lenses provide four angles of strategy which can be viewed and implemented at corporate level. These strategic lenses help in approaching strategic problems from different perspectives. Looking at problems from different perspectives will raise new issues and provide new solutions. The four lenses of strategy are as follows: a) Strategy as a design this takes the view that strategy development can be a logical process in which the forces and constraints on the organisation are weighed carefully through analytic and evaluative techniques to establish a clear strategic direction. This creates conditions in which carefully planned strategic implementation should occur. Apple- feasibility , stakeholders, b) Strategy as experience here, the view is that future strategies of the organization are based heavily on the experience of managers and others in the organization based on their experience in previous strategies. c) Strategy as ideas the ideas lens lays emphasis on the importance of promoting diversity in and around organizations, which can potentially generate genuinely new ideas. Here, strategy is seen as not so much planned from the top as emergent from within and around organizations as people respond to an uncertain and changing environment with a variety of initiatives. Google (Innovation) IBM d) Strategy as discourse this lens sees strategy in terms of language. Managers spend most of their time communicating. Therefore, command of strategy language becomes a resource for managers by which to shape objective strategic analyses to their personal views and to gain influence, power and legitimacy. Approaching strategy as a discourse makes managers very attentive to the language in which they frame strategic problems, make strategy proposals, debate issues and then finally communicate strategic decisions. Infosys, General Electricals Strategic Design Lens A basic premise of the business is that companies have goals and customers have needs. Strategic choice can be made logically and objectively on the basis of linear, analytic, evaluative procedures driven by top managers or other managers working with them. This involves: a) Establishing clear objectives developed to reflect stakeholder expectations and use them as a basis for evaluating various options.

b) Making argued cases for explicit options on the basis of clear understanding of the strategic position of the strategic position of the organization arrived at analytically. c) Evaluating options by systematically examining their relative merits in terms of: a. Whether the strategic options significantly address the strategic issues of the organization. b. Whether it is feasible to implement the strategic option c. Whether the option is acceptable to stakeholders This approach is high on rationality and legitimacy, but low on innovation as the process is pre-defined. Apple: Strategic Experience Lens As per the strategic experience lens, the strategy develops incrementally on past strategy, past experience and the culture of the organization within a political context. Hence, strategic choices made are heavily influenced by past experience. Hence, such past experience may restrict innovation or constraint innovation as it may not be in line with the existing corporate culture. As this approach relies on past experience, managers have ready-made solutions on the basis of their experience and applying them to circumstances which match such strategic actions. The strategies that have been evolved have been done so on the basis of experimentation in the past, hence it is possible that strategies of successful organizations will be imitated by new competitors. This approach is high on legitimacy, but low on rationality and innovation. Eg: low cost airlines,airtel

2. Describe the four criteria for an organizations core competence. Explain how core competences can be identified and leveraged to develop strategies. Give example(s) to support your argument.

Key success factors in industry for survival- Support activities in a Value chain Critical success factors for competitive advantage on basis of primary activities, competitive advantage can be derived.

Resource based Competences Threshold- Minimum find out with help of key success factors Unique VRHN Critical success factors Core competences are the skills and abilities by which resources are deployed through an organization's activities and processes such as to achieve competitive advantage in ways that others cannot imitate or obtain. Core competencies are always a balance between the unique capabilities that we have already demonstrated and those we need to acquire to maintain or gain competitive advantage. Core competencies serve as a source of competitive advantages. But core competencies create competitive advantages on long-term. So, we can also look at Hansons model that uses 4 criteria to identify long term competitive advantages: - Valuable- it refers to swot analysis because it allows using opportunities - Rare - Costly to imitate - Non-substitutable and/or disabling threats.

These 4 elements are equivalent to the previous points that describe core competencies. Core competencies dont only concern R&D and final products. It could also be a process, an Organization evolution, and human resources methods and so on. Core competency lead to competitive advantage when:    They relate to an activity that underpins the value in the product features They lead to levels of performance that are significantly better than competitors They are difficult for competitors to imitate

St t i it i y y y y R C t

ilit i t t

t :

Threshol C

ilities

ilities for competiti e advantage

Competitive advantage and strategic capabilities:

Resources: This includes tangible and intangible resources of the company. Tangible resources are the physical assets of the company li e the labor, plant etc. intangible includes the intellectual properties, reputation etc. Again, the resources can be classified in four categories: y y y y Physical resources- eg: plant Financial resources- eg: cash Human resources- eg: people in the firm Intellectual capital- eg: pat ents

Competences: Competency means the skills and abilities by which resources are deployed effectively through an organi ations activities and resources.

Threshold capabilities: These are those capabilities needed for an organization to meet the necessary requirements to compete in a given market. Identifying and managing threshold capabilities raises at least two significant challenges:
y

Threshold levels of capability changes as critical success factors change or through the activities of competitors and new entrants.

Trade-offs may need to be made to achieve the threshold capability required for different sorts of customers.

Packages by sun DTH Threshold Resources: Set up box, antenna, firm infrastructure, and logistics. Capabilities for competitive advantage include:
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Unique resources Core competences

Unique resources: This includes those resources that strengthen the competitive advantage and those that cannot be imitated by others. HD Services Core competences: Core competences includes the skills and capabilities by which resources are deployed through an organizations activities and processes, so as to achieve competitive advantage in ways that others cannot imitate and obtain. Putting these concepts together, to survive in the changing environment the firm has to address the challenges that it faces. The strategic capabilities to face these challenges are dependent on the resources and the competencies a firm has. The further challenge is to achieve competitive advantage and this can be achieved by developing strategic capabilities that the competitors find difficult to obtain or imitate. This could be attained through the unique resources that the firm has. Low cost, Understanding market and needs of people. In different languages

Sun DTH: Resources Set Top Box, Antenna, Firm Infrastructure, Logistics, Channels, Radio Stations Threshold Set Top Box, Antenna, Firm Infrastructure, Channels, Radio Stations Unique HD Set Top Box, Logistics, Strategic Alliance and Bundling of products 3. Describe the concepts of organizational culture and the cultural web. Explain how these concepts can influence the process of strategic management. Give example to support your argument. (page 194 203) The culture of an organization is often conceived as consisting of 4 layers:  Values which include statements about an organizations mission statement, objectives or strategies; basic  Beliefs these are more specific, in that they can be distinguished in how people talk about issues in the organization, not possible to understand culture fully.  Behaviours these are the day to day in which an organization operates and can be seen by people both inside and outside the organization. This includes the work routines, how the organization is structured and controlled and softer issues around symbolic behaviours  Taken for granted assumptions they are the core of an organizations culture. They are the aspects of the organizational life, which people find difficult to explain. It is also referred to as paradigm, which is a set of assumptions held in common and taken for granted within an organization. Like- same for middle management & top management- like place for sitting The cultural web is a means of understanding the existing culture and its effects on the performance of the organization. The various elements of cultural web include:  Paradigm these are the collective experiences applied to a particular situation to make sense of it and inform a particular course of action. Trying to identify a paradigm is difficult as these are assumed to exist within an organization. The insiders within the organization cannot view these taken for granted assumptions and hence, a pattern can be understood by taking into consideration other aspects of the culture. Assumptions about company  Rituals and Routines They are the ways things are done on a day to day basis and which have been followed for a long period of time within the organization. An instance of routine may be long working hours because of the nature of work, weekly meetings, focus on process rather than outcomes and so on. How many working days  Stories Stories told by members of the organization to each other, to new recruits and so on, may act to implant organizational history and also flag up important events and personalities.

This is a way of letting people know what is important in an organization. When go for interview can be get view about company  Symbols They are objects, events and acts, that convey, maintain or create meaning over and above their functional purpose. For example, office layout, offices, cars and titles have a functional purpose but are also about maintaining status and hierarchy. The form of language used in an organization may also be particularly revealing.  Power Structures the most powerful groupings within an organization are likely to be closely associated with core assumptions and beliefs. If there is high power distance, then it will be difficult for employees to address their grievances with the top management. Power distance is high  Organizational structure organizational structure is likely to reflect power and show important roles and relationships. For instance a hierarchical structure will reveal that taking orders is mandatory within an organization.  Control Systems Measurements and reward systems emphasize what is important to monitor within the organization. For instance, a performance management central system will help the managers in effectively appraising their employees by measuring standards with actual performance and so on.

4. Consider Porters three generic strategies. In your opinion, how cost-based advantages can be sustained? Give example to support your argument. Porters Generic Strategies - These three generic strategies are defined along two dimensions: strategic scope and strategic strength. Strategic scope is a demand-side dimension and looks at the size and composition of the market you intend to target. Strategic strength is a supply-side dimension and looks at the strength or core competency of the firm. In particular he identified two competencies that he felt were most important: product differentiation and product cost (efficiency). 1. Cost Leadership Strategy Air Deccan, Tata Nano This strategy involves the firm winning market share by appealing to cost-conscious or price-sensitive customers. This is achieved by having the lowest prices in the target market segment, or at least the lowest price to value ratio. To succeed at offering the lowest price while still achieving profitability and a high return on investment, the firm must be able to operate at a lower cost than its rivals. There are three main ways to achieve this.

The first approach is achieving a high asset turnover. In service industries, this may mean for example a restaurant that turns tables around very quickly, or an airline that turns around flights very fast. In manufacturing, it will involve production of high volumes of output. These approaches mean fixed costs are spread over a larger number of units of the product or service, resulting in a lower unit cost, i.e the firm hopes to take advantage of economies of scale and experience curve effects. For industrial firms, mass production becomes both a strategy and an end in itself. Higher levels of output both require and result in high market share, and create an entry barrier to potential competitors, who may be unable to achieve the scale necessary to match the firms low costs and prices. The second dimension is achieving low direct and indirect operating costs. This is achieved by offering high volumes of standardized products, offering basic no-frills products and limiting customization and personalization of service. Production costs are kept low by using fewer components, using standard components, and limiting the number of models produced to ensure larger production runs. Overheads are kept low by paying low wages, locating premises in low rent areas, establishing a cost-conscious culture, etc. Maintaining this strategy requires a continuous search for cost reductions in all aspects of the business. This will include outsourcing, controlling production costs, increasing asset capacity utilization, and minimizing other costs including distribution, R&D and advertising. The associated distribution strategy is to obtain the most extensive distribution possible. Promotional strategy often involves trying to make a virtue out of low cost product features. The third dimension is control over the supply/procurement chain to ensure low costs. This could be achieved by bulk buying to enjoy quantity discounts, squeezing suppliers on price, instituting competitive bidding for contracts, working with vendors to keep inventories low using methods such as Just-in-Time purchasing. Wal-Mart is famous for squeezing its suppliers to ensure low prices for its goods. Dell Computer initially achieved market share by keeping inventories low and only building computers to order. Other procurement advantages could come from preferential access to raw materials, or backward integration. 2. Differentiation Strategy Can be in Product Differentiation & Differentiation is aimed at the broad market that involves the creation of a product or services that is perceived throughout its industry as unique. The company or business unit may then charge a premium for its product. This specialty can be associated with design, brand image, technology, features, dealers, network, or customers service. Differentiation is a viable strategy for earning above average returns in a specific business because the resulting brand loyalty lowers customers' sensitivity to price. Increased

costs can usually be passed on to the buyers. Buyers loyalty can also serve as an entry barrier -new firms must develop their own distinctive competence to differentiate their products in some way in order to compete successfully. Examples of the successful use of a differentiation strategy are Hero Honda, Asian Paints, HLL, Nike athletic shoes, Perstorp BioProducts, Apple Computer, and MercedesBenz automobiles. A differentiation strategy is appropriate where the target customer segment is not price-sensitive, the market is competitive or saturated, customers have very specific needs which are possibly underserved, and the firm has unique resources and capabilities which enable it to satisfy these needs in ways that are difficult to copy. These could include patents or other Intellectual Property (IP), unique technical expertise (e.g. Apple's design skills or Pixar's animation prowess), talented personnel (e.g. a sports team's star players or a brokerage firm's star traders), or innovative processes. Successful brand management also results in perceived uniqueness even when the physical product is the same as competitors. This way, Chiquita was able to brand bananas, Starbucks could brand coffee, and Nike could brand sneakers. Fashion brands rely heavily on this form of image differentiation. Variants on the Differentiation Strategy The shareholder value model holds that the timing of the use of specialized knowledge can create a differentiation advantage as long as the knowledge remains unique. This model suggests that customers buy products or services from an organization to have access to its unique knowledge. The advantage is static, rather than dynamic, because the purchase is a one-time event. The unlimited resources model utilizes a large base of resources that allows an organization to outlast competitors by practicing a differentiation strategy. An organization with greater resources can manage risk and sustain losses more easily than one with fewer resources. This deep-pocket strategy provides a short-term advantage only. If a firm lacks the capacity for continual innovation, it will not sustain its competitive position is over time. 3. Focus or Strategic Scope
Can target mass market- broad marketCan target niche narrow - BMW

This dimension is not a separate strategy per se, but describes the scope over which the company should compete based on cost leadership or differentiation. The firm can choose to compete in the mass market (like Wal-Mart) with a broad scope, or in a defined, focused market segment with a narrow scope. In either case, the basis of competition will still be either cost leadership or differentiation.

In adopting a narrow focus, the company ideally focuses on a few target markets (niche strategy). These should be distinct groups with specialized needs. The choice of offering low prices or differentiated products/services should depend on the needs of the selected segment and the resources and capabilities of the firm. It is hoped that by focusing your marketing efforts on one or two narrow market segments and tailoring your marketing mix to these specialized markets, you can better meet the needs of that target market. The firm typically looks to gain a competitive advantage through product innovation or brand marketing rather than efficiency. It is most suitable for relatively small firms but can be used by any company. A focused strategy should target market segments that are less vulnerable to substitutes or where a competition is weakest to earn above-average return on investment. Examples of firm using a focus strategy include Southwest Airlines, with provides short-haul point-topoint flights in contrast to the hub-and-spoke model of mainstream carriers, and Family Dollar, which targets poor urban American families who cannot drive to Wall-Marts in the suburbs because they do not own a car. How cost-based advantages can be sustained? Cost leadership strategies are only viable for large firms with the opportunity to enjoy economies of scale and large production volumes. However, this takes a limited industrial view of strategy. Small businesses can also be cost leaders if they enjoy any advantages conducive to low costs. For example, a local restaurant in a low rent location can attract price-sensitive customers if it offers a limited menu, rapid table turnover and employs staff on minimum wage. Innovation of products or processes may also enable a startup or small company to offer a cheaper product or service where incumbents' costs and prices have become too high. An example is the success of low-cost budget airlines who despite having fewer planes than the major airlines, were able to achieve market share growth by offering cheap, no-frills services at prices much cheaper than those of the larger incumbents. 5. People are at the heart of strategy. In your opinion, how human resources can enable the success of strategy? And how human resources should be managed to enable the strategic success for a business organization? (Page 475 481) Knowledge and the experiences of the people in the organization are the two very crucial factors that can influence the success of the strategy because of this the people related issues should be the focal part for the managers of the organizations not only the HR manager. Though the role of formal HR structures and systems is quite important in supporting the successful strategies but sometimes they might obstruct the strategy if they are not adapted to the types of strategies being pursued. People element of the strategy has three related issues:

1) People as resources 2) People and behaviour 3) Need to organize people

People as resource Use full knowledge of employees Right person at right place It is important to note that the ownership of resources whether human resource or any other kind of resource does not ensures the strategic capability rather the strategic capability is concerned with the deployment, management and the control of these resources. And for the human resources it is particularly important that a climate is created wherein the people strive towards achieving success. This hard side of HR management is concerned with the issues related to performance management. HR activities can ensure that the strategies employed are successful in following ways: I. II. III. Audit to assess HR requirements to support strategies Goal setting and performance assessment of the individuals working in the organization. Recruitment and retention are the means of improving the strategic capability and also succession planning is also to be considered properly so as to ensure that sufficient numbers of talented people are there in the organization to meet the future leadership requirements. It is important to link the HR strategies with the organizations strategy People hard and behaviour- Soft Culture can be core competency- Google, Infosys People in the organization influence strategy through their competence and their collective behaviour which forms the culture. This is the soft side of HR which is concerned with the behaviour of the people both individually and collectively. The softer changes may include the understanding of the way the idea or the paradigm of the organization needs to change in case of rapidly changing business environment, understanding the relationship between the culture and the strategic choices as sometimes the culture of the organization can itself be the core competency, being realistic about the difficulty and the time scales in achieving the change in the culture because the process of changing the culture is a long process by itself and finally being able to change the management style with the magnitude of change and as well as with the organizational context.

Need to organizing people An organization can ensure the successful business strategies with the help of HR functions, Line managers and through its own structures and processes. For the HR function to contribute towards the successful strategy it is imperative that the HR managers are clear about the strategy of the organization and once that is done the HR functions can help in achieving the strategic success in following ways: I. II. III. IV. As a service provider by recruiting and arranging training sessions. As a regulator setting the rules within which the line managers operate. As a change agent As an advisor on issues of the HR strategy to the line managers.

It is crucial to recognise the crucial influence of middle managers on the day to day performance and behaviour of people in the organization. This implies that it is necessary for the top managers to include the line managers in the strategy development process otherwise the strategy may not be successfully stick with the people in the organization. Driver conferenceStructures and processes Strategic success may be hampered if the traditional structures and roles do not match with the future strategies. Furthermore the structures and processes have to be changed with the changing circumstances. Another challenge is that whether the HR issues should be kept within the organization or should be out sourced to the external consultants. The advantage of outsourcing is that wide expertise is available but the disadvantage is that the external consultant may not be familiar with the circumstances of the organization. The various points about the relationships between the business strategies and people can be summarised as: I. There must be activities to ensure the maintenance of competitiveness like objective setting and performance appraisal. II. There must be activities to provide a platform on which new strategies can be built in long term. For example leadership, competencies and culture. III. The above mentioned points should be linked so as to ensure that the long term goals do not get overshadowed by the short term goals. For example using the short term success incentives like bonuses may compromise the ability to take strategic interventions such as creating new roles and responsibilities.

The organizations that are able to manage these processes are most likely to gain competitive advantage whereas others face the risk of failure because the HR strategies are not in line with the organizational strategies or the people competencies and culture are out of line either with the HR or the organizational strategies or because of the fact that business strategies fail to build on the organizational capabilities. 6. Logical incrementalism is widely used by organizations to develop its strategy. Explain the term logical incrementalism and describe the major steps (or characteristics) involved when it is used for strategy development. Give an example to illustrate your understanding. Logical Incrementalism is the development of strategy by experimentation and learning from partial commitments rather than through global formulations of total strategies. Incrementalism in the study of rationality it can be seen as a stealthy way to bring about radical changes that were not initially wanted. OR Logical Incrementalism is a philosophy of achieving broad organizational goals by making strategic decisions in small steps. The small steps to resolve conflicting views of participants and reduce risk by capitalizing on knowledge that is gained during the process. Logical Incrementalism benefits from flexibility, but is likely to be time-consuming and inefficient. 4 Characteristics of Logical Incrementalism
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Environmental uncertainty: The Managers realise that they cannot do away with the uncertainty of their environment by relying on analysis of historical data or predicting how it will change. Rather, they try to be sensitive to environmental signals by encouraging constant environmental scanning through the organization. It can be also said that it is a situation where the management of a firm has little information about its external environment that is in a state of flux and, hence, largely unpredictably.

Generalised views of strategy: Managers have a generalised rather than specific view of where they want the organization to be in the future and try to move towards this position incrementally. There is also a reluctance to specify precise objectives too early as this migh t stifle ideas and prevent innovation and experimentation. Objectives may therefore be general in nature.

Experimentation: Managers may seek to develop strong secure, but flexible core business. They will then build on the experience gained in that business to inform decisions both about its development and experimentation with side-bet bet ventures. Commitment to strategic options may therefore be tentative to the early stages of strategy development. Such experiments are not the sole responsibility of top management.

Coordinating emergent strategies: Top managers may then utilise a mix of formal and informal social and political process to draw together an emerging pattern of strategies from these subsystems. These may then be formed into coherent statements of strategy for stakeholders that need to understand the organisations strategy.

Pros and Cons of Logical Incrementalism The advantages of incrementalism over other formal systems is that no time is wasted planning for outcomes which may not occur. Disadvantages are that time may be wasted dealing with the immediate problems and no overall strategy is developed. IKEA using Logical Incrementalism IKEA has been using logical incrementalism since its very first store opened for business. IKEAs founder, Ingvar Kamprad, had a strong but very general vision. From that, IKEAs strategy gradually took shape as Kamprad both proactively took action and reactively adapted to the situation as it extended. Even the decision to sell furniture was an adaptation to the market, not a deliberate strategy. Because of this short-term scepticism, whenever the company stumbled across an obstacle, it could quickly turn the obstacle into an opportunity. IKEAs approach is incredibly refreshing. Its strategy stated that business could succeed without predicting the future and wasting time writing strategy roadmaps that are obsolete. HP using Logical Incrementalism Hewlett Packard is another company which follows Logical Incrementalism. A core technology in test and measurement lead them to improve things for the customer that led them to begin to develop computer capabilities, information processing capabilities, because that was part of building better test and measurement organizations. And then they began to apply those same ideas in other ways into the computer business, the server business and the printing business, which was an offshoot of that whole approach. 7. Strategic alliance and acquisitions are two different methods of strategic development. Compare and contrast the motives of these two development methods. Discuss factors that can influence the success of strategic alliances/acquisition. (Page 357 365)

Strategic Alliances:

The company goes for strategic alliances in order to reach its goals in more efficient way, where they can share their resources to be more competent in producing a product and engage in business activities for mutual economic gain. This is mainly undertaken to support one another in terms of:
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Material skills Innovation Finance Access to different markets.

Motives:
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Take advantage of partners local market knowledge and working relationships with key government officials in host country. It is very important to get working relationship with local government officials, (social capitals).

Capture economies of scale in production and/or marketing, when they operate together, they can use the same machine or equipment to produce products and use the same marketing channel for both products.

Fill gaps in technical expertise or knowledge of local market; they will learn technical knowledge from each other.

Share distribution facilities and dealer networks, they can use the same agent or retailers to reduce the logistic cost and penetrate the market more easily; they can use the put-together technical and financial resources to attack the rivals.

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Direct combined competitive energies toward defeating mutual rivals Can reduce the cost and more efficient to penetrate the market by doing the followings 1) Joint research efforts 2) Technology-sharing 3) Joint use of production and distribution facilities 4) Marketing/promoting one anothers products.

CRITICAL FACTORS OF STRATEGIC ALLIANCES Partner Congruity Difficulties may arise because partners are not in complete agreement about the purpose of an alliance and the process by which its goals can be achieved. It is also possible that the short - and long-term objectives of partners are misunderstood, so the direction of the alliance may be rather fuzzy. Government policies: Governmental policies may create structural impediments or facilitate the operation of cooperative arrangements. In countries where economic nationalism is high, alliances often have to be approved at the governmental level. For example, the IBM-Groupe Bull alliance was approved by the French government. Alliances that have the support of governments in such environments may actually perform better because access may be opened to resources that are otherwise highly controlled and centralized. Organizational Issues Organizations may not have shared mental maps on business assumptions, criticality of events, and operating procedures [15]. An alliance between IBM and Motorola was almost dissolv ed because of disagreements on security inspection procedures. Human Resource Management (HRM) Practices Staffing and selection of key personnel for the alliance, performance appraisal, maintaining continuity of key personnel, and reward and compensation systems have been recognized as important HRM issues for strategic alliances. The differences in pay for individuals in the same position may lead to an

problem. A recent alliance between HP and a computer firm in India almost got derailed due to compensation-related issues. Mergers and Acquisitions: An Acquisition is where organization takes ownership of another organization and Merger Implies Mutually agreed decisions for joint ownership between organizations. Here in case of both managers of one organization exert strategic influence over other. Acquisition can be  Horizontal- Takes place between firms in same line of business.  Vertical -A merger between two companies producing different goods or services for one specific finished product. Eg- A car manufacturer purchasing a tire company.  Conglomerate- Formed through combination of unrelated business. Motives  Economies of Scale This generally refers to a method in which average cost per unit is decreased through increased production since fixed cost is shared over an increased number of goods.  Increased market share/ Increase revenue This motives assumes that the company will be absorbing the major competitor and thus increase its power (by capturing increased market share) to set prices.  Taxes In order to have tax advantage benefit the giant company may acquire small so that tax can be set off against the losses of the acquiring company.  I mproved market reach and Industry visibility Company buys companies in order to have a access over the new markets and increase its revenue and earnings through reaching more markets. It helps them to expand marketing and distribution channels, giving them new sales opportunities.  Plugging a gap in the market - Business may feel that its product portfolio is not sufficient to cater for different customer needs in its market. Acquiring another firm that is already in that market enables it to plug that gap. It may be the case that a firm has a seasonal sales trend. Buying a business that has its predominant sales in a different season of the year will also be an example of how the firm's product portfolio might be enhanced through a merger and acquisition. The example of Fuller's and Gales is an excellent example of this.  Accessing technology or skills A firm may be targeted for acquisition because it has specific skills within its staff or has a particular technology that would be useful to another business. Businesses that are relatively

new and might have hit upon a new idea or who have developed specific skills in a certain area might be ripe targets for acquisition.  Value Maximization. Critical factors drive for mergers and Acquisitions.  Inadequate capital  Lack of brand Images  To survive in the market  To expand market share  To achieve economies of scale.

8. Strategic control, financial control, and strategic planning are three ways of dividing responsibilities between corporate centre and its business units. Discuss these three ways and contrast them.

The responsibilities for strategic decision making between business units and corporate centre are divided in the following three ways; Strategic planning: It refers to the particular style of relationship between the centre and business units. This is the most centralised form in among all the three styles. The centre is the master planner recommending detailed roles for departments and business units, whose roe is basically limited to the operational delivery of the plan. The centre orchestrates, coordinates and controls all of business unit activities through the extensive use of the formal planning and control system. The centre also directly manages the infrastructure and provides many corporate services. Financial control: It is the most extreme form of decentralization, dissolving the organisation into highly independent business units. In this style, the role of the centre is limited to setting financial targets, allocating resources, appraising performance and dominant to avoid or correct poor performance. These involvements would usually be replacing business unit managers rather than dictating changes in strategies. Therefore, the dominant processes are performance targets and business unit managers are held strictly responsible for meeting these targets. Strategic control: This style is mostly operates in the organisations. It lies between the two extremes of the strategic planning and financial control styles. The relationship between the centre and the business units is one of a parent who behaves as a strategic shaper, influencing the behaviour in business units and forming the context within which manages are operating. Contrast

Strategic planning is more appropriate where corporate managers have a detailed working knowledge of each business units whereas financial control is more appropriate to organisations operating in stable markets with mature technologies. Similarly Strategic control is more suitable where the centre has little knowledge about business unit strategies and operations.

Strategic planning is more suitable where business unit strategies are of a size or sensitivity that can have major implication for the whole corporate whereas financial control is only a short time lag between management decisions and the financial consequences. Similarly strategic control is built through the processes of supportive strategies with business units but within central boundaries and guidelines.

In strategic planning, there are bureaucratic costs of centralisation and de-motivating effects on business unit manager who may feel little commitment to strategies handed down from the centres but in financial control, the business units are focussed on meeting tough short term target set by a centre that does not have the resources or the competences to manage the knowledge creations and integration process. In strategic control the biggest risk would be the centre which tries to shape strategies without being clear about the corporate logic or having the competences essentially to add value in these ways.

9. Describe the concept of corporate social responsibility and four possible corporate stances on social responsibility. Explain the rationale under each stance and the leadership and stakeholder relationship required for each of these four stances. Corporate social responsibility (CSR), the European Commission presented CSR as: a concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interaction with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis. It is concerned with the ways in which an organization exceeds its minimum obligation to its stakeholders specified through regulation. It is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated in the business model of the company which is used as the framework for measuring an organizations performance against economic, social and environmental parameters. However the legal regulatory frameworks under which business operate pay uneven attention to the rights of different stakeholders. For exampleContractual stakeholders- such as customers (in general), suppliers or employees- have legal relationship with an organization. Community stakeholders-such as local communities, consumers (in general) and pressure groups that do not have protection for the law Different organizations take different stances on social responsibility. These different stances will also be reflected I how they manage their responsibilities. Furthermore, CSR-focused businesses would proactively promote the public interest by encouraging community growth and development,

and voluntarily eliminating practices that harm the public sphere, regardless of legality. Essentially, CSR is the deliberate inclusion of public interest into corporate decision-making, and the honoring of a triple bottom line: People, Planet, Profit. Below are the examples of some organizations which are following CSR:
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Shell Foundation's involvement in the Flower Valley, South Africa. In Flower Valley they set up an Early Learning Centre to help educate the community's children as well as develop new skills for the adults.

Marks and Spencer is also active in this community through the building of a trade network with the community - guaranteeing regular fair trade purchases. Often activities companies participate in are establishing education facilities for adults and HIV/AIDS education programmes. The majority of these CSR projects are established in Africa. JIDF For You is an attempt to promote these activities in India.

Stances of Corporate Social Responsibilities:

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The Laissez-faire view:  Rationale: It represents an extreme stance where organizations take the view that the only responsibility of the business is short term interest of shareholders and to make profit, pay taxes and provide jobs. They mainly focus towards maximization of profit because in they not only serve the society but also help in the economic development of the country.  Leadership: leadership under this stance is peripheral. This stance is taken by the executives who are persuaded of it ideologically or by smaller businesses that do not have resources other than minimally comply with the regulations. Insofar as social good is persuade, this is justified in terms of improving profitability.  Stakeholder Relationship: relationships with stakeholders are likely to be largely unilateral. And one way rather than interactive. The danger here is, of course that this may not be how society expects organization to act.

Enlightened self-interest:  Rationale: It is tempered with the recognition of the long term benefit to the shareholders of well managed relationship with other stakeholders. The justification for social action is that it makes good business sense.  Leadership: leadership in this case is supportive because an organizations reputation is important to its long term financials success and there is a business case to be made more proactive stance on social issues in order to recruit or retain staff.

 Stakeholder relationship: managers here would take the view that organizations not only have responsibility to their shareholders but also a responsibility or relationship with stakeholders likely to be more interactive.
y

Forum for stakeholders interactions:  Rationale: it explicitly incorporates multiple stakeholders interests and expectations rather than just shareholders as influences on organizational purpose and strategy. It emphasize that the performance of organization should be measured in pluralistic way rather than just through financial bottom line.  Leadership: companies in this category might retain uneconomic units to preserve jobs, avoid manufacturing or selling anti-social products and prepared to bear reductions in the profitability for social good. Therefore the leadership in this stance is champion.  Stakeholder relationship: organization in this category inevitably take longer over the development of new strategies as they are committed to wide consultation with stakeholders and with managing the difficult political trade-offs between conflicting stakeholders expectation.

Shapers of Society:  Rationale: regard financial considerations as of secondary importance or a constraint. These are activists, seeking to change society and social norms. The firm may have been founded for this purpose, as in the case of body shop. They may see their strategic purpose as changing rules of the game through which they may benefit but by which they wish to assure that society benefit.  Leadership: the leadership in this stance is visionary. It is fundamental to their existence that organizations have zeal to improve the interest of the society but they also need to remain financially viable which can lead to them being seen as over -commercial and spending too much on administration or promotional activities.  Stakeholder relationship: in this stance organization have multi-organization alliances.

10. The competitive (positioning) and competence (resource-based) views are two dominant theoretical perspectives in strategic management. perspectives. Give examples to support your arguments. When a firm sustains profits that exceed the average for its industry, the firm is said to possess a competitive advantage over its rivals. The goal of business strategy is to achieve sustainable competitive advantage. There are two basic types of competitive advantage: Compare and contrast these two

1. Cost advantage 2. Differentiation advantage A resource based view emphasizes that a firm utilizes its resources and capabilities to create a competitive advantage that ultimately results in superior value creation. In order to develop distinctive capabilities a firm should have both resources and capabilities. In absence of any one of them the competitors can replicate and any prevailing advantage would disappear. Resources can be described as the firms specific assets which are useful for creating a cost or differentiation advantage which only few competitors can acquire, whereas capabilities are the firms ability to utilize the available resources in an effective manner. Capabilities are not documented; indeed they are embedded in the routine process of the organisation which makes it difficult for the competitors to replicate. E.g. the ability of the organisation is to bring a product to the market faster than the competitors. The competitive advantage usually is a fall out of the resource based competencies held by the organisation. A firm is said to be in a competitive position when it implements a value creating strategy which is simultaneously not being implemented by its competitors and also is Valuable, Rare, Hard to Imitate and Non Substitutable. Further, an organisation can position itself in the market on the basis of cost or differentiation strategy. A cost advantage can be created by the effective use of available resources in order to reduce the cost of the product so as to compete in the market with the products of the competitors on the basis of low cost. Whereas, the competitive edge can also be achieved by differentiation strategy, where the product is differentiated by a competitors product on certain features which are not easily replicable. A competitive edge or a competence cannot add value to an organisation alone. This is due to the fact that a competitive positioning of an organisation is completely dependent on the resource based competence possessed by the firm. 11. Strategy of an enterprise is defined by answers of two questions: a) Where does the firm compete (Domain selection) b) How does it compete (Domain navigation) Explain this statement from perspective of corporate level and business level strategy with examples? Answer:

1) Domain Selection: a) Mission: Mission statement aims to provide employees and stakeholders with clarity about overall purpose. Strategy should be according to mission statement and it has to according to fulfilment of mission of organization. Vision: to set out a view for future Objectives: a quantified term which explain how an organization will achieve its vision.

b) Deliberate Chosen Direction I would like to explain different directions that can an organization choose through Ansoff Matrix.
Existing Existing Products

New

New

Market Penetration
Existing

Product Development

An organization can choose market An organization will come under penetration if it wants to go with its product development segment if it will existing products in existing choose to go with new product in market. For example,

market. This can be done due to existing

Markets

achieve market share. This means McDonald's is always within the fastincreasing promoting our the revenue by food industry, but frequently markets

product, new burgers. Frequently, when a firm

repositioning the brand, and so on. creates new products, it can gain new Other ways include attracting non- customers for these products. Hence, users of your product or convincing new product development can be a
New

current clients to use more of your crucial business development strategy product/service, with advertising or for firms to stay competitive. other promotions. Market

penetration is the least risky way for a company to grow. Example Market Development Diversification

If a company is going with existing If a company choose to go with new product in new market, this option product in new market, it will come called market development. This is under diversification. Two types of for existing customers. was For diversifications are: first a) Related diversification means

example,

Lucozade

marketed for sick children and then rebranded to target athletes. This is a good example of developing a new market for an existing product. Again, the market need not be new in itself, the point is that the market is new to the company.

that we remain in a market or industry with which we are familiar. For example, a soup manufacturer diversifies into cake manufacture (i.e. the food industry). b) Unrelated where we diversification have is

neither

Example:

previous industry nor market experience. For example a soup manufacturer invests in the rail business. Virgin Virgin Cola, Virgin Airlines, Megastores, Virgin

Telecommunications are examples of new products created by the Virgin Group of UK, to leverage the Virgin brand. This resulted in the company entering new markets where it had no presence before.

Corporate Level Strategy: It is strategy which will be made according to whole organization. This strategy could include geographical expansion, diversity of products/services or business units. For instance Yahoo can sell its SBU Yahoo Music if it wants. So on basis of whole organization which strategy will be made that will be corporate level strategy. While preparing this strategy organization has to keep in mind that it will not affect even its single SBU. It also concerned with shareholders and can affect stock market of that company. Corporate level strategy is concerned with:
y

Reach Defining the issues that are corporate responsibilities. These might include identifying the overall vision, mission, and goals of the corporation, the type of business your corporation should be involved, and the way in which businesses will be integrated and managed.

Competitive Contact defining where in your corporation competition is to be localized.

Managing Activities and Business Interrelationships corporate strategy seeks to develop synergies by sharing and coordinating staff and other resources across business units, investing financial resources across business units, and using business units to complement other corporate business activities.

Management Practices corporations decide how business units are to be governed: through direct corporate intervention (centralization) or through autonomous government

(decentralization).

Domain Navigation: BUSINESS LEVEL STRATEGY: This strategy is made by SBUs of an organization for themselves individually. This is called competitive strategy also. How SBUs can provide best services is a decision under business level strategy. SBU will make strategy according to its internal and external environment. SBU business level strategy should not affect the other SBUs of same organization and corporate level strategy should be according to SBUs. Porter generic strategies OR 1) RED OCEAN STRATEGY In red ocean strategy a firm compete in existing market space with the exiting competitors and focus on the existing customers and the firm is catering to the same demand and does not create new demand. To survive in this environment the firm needs to create greater value for the customers at a higher cost or create reasonable value at a lower cost.
y y y y y

Compete in existing market space Beat the competition Focus on existing customers Exploit existing demand Make the value-cost trade off

Align the whole system of a firms activities with its strategic choice of differentiation or low cost Tata Doccomo 2) BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY

In blue ocean strategy a firm compete in new market by offer ing a product/service that is uni ue in market, where there is no competitor, thus making competition irrelevant. This is to creat e and devel op new demand for its products and services. y y y y y Create uncontested market space Make the competition irrelevant Focus on non-customers Create and capture new demand Break the value-cost trade off

(Seek greater value to customers and low cost simultaneously) Align the whole syst em of a firms activities in pursuit of differentiation and low cost. Airtel, Sun DTH, Air Deccan

Example:

Mose B e corporate level Strate y

Moser Ba er bus ess Level strate y for photo voltaic

Corporate Level strategy: Moser Baer is working on strategy of hybr id for corporat e level. In this strategy it is providing quality products at fewer prices. Like CDs, DVDs. It is working on strategy of combination of differential products at fewer pr ices. It is putting itself different from competitors by giving quality and with low prices. B si ess level Strategy:

It is working on differentiation strategy for its SBU Moser Baer Photovoltaic. It is providing quality products to its customers. It is working for quality and for increasing efficiency. Due to its quality it has got a contract from BSNL worth Rs. 111.9 millions on 23-2 2010. So this is business level strategy to centre on quality.

12. Explain the following statement: The styles of management in managing change need to
match to the scale of change and the organisational context.

A change agent is the individual or the group that helps affect strategic change in the organization. The creator of the strategy may not be the change agent, as he may need to rely on others to take a lead in affecting changes to strategy. Leadership is the process of influencing the organization and it is not necessary that top management are the leaders in an organization. Furthermore, the leadership style will affect the outcome, given the strategic objectives of the organization. The different styles of management are as follows:  Education It involves the explanation of the reasons for and means of strategic change. Under this process, group briefings are conducted to provide detailed information on the strategic objectives of the organization. This type of change management is usually adopted when there is a clear lack of misunderstanding or lack of communication of the objectives amongst the subordinates. While it does provide clarity, it is a time consuming process.  Collaboration /participative It is the involvement of those who will be affected by the strategic change in the organization. These people affected will be invited to form focus groups and ask to provide solutions to the extent of avoiding negative effects of such change. While it increases responsibility amongst the employees, it is a time consuming process.  Intervention It involves the change manager retaining the authority of change while delegating the elements of change to different teams. These teams are not responsible for the overall change, but they are responsible to the extent of their role in the change process. The people, who are intervention managers, are a part of the organization and will warrant higher level of commitment from them. However, while delegation of work will ensure speedy process of implementation, there are chances of manipulation taking place.  Direction it involves the use of personal managerial authority to establish a clear strategy and how change will occur. The top management has a clear vision or strategic intent and may also be accompanied by similar clarity about critical success factors and priorities. The direction is provided to the subordinates with regards to achievement of their objectives.

 Coercion It is the imposition of change or the issuing of edicts about change. This is an explicit use of power and may be necessary if the organization is facing a crisis. Eg Air India and Indian Airlines Merger.

The management style adopted depends on a number of factors, which include:  Different stages of the organization growth Here, the management style will vary according to the stage of growth in the organization. For instance, in the introduction stage, direction style or education style is followed.  Time and Scope under the incremental stage, direction style is more appropriate style of change management because there is a requirement for transformational change.  Power In organizations with hierarchical power structures, a directive power may be common but in a flatter organization, collaboration and education styles of change management are more desirable.

13. Explain the three corporate rationales and discuss their logic, strategic requirements and organisational requirements. Can more than one rationale co-exist in a particular corporation? Why?

Diversification is a strategy that takes the organizations into the new markets, products or services it offers. The main need of a diversification analysis is to demonstrate that the business will be able to achieve a return on the investment that more than compensates for the risk. A business owner needs to consider efficient diversification strategies to build competitive advantage in order to achieve economies of scale and to take advantage of the financial opportunities that align with the business s strategic plan.

Diversification can be segmented into related diversification and unrelated diversification.

Related diversification -when a business expands or adds its existing product lines or markets. An example to this would be a phone company which adds or expands its wireless products and services by purchasing another wireless company is engaging is called as related diversification. The advantage of going in for a related diversification is that the understanding of the business and knowing the industry opportunities and the threats. However numbers of related acquisitions fail to provide the benefits or the returns that are originally predicted. The reason for this is that the diversification analysis underestimates the cost of some of the softer issues like the change management, integration of the two cultures, handling of the employees, layoffs and terminations, promotions and even recruitment. On the other hand the diversification analysis might over estimates the benefits to be gained in synergies.

Vertical integration is describing either backward or forward integration into adjacent activities in the value network. Backward integration refers to development into activities concerned with inputs into companys current business. For example the acquisitions by the car manufacture of component suppliers would be related diversification through backward integration. Forward integration refers to development into activities which are concerned with a companys output. For example car manufacturer acquire distribution, repair and servicing. Horizontal integration is the development into activities which are complementary or adjacent to the present activities. For example the internet search company Google has spread horizontally into news, images, and maps. It is important to recognise the capabilities and value links are distinct. A link though a value network does not necessarily imply the existence of capabilities.

Unrelated Diversification When a business adds new or unrelated product lines or markets it is called as unrelated diversification. For example the same company can go into the business of television business. This is unrelated diversification since there is no direct fit with the existing business. The companies go in for an unrelated diversification as there can be cost efficiencies. Another reason can be that it can provide an offsetting cash flow during a seasonal full. The main driver for this type of acquisition decisions is profit which needs to be a low risk investment with a high potential of returns.

Efficient Diversification: Ensure that you review the costs and benefits of investment In new equipment; In labor saving costs; In improving productivity and/or workflow; In serving existing customers better and more profitably; In diversifying by adding new products and services and/or new markets; By addressing safety and/or environmental issues and more. Does your capital investment plan leverage diversification? Assess the Opportunity for a Good Return: New markets and new products or services are usually good diversification opportunities; but consider these opportunities in the context of integrating benefits into a much stronger overall unique value proposition. Does adding the new products or services provide you with a leveraged opportunity?

For example, if you are a commercial printer and you add basic graphic design services and packaging services to your product line, you will have a leveraged diversification opportunit` y. Why? Because

your print services can be combined with graphic design services upstream (same end client) and be combined with packaging services downstream (same end client and/or same destination). You will have saved your client time and money by enabling the client to 'shop' in one-stop (providing you can excel at delivering those services). If you are prepared (and able) to invest in your business during either good or challenging times, make sure that you develop business performance measures to track the costs and the benefits expected? You need to ensure that the advantages of diversification and the expected benefits from investment are met as you planned. Ensure that you build those business measures, set up reporting (even if it's a manual process), and make sure that someone is accountable for the planned results. Understanding the advanta ges and disadvantages of unrelated or related diversification strategies is important to the growth of your business

Diversification and performance Today many corporations have been diversified where it acts in the managements self interest in order to gain advantage than the undiversified companies. The diversification tends to follow an inverted (upside down) U shape .this tells us that diversification is good but to a certain extent. Diversification is usually undertaken by large corporations in order to spread the risk through a portfolio in order to preserve the image of the growth of the company.