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Thursday, 5 December 2013

Chapter 10 : Building An Organization Capable Of Good Strategy Execution. Chapter 11: Managing Internal Operations

Week 12

 Assalamualaikum to all the readers...

For the week 12 lecture I have learn two chapter which is Good Strategy Execution and  Managing Internal Operations. 
First of all, let's I start with first topic;  Good Strategy Execution. For this topic I learn about implementing and executing strategy is an operation-driven activity revolving around the management of people and business processes. The managerial emphasis is on converting strategic plans into actions and good results. Management's handling of the process of implementing and executing the chosen strategy can be considered
successful if and when the company achieves the targeted strategic and financial performance and shows good progress in making its strategic vision a reality. Shortfalls in performance signal weak strategy, weak execution or both.
The place for managers to start in implementing and executing a new or different strategy is with a probing assessment of what the organization must do differently and better to carry out the strategy successfully. They should then consider precisely how to make the necessary internal changes as rapidly as possible.
Like crafting strategy, executing strategy is a job for a company's whole management team, not just a few senior managers. Top-level managers have to rely on the active support and cooperation of middle and lower managers to push strategy changes into functional areas and operating units and to see that the organization actually operates in accordance with the strategy on a daily basis.
Eight managerial tasks crop up repeatedly in company efforts to execute strategy:




  1. Building an organization with the competencies, capabilities, and resource strengths to execute strategy successfully.
  2. Marshaling sufficient money and people behind the drive for strategy execution.
  3. Instituting policies and procedures that facilitate rather than impede strategy execution.
  4. Adopting best practices and pushing for continuous improvement in how value chain activities are performed.
  5. Installing information and operating systems that enable company personnel to carry out their strategic roles proficiently.
  6. Tying rewards directly to the achievement of strategic and financial targets and to good strategy execution.
  7. Shaping the work environment and corporate culture to fit the strategy.
  8. Exercising strong leadership to drive execution forward, keep improving on the details of execution, and achieve operating excellence as rapidly as feasible.



Building an organization capable of good strategy execution entails three types of organization-building actions: 

  1. staffing the organization —assembling a talented, can-do management team, and recruiting and retaining        employees with the needed experience, technical skills, and intellectual capital,
  2.   building core competencies and competitive capabilities that will enable good strategy execution and   updating them as strategy and external conditions change
  3.  structuring the organization and work effort —organizing value chain activities and business processes  and deciding how much decision-making authority to push down to lower-level managers and front       line employees.
Building core competencies and competitive capabilities is a time-consuming, managerial challenging exercise that involves three stages

  1.   developing the ability to do something, however imperfectly or inefficiently, by selecting people with     the requisite skills and experience, upgrading or expanding individual abilities as needed, and then         molding the efforts and work products of individuals into a collaborative group effort
  2. coordinating group efforts to learn how to perform the activity consistently well and at an acceptable   cost, thereby transforming the ability into a tried-and-true competence or capability
  3. continuing to polish and refine the organization's know-how and otherwise sharpen performance such   that it becomes better than rivals at performing the activity, thus raising the core competence (or capability) to the rank of a distinctive competence (or competitively superior capability) and opening an avenue to competitive advantage. 
Structuring the organization and organizing the work effort in a strategy-supportive fashion has five aspects:   

  1. deciding which value chain activities to perform internally and which ones to outsource
  2. making internally performed strategy-critical activities the main building blocks in the organization         structure
  3. deciding how much authority to centralize at the top and how much to delegate to down-the-line         managers and employees
  4. providing for internal cross-unit coordination and collaboration to build and strengthen internal             competencies/capabilities
  5.  providing for the necessary collaboration and coordination with suppliers and strategic allies.


Ok, we proceed with another topic; Managing Internal Operations. Managers implementing and executing a new or different strategy must identify the resource requirements of each new strategic initiative and then consider whether the current pattern of resource allocation and the budgets of the various subunits are suitable.
Anytime a company alters its strategy, managers should review existing policies and operating procedures, proactively revise or discard those that are out of sync, and formulate new ones to facilitate execution of new strategic initiatives. Prescribing new or freshly revised policies and operating procedures aids the task of strategy execution:

  1. by providing top-down guidance to operating managers, supervisory personnel, and employees regarding      how certain things need to be done and what the boundaries are on independent actions and decisions
  2.  by enforcing consistency in how particular strategy-critical activities are performed in geographically    scattered operating units
  3.  by promoting the creation of a work climate and corporate culture that promotes good strategy            execution.
Competent strategy execution entails visible, unyielding managerial commitment to best practices and continuous improvement. Benchmarking, the discovery and adoption of best practices, business process reengineering, and continuous improvement initiatives like total quality management (TQM) or Six Sigma programs all aim at improved efficiency, lower costs, better product quality, and greater customer satisfaction. These initiatives are important tools for learning how to execute a strategy more proficiently.
Company strategies can't be implemented or executed well without a number of support systems to carry on business operations. Well-conceived state-of-the-art support systems not only facilitate better strategy execution but also strengthen organizational capabilities enough to provide a competitive edge over rivals. Real-time information and control systems further aid the cause of good strategy execution.
Strategy-supportive motivational practices and reward systems are powerful management tools for gaining employee commitment. The key to creating a reward system that promotes good strategy execution is to make strategically relevant measures of performance the dominating basis for designing incentives, evaluating individual and group efforts, and handing out rewards. Positive motivational practices generally work better than negative ones, but there is a place for both. There's also a place for both monetary and non monetary incentives.For an incentive compensation system to work well:

  1.  the monetary payoff should be a major percentage of the compensation package
  2.  the use of incentives should extend to all managers and workers
  3.  the system should be administered with care and fairness
  4.  the incentives should be linked to performance targets spelled out in the strategic plan
  5.  each individual's performance targets should involve outcomes the person can personally affect
  6.  rewards should promptly follow the determination of good performance
  7.  monetary rewards should be supplemented with liberal use of non monetary rewards
  8.  skirting the system to reward non performers or subpar results should be scrupulously avoided. Companies with operations in multiple countries often have to build some degree of flexibility into the design of incentives and rewards in order to accommodate cross-cultural traditions and preferences.

Before I finish my last entry for strategic management subject, let's pray for our family and friends who affected by flooding in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Gaza. 




That's all from me...


Sunday, 24 November 2013

CHAPTER 8: CORPORATE STRATEGY: DIVERSIFICATION AND THE MULTIBUSINESS COMPANY

WEEK 10



Assalamualaikum to all readers...

Today I want share with you what I learn in the lecture. In this week we learn about "Corporate  Strategy: Diversification And The Multibusiness Company". Firstly in this chapter, I learn about diversification; which is to builds shareholders value when a diversified group of businesses can perform better under the auspices of a single corporate parent than they would as independent. Then, the task of crafting a diversified company's overall corporate strategy falls squarely in the lap of top-level executives and involves four distinct facet, there are :


  • picking new industries to enter and deciding on the means of entry, 
  • pursuing opportunities to leverage cross-business value chain relationship and strategy fit into competitive advantage,
  • establishing investment priorities and steering corporate resources into the most attractive business units,
  • initiating actions to boost the combined performance of the corporations' collection of business.
Furthermore, entry into new business ca take any three forms: acquisition, internal start up , or joint venture. The choice of which is the best depends on the firm's resources and capabilities, the industry's entry barriers, the importance of speed, and the relative costs. 
Then, the diversification by acquisition of an existing business have advantages and disadvantage :




 Next, the strategy options for a firm that is already diversified are : 
  1. stick with the existing business lineup
  2. broaden the diversification base with new acquisitions
  3. divest and retrench to a narrower diversification base
  4. restructure through divestitures and acquisitions 
That's all from me, and see in other post...











Sunday, 3 November 2013

Study Case : The Digital Age : Shall I Tag Along?

Assalamualaikum...

Week 8

On this week I have learnt about SWOT and TOWS analysis for the study case  The Digital Age : Shall I Tag Along? It is an in from our interesting learning from our tutor Madam Huda. I was very glad and appreciate for her kind deed in leading us about SWOT and TOWS analysis.

                     The journal below is the study case about  The Digital Age : Shall I Tag Along?
                                                                             

Then, below is the SWOT and TOWS analysis 



This is the picture of my friends that are busy 'joting down the notes'. It's easier this way right?hehe.. 

See you next time..wassalamualaikum..



STRATEGIES FOR COMPETING IN INTERNATIONAL MARKETS

Chapter 7

Assalamualaikum...

During week eight, Dr. Ummi had taught us about Strategies For Competing In International Market. In this chapter I learn about political risks stem from instability or weaknesses in national governments and hostility to foreign business. Although, economic risks stem from the stability of a country's monetary system, economic and regulatory policies, the lack of property rights protections.
The risks of adverse exchange rate shifts are:

  • Exporters experience a rising demand foe their goods whenever their currency grows weaker relative to the importing country's currency.
  • Exporters experience a falling demand for their goods whenever their currency grows stronger relative to the importing country's currency. 

Furtermore, a greenfield venture is a subsidiary business that is established by setting up the entire operation from the ground up. The greenfield strategies are:

  • Advantage - high level of control over venture, "learning by doing" in the local market and direct transfer of the firm's technology, skills, business practice, and culture.
  • Disadvantage - capital costs of initial development, risks of loss due to political instability or lack of legal protection of ownership, and slowest from of entry due to extended time required to construct facility.
 In additinon, an international strategy is a strategy for competing in two or more or more countries simultaneously. Then, a multidomestic strategy is one in which a firm varies its product offering and competitive approach from country to country in an effort to be responsive to differing buyer preference and market condition. It is a think-local, act-local type of international strategy, facilitated by decision making decentralized  to the local level. Next, a global strategy is one which a company employs the same basic competitive approach in all countries where it operates, sell much the same products everywhere, strives to build global brands, and coordinates its actions worldwide with strong headquarters control. It represents a think-global, act-global approach. Beside that, a transnational strategy is a think-global, act-local approach that incorporates elements of both multidomestic and global strategies.

Furthermore, profit sanctuaries are country markets that provide a firm with substantial profits because of a strong or protected market position. Lastly, cross-market subsidization is supporting competitive offensives in one market with resources and profits diverted from operations in another market, can be a powerful competitive weapon. 

That's all from me...










Saturday, 2 November 2013

STRENGTHENING A COMPANY’S COMPETITIVE POSITION




Chapter 6
Assalamualaikum everyone...for the next chapter I learn about Strengthening A Company's Competitive Position: Strategic Movie,Timing, And Scope Of Operations. 
Firstly, the strategic option  to improve a market position is strategic offensive principle. Strategic offensive principle is display a strong bias for swift, decisive, and overwhelming actions to overpower rivals.
Secondly is Blue-Ocean strategy, offers growth in revenues and profits by discovering or inventing new industry segments that create altogether new demand, which is divided into:
i. An existingAn existing market with boundaries and rules in which rival firms compete for advantag market with boundaries and rules in which rival firms compete for advantage.
ii. A “blue ocean” market space, where the industry has not yet taken shape, with no rivals and wide-open long-term growth and profit potential for a firm that can create demand for new types of products. 
e.g: 



Thirdly, horizontal scope is the range of product and service segments that a firm serves within its focal market. For horizontal scope have two:
i. Merger


+

 
                                                                                 =
                                                          
ii.Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC)




In addition, vertical scope is the extent to which a firm’s internal activities encompass one, some, many, or all of the activities that make up an industry’s entire value chain system, ranging from raw-material production to final sales and service activities. Beside that, it is divided into two:
i. Backward integration : entry into activities previously performed by suppliers or other enterprises positioned along earlier stages of the industry value chain system
ii. Forward integration : entry into value chain system activities closer to the end user
Next, Outsourcing is contracting out certain value chain activities to outside vendors. Beside that, is about strategic alliance is a formal agreement between two or more separate companies in which they agree to work cooperatively toward some common objective. Lastly,  joint venture is a partnership involving the establishment of an independent corporate entity that the partners own and control jointly, sharing in its revenues and expenses.
                                                                   
                                                                                         +
                                               
                                                                                        =
                                                                       
                         Wassalamualaikum...










Tuesday, 8 October 2013

THE FIVE GENERIC COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES: WHICH ONE TO EMPLOY?

Assalamualaikum...

For the chapter five, I learn about The Five Generic Competitive Strategic : Which One To Employ? 
Among topic in this topic about the five generic competitive strategies, that are:

  • low- cost provider 
  •  broad differentiation 
  •  focused low-cost 
  • focused differentiation 
  • best-cost provider 



A low-cost provider's basis for competitive advantage is lower overall costs than competitors. 
Successful low-cost leaders, who have the lowest industry costs, are exceptionally good at finding 
ways to exceptionally good at finding ways to drive costs out of their businesses and still provide a product or service that buyers find acceptable.
A cost driver is a factor that has a strong influence on a firm's costs. Then, a cost driver is a factor
that has a strong influence on a company's costs. 

Cost Drivers: The Keys To Driving Down Company Costs

Otherwise, the essence of a broad differentiation strategy is to offer unique product attributes that a wide range of buyers find appealing and worth paying for.
Other then, a uniqueness driver is a factor that can have a strong differentiating effect.


Uniqueness Drives : The Keys to Creating A differentiation Advantage


Besides that, best-cost provider strategies are a hybrid of low-cost provider and differentiation 
strategies that aim at providing desired quality at providing desired quality/features/performance/service attributes while beating rivals on price.







EVALUATING A COMPANY’S RESOURCES, CAPABILITIES, AND COMPETITIVENESS



Fourth Lecture
Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh...
For the fourth lecture, I learn about "Evaluating a Company's Resources, Capabilities and Competitiveness". Firstly, I learn about how well is the firm's  present strategy working. They used specific indicators, that are:
  • best indicators of a well-conceived, well-executed strategy
  • growth in firms's sales and market share
  • acquisition and retention of customers
  • strengthening image and reputation with customers
  • increasing profit margins, net profits and ROI 
  • growing financial strength and credit rating 
  • leadership in factors relevant to market/industry success
  • continuing improvement in key measures of operating performance

Within, I learn about a company resources, and it is divided into two main categories :
  • tangible 
  • intagible 
For the organizational capabilitties are more complex entities than resources, which is:

Next, the tool are used for conducting the examination about whether the company is in a position to pursue 
attractive market opportunities and defend against external threats to its future well-being is using SWOT analysis. 



Then, value chain is the primary activities that create and deliver customer value and the requisite related support activities.
Lastly, benchmarking is a potent tool for improving a company's own internal activities 
that is based on learning how other companies perform them and borrowing their "best practices".


Friday, 4 October 2013

EVALUATING A COMPANY’S EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT

Third lecture
Alhamdulillah we were study for chapter three about Evaluating a Company's External Envioronment. We learn about PESTEL analysis. It's focuses on the six principal components of strategic significance in the macroenvironment, that are:
  • Political factors
  • Economic conditions (local to world wide)
  • Sociocultural forces
  • Technological factors
  • Environmental factors (the natural environment)
  • Legal or regulatory conditions

Then, the industry have five competitive forces:

  • competition from rival sellers 
  • competition from potential new entrants
  • competition from producers of substitute products
  • supplier bargaining power
  • customer bargaining power
Next, we learn about strategic group mapping,which is a valuable tool for understanding the similarities, differences, strengths and weaknesses inherent in the market positions of rival companies. The lesson of strategic group mapping is that some positions on the map are more favorable than other. 
         Otherwise, for the industry's key success factors (KFS) are the strategy elements, product and service attributes, operational approaches, resources, and competitive capabilities that are necessary for are necessary for competitive success by any and all firms in an industry. Other then, vary from industry to industry, and over time within the same industry, and in importance as drivers of chance and competitive change.


The Nature of Strategic Management & The Business Vision and Mission

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh...


For the second lecture of strategic management we have learn about The Nature Of Strategic Management.  Strategic Management is the art and science of formulating, implementing, and evaluating cross- functional decisions that enable an organization to achieve its objective. 

Stages of Strategic Managment 


For the first stage of strategic management is strategy formulation. Strategy formulation is developing a vision and mission, identifying an organization’s external opportunities and threats, determining internal strengths and weaknesses, establishing long-term objectives, generating alternative strategies, and choosing particular strategies to pursue. What I understand about the strategy vision is a view of an organizations future direction and business course; a guiding for what the organization is trying to do and to become.The example question for vision is what do we want become?  Otherwise, a  mission statement broadly outlines the organizations future direction and serves as aquiding concept for what the organization is to do and to become. Overriding premise in line with the values or expectations of stakeholders. The question that for the mission is what is our business?

Besides that,strategy implementation is  a firm to establish annual objectives, devise policies, motivate employees, and allocate resources so that formulated strategies can be executed and is often called the action stage. Lastly, for the strategy evaluation is reviewing external and internal factors that are the bases for current strategies, measuring performance, and taking corrective actions. 
Otherwise, external opportunities and external treats refer to economic, social, cultural, demographic, environmental, political, legal, governmental, technological, and competitive trends and events that could significantly benefit or harm an organization in the future. For internal strengths and internal weaknesses is  an organization’s controllable activities that are performed especially well or poorly and are determined relative to competitors.

Correct me if I wrong in posting this entry...

Monday, 16 September 2013



 Assalamualaikum...
 First of all, this is my first time I involve in "blogger world".
 Honestly, it is quite hard for me, because this is first time I
  doing this thing. But, I take this challenge to do my best. 
 Emm...finally,  after a few times I tried, I did it, alhamdulillah.
 Even though not as good as other blogs, I am satisfied what I do.
Otherwise,  I want thank to our strategic management lecturer,
Dr. Ummi Salwa Ahmad Bustaman because give this assignment,
 which is via this blog we  can update what we understand in the
lecture or tutorial class about strategic management subject.
 I think at  the same time I can learn something new about blog or
 so on. It is like "killing two birds with one stone".  Besides that,
 the important thing is I can improve my English..he2