KASNEB Strategic Management Notes

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CS Advanced Level Notes

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT UNIT DESCRIPTION

The aim of the paper is to strengthen the strategic thinking capability of the candidate in formulating and implementing a corporate strategy that can help organisations build a sustainable competitive advantage.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

A candidate who passes this paper should be able to:

  • Analyse an organization’s environment and formulate an actionable business strategy that is grounded in theory and practice from multiple business disciplines
  • Demonstrate an ability for critical and strategic thinking
  • Develop and implement a realistic strategic plan
  • Understand   the   strategic    decisions   that   organisations   make    in   strategic management
  • Effectively react to and incorporate emerging issues in strategic management.

CONTENT

Overview of Strategic Management

  • Concept of strategy
  • Purpose of strategy
  • Characteristics of strategy
  • Advantages and disadvantages of strategic planning
  • Strategy approaches
  • Strategic versus tactical decisions
  • Patterns of strategy development

History of the Organisation and Culture

  • History of the Organisation
    • Importance of history
    • Path dependency
    • History as a resource
    • Historical analysis
    • Mission: stated and perceived
  • Organisational culture
    • Influence of culture on strategy
    • Undertaking cultural analysis
    • Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions Theory

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Strategy Levels and Intent

  • Corporate strategy
  • Business strategy
  • Operational strategy
  • Functional strategy
  • Vision statement
  • Mission statement
  • Strategic objectives
  • Statement of corporate values

Strategic Management Process

  • Steps in the strategic management process
  • Strategic management in different contexts
  • Uncertainty and strategic drift
  • Limitations of strategic management

Strategic Analysis: The External Environment

  • Policy and administrative framework
  • Political environment
  • Economic environment
  • Sociocultural environment
  • Technological environment
  • Ecological environment
  • Legal environment
  • Key drivers for change
  • Industry and sector analysis
  • Tools for external analysis
  • Competitor Analysis

Strategic Analysis: The Internal Environment

  • Distinctive resources and capabilities as a basis of competitive advantage
  • VRIO- value of resources and capabilities, rarity, inimitability, organisational support
  • Organisational knowledge as a basis of competitive advantage
  • Diagnosing resources and capabilities
  • The value chain and value system
  • Activity systems
  • Benchmarking
  • Strengths and Weaknesses
  • The Balanced Scorecard and Strategy map
  • Critical success factor analysis
  • Scenario planning
  • Gap Analysis
  • SWOT and the business model
    • Key features of corporate culture
    • Health cultures that aid strategy execution
    • Unhealthy cultures that impede strategy execution
    • Influence of culture on strategy
    • Undertaking cultural analysis

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Business Strategy and Models

  • Generic competitive strategies
    • Cost leadership strategy
    • Differentiation strategy
    • Focus strategy
    • Hybrid strategy
    • The Strategy Clock
  • Interactive strategies
    • Interactive price and quality strategies
    • Cooperative strategy
    • Game theory
  • Business models
    • Value creation. configuration and capture
    • Business model patterns

Corporate Strategy and Diversification

  • Strategy directors
  • Diversification and performance
  • Vertical integration
  • Value creation and corporate parent
  • Portfolio matrices
    • The BCG (growth/share) matrix
    • The directional policy (GE- McKinsey) matrix
    • PIMS (Profit Impact on Marketing Strategy
    • Parenting matrix
    • The Scenario/vision – building approach

International Strategy

  • Internationalisation drivers
  • International business environment and challenges
  • Geographical sources of advantage
    • Locational advantage: Porter’s Diamond
    • The international value system
    • International strategies
    • Market selection and strategy
    • Internationalisation and performance

Strategy Development Processes

  • Strategic thinking
    • The paradox of logic and creativity
    • The art and science of strategic thinking
    • The “Deep Dive” analogy: acumen, allocation of resources and action
  • Strategy formation
    • Deliberate strategy developers
    • Emergent strategy developers
    • Logical incrementalism
    • Strategy as an outcome of political processes
  • Implications for managing strategy development
    • Strategy development in different contexts
    • Managing deliberate and emergent strategies

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Matching Organisational Structure to Strategy

  • Value chain activities to be performed internally
  • Value chain activities to be outsourced
  • Aligning structure with strategy
  • Organisational structure
    • Simple structure
    • Functional structure
    • Divisional structure
    • Matrix structure
    • Multinational structures
    • Project-based structures
    • Strategy and structure fit
  • Delegation of authority
  • Systems
    • Planning system
    • Performance targeting systems
  • Configurations and adaptability
    • The McKinsey 7-Ss
    • Agility and resilience
  • Collaboration with external parties and strategic allies (network structure)

Leadership and Strategic Change

  • Strategic Leadership vision and change
  • Theories of leadership and change
  • Types of strategic change
  • Levers for strategic change
  • Methods of introducing strategic change
  • Strategic leadership roles and effectiveness
  • Strategic change: revolution versus evolution
  • Diagnosing the change context
  • Managing major changes
  • Problems of formal change programmes
  • Managing corporate politics
  • Managing complexity
  • Leadership in practice

The Practice of Strategy

  • The strategists
    • Top managers and directors
    • Strategic planners
    • Middle managers
    • Strategy consultants
  • Strategising
    • Strategy analysis
    • Strategy issue-selling
    • Strategic decision making
    • Communicating the strategy
  • Strategy methodologies
    • Strategy workshops
    • Strategy projects
    • Hypothesis testing
    • Business cases and strategic plans
  • Strategy Implementation
    • Relationship between strategy formulation and implementation
    • Plans Programs and budgets
    • Steps for effective strategy implementation
    • Resource allocation

Strategic Control

  • Evaluation and control in strategic management
    • The strategic control process
    • Monitoring evaluation and reporting
    • Measuring corporate performance
    • Strategic information systems
    • Strategic surveillance
    • Guidelines for proper control
    • Balance Scorecard as a tool for control
    • Sustaining organisational effectiveness

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