Week 23

WEEK 23

In your own words and using referenced quotes describe what is meant by the term “strategic leadership”

A person or an individual of a firm who carries out the overall responsibility to carry out efficient and effective performances of labor and capital is known as the strategic leader. Strategic leadership refers to the capability of the leader to take overall decisions of the organization in order to deliver great value over specified period and also manage the people of the firm. Vision and shared values are the important factors that the strategic leader should have so that the employees could take the minor decisions on their own without monitoring and control of the leaders. This enables the leader to focus some more time on other activities of the firm. (Paul J.H. Schoemaker, Steve Krupp, and Samantha Howland, 2013)

Identify two interesting similarities and two differences between the 5 elements of Successful and Effective Strategic Leadership model and the Transcendent Leadership Model

5 elements of Successful and Effective Strategic Leadership Model are as follows:

1.      Developing and Communication the Organizational Purpose

2.      Managing Human Resources and Organizational Decision

3.      Setting Ethical Standards

4.      Defining and Delivering to the Stakeholders

5.      Sustaining Competitive Advantage Over Time

3 elements of Transcendent Leadership are as follows;

1.      Leadership of Self

2.      Leadership of Others

3.      Leadership of the Organization

 Two similarities of these models are:

Benefit to the stakeholder from both of the models as they are able to maintain both inside and outside relationship in the organization.

Both the models cope with the changes which happen in the organization and adapts according to the changing environment which helps the firm to gain competitive advantage.

Two differences of these models are:

Transcendent leadership model focuses on the goals, procedures, strategies, rules, etc. of the organization whereas the Lynch model focuses more on the human resources.

Transcendent leadership focuses on the leadership of the organization and self whereas lynch model focuses only on organization’s leadership.

CASE STUDY: JEFF BEZOS

I think that the leadership style of Jeff Bezos is more aligned to lynch model. I have mentioned some of the facts to support my thought:

Ø  In his interview with Harvard Business Review Mr.Bezos said that he gives interview so that customers will get chance to understand and know more about them, their operations and purposes. In this way they develop and communicate their organizational purpose.

Ø  They keep their customers’ and employees’ choice as their main priority and hire people who understands the customers’ needs and preferences. In this way they manage human resource and organizational resources.

Ø  They have set ethical standards by not burdening their customers with higher prices though after the survey they know that they have to increase their price. They did meaningful things like Kindle, Amazon web services etc. They are also clear about how and what they advertise and do not cover up their shortcomings.

Ø  They believe to create a customer loyalty by satisfying them which automatically maximize the free cash flow over the long term. In this way they define and deliver their stakeholders.

Ø  They have sustained competitive advantage over time by doing best for their customer and securing in a position for a long run.

Hence, all the above mentioned points clearly prove that he has demonstrated all the characteristics of Lynch Model but he has not demonstrated transcendent model as they are more focused on human resource than leadership for others, self and the organization.

References:
1. Paul J.H. Schoemaker, Steve Krupp, and Samantha Howland . (2013). Strategic Leadership: The Essential Skills. Available: http://hbr.org/2013/01/strategic-leadership-the-esssential-skills/ar/1. Last accessed 18/12/2013.
2. Beatty, K. (2010). The Three Strengths Of A True Strategic Leader.Available: http://www.forbes.com/2010/10/27/three-strengths-strategy-leadership-managing-ccl.html. Last accessed 18/12/2013

3. Tearle, R. (2011). Characteristics of effective leaders. Available: http://www.changedesigns.net/public/team/team_strategy/Strategic-leadership.html. Last accessed 18/12/ 2013.

4. Management study. (2013). Strategic Leadership - Definition and Qualities of a Strategic Leader. Available: http://www.managementstudyguide.com/strategic-leadership.htm. Last accessed 18/12/2013.

5. Callegarin, M. (2010). THE ART OF TRANSCENDENT LEADERSHIP.Available: http://www.effective-actions.com/the-art-of-transcendent-leadership/. Last accessed 18/12/2013.

Week 22

WEEK 22

LEARNING JOURNAL

What is your understanding on the Balanced Score Card approach? How useful is it for the Companies?

The popularity of Balanced Score Card has been increasing day by day in the business world. There are various business which have left a gap between strategy development and implementation which was created while building their objectives by focusing on financial targets and goals of the little relevance to long-term goals or visions. Balanced Score Card is and approach which helps the businesses to cover the gap that exists between the development and implementation. It is a vast strategic tool that provides the organization the ability to clarify the vision and strategy and turn them into action. It focuses both on the internal business process involved and external outcomes from so that it can continuously improve the strategic action, performances and results. Balanced Score Card can be defined as a strategic and management tool that can be used to draw line between the business activities and vision of an organization. (Frank Figge, Tobias Hahn, 2002).

There are four perspectives which Balanced Score Card looks into:

1.      Financial Perspective

2.      Customer Perspective

3.      Process

4.      Innovation

Usefulness of Balanced Score Card approach for the companies is mentioned below:

1.  It enables an organization to generate more useful and creative ideas. In other way we can say that it increases organization’s creativity

2. It helps to cover the gap between strategies of various level of organization with the performances measures.

3. The results obtained are usable i.e. changes strategy into desired action and behavior.

4. It enables companies to overcome problems like performance measurements, rise of intangible assets and implementation of strategy.

5. It transforms the vast amount of information gathered by the business houses into essential information.

6. It provides management with the overall picture of the business operations.

7.  It enables to achieve unique competitive advantage i.e. less time, improved process, improved decision, etc.

2. Identify and list the 20 important KPIs of Balanced Score Card.

The 20 important KPIs of Balanced Score Care are as follows:

1.      Client’s Value

2.      Billing Value

3.      Contribution to profit

4.      Contribution to  revenue

5.      Cost of services delivered

6.      Average bill rate

7.      Consultancy projects managed

8.      Labor multiplier

9.      Billable hours

10.  Percentage chargeable ratio

11.  Certification

12.  Ideas for new services

13.  Percentage attained objective rate

14.  Clients handled

15.  Length of tenure of clients

16.  New client inquires received

17.  Percentage client satisfaction

18.  Percentage customer retention rate

19.  Percentage professional development requirements met

20.  Percentage conversion rate of potential prospects to clients

3. Present your thoughts and understanding on the article “The Strategic Management process”.

The article “Strategic Management Process” starts with an inspiring tale of Ford’s strategic plan named as “The Way Forward” by the Ford’s manager for how to match internal strengths and weakness with external opportunity and threats in order to maintain its competitive advantage. In addition to it the article also looks more deeply on the process of strategic management used and the phases or the steps involved in the strategic management process.

From this article I found out that Strategic management is the process of identifying and executing the organization’s actions into plans and is an enclosure of strategic planning, evaluation and implementation. It also helps to match the compatibility of the company with the demand according to its environment. This article has shown the 7 steps of strategic management which are mentioned below:

Step 1: Defining Current Business

This step of strategic management process precisely defines vision and direction of the business as well as answers what business the firm should be in and the strengths and weakness, threats and weakness of the company.

Step 2: Perform Internal and External Audit

In this stage SWOT analysis is conducted which determines the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Step 3: Formulating New Business and Statements

In this step new vision and mission are generated by analyzing the situation of the business and also determines what and where new business should sell along with the competitor difference.

Step 4: Translate the Mission into Strategic Goals

In this step missions are changed into strategic goals.

Step 5: Formulate Strategies to Achieve Strategic Goals

In this stage clear and concise strategies are made.

Step 6: Implement the Strategy

In this step strategies are converted into action and results. Even management functions are drawn and applied in this stage.

Step 7: Evaluate Performance

This is the last stage which evaluates the performance by implying strategic control.

References:
1. Frank Figge, Tobias Hahn,. (2002). THE SUSTAINABILITY BALANCED SCORECARD – LINKING  SUSTAINABILITY MANAGEMENT TO BUSINESS STRATEGY. Available: http://www.sustainabilitymanagement.net/public/04%20The%20Sustainability%20Balanced%20Scorecard.pdf. Last accessed 14th December 2013.
2. Alfred Sarkissian.. (2011). Advantages and Disadvantages of Balanced Scorecard.. Available: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-balanced-scorecard-59821.html,.. Last accessed 14th December 2013.
3. Business Balls. (2013). Balanced Scorecard. Available: http://www.businessballs.com/balanced_scorecard.htm. Last accessed 14th December 2013.
4. SmartKPIs. . (2011). SmartKPIs. . Available: http://www.smartkpis.com/blog/2011/02/09/kpis-at-individual-level-grouped-by-balanced-scorecard-perspectives/.. Last accessed 14th December 2013.

Week 21

WEEK 21

LEARNING JOURNAL

What are the benefits and drawbacks of taking an ‘emergent’ approach to strategy making?

Every business conducts a plan before taking a step ahead towards their goal. Sometimes those plans execute well and enable the business to achieve their goals whereas sometimes those plans do not execute as they are supposed to hence they produce unexpected results. Emergent strategy can be defined as a process in which unexpected outcomes are identified from executed corporate strategy as well as learning to combine the unexpected outcomes for corporate plans in future. For instance, a business may use social websites to improve the marketing plan which could complete their marketing program and if that plan becomes tremendously successful then the business could consider that plan as an emergent strategy. (H. Mintzberg, 1985)

The pattern of actions or plans might not be clearly related to the missions or goals of the business. The pattern becomes noticeable to everyone only after it is successfully executed once after which it is known as the new business strategy. Like any other business strategy emergent strategy also has their benefits as well as drawbacks. Here, we are going to discuss their benefits and drawbacks.

Benefits of Emergent Strategy.

•       Emergent strategy is comprised of innovative and creative ideas. 
•         Each individuals of the organization can give their ideas and opinions so informal communication exists so the organization have chance to access more beneficial ideas and suggestions.
•      It helps the individuals of the organization to share their visions and values without which they will not be able to cooperate with each other. 
•      It leads the business to facilitate market by providing their wants rather than facilitating the market with what the owner thinks the market wants. 
•       It use approaches that are more practical in nature in order to solve the problems so new strategies could be formed.

Drawbacks of Emergent Strategy

•     Emergent strategy cannot be planned for long term as once it fails immediately other strategy needs to be developed. 
•      The amount of risk involved is high in this strategy because business requires different strategies in different stages and no one can be sure whether the implemented strategy will be a successful one or failure. 
•           New businesses with narrow margins cannot be cannot conduct this strategy because there is a chance of failure and it will be difficult for new businesses to recover the loss. 
•     Emergent strategies are not pre planned instead it is known through mistakes and experiences which might or might not occur in future.

CASE STUDY: HONDA

1.      Was Honda’s entry strategy in the US more deliberate or emergent?

Honda’s entry strategy in the US was combination of both the strategies, deliberate as well as emergent. In the beginning Honda observed the shifts of US motorcycle competitors as well as all the bikes sold before 1960 in US. After world war motorcycles sold had a bad image as they were named ‘Hell’s Angels’ and ‘Satan’s Slave’. Honda bikes were easy to use and light weighted and had planned a policy to sell their bikes not only to motorcyclists but also to general public. Then Honda started with a deliberate plan in which their basic philosophy was that high volume in every model provided high productivity potential due to capital intensive and highly automated techniques which increased their market share. They produced at lower price and were the market leaders in Japan. They forced their entrance in the US market by using deliberate strategy in which they redefined the segment of leisure class and utilized their competitive advantage of aggressive pricing and advertising strategy.

Afterwards Honda struggled a lot due to leakage which had hampered their brand image. The company went through a lot of ups and downs still they were able to manage their stock which made look like that their entry was emergent. They visited US market and started testing their product in that market for which they implemented various strategies. Eventually in 1963, a student did an assignment on Honda Advertisement after which they were able to enter the market and since then they have been successfully operating in that market. Here the strategy they used was emergent because they were themselves not sure whether they could establish themselves in US market or not.

2.      Which of the accounts seems more accurate and why? Why do you think the two accounts differ so much?

In my opinion emergent strategy or the second account seems more accurate. In the interview of Pascale with executives of Honda, they have explained about the emergent strategy in detail and step by step they have conducted. They clearly showed their emotional attachment as well as the important information they had collected. It seems more accurate because they showed how travelling across US they tried to grab the opportunity which was situational and also observed facts and figures about their industry. To enter into US market was a risky decision since in US people drove automobiles even Ministry of Finance was concerned about their decision in entering US market. Honda struggled and introduced new bikes yet there were problems like oil leakage and failure of clutch. Thought they had limited cash still they were successful in solving those problems. They didn’t plan out deliberatively instead used their mind. They made necessary changes and used appropriate campaign for advertisement for which the perspective towards motorbike in US changed.

These two accounts differ so much because of the logical explanations regarding the events which occurred while entering and making a position in the US market. In the beginning it seems like the plan to enter US market was more deliberate but afterwards it seems like that it was a coincidence that they noticed the market which was not thought by Japanese Honda Company. In the beginning they intentionally planned of high volumes and productivity but afterwards they have said that it was a failure. They have two different strategic methods used and mentioned. The company adapted strategies as per the requirements and took risks and struggled and in the end reached where they are today. First strategy is based on hard facts whereas second on emotional attachment.

3.      Did Honda’s entry strategy demonstrate the characteristics of ‘logical incrementalism’?

Yes, Honda has demonstrated the characteristics of ‘logical incrementalism’. Honda has been able to establish the management philosophy in which they are able to achieve extraordinary goals by taking baby steps and by making proper thoughtful and adaptive decisions in short time period. The decision they took were smaller but logical one which was based on the evaluation of their learning and experiences in the process of their growth and establishment because in the beginning they did not have any idea regarding the existence of such market. They took risk and tried to enter the market and took a step ahead through their failures and remedies. They were successful in changing the mindset of many people towards their bikes through their campaigns. Even in situations of failure like oil leakages and clutch failures for the customer satisfaction they redesigned their bikes in spite of the capital limitations. As logical incrementalism was reflected in their product they were capable of introducing Supercurbs. It happened since they then were able to understand the market and demands and undertook small logical decision which was able to generate a huge difference in the company.

4.      Do you think Honda would have been more or less successful if they had adopted a more formalized strategic planning approach to the launch?

In my opinion I do not think that Honda would have been successful if they had adopted a more formalized strategic planning approach to the launch. If they had adopted formalized strategic plan then they would have to suffer a lot because if everything was supposed to happen according to the plan then while their image was hampered due to leakage and failure then they would have given up and moved out of the US market. If they had planned the strategy then they would have made plan for some certain years and would carry out that plan until the end of the period despite of all the high cost factors. Even in case of sales if they had planned to sell certain numbers of bike then they would have to suffer the loss since there were problems in their designs and functioning and people would not purchase it but they would have already manufactured their products in large amount. They would have destroyed their brand image due to their technical failures and could not even introduce other products under their brand name. They took risk and adapted according to the market situation and customer expectations which made them successful not the formalized strategic planning approach.

References:

1.  Planning Skills. (2013). Emergent Strategy. Available: http://planningskills.com/glossary/154.php. Last accessed 09 December 2013.

2. Anderson, A. (2010). Advantage & Disadvantage of Emergent Strategy.Available: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantage-disadvantage-emergent-strategy-10070.html. Last accessed 09 December 2013.

3. The America Heritage. (2010). logical incrementalism business definition. Available: http://business.yourdictionary.com/logical-incrementalism. Last accessed 02 December 2013.

4. Innovaders. (2005). STRATEGIES, DELIBERATE AND EMERGENT.Available: http://www.innovaders.com/strategy/general.htm. Last accessed 02 December 2013.

Week 20 - BhatBhateni Poster

Week 19

WEEK 19 – LEARNING JOURNAL

How can using the Change Kaleidoscope and Force-field analysis help an organization to deliver its intended strategy?

Change Kaleidoscope Model

Change Kaleidoscope is a model used to deal with projected changes and strategy which was developed by Hope Hailey and Balogan. Its main feature is that it deals with current situations and competencies which have to be considered by every organization in order to implement any kind of strategy. The model gets the detail regarding factors involving the change with the help of set of inter-related questions. The contextual features of kaleidoscope can be used to answer following questions in an organization concerning the available internal resources, corporate culture, values, norms and much more. Only after analyzing the answers and making any changes related to the factors if needed, the intended strategy can be delivered. (Balogun and Hailey).

Force-Field Analysis

Force-field analysis is a tool which is used to indentify and evaluate forces and factors that are for and against an intended change or strategy. Most of the corporations use this change management tool. Some forces of change like employee’s attitude, relationships, available resources, costs, desires, regulations, etc are to be considered within an organization. This can be used for two purposes. They are: first, it helps to decide whether or not to implement the intended strategy and second, successfully implement the strategy by strengthening the forces that are for the strategy and weakening the forces those are against. For this, forces of change must be identified and analyzed without any mistake so that desired change is achieved and strategy is implemented successfully. (Sarah Pavay, 2011)

Use the Change Kaleidoscope to describe and analyse the change context at Hewlett-Packard at the time of Meg Whitman’s arrival in September 2011.

Use of Change Kaleidoscope to describe and analyze the change context at Hewlett-Packard at the time of Meg Whitman’s arrival in September 2011.

Times: HP used to be one of the innovative and renowned information technology corporation years back. But the company is in some sort of devastation in recent years due to lack of unity, ownership feelings among the employees and a planned direction to success. This as a result has led the company to some sort of failure. For instance, the sales of the company have decreased by 19% in 2011 in comparison to the previous year. Also the market share of the company has reduced. Thus due to these reasons the change basically in the internal structure and culture of the company is very urgent in order to get the company back in track and make it functional and productive. The longer it takes to undertake the change, the harder it will be for the company to get back its lost image.

Scope: The changes to be implemented as per the current situation are not very big and hard to achieve, however, it is very necessary. The company needs to focus on changing the current culture, values, norms and coordination problems between the employees and the leaders as well as some re-construction and renovation of the buildings and facilities of the company. It is must and wise to achieve these changes before working on the the long term plans, policies and strategies.

Preservation:  Employee autonomy is what needs to be protected at this time. Else this everything internal from working environment to employees’ attitude needs to be changed along with the change.

Diversity: The staffs and professional groups at HP are to some extend diversified in terms of values, norms and attitude. The employee-leader relationships are not very good as well as the leaders at the top position are do not feel comfortable working together. For instance, the directors lay blame on each other for dishonesty and lying.

Capability: The 75 years old company has a very good IT, communication and data base management. Also the engineers and other employees are highly qualified. However, the overall management should be made better so that the employees can give their 100% and work creatively. There is also a need of good and effective leadership so that the organization as a whole can be directed to the desired change.

Capacity: The Company has no much time but they have plenty of cash from the revenues earned as well as people who are highly qualified. The combined effort of everyone from all levels will be required and if they are committed to work on the change, the outcomes are definitely going to be as expected.

Readiness for change: The employees do not seem very motivated and ready to accept and implement the change though they are aware of the change. They need to be self-motivated because it is for their betterment and the company as a whole.

Power: The power is vested with the top management and the heads of the company. However, the latitude of discretion is very high among the employees who needing to change but comparatively low among the heads specifically the directors of the company.

References:

1.  Change Kaleidoscope  Available at<http://www.proworkproject.com/prowork/change-kaleidoscope.html> [ Accessed on 30/11/2013]

2. Force field analysis-Analyzing the pressure for and against the change  available at <http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_06.htm> [Accessed on 30/11/2013]

3. Force field analysis and diagram- Kurt Lewin Available at: < http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_lewin_force_field_analysis.html > [Accessed on 30/11/2013]

4. Hewlett-Packard company  Available at< http://www.answers.com/topic/hewlett-packard-company> [Accessed on 30/11/2013]

5. How Hewlett-Packard lost its way  Available at< http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/05/08/500-hp-apotheker/> [Accessed on 30/11/2013]

6. Expect HP revenue growth in 2014  Available at: <http://www.cnbc.com/id/100484758 > [Accessed on 30/11/ 2013]