Week 27

WEEK 27

LEARNING JOURNAL

In your own words and using referenced quotes   explain why strategy theories developed in the last 10 years tend to be quite different from those developed in the 1960‟s (c200 words)

"The series of decisions which determines behavior over some stretch of time may be called strategy"(Simon, 1960). A strategy is something you can touch; you can motivate people with; be number one and number two in every business. You can energize people around the message.”(Strategy Quotes, 2012)

The definitions of the strategies given above clearly show the differences in what strategies meant then and means now. The first definition tells strategy is a rule and a decision that has to be followed by everyone in an organization no matter what. While the second tells that strategy is something that motivates people not force them to do something and its through their motivation and effort that an organization can be successful Business strategies and theories have evolved over time and the main difference between the strategy theories now and then is theories now focus on doing the right things (effectiveness) and then theories focused on doing things in the right way (efficiency).The components of business environment have change, the way people run organizations have changed, the skills and knowledge have become advanced and the strategy theories too in accordance to organizations’ needs have changed when we compare these between 1960’s and the last ten years. The next difference between the theories now and then is theories guided the long term planning and direction of an organization due to the stability in the business environment. But today, the environment of an organization is unstable, full of obstacles and these theories help organizations deal with uncertainties and be competitive and successful.

You attend a job interview for an entry level managerial position and mention that you completed a 30 week strategy module. Your interviewer seems interested and explains that this job role would enable you to become involved in the strategy making process. In 200 to 300 words explain to your interviewer how the module has helped to prepare you for a strategy role.

 The 30 weeks long module- Strategic choices and impact has not just been an academic course for me but has in fact been a real life learning regarding how to tackle and manage situations strategically. The lecturer of our module, Dr. Gurutej was quite generous and helpful who kept motivating me to learn as much as I could regarding strategic management, provided his guidance and had also been very supportive. I am aware that a managerial level post has a lot of responsibilities and jobs to perform including strategic management and strategy making. I must say I now know every bit of strategic management. I have completed many assignments, solved case studies, prepared reports on strategic management and conducted various internal and external analysis of various organizations. I have thorough practical and theoretical knowledge on strategic analysis tools such as PESTLE, SWOT, TOWS, five forces model, BCG matrix, cultural web, Mckinsey’s 7 S model and much more which will definitely be beneficial to your organization. In addition to this, I have learnt how to manage an organization strategically from analyzing the environment to motivating the staffs. Furthermore, strategic change management was a major part of my course and I have used tools like Change Kaleidoscope and Lewin’s forcefield analysis many a times throughout my course. The 30 weeks long course had so many practical things to do which I am sure has made me an expert in everything I studied and will definitely help your organization attain its objectives in a very strategic manner.

CASE STUDY: LADY GAGA

Lady Gaga was born March 28, 1986, in New York, New York. She is a singer and songwriter with hit songs such as “Poker Face” and “Bad Romance.” Lady Gaga has been playing music from a very young age and is classically trained in piano. She began studying at NYU when she was only 17 and released her first CD, The Fame, in 2008. It sold millions of copies and was still on the charts two years later. Some of her most popular songs include “Just Dance,” “Alejandro” and “Paparazzi.” She is seen as a visionary and has very elaborate videos on YouTube, which have received hundreds of millions of views. At the 2010 VMAs, she won eight awards, including Video of the Year. She is also is known for her unconventional sense of fashion. (Edvies, 2012)

She has brilliant dancing skills and has amazed millions of people with her dancing skills, videos, plots and pop-culture. Her music videos have been revolutionized with her unique portraying themes. She is truly and honestly dedicated to her singing art and hence try to come up with all the new techniques which can be seen in her videos.

She is not an airhead or an idiot for following the guidelines of her record label bosses rather she is extremely talented and had used her strategies by living through her art. (OCD TETRIS, 2013)

The music Gaga makes it itself a strategy and she has been successful worldwide for that. The song she writes, the production she has are all brilliantly contemporary and she is literally with time turning into a global superstar. (Bailey, 2011).

Major and Clever strategies of Lady Gaga are as follows:

MUSIC: Some people believe and think that her music is a waste but some are really very attracted to her songs and are her passionate followers. She impresses everyone by her music as well as the way she presents her music i.e. her music videos. Some people are even impressed by her piano skills.

  FASHION SENSE: She is a rebellion when it comes to fashion. No other celebrity dares to dress the way she does so she is sometimes criticized by few people still it doesn’t stop her to wear a bubble dress or a meat dress.

  PHILANTHROPIC ACTIVITIES: She is a celebrity so has been in controversies very often and is a regular feature in the local tabloids. She has separated herself from controversies by indulging herself in various philanthropic activities like being influential advocate of LGBT movement and also holds concerts to help afflicted and needy people.

 CONTROVERSIES: Controversies are the part of stardom and she has been through controversies since she got name and fame yet she has been capable of overcoming it and turning those controversies for her favour.

  LOVE TOWARDS FAN: Gaga obviously know the importance of her fans for her career so she mentions her fans as “little monsters” and even inscribed this words on a tattoo on her arms to reveal her love for her admirers.

  HER TWEETS: She in one of the most popular celebrity tweeters on Twitter. She usually tweets about her music, latest albums and tidbits about her personal life which makes her fans feel close to her.

  EARRINGS: Lady Gaga became the talk of the town when Forbes magazine ranked her 4^th in the list of Hollywood’s highest paid female celebrities. The lady has earned around $62million in the previous year by way of 106 concerts and by endorsing some of the biggest names in the ad world. (MAG FOR WOMEN, 2013)

If I get an opportunity to advise her for her future strategies then I would suggest her to undertake market analysis and competitor analysis and porter’s five forces model. I would use 7M of market analysis and even Gaga’s present trend of fan following along with that competitor analysis to distinguish her from other and lastly KSF analysis for her success.

Visibility: Gaga sold 10million copies of her first solo album “the fame’ and is still growing which made her famous and in present she is a famous pop star. Her piano talents, song lyrics and performances are extraordinary and well recognized by all the people.

Credibility: Gaga is determined, talented and hardworking artist and hence she is successful. In her personal life she is very passionate, honest and straight forward person but professionally she is a real player and knows how to compete.

Expertise: She is expert at attracting and impressing her audience whether it’s by her music videos or by dressing sense and is also expert in her skills.

Attractiveness: As mentioned above she attracts her audiences by her fashion sense, music videos and lyrics.

Power: Gaga is the most powerful image of music industry and has not allowed any such factor to affect her stardom and power.

She should push all the boundaries in nearly every dimension and mostly as an extension of her own instincts. She should never question her bizarre impulses to walk the red carpet with her crazy and funky styles. (Johnson, 2013)

I would like to advice Gaga to keep up her controversial image as it is working perfectly for her and even enter into businesses like clothing, accessories and perfumes.

References:

1. Creativeadvantage. (2010). strategy - theories. Available: http://www.createadvantage.com/glossary/strategy-theories. Last accessed 09/01/2014.

2. Snuikas, M. (2011). Nobody really knows what strategy is. Available: http://www.slideshare.net/sniukas/what-is-strategy-1687829. Last accessed 09/01/2014.

3.  Mag for Women. (2010). MAG FOR WOMEN. Available: http://www.magforwomen.com/6-reasons -why-lady-gaga-is-so-popular/. Last accessed 09/01/2014. 

4. Bailey, F. (2011) BBC.co.uk. Available: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13458791 Last accessed 09/01/2014.