1. Introducing Strategy Pete Considine Readings: Chapter 1
Exploring Corporate Strategy 8th Edition
Introducing Strategy
Pete Considine
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

2. Learning Outcomes (1) To understand:
The basic concepts of strategy and strategic management
The general characteristics of strategic decisions and what is meant by strategy and strategic management, distinguishing them from operational management
How strategic priorities vary by level: corporate, business, and operational
The basic vocabulary of strategy
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

3. Learning Outcomes (2)
To Understand:
The three key elements of the Corporate Strategy in terms of the strategy process and strategic management model in Johnson et al. (2008)
The differences between ‘prescriptive’ and ‘emergent’ approaches to strategy
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

4. Introducing Strategy – Outline
What is strategy and strategic management?
Strategic priorities at corporate, business and operational level
Vocabulary of strategy
Exploring Corporate Strategy – a
strategic management “model”
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

5. What is Strategy?
Many definitions exist (see the modules Backboard site for week 1). The one below is from the core text: Johnson et al. (2008) Exploring Corporate Strategy:
Strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over the long term, which achieves advantage in a changing environment through its configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholder expectations.
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

6. Characteristics of Strategic Decisions
Long-term direction
Scope of an organisation’s activities
Competitive advantage
Strategic fit with business environment
Organisation resources and competences
Values and expectations of power players
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

7. Strategic Decisions are Likely to :
Be complex in nature
Be made in situations of uncertainty
Affect operational decisions
Require an integrated approach (both inside and outside an organisation)
Involve considerable change and also
Relationships and networks
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

8. LEVELS OF STRATEGY Corporate level
Determine overall scope of the organisation
Add value to the different business units
Meet expectations of stakeholders
Business level (SBU) – an SBU is part of an organisation for which there is a distinct external market for goods and service that is different from another SBU – an example?
SBU-s focus on “How to compete successfully in particular markets”
Operational Level
How different parts of organisation deliver strategy
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

9. Levels of Strategy Corporate- level strategy Business-level strategy
Operational strategy
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

10. The Vocabulary of Strategy
Mission – overriding purpose
Vision/strategic intent – desired future state
Goal – general statement of aim or purpose
Objective – quantification or more precise statement of goal
Strategic capability – resources, activities and processes
Business model – how product, service and information flow
Control – monitoring of action steps
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

11. Vocabulary of Strategy:
Nokia : Vision/Mission
Connecting is about helping people feel close to what matters. Wherever, whenever, Nokia believes in communicating, sharing, and in the awesome potential in connecting the 2 billion who do with the 4 billion who don’t.
Staffordshire University university_plan_2007_2012_tcm pdf
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

12. So What is Strategic Management?
Strategic management includes understanding the strategic position of a organisation, making strategic choices for the future, and managing strategy in action.
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

13. Exploring Corporate Strategy “Model”?
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

14. Strategic Position The Strategic Position Environment Capability
Purpose
Culture
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

15. What is Strategic Position?
Strategic position is concerned with the impact on strategy of the external environment, an organisation’s strategic capability and the expectations and influence of stakeholders. (further readings in Exploring Corporate Strategy, and on Blackboard)
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

16. Strategic Choices Strategic Choices Business- level Corporate- level
International
Innovation
Evaluation
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

17. What are Strategic Choices?
Strategic choices involve understanding the underlying bases for future strategy at both the business unit and corporate levels and the options for developing strategy in terms of both the directions and methods of development.
Further Readings in Core text on Blackboard (& workbook)
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

18. Strategy in Action Strategy in Action Processes Resourcing Structuring
Changing
Practice
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

19. Strategy in Action
‘Strategy in action is concerned with ensuring that strategies are working in practice’
Involving:
Structuring the organisation
Marshalling resources (people, information, finance, technology)
Managing change
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

20. Processes of Strategy Development
Intended strategies
Deliberate management intent
Emergent strategies
Develop out of social and political processes in and around organisations
Most strategies are a combination of intended and emergent processes
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

21. Prescriptive and Emergent Approaches to Strategy
Prescriptive – Corporate strategy is essentially a linear and rational process, starting with where-are-we-now and then developing new strategies for the future. Thus, strategy is prescribed in advance.
Emergent – Corporate strategy emerges, adapting to human needs and continuing to develop over time. Thus, strategy is evolving, incremental and continuous, and therefore it is hard to summarise into a plan.
(see workbook/Blackboard for related Self Managed Exercises – also further readings in journal articles such as Mintzberg and Waters (1985) Of Strategies, Deliberate and Emergent and readings in “core text” Chapter 11)
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

22. Challenges of Strategic Management
Prevent strategic drift
Progressive failure to address strategic position
Deterioration of performance
Understand and address contemporary issues:
Internationalisation
E-Commerce
Changing purposes
Knowledge and learning
View strategy in more than one way
Three strategy lenses – Design, Experience, Ideas
Managing strategy in different contexts SME, MNE and...?
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

23. The risk of strategic drift A progressive failure to address loss of strategic position
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd
Exhibit 1.4

24. Environment Values Resources
Opportunities And Threats
Strengths/ Weaknesses
Resources
Environment
The EVR framework (J.L Thompson 2001 p71 ) separates out the SWOT.
Here have “EVR congruence” between with overlap between Critical Success Factors (CFS’s) and resources or competence's
Ie the firms strategies would appear to be consistent
Values
Values and Leadership
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

25. Environment Values Resources
This time the incongruence is due to strategic drift where an internally cohesive firm simply loses touch with its competitive environment.
Getting back in alignment often requires a change in management.
New ideas/innovations are required and a rethink of the firms basic assumptions.
Values
STRATEGIC DRIFT”
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

26. Contemporary Themes Internationalisation
E-Commerce – and spatial technologies
Changing purpose of organisations
Knowledge and learning
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

27. The Strategy Lenses Strategy as design Strategy as experience
Logical analytical process
Planned implementation
Top manager driven
Strategy as experience
Adaptation of past strategies based on experience
Influenced by taken for granted assumptions (culture)
Bargaining and negotiation
Strategy as ideas
Importance of variety and diversity for innovation
Emergent strategy from within and around the organisation
Top managers create the conditions for this to take place
Strategy as Discourse
This lens sees strategy in terms of language, recognising that managers spend most of their time communicating – based on power, influence, making strategic proposals and debating issues.
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

28. The Four strategy lenses: a summary
Exhibit I.iv
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

29. Chapter Summary
Strategy as direction and scope of an organisation over the long term
Strategic decisions made at multiple levels in an organisation
Strategic position, strategic choices, and strategy in action as the major elements of strategic management
Two primary streams include strategy content and strategy process
Strategic issues best seen through several lenses
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd

30. Reminders
Do not forget to visit the Blackboard site for further readings and learning exercises for this week and details on the module/assessment.
Obtain the core text Johnson Scholes and Whittington (2008) “Exploring Corporate Strategy” (ASAP)
Prepare work for tutorials and portfolios
Considine BLB Text: Exploring (Corporate) Strategy, 2008 or 2011, © Pearson Education Ltd