Evaluating the Strategic Implications of Internal Environment Analysis

Note:

Assignment 1 will be a draft copy for assignment 2. Feedbacks and answers to questions asked in assignment 1 will be incorporated into the final copy as Assignment 2

Required (1500 Words)

Shared Activity: Mapping and Evaluating Core Skills, Competencies, and Capabilities: SCOT, Value-Chain and VRIOS Analysis

In this assignment, you will conduct research and perform critical analyses of the internal resource base of an organization that is related to the one that you are studying as part of your Final Project for this module. You will examine and probe the work of your peers and then offer potential critical directing questions and specific and constructive ideas for improving your peers' work.

To prepare for Assignment 1:

Review the Readings and examine the VRIOS framework and internal value chain information in Pitt and Koufopoulos (2012: Chapter 5).
Review the SCOT Analysis document and consider how to best deploy it. You are not required to use the pre-designed templates, but you will be responsible for a robust and complete analysis with implications clearly stated.

Choose a business and industry that is related to the business you selected for this assignment( A business related to Google Inc) It could be a competitor, supplier, customer, or others.

To Complete Assignment 1:

Prepare a table in Word that replicates Figure 5.3 on page 138 in Pitt and Koufopoulos (2012: Chapter 5). Rather than just using the phrase ‘distinctive capability' as shown in the left-hand column, use the following category boxes, in this order from top to bottom:

Skills: 1, 2, 3, and so on (i.e. core individuals in the organization who bring distinct value to it)

Competencies and capabilities: 1, 2, 3, and so on (i.e. work-groups, functional units, discrete activities), as ordered by a detailed rendering of the organization's value-chain activities

Other strategic assets

Using the table to organize your thoughts, make a VRIOS evaluation of the skills, competencies, capabilities, and other strategic assets of the organization you selected for your Final Project. Use the A through D scale as shown in the figure.

Be sure to explain what the strategic implications of your analysis are and how the set of implications limits or shapes your strategic recommendations.

Be sure to identify specific future strategy actions and recommendations based on your evaluation of options and to provide a basic defense of why your recommended actions are the most appropriate.

Note: Use all of the Readings from this unit to support your reasoning.

Review your colleagues' posts.

Respond to two or more of your peers by probing the work of your peers and then offer potential critical directing questions and specific and constructive ideas for improving your peers' analyses.

Be sure to support your postings with evidence from the Readings and current literature from the University of Roehampton Library and other sources. Consult the Harvard Referencing Style Guide for proper citation and referencing information.

Unit 3 Preview

In this unit, you consider how enterprises may develop a strategic position statement. You will review how creating a position statement leads to strategic decision-making. This involves choosing among alternative interpretations of issues, their significance and preferred strategic response. You will also consider the role of key decision-makers in the strategic decision-making process. It is important to note that specific techniques for undertaking the various elements of internal and external analysis which support the development of the strategic position statement are examined in the next two units. This unit is designed to give you the more macro perspective of the strategic decision-making process.

Learning Objectives

Students will:
- Analyse constraints on strategic decision-making
- Analyse leadership in strategic decision-making
- Evaluate a general management team relative to strategic decision-making
- Analyse a firm's strategic position statement

Readings

Required(Very Important)
Pitt, M., & D. N. Koufopoulos, (2012) Essentials of Strategic Management, London: Sage
Chapter 6, ‘Strategic Decision-Making' (pp.161-183)
Chapter 7, ‘Enterprise-Level Strategy Frameworks' (pp.184-207)
Bailey, B. C., & I. Simor, (2013) ‘Boardroom Strategic Decision-Making Style: Understanding the Antecedents', Corporate Governance: An International Review, 21 (2) pp.131-146
Boardroom strategic decision-making style: Understanding and antecedents by Bailey, B.C., & Peck, S.I., in Corporate Governance: An International Review, 21/2. Copyright 2013 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. Reprinted by permission of John Wiley & Sons-Journals via the Copyright Clearance Center.
Collis, D. J., & M. G. Rukstad, (2008) ‘Can You Say What Your Strategy Is?', Harvard Business Review, 86 (4) pp.82-90. Retrieved from https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/pl/22461329/23097336/3603197803aedc16047c1482b9496df2
How easy is it to explain your strategy? Once you finish explaining, will the audience be able to articulate your strategy well? In this article, the authors discuss why the answers to these questions are so important when implementing a strategy. They describe how to craft a strategy statement which communicates the aims of a strategy simply and succinctly.
Ignatius, A., (July/August 2010) ‘The HBR Interview: We Had to Own the Mistakes,' Harvard Business Review, Available at: https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/pl/22461329/22661520/60d6de1fbf00fb277da4d8ccd8746d62, (accessed: 15/11/13)
An interview with Howard Schultz, the CEO of Starbucks Corporation.
Mitchell, J. R., D. A. Shepherd, & M. P. Sharfman, (2011) ‘Erratic Strategic Decisions: When and Why Managers Are Inconsistent in Strategic Decision Making', Strategic Management Journal, 32 (7) pp. 683-704
Erratic strategic decisions: when and why managers are inconsistent in strategic decision making by Mitchell, J.R., Shepherd, D.A., &Sharfman, M.P., in the Strategic Management Journal, 32/7. Copyright 2011 by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Reprinted by permission of John Wiley & Sons-Journals via the Copyright Clearance Center.
Reeves, M., C. Love, & P. Tillmanns, ( September 2012) ‘Your Strategy Needs a Strategy', Harvard Business Review, Retrieved from https://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/pl/22461329/23097332/820f7d93c9a064eb43e2ec722ffd2d62 (accessed: 15/11/13)
The authors provide a framework to help strategists systematically match "strategy making style" to the particular circumstances of their competitive ecosystem and stakeholder environment.
Hart, S. L. (1992) ‘An Integrative Framework for Strategic Making Processes', Academy of Management Review, 17 (2), pp.327-351
Kahneman, D., D. Lovallo, & O. Sibony, (2011) ‘Before You Make That Big Decision', Harvard Business Review, 89 (6) pp.50-60
Papadakis, V. M., S. Lioukas, & D. Chambers, (1998) ‘Strategic Decision-Making Processes: The Role of Management and Context', Strategic Management Journal, 19 (2) pp.115-147

1. Doing good and doing business at the bottom of the pyramid by Arpita Agnihotri

2. Strategy and society - The link between competitive advantage and corporate social responsiblity by Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Karmer

3. Strategy Intent by Gary Hanel and C.K. Prahalad

4. Finding the profit in fairness by Christoph H. Loch, Fabian, J. String, Arnd Huchzemeier and Christain Decker