MGT 4800J - Chapter 1

What automobile maker emerged as one of the pioneers of strategic management among industry leaders?

Henry Ford

Strategy as perspective

How executives interpret the competitive landscape around them.

In what context was the earliest-known discussion of strategy?

In the Old Testament of the Bible - Moses leading Hebrews out of enslavement in Egypt

Intended strategy

The plan that an organization hopes to execute

How does a company examine their opportunities and threats?

Through external events and trends

How do companies examine their strengths and weaknesses?

Through firm resources

Step 1 in the strategic management process

Understanding of strategy and performance

Strategy's Five P's

1. Plan 2. Ploy 3. Pattern 4. Position 5. Perspective

Define Plan:

A carefully crafted set of steps that a firm intends to follow in order to be successful

Define strategic plans

A carefully crafted set of steps that a firm intends to follow to be successful.

Two pivotal events that firmly established management as a field of study took place in 1980. What were these two events?

1. The creation of the Strategic Management Journal 2. The publication of Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors by Harvard professor Michael Porter

Franchising

An organization (called a franchisor) grants the right to use its brand name, products, and processes to other organizations (franchisees) in exchange for an up-front payment (franchise fee) and a percentage of the franchisees' revenues (royalty fee)

Emergent Strategy

An unplanned direction that arises in response to unexpected opportunities and challenges

"Winning a ____ without ____ is the best way to win" - Sun Tzu

Battle, fighting

Step 2 in the strategic management process

Environmental and internal scanning for trends and events that affect the overall economy

Strategic management

Examines how actions and events involving top executives (such as Steve Jobs), firms (Apple), and industries (the tablet market) influence a firm's success or failure.

T/F: All strategic ploys are legal

FALSE

T/F: Strategic management is a process that does NOT require the ability to manage change

FALSE --> Strategic management is a process that requires the ability to manage change

T/F: when firms try and please everyone, business often thrives

FALSE --> When businesses try to please everyone they often find themselves without a competitive positioning that is needed or long-term success

Define: strategos

Greek verb for "army leader"; refers to defeating an enemy by effectively using resources

Two examples of a franchises in the food industry

McDonald's and Subway

Deliberate Strategy

Parts of the intended plan that an organization continues to pursue over time.

What is the Greek Trojan horse an example of regarding to strategy?

Ploy

What is a more subtle but equally important aspect of a business model?

Providing customers with a good or service more cheaply than they can create it themselves.

Define Trojan horse in modern times?

Refers to gestures that appear on the surface to be beneficial to the recipient but that mask a sinister intent --> example: computer viruses

Non-realized Strategy

Refers to the abandoned parts of the intended strategy

What is the essence of strategy?

Strategic plans

Step 3 in the strategic management process

Strategy formulation by developing specific strategies and actions

Step 4 in the strategic management process

Strategy implementation via crafting an effective organizational structure and corporate culture

Define SWOT

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats

T/F: Ethics have long been an important issue within the strategic management field

TRUE

T/F: Firms can carve out a position by performing certain activities in a different manner than their rivals

TRUE

China strategist and philosopher Sun Tzu thoughts on strategy wrote _____ that is still carefully studied today by business and military leaders.

The Art of War

What key motivator led US universities to create strategic management courses in their undergrad and masters of business administration programs?

The Ford Foundation 'capstone' course

Define Pattern:

The degree of consistency in a firm's strategic actions

Strategic pattern

The extent to which a firm's actions over time are consistent

Economics of sales

A cost advantage created when a firm can produce a good or service per unit at a lower price due to producing a g/s in large quantities.

Define Position:

A firm's place in the industry relative to its competitors

Strategic position

A firm's place in the industry relative to its competitors

Define business model

A model that describes the process through which a firm hopes to earn profits

Realized Strategy

A plan of action that an organization actually follows

Define Ploy:

A specific move designed to outwit or trick competitors

Strategic ploy

A specific move designed to outwit or trick competitors