week 3

   1.      Why strategy making is a science and why is it also like an art or craft?

Strategy making is a science because of following reasons:

§  Strategy is to formulate and then implementation similar in science as experiment and then execution.

§  Strategy is examined of particular person and making logical suggestion which applies in science as well.

§  Strategy as a balanced, prescribed application of diagnostic tools otherwise a set of rules.

Strategy making is like an art of craft due to following:

§  Strategy making is like a changeable, unpredictable or creative process with vision, creative insights.

§  Strategy management is like a group work that focuses on conflict, compromise and politics.

§  Strategy making is like a emerging and exploratory.

2.      In your own words and using referenced quotes describe the difference between intended strategy and emergent strategy?

a)      Differences of intended and emergent strategy are

Ø  Leaders who planned the strategies in advance in the organization,  prepared to put into operation are referred as intended strategies and the strategy which are not intentionally planned, and which can come from lower level of organization in hierarchy are called emergent strategy.

Ø  Intended Strategy always figuring out i.e. analyzing in behavior but emergent strategy is finding i.e. exploring in behavior.

Ø  Intended strategy is formal, structured in nature but emergent strategy is informal, unstructured in nature.

Ø  The process of intended strategy is to forecast at first but the process of emergent strategy is to experiment at first.

Ø  Intended strategy applies strategic planning whereas emergent strategy applies Strategic thinking.

Ø  Intended strategy is always made by Top level or leaders and flows from top level to bottom level in organizational hierarchy whereas emergent strategy is commonly made by lower level of organization and might follows from bottom level to top level in organizational hierarchy.

3.      Choose 2 of the 10’s schools of strategic thought and describe them in your own words. Try and provide a real world example for e.g. an organization or a situation.

-          Two schools out of ten are given below:

a.      Positioning School:

·         Market/ industry Structure impel strategy.

·         Strategy formulation is a logical process that relies closely on quantitative data.

·         Strategy formulation engages finding particular positions in the market place.

·         The strategy process is hence one of selection of these position relates on analytical calculations.

      Example: Wal-Mart.

b.      Learning School:

·         This school follows emergent strategy because it tells us that strategy comes from experimentation and adaptations.

·         It says that we learn from performing arts – as you carry on you be trained, as you be trained you manufacture.

·         Strategic proposal often appear from front-line and middle managers.

·         Strategic emerge casually, sometimes slowly, sometimes suddenly, usually in collective process.

                  Example: Google

4.      Write about your experience with today’s case study. What answer did you give to the question?

a)      Would you describe Google’s strategy as more deliberate or more emergent? (List reasons for each)

-                            I feel Google strategy concerned in every sector, so it is more emergent strategy due to subsequent   reasons:

·         Google make android without cost, where other operating system charge for such system.

·         Google has spent in latest projects similar to wind energy which is completely dissimilar from its core business.

·          Google is focusing in testing the self driving cars.

b)      What are the advantages of being very „experimental‟? (list)

     These are the examples of being experimental:

·         High risk high gain: As word says, there is high chances of loss of being very experimental, but it also mean that when you success then no doubt, you will get higher rate of return than others.

·         Boost, the sources of income: As we know more source of income leads to higher revenue automatically.

·         Chances of being Business leader: No doubt, “person who cuts bee hives gets changes to eat honey at first”. In same manner person who explore products and services at first in their market get chance to be a leader and capture the available opportunities in market.

c)      What are the disadvantages of being very „experimental‟? (list)

-          The disadvantage of being very experimental are:

·         Slow decision making process and conflict: Very experimental always does not works, as it takes longer time to do experiment and research, conflict may arises between stakeholders, due to slow decision making process there is a problem of whether to invest or not in a particular business, as such, decision should made immediately which is a crucial of difficult task.

·         Probability of high loss: there will be chances of high loss, if your experiment works then only you will be succeed otherwise, possibility of high loss in which you will suffer from loss of time as well as large amount of money.

d)     What do you think of their strategy? (try to justify and support your views)

-          It has managed to perform their job in outstanding way, so I think their strategy is good. Each and every individual understand about Google. Being emergent in nature they are marketing and providing new products and services that can lead to be large number of customers, in addition, their income sources is also increasing one to another with the beginning of new products and services. For example: they have invested in test self driven cars, wind project, providing android system without cost, developing own library for online application and many others. Demand and desire of customer are changing day by day, in such no one follows the same strategy. They need to change time to time according to desire of the customer. Therefore in such an IT world, each business wants to follow the emergent strategy in order to gain competitive advantage, and explore more. 


            References : 

  

      1.      Aktouf, O. (1992). Management and theories of organizations in the 1990s: toward a critical

radical humanism? Academy of Management Review, 17(3), 407-431.

     2.      Barney, J. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management,17(1), 99-120.

    3.      Dawson, R. (2000). Knowledge capabilities as the focus of organisational development strategy.Journal of Knowledge Management, 4(4), 320-327.

    4.      Joyce, P. & Woods, A. (1996). Essential strategic management: from modernism to

pragmatism. Oxford: Butterworths Heinemann.

   5.      Koch, R. (1999). Glossary. In S. Crainer (Ed.). Handbook of management: the state of the art (pp. 837-920) (Concise ed.). London: Financial Times/Pitman.