Strategy Choice and Implementation Report
Task
It is often noted that implementation is the most difficult aspect of strategic management. With reference to your organisation, how might this be the case?
Report should cover the following:
1. Identify and evaluate the suitability of the organisation's current strategy
(a) Identify and discuss the strategy that the organisation (or SBU) is implementing/has implemented by examining its strategy statement and/or its value chain activities.
(b) Evaluate the suitability of the organisation's current strategy based on the outcomes of your analysis (e.g., the identification of the organisation's current strategy and the most significant factors affecting the organisation's performance, and your understanding of the organisation's strategy). If the current strategy is not suitable, please recommend no more than two alternative strategic initiatives that the organisation should pursue and justify your recommendations.
2. Evaluate the implementation of strategy by using Hubbard's model
3. Identify the key issues and give your recommendations
4. Draw your conclusion
• Focus on Strategy Choice & Implementation
Note: Assessment doesn't need include financial data as measure of performance outcome to evaluate the effect of strategy implementation. The focus is about identifying strategy, evaluating its suitability and implementation issues
Length: 3,500 words including 200 words of summary, but excludes references and appendix.
REPORT STRUCTURE
1. Executive Summary
2. Company background information
3. Identify and evaluate a strategy chosen by the company
4. Evaluate strategic implementation issues
5. Key issues based on strategy choice & implementation analysis and give your recommendations
6. Conclusion
7. References
8. (Appendix)
Part 1. Executive summary
A good executive summary should have the following key points
- The objectives of this report
- The brief background information about the organisation under analysis
- What has been done and how they were done
- What key findings are in the report
Part 2. Company background information
Describe briefly the background information (strategic context) of the firm (or Strategic Business Unit). This information should be brief and relevant to the discussion of your assignment and thus may include ownership, history, size, business scope, major products/services, and major markets of the firm (or SBU)
Part 3. Identify and evaluate strategy
1. Indicate clearly what strategy company chose to implement - Porter's generic strategies/corporate strategy Note: if the company doesn't have an appropriate strategy, you should propose one/two strategy and discuss the rationality and suitability
2. Discuss its rationality (why company chose this strategy) (1) external & internal environment change: did it act strategically? - Your A1 result: evidence, theoretical framework (2) Porter's generic strategies/corporate strategy Note: for business strategy, you need use value chain framework to discuss how this business strategy can be identified in the value chain activities.
3. Evaluate its suitability - best strategy to use; most needed, (1) best alignment, fit, resources & capabilities etc. (2) limitations of strategy: how should firm address these? (3) if not suitable, please recommend no more than two alternative strategic initiatives and justify your recommendations
Part 4. Evaluate strategy implementation issues
1. Using Hubbard's model to evaluate how key factors influence strategy implementation
Note:
(1) Strategy here refers to the specific strategy chosen by the company in Part 3. - If you think the strategy chosen by the company is not appropriate and proposed more suitable one, you still need use the strategy chosen by the company for Part 4 discussion because it is the strategy the company plans to implement.
(2) If the company doesn't have a formal strategy, you use the proposed strategy in part 3 for discussing the implementation issues.
2. Evaluate strengths and weaknesses of strategy implementation
5. Identify the key issues and give your recommendations;
Discuss the interrelationships of three stages of strategic management (SM) and evaluate whether the organisation employs SM to manage its business effectively in current business environments and give your recommendations.
6. Draw your conclusion
7. References
8. (Appendix)
Rationale
The rationale for this task is to develop skills in problem solving, analysis, evaluation and reflection in relation to strategic implementation in contemporary organisation. Completion of this assessment should facilitate the development of a good understanding of what is involved in the process of strategic implementation.
This contributes to the following learning outcomes for this subject:
- be able to identify and explain the key components of strategic management such as strategy analysis, strategy formulation and strategy implementation, and their interrelationships;
- be able to review and evaluate the evolution of ideas and practices leading to the development of strategic management and its relationship to other management practices and principles;
- be able to identify and differentiate between functional areas such as marketing, finance, operations and human resource management and evaluate how they should act conjointly toward the attainment of the organisations strategic aims and objectives;
- be able to evaluate the importance of developing strategically appropriate relationships between people, processes, functions, structures and even organisations; and
- be able to critique, act strategically, and make recommendations in the context of the potential of strategic management vis-a-vis the realisation of organisational change and/or success in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors.
Length : 3,500 words.