Strategic Management Choice, Implementation and Review equips learners with an understanding of techniques, approaches and models required to make strategic choices and to be able to implement and assess the choices made.
Main Topics of Study:
Strategy Analysis and Choice
- Generating and selecting strategies-process
- Strategy formulation framework-input stage, matching stage (SWOT, SPACE matrix, BCG matrix, IE matrix, Grand Strategy matrix), decision stage (QSPM matrix)
- Cultural aspects of strategy choice
- Politics of strategy choice
- Role of board of directors
Strategies in Action
- Long-term objectives-nature of long-term objectives, financial versus strategic objectives, not managing by objectives, balanced scorecard, types of strategies, levels of strategies
- Integration strategies-forward, backward, horizontal
- Integration strategies-market penetration, market development, product development
- Diversification strategies-related, unrelated
- Defensive strategies-retrenchment, divestiture, liquidation
- Porter’s Generic strategies
- Means for achieving strategies-joint venturing/partnering, merger/acquisition, outsourcing,
- Strategic management in nonprofit, government organisations and small firms
Strategy Implementation, Management and Operations Issues
- Nature of strategy implementation-management perspectives
- Annual objectives
- Policies
- Resource allocation
- Managing conflict
- Matching structure with strategy-functional structure, divisional structure, strategic business unit structure, matrix structure, borderless organisation
- Restructuring and reengineering
- Linking performance and pay to strategies
- Managing resistance to change
- Managing the natural environment
- Creating a strategy-supportive culture
- Production/operations concerns when implementing strategies
- Human resource concerns when implementing strategies-stock ownership plans, work-life balance, benefits of a diverse workforce
- Marketing issues-market segmentation, product positioning
- Finance issues-acquiring capital, projected financial statements, budgets, evaluating the worth of a business
- R&D issues
- Management information systems issues
Strategy Review, Evaluation and Control
- Strategy evaluation-nature and process
- Strategy-evaluation framework-reviewing bases of strategy, measuring organisational performance, taking corrective action
- The balanced scorecard
- Published sources of strategy-evaluation information
- Characteristics of an effective evaluation system
- Contingency planning
- Auditing
Example Candidate Response Booklet
Example Candidate Response (ECR) Booklets are a source of crucial information for Centres and Candidates as they use real candidate responses. We ask Senior Examiners to comment on five or more responses in terms of why the mark was awarded with commentary about how to improve the answer (if necessary).
