MNG4801 Preparations: Previous Exam Questions and Answers. MNG4801_ Exam Pack.

MNG4801_Exam Pack.. MNG4801 Preparations: Previous Exam Questions and Answers. MNG4801 - Strategic Management. Define the term 'sustainable organisation' 3 1.2 Graphically depict the value chain and indicate the social and environmental issues associated with the core business activities. You are not required to discuss or define any business activity but your diagram should include the following: Clearly labeled business activities Two possible social and environmental issues associated with each activity 16 1.3 Describe and substantiate a clear business case for responsible corporate behaviour 6 Text book reference: Write TB/tutorial reference here if there are any... 1.1. Sustainable organisation Sustainable organisation is an organisation that contributes to sustainable development by simultaneously delivering social environment and economic benefits(the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit)Woolworths qualifies as sustainable organisation because firstly they accept their social responsibility by embedding sustainability in their corporate strategy Secondly they improve the environment through energy saving ,for instance by using less electricity and Thirdly they increase profitability for shareholders(through other cost saving . 1.2. 1.3. Business case for responsible corporate behavior: ● Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability reporting is seen to weaken a company’s primary role, and so CSR and sustainability activities are viewed as non-core (Louw & Venter, 2010: 61). ● The business case can be made either on ethical grounds, or by complying with rules and regulations, for example: JSE regulations, King III etc (Louw & Venter, 2010: 66). ● Organizations use 1.5 times of natural resources without repaying this debt as an organization would for a loan, so although those organizations benefit financial in the short-term, it is not sustainable in the long-term (The Gaurdian, 2013). ● Organizations are reluctant to include CSR and Sustainability costs in its costing as it is difficult to quantify and the organization may lose its competitive advantage to a competitor which does not include these costs (The Gaurdian, 2013). ● Investor returns are seen as more important to sustainability performance, but organizations will benefit by embracing business models that benefits society and deliverables other than financial returns (The Gaurdian, 2013). ● A member of civil society may be annoyed by an action of a company, which a consumer may not see in wanting the product or service or an investor that wants returns on its portfolio. Consumers and investors generally do not encourage behavior that are in the best interests of society (The Gaurdian, 2013). Question 2: 2.1 Identify and define the tools used to convey the strategic direction 10 2.2 The appropriateness of each statement in terms of content and length 15 Text book reference: Write TB/tutorial reference here if there are any... 2.1.Identify and define the tools used to convert strategic direction. (10) Strategy direction –good business leaders create a vision ,passion ately own the vision and restlessly drive it to completion(SLIDE) In SLIDE tools used to convert strategic direction ● Guides behaviour ● Better performance ● Creates confidence ● Benchmarks for resource allocations ● Inspires employee ● Shape relationship 2.2. The appropriateness of each statement in terms of content and length. (15) Characteristics of an effectively worded vision statement page 75 study guide ● Graphical-it paints a picture of the kind of company that management is trying to create and the market position(s) the company is striving to stake out.(When reading in immediately forms a holistic pictures of where this forward looking company sees itself) ● Directional –it is looking forward-looking and guides the organisation, describes the strategic course the strategic course that management has charted and the kinds of product/market/technology changes that will help the company prepare for future.( ● Focused –it is specific enough to provide mangers with guidance in making decisions and allocations resources.(do good and strive to the best) it is idealistic, yet still realistic enough so that people believe it is achievable. ● Flexible-it is not a once-and-for-all-time statement the directional course that management charts may have to be adjusted as product/market/technology circumstances change. ● Feasible-it is within the realm of what the company can reasonably expect to achieve in due course. ● Desirable-it indicates why the directional makes good business sense and is in the long-term interests of stakeholders including employees.(doing good to others improves one’s own well-being and self-esteem too.) ● Easy to communicate-it is explainable in five minutes and ideally can be reduced to simple, memorable slogan. Netcare ‘s core purpose is helping care for the health humankind and shows strategic intent. It focuses in the organisational essence of winning and taking care in health of humankind, their long term goal is from 10 to 20 years for global leadership. It focuses on competitive actions and operational activities, their long term goals envision a desired leadership position and it also demonstrated in uncertain terms and in a strong consolidated sentence. Question 3: 3 Opportunity-driven strategy depends upon an ability to manage, and to manage in, the business environment. Discuss the organisation as an open system and assess the impact of the different environmental forces on its performance 25 Text book reference: Write TB/tutorial reference here if there are any... write answer here... Question 4: 4.1 Advise minister Mothekga on an appropriate corporate/grand strategy to follow in order to rectify the current situation in the eastern cape. You need to explain what the strategy entails from a theoretical perspective 5 4.2 Provide recommendations to the minister that she should consider to successfully implement the strategy 20 Text book reference: Write TB/tutorial reference here if there are any... 4.1. Turnaround strategy: This strategy is used by organisations that may find themselves or some of their business units in a vulnerable position and they need to make decisions about the future of the organisation (Louw & Venter, 2010). Looking at the case study we can see the urgency for recovery that is needed, according to Thompson and Martin (2010) organisations use turn around strategies for a short time horizon and they are designed to yield immediate results. These strategies involve changes to the overall marketing, repositioning and refocusing, they are designed to make quick changes to an organisation and at the same time contribute towards longer-term growth. The nature of the problems arising in the Eastern Cape indicates that remedial action is required to save the department of education; corruption, non-delivery of material and poor management of systems and programmes shows that immediate action should be taken. Louw and Venter (2010) states that when the failure, or the decline of an organisation reaches a certain level the organisation will have no choice but to take remedial action. Turnaround strategies are spurred by recession, inefficiency and non-competitiveness (Louw & Venter, 2010). 4.2. Question 5: 5.1 Critically evaluate any five of the organisational cultural dimensions and provide evidence from the case study to justify your assessment 20 5.2 Indicate five key considerations in aligning culture with strategy during implementation 5 Text book reference: Write TB/tutorial reference here if there are any... 5.1. Member identity ● The degree to which the member identifies with the organisation as opposed to the job/profession ● Employees should identify with the organisation to ensure successful strategy implementation. ● For example: ○ Not only does this keep engineers happy and challenged, it is also good business as approximately half of all new product launches can be directly attributed to projects that came from 20% time program. ○ They employ more than 12000 employees and have offices around the world, from Turkey to Telugu, and dozens of languages are spoken by Google staffers. The result is a team that reflects the global audience Google serves Management focus ● The degree to which management are people driven rather than outcomes driven. ● For example: ○ One of the coolest programs at Google is the 20% of their work time on projects that interest them. ○ "At google, we know that every employee has something important to say, and that every employee is integral to our success". Team emphasis ● The degree to which employees do their jobs in teams rather than as individuals. ● Emphasis should be on working as teams to draw on the collective experience. ● For example ○ Googlers thrive in small, focused teams and high-energy environments. ○ At lunchtime, almost everyone eats in the office cafe, sitting at whatever table has an opening and enjoying conversations with Googlers from different teams. Units ● The degree to which the organisation encourages operating units to act interdependently as opposed to independently. ● For example: ○ As a result , no one hesitates to pose questions directly to Larry or Sergy (founders of the company) in their weekly all-hands ("TGIF") meetings -or spike a volleyball across the net at a corporate officer. ○ Googlers sharing cubes, yurts and huddle rooms- and very few solo offices. Control ● The degree of control to which the organisation exerts over employees by means of policies, rules and supervision. ● Controls should allow employees to self direct and make decisions. ● For example: ○ Every employee is a hands-on contributor, and everyone wears several hats. ○ At google, we know that every employee has something important to say, and that every employee is integral to our success (Louw & Venter, 2010: 513) 5.2. Cultures that facilitates successful strategy implementation have common factors: ● The culture needs to engender a shared identity for employees. ● Rewarding desired outcomes. ● Legitimise the role of management in the organisation. ● Culture indicates how things are done. ● New employees should fit into the organisatonal culture. Ethics and strong values is important in the way business is conducted Question 6: 6.1 Describe the balance scorecard as a strategic management tool 10 6.2 Explain the role of the balance scorecard in the strategic management process 15 Text book reference: Write TB/tutorial reference here if there are any... 6.1. The balanced scorecard is a strategic planning and management system that is used extensively in business and industry, government, and non-profit organizations worldwide to align business activities to the vision and strategy of the organization, improve internal and external communications, and monitor organization performance against strategic goals. The balanced scorecard is a strategic management tool that is useful in the guiding, controlling and challenging an organisation towards realising a shared concept of the future. It enables the organisation in achieving an integrated, aligned and balanced focus on four perspectives that collectively underpin the achievement of the organisational vision. The four perspectives are: Financial perspective: How do we appear to our stakeholders? This perspective focusses on delivering the maximum value to stakeholders, which is ultimately the aim of the organisation. This determines the financial performance of the organisation. Customer perspective: How do we appear to our customers? Imminent for survival and growth, is the delivery of quality goods / services that are satisfactory to the customers’ needs. Indicators hereof will be customer satisfaction, retention and growth. Internal business processes: What must we excel at? This is the identification of internal processes that has to be focussed on and excelled at to ensure that the organisation reaches its strategic goals and the expectations of their customers. This will subsequently lead to improvements in customer and financial outcomes. Learning and growth perspectives: How can we continue to improve and create value? This describes how people, technology and the organisational climate can be combined to support the organisation’s strategy. This focuses on the root cause of the organisation’s competitive sustainability. 6.2. The balanced scorecard offers a balance between financial and non-financial measures that is used in the development of a strategic framework and a focus for many critical management processes. It is used to align the organisation’s strategic direction with its short-term actions. It can be used in the goal setting process for setting long-term goals, on a departmental and individual level. As part of the strategic framework it is also used in the communication of strategy throughout the business, business planning, capital allocation, strategic initiatives, and feedback and learning. The balanced scorecard makes use of four processes: clarifying and translating the vision into strategy; communicating and linking strategic objectives and measures; planning, setting targets, and aligning strategic initiatives; and enhancing feedback and learning. Discussion of the processes: Clarifying and translating the vision: This assists management in building consensus around the organisation’s vision and strategy. Vision statements have to be specific, and not broad and lofty. It should be set in operational terms expressed as an integrated set of objectives and measures, agreed upon by senior executives, describing the long-term drivers of success. Communicating and linking: This allows management to communicate the strategy to all levels of the organisation and have it linked to departmental and individual objectives. Departments are usually evaluated in terms of their performance on a financial basis, with individual incentives being tied to short-term goals. Business planning: This enables the organisation to integrate their business and financial plans. By having the wide variety of internal employees and consultants’ goals / objectives, managers can ensure that each person or department receives the needed resources and allocating them with the correct priority rating. This will assist in ensuring all initiatives’ goals will coincide with the organisation’s strategic objectives. Feedback and learning: This provides the organisation with the tools for strategic learning. Feedback and review processes based on the balanced scorecard can assist the organisation with determining short-term results, and evaluate strategy in the light of the recent performance, by making use of the perspectives of customers, internal business processes, and learning and growth. This way, the organisation can modify strategies to reflect “real-time learning” Ultimately the balanced scorecard has the role of a planning tool, with the aim of keeping the strategy of the organisation in line with current development, learning and changes