Strategic Management and Governance COURSE GUIDE Albany Internal Semester one, 2019 THIS MATERIAL IS 1 answer below »
Strategic Management and Governance
COURSE GUIDE
Albany Internal
Semester one, 2019
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Contents
Course Staff 6
Course coordinator: Dr Bill Kirkley 6
Contact Details 7
What is this course about? 7
Summary of the course 7
Course student learning outcomes 8
Relationship to other courses 9
Overview of the topics covered 9
How is this course assessed? 10
Formal Requirements to pass this course 10
The assessment at a glance – Internal 10
Assessment 1: Strategic Analysis 11
Assessment 2: Case Study 14
Assignment Extensions 16
Late Assignments 16
Student Submission of all written work 16
Academic Honesty and Plagiarism 17
How will we learn in this course? 18
Approach to Teaching and Learning in the Course 18
Textbooks 19
Learning Activities and Teaching Strategies 19
Role of Lectures – Albany Internal Students Only 19
Role of Stream 20
Weekly tasks for insert course number study 20
Course outline: Semester 1 2018 21
Communicating with each other 22
Communication expectations 22
Course Staff
Course coordinator: Dr Bill Kirkley
PhD; MA/LLM(Hons.); BA; PGDip. Business Mgt.; PGDip. Labour Law; MIoD (SA); ANZAM; MASTD; MBLS.
I am a senior lecturer in the School of Management at Albany Campus and am responsible for a number of business papers including Strategy and Governance, Small Business Management, Entrepreneurship and New Venture Development. I joined Massey University several years ago with the express purpose of extending my qualifications and embarking on a PhD in Entrepreneurship. I successfully completed this in 2010. My other qualifications include a conjoint MA/LLM (Hons.) in Industrial Law and Employment Relations from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom, and two specialist Post Graduate Diplomas in Business Management and Labour Law. I also hold a graduate BA degree in Industrial Psychology and Industrial Sociology from the University of South Africa and practised as an Industrial Counselling Psychologist before moving into Industrial Law and practising abroad as an Attorney. I am the Albany Campus Proctor and am responsible for investigating and adjudicating on disciplinary matters that affect students and staff in the region.
My colleagues in the department regard me as something of a ‘pracademic’ rather than a pure academic probably because of my history of serving as a senior executive and Director throughout my 30 years of industry experience. I have a reputation for focusing only on those theoretical models and paradigms that actually work in a real business environment. I have extensive experience in Small Business Management both as an owner and as co-owner of four businesses. My employment history reflects considerable experience in strategy formulation and implementation at a senior level in several large and well-known multinational enterprises. As such, I bring to you the benefit of practical experience regarding what does and does not work in the strategic management of a growing enterprise.
As the Managing Director of a Business Development consulting practice, I maintain strong links with clients outside my university duties to ensure that the material and examples I will introduce into this course mirror what I use in everyday application. I have consulted to several large organizations in New Zealand, such as Turners & Growers, Ernst & Young, Employers and Manufacturers Association, Institute of Chartered Accountants New Zealand, Enterprise North Shore, Enterprise Northland, Ag-research, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise; and the Ministry of Education. My international experience includes executive management positions with Bayer, Safren, Shell and Air Products. My consulting and research interventions focus mainly on strategy; formulation and implementation, business modelling, business reconfiguration, new venture creation, business incubation and legal compliance. I have been a Board Member on the Northland Chamber of Commerce and Chair of the Strategy and Governance sub-committee for a number of years. I am regularly engaged as a judge on annual Enterprise Awards events.
My main research area of interest involves an in-depth exploration of the cognitive mechanisms inherent to strategic thought, to identify, assess and exploit opportunities. There is a view that Strategists and Entrepreneurs do not materially differ when it comes to seeking out opportunities. My doctoral thesis focused on this area and I will share the findings with you during this course.
I am an avid follower of motorsport, both the two-wheel and four-wheel variety and enjoy long distance motorcycle touring with the occasional adventure (off-road excursion) thrown into the mix. When time allows, I offer my services as a Defensive Driving Instructor to the local community. Other interests include old motorcycle restoration, reading and domestic engineering (i.e., washing the dog and mowing the lawn!).
Contact Details
(09) 414 0800 Ext. 43407
[email protected]
Albany
Private Bag 102 904, North Shore, Auckland, 0745, New Zealand
What is this course about?
Summary of the course
‘ The closer your vision gets to a provable truth, the more you are simply describing the present. In the same way, the more certain you are of a future outcome, the more likely you are to be wrong’ – The Paradox of the Visionary (Wacker & Taylor, 2000).
Strategy has a long history with origins rooted in ancient Greece and China, typically in a military context. I will leave those of you interested in exploring the history of Strategy and Strategic Management to do your own research. De Wit & Meyer, (2010) refer to the Greek origins while Cleary, (1996) and McNeilly, (1996) examine Sun Tzu and the ‘Art of War’. In a business context, however, Strategy and Governance is a relatively new field of endeavour with its beginnings first exposed in the early management theories of scientific management. In the last fifty years, it has gained considerably more recognition as an important contributor to long-term business survival, particularly in volatile and often chaotic market conditions. It is in this context we discover a fundamental problem. Acknowledging that it is relatively new, theorists and researchers have studied the concept of Strategy from many different angles. There are several schools of thought, a plethora of definitions and a multitude of different processes that can be used to develop a competitive edge. There is no one single principle, little certainty and considerable ambiguity about how to go about leading a business through congested competitive space. What most theorists, researchers and practitioners will however agree on is that it requires a different type of THINKING .
Welcome to the Age of Opportunity. For the first time in history, you have choice. You can choose what you want to be, were to go, what to have, what to know and what to do – the opportunities are endless. You do not have to listen to the mediocrity, collective fate or the groupthink that pervades the business world. You are free, and truly free people are responsible. If you fail to build your own future then someone else is going to build it for you, whether you like it or not. The same applies to organizations. If you do not actively and responsibly engage with what is going on around you, you forfeit not only your future, but that of the organization you are a part of as well. It was mentioned to me recently that ‘when you kill the source, the river dries up forever’. Apply what you know, use the skills you have learnt to get the job done and nurture the organization you are with toward the future. The graveyard of organizations that focused solely on cost cutting, losing intellectual capital through redundancy and sacrificing market position through competitive inertia is overflowing.
This course is about changing the way you THINK, about yourself, about your organization and about the future. Without this new form of thinking, you will be destined to follow everyone else, and by that, I mean your competitors, into a crowded and sometimes brutally aggressive market. This is an opportunity for you to stand back from yourself, an organization and an industry you are familiar with, and to look objectively at the future. What could it look like? Who will the big players be? How can you get a piece of the action? What is your game plan? Without answers to these questions, there is no strategy.
As you can see, I have an affinity for Dilbert cartoons! Many of them are, sadly, very true of our organizations today, and why Strategy has become such an important subject for future executives such as yourselves. If our businesses are to survive in the future, we need to think differently about how we facilitate their development and what knowledge/skills we will need in the future to sustain them. I wish you everything of the best for this program and look forward to engaging with you as we journey down this path.
Dr William W. Kirkley
Course student learning outcomes
On successful completion of this course, you should be able to:
Critically analyse concepts and theories relevant to strategic management and governance in both local and global business environments.
Apply strategic and organisational analysis to organisations and their environments.
Explain and evaluate the process of strategy formulation and implementation in both local and global business environments.
Critically evaluate the accountabilities of Boards of Directors with respect to organisational performance.
Assess complex ethical dilemmas in management and governance relative to personal values.
This is a 15-credit paper. If you are competent in English and spend 20 to 25 hours per week on it, you should be able to successfully complete this course. This time includes the time in classes, time estimated for assignments, and time for exam preparation. The course, although challenging, is not about making students suffer. I prefer students to enjoy the process of broadening their knowledge and increasing their levels of competence and confidence. The expected standard of performance required to achieve success in this course is, however, high and I do not take kindly to students who skip classes, submit poor assessments and then cry on my doorstep when they do not pass. You are required to demonstrate competence in achieving the above learning objectives. Please ensure that you fully understand them BEFORE you start this course and that you use the tools provided here and in lectures to succeed. I spend considerable time designing and revising course material every year to help you succeed. I expect you to bring your ‘A’ game to class and participate accordingly.
Relationship to other courses
This course is a capstone program in the International Business and Management majors of the BBus degree. In other words, if you are majoring in International Business or Management in your Business degree then this will be the final compulsory course you will need to complete before you graduate. It is important to note and take into account that the course is set at a third year level, where the expectations of your performance are now much higher. In this course you will need to demonstrate a standard of output that reflects critical thinking, sound reasoning and the ability to conduct simple research into a wide variety of resources in order to substantiate the and support your arguments.
Overview of the topics covered
Please note that chapters 10; 11; 15 and 16 of the prescribed textbook are not covered in this course and will therefore not be examined.
Course Topic outline by week
Week 1
Strategic Purpose and Organizational Direction
Week 2
The Macro-environment
Week 3
Industry and sector analysis
Week 4
The Micro-environment
Week 5
Stakeholder & Organizational Governance
Week 6
Culture & Strategy
Week 7
Business Level Strategy
Week 8
Corporate Strategy & Diversification
Week 9
International Strategy
Week 10
Evaluating Strategy
Week 11
Strategy Development
Week 12
Organizing and Strategy
How is this course assessed?
Formal Requirements to pass this course
All of the assessments listed below must be completed in order to successfully pass this paper. The marks for all three assessments are added together to form your overall course mark. A failure in one piece of assessment is therefore not necessarily a failure in the paper; you just need to try harder in the next piece of assessment. Both assignments need to be completed and submitted in order to participate in the Exam at the end of the semester.
The assessment at a glance – Internal
Assessment
Learning Outcomes
Percentage Weighting
Due Dates
Strategic Analysis
LO1 & LO2
20%
Wednesday, 10 th April, 2019
Case Study
LO3; LO4 & LO5
30%
Wednesday, 22 nd May, 2019
Exam
LO’s 1 to 5
50%
TBA
Assessment 1: Strategic Analysis – Due: Wednesday 10 th April, 2019 by 11:55pm
Internal Format
Report
Worth
20%
Assignment guidelines
You are to conduct a Strategic analysis of the GLOBAL PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY (see pages 545 to 556 in Exploring Strategy: Texts and Cases ). The format for this analysis will be a report. Follow the guidelines set out below as you assemble this information. Ensure you are familiar with the tools used in strategic analysis and understand them fully before attempting this assignment.
Length
The length of your report should not exceed eight typed pages ( excluding Title Page, Table of Contents, Exec Summary and Reference List).
Most of the analytical data you source for your report can be condensed into tables and attached as appendices. Appendices and Lists of References do not count toward the overall length requirement.
Note too that this is a substantial piece of work and requires reading and synthesis of material outside of the prescribed text. There is no prescription on the number of references to be included in this report. HOWEVER, you are expected to include references to authoritative sources wherever such material is used to substantiate the assertions you make.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK AND GET STARTED EARLY! I cannot emphasize enough the importance of starting early. Many students leave this to the last minute and submit work that is substandard at best. Strategic analysis does not ‘happen’ overnight – focus on the guidelines provided below and start collecting your information NOW.
Guidelines
Your report starts with the usual cover sheet and an Executive Summary – the Exec Summary is the last thing to be written in a report and summarises all the information contained in it. It also includes any assumptions and limitations encountered during the analysis. The Exec Summary should be approximately ¾ to a full page. Many students provide only approximately 150 words or an Abstract. This is INAPPROPRIATE FOR A REPORT! The Exec Summary is just that – a summary of the key points and findings of your investigation but sufficiently comprehensive as to provide an overall guide on which to make important strategic decisions.
Table of Contents – this is self-explanatory, however, students do forget sometimes to put in the page numbers for the various headings! Check your work before you submit it!
Introduction – The introduction outlines and briefly describes the business of the industry. It provides context and should cover the first element of your analysis, namely, the Industry Analysis . Questions to cover are, but are not limited to, the following:
What industry sector is it and how is this defined?
How large is this industry?
Is it consolidated or fragmented?
What are the key drivers in the industry?
Where is the industry placed on the industry lifecycle curve?
How dynamic is the industry?
Who are the big players (companies or organizations) that dominate this industry?
What are the key issues arising at this time with respect to the industry?
Do not confine yourself to the above questions – describe the industry as thoroughly and comprehensively as you can with points that are relevant from a strategic perspective. A stranger, reading your report for the first time should have an immediate general grasp of the industry you are describing and a broad understanding of some of the issues. This section should not be more than a page and a half.
Macro-environmental analysis – We use a tool for this that is called a PESTEL analysis (evolved from a PEST and PESTE analysis). The acronym stands for Political; Economic; Social/Demographic; Technological; Environmental and Legal; all elements that have a direct or indirect influence on the performance of the industry you are analysing. It is possible to tabulate your analysis and place this in the appendices, however, key issues in each of the dimensions need to be highlighted and discussed in the report, particularly if they have a strong direct influence on the industry at present or at some near future stage.
YOU MUST NOT EXPLAIN WHAT PESTEL IS OR DOES – THIS IS NOT AN ASSESSMENT OF YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF THE TOOL! IT IS AN ASSESSMENT OF YOUR ABILITY TO THINK AND ANALYSE A SITUATION FROM A STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVE. I am quite familiar with the tools used in strategic analysis; my aim is to determine whether YOU CAN APPLY the tools used in analysis.
You are going to need to read and study the industry from a holistic perspective and understand how it operates in order to do this analysis. A key aspect of this analysis is to do more than just point out factors in each of the dimensions (i.e., political economic, etc.). After you have identified the factor , you need to explain what impact it has on the performance of the industry. Next, on each factor, you need to explain the possible future implications this factor will have on the industry and finally, you need to point out whether this represents an opportunity or threat. Restrict your analysis to only those factors that have a direct impact on the industry.
Note: This is a critical component of any strategic analysis. If you simply bullet list a couple of factors for each dimension without explaining them or provide the required information, you will fail this assignment. THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING AND BE ABLE TO DEFEND YOUR REASONING!
Competitive analysis – There is a tool for this analysis as well, Porter’s Five Forces. Refer to your readings and texts on this analysis and what output you are attempting to convey. Some elements of your industry analysis and macro-environmental analysis will be relevant here but it focuses mainly on the degree of competition, identification of key competitors and their position in the market.
Note that the same requirements set out above apply for this analysis, i.e., do not explain what the tool is, explain the analysis through each stage and identify whether the information derived from this represents an opportunity or threat. You also need to provide an evaluation of the impact/level of power each element has on the competitive environment. The analysis is typically rated as ‘HIGH’; ‘MEDIUM’ or ‘LOW’. A key aspect of this analysis is your argument and substantiation for the rating you have provided on each of the five forces.
Again, a full analysis can be attached in the appendices but I would expect a discussion of key issues that directly influence the industry to be put into the report itself.
Conclusion – This is a short summary of your findings highlighting the key opportunities and threats.
DO NOT make specific recommendations or any reference to solutions! These will be dealt with elsewhere.
Tips for completing the analysis:
Study the texts provided as well as any other source material and ensure you are familiar with the tools used for this assignment.
If you state that something is the case about the industry, you need to back it up with relevant authority – remember to reference it!
Develop a programme for completing this assignment – you only get one opportunity, as there are no extensions.
Do not speculate! If you are unsure whether something is or is not the case then go find out and provide confirmation of your information, otherwise exclude it from your analysis.
References to industry authority, texts, journals and industry publications are critical and encouraged if they are used to back up the assertions you make in your report. You need to start reading outside your regular targeted material and this evidence attracts marks. The mark of a good strategist is that they are widely read and understand the impact key relationships between events have on business at a high level. This assignment requires you to analyse the global pharmaceutical industry – DO YOUR HOMEWORK AND RESEARCH THIS THOROUGHLY BEFORE STARTING YOUR ASSIGNMENT!
Assessment 2: Case Study – Due: Wednesday 22 nd May, 2019 by 11:55pm
Internal Format
Report format
Worth
30%
Assignment Submission
Case study: Severstal (Pages 659 to 666)
As with your first assignment, the above case provides background for the GLOBAL STEEL INDUSTRY on which you need to conduct a full strategic analysis. Severstal is your anchor point and you need to conduct your analysis as if you were advising this company on their future strategy.
Study the case thoroughly and identify the key issues confronting the organization. Follow the guidelines set out below as you assemble this information. Ensure you are familiar with the tools used in strategic analysis and understand them fully before attempting this assignment. Read the handout in Stream ‘Analysing Case Studies’ BEFORE you attempt this assignment. It contains useful information about how to go about your analysis while you read t
