SI 422SI Midterm studyguide. SI422 Midterm Study Guide

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Sessions: Session 1 - WHAT IS STRATEGY - Reading #1 -- ‘What is Strategy’ - Michael Porter Session 2 - WHAT IS STRATEGY? A HISTORICAL + CONCEPTUAL OVERVIEW - Reading #1 -- ‘Foundations of St ... rategy’ - Robert Grant + Judith Jordan Session 3 - THE ECONOMICS OF A LOW PROFIT INDUSTRY - Reading #1 -- ‘An economic analysis of a drug selling gang’s finances’ - Reading #2 -- ‘When cartels are cartels, public safety wins’ - Reading #3 -- ‘Why do drug dealers live with their moms’ Session 4 - UNDERSTANDING THE FIVE FORCES - Reading #1 -- ‘The five forces: competing for profit’ - Reading #2 -- ‘The five forces that shape strategy’ Session 5 - THE ECONOMICS OF A HIGH PROFIT INDUSTRY - Reading #1 -- Cola Wars: Coke vs. Pepsi Session 6 - INDUSTRY EVOLUTION + COORS/BREWING - Reading #1 -- Adolph Coors in the Brewing Industry Session 7 - COMPETITIVE POSITIONING - Reading #1 -- ‘Creating competitive advantage’ Session 8 - COMPETITIVE POSITIONING - DIFFERENTIATION + RELATIVE COST ANALYSIS - Reading #1 -- Analyzing Relative Costs - Reading #2 -- Ducati Session 9 - COMPETITIVE POSITIONING + TRADER JOE'S - Reading #1 -- Trader Joe's Session 10 - N/A Session 11 - RESOURCES AND CAPABILITIES - OBTAINING + MAINTAINING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE - Reading #1 -- ‘Internal analysis: resources, capabilities + activities’ - Reading #2 -- The Body Shop Session 12 - LEADERSHIP (DIS)ADVANTAGE AND SAB TANZANIA - Reading #1 -- ‘The leaders (Dis)Advantage’ - Reading #2 -- SAB Tanzania Session 13 - NON MARKET STRATEGY - Reading #1 -- BU Note on Non-market Strategy - Reading #2 -- ‘What every CEO should know about non-market strategy’ Session 14 - CORPORATE STRATEGY: CONCEPTS + HORIZONTAL SCOPE - Reading #1 -- ‘Choosing corporate + global scope’ - Reading #2 -- Apple 2015 - Reading #3 -- ‘From competitive advantage to corporate strategy’ Session 15 - CORPORATE STRATEGY - VERTICAL SCOPE - Reading #1 -- Disney-Pixar Session 16 - GLOBAL STRATEGY - Reading #1 -- ‘Global strategy note’ - Reading #2 -- Competitive Advantage of Nations - Reading #3 -- LG - Global Strategy in Emerging Markets Session 17 - LEGO - Reading #1 -- Lego2 Session 1 - WHAT IS STRATEGY What is strategy? - Strategy exists as a field of research and practice: - In practice, the goal is to enable organizations (typically, firms) to achieve the greatest possible organizational performance (typically, P) - In research, the goal is to understand what are the determinants of long-term organizational performance (with the hope of informing practice) - Strategy helps coordinate all internal firm activities by giving guidelines to each function within the firm Porters View: - Operational effectiveness - Refers to the extent to which perform similar activities better than rivals - Necessary, but not sufficient for L-R competitive advantage - Strategy - Refers to performing different activities from rivals or performing them in a different way - Choose the right configuration of activities, incentives, systems - Make the right trade-offs - Strategy rests on unique activities - Having a strategy that fits the environment! - A cogent configuration of activities, incentives, systems that supports successful positioning and makes the right trade-offs - Competitive Advantage - Achieving profits above average for industry - Can only really compare within industry, not across multiple industries - Ultimately, Porter believes that firms can achieve competitive advantage only if they have ​both operational effectiveness and a superior strategy (that fits with the demands of the environment) Session 2 - WHAT IS STRATEGY? A HISTORICAL + CONCEPTUAL OVERVIEW Strategic Activities Map: - A strategic activities map is a picture that identifies the key activities of a firm (i.e., their tradeoffs and the investments that the make) and identifies the linkages between them. - These can be further linked to costs and customer willingness-to-pay (and, therefore, to firm P as well) - The FUNDAMENTAL FACT in Strategy is that profits vary across industry & within industry3 - Some industries have higher ave P than others - Some firms have higher average P than others these patterns persist over time - Strategists: - Explain why industries & firms have Hi or Lo profit - Help make recommendations to firms about what strategic plans may help improve their profitability Robert Grant's definition of strategy: - Strategy is designed to help the firm use its internal resources and characteristics to deal with its industry and competitive environment. Corporate Strategy vs. Business Unit Strategy - Corporate Strategy refers to decisions regarding the industries and value chain steps in which a firm competes - e.g. Should Coach sell hats & shoes as well as purses? - e.g. Should Mitsubishi sell computers & stereos as well as cars? - e.g. Should Boston U outsource its admissions office to a private company? - Business Unit Strategy refers to decisions about how a firm will compete in its various activities - e.g. Based on cost or differentiation & how it will exploit its resources to achieve these goals) - Sources of superior profitability - What is the difference between strategy and management - Strategy refers to the unifying themes of the organization - Management refers to the organization’s specific policies & practices - Note that management practices should be determined by the firm’s strategy! Henry Mintzberg: Strategy Design vs. Strategy Emergence4 - It is incomplete to consider Strategy to be something that can simply be designed (analyzed); instead, it is important to recognize that Strategy emerges and changes over time, regardless of how carefully it is planned. [Show More]

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