CIMA syllabus is in the context of Look case

study.

E3
A. Interacting with the organizations environment
1. Influence of key external factors on strategy
a) Influence and impact of the external environment on an organization and its
strategy
Looks organizational environment is a profit base one. Dynamic, changing and
unstable environment is around the Look Company.
b) Approaches to business/government relations and to relations with society
Provides training in programming and information systems to local
students.
Provide data management and other services for free of charge.
Provided logistical support to the charities which assisted in the recent
tragedy in South Africa
Staff is granted one or two working days per month to assist in training
program.
c) Drivers of external demands for environmental sustainability, CSR and
organizations response
Energy consumption
Energy audits
Motto- Do only good

d) How to build and manage strategic relationships with stakeholders.

 Significant input from the three founders while depending heavily on

the skills of engineers and programmers to maintain and enhance the
high quality service.
Carbon neutral since 2005,thus maintaining government environmental
standards
Work directly with leading universities while providing funds to them;
realistic prospect of success in the long term.
Food served in the premises is sourced from local farmers.
Act alongside governments in order to minimize the disruptions caused
by government restrictions.
Open to the claims regarding our service.
Gathers information about users.
2. Ethical issues arising with interaction with environment
a) Ethical issues and their resolution
Right to forget
Applying rules regarding privacy to company
Accusation of being biased while working with governments to
minimize disruptions.
B.

Evaluating strategic position and strategic options

1.

Strategies formulation
a) Process of strategic analysis and strategic options generation
Official mission statement connecting people to the world
Unofficial - Do only good
Looks intention is to make knowledge in almost any form instantly
accessible to those using the companys services.
Serve users, respect others, protect privacy, respect external regulations,
and work in looks best interests.
Look is following differentiation strategy according to porters generic
strategies. Their search engine algorithm was different to others at that
time. While always upgrading and redefining their products and
services, Look is always trying to be key player in research and
developments. Through funding startups and new concepts they are
basically following differentiation.
Considering Look space, Look media and Look cloud product
development strategy can be identified, Look OS, Look phone Look
apps also can be taken under this. Look lens will be under
diversification strategy. Look search engine is trying to enter to Asian
countries following market development strategy.

b) Strategic options
The viability Look lens can be analyzed through SAF modal.
c) Roles and responsibilities of directors in strategy formulation and
implementation
Jay developed the business model
The three founders continue to provide a significant input into
developing and expanding the business
2. Tools and techniques used in strategy formulation
a) Strategic analysis tools
Data mining to understand how to allocate resources effectively
b) Managing product portfolio to support strategic goals
Product portfolio is centered on Look search basically a cash cow. The
funds obtained will be used to develop Look OS and Look lens, Look
cloud (problem child). Look Media & Look phone ( star)
c) Value chain
Heavily dependent on third parties for the supply of bought in goods
and services
Operations, marketing, sales and services are online basis
Heavily investing on new technologies
Special attention is given for hiring highly skilled computer engineers
and programmers
C. Leading change
1. Important aspects of organizational change
a) Key impacts of organizational change to organizations
Reputation as a employer with very low staff turnover and large job
applicants attractor
Has a clear policy of treating staff with respect and providing
opportunities to grow.
Change in organization will have a huge impact on employees, who are
the key resource of Look.
Large resistance can be expected to a change in organization culture
but the employees are well aware about the continuous system
upgrades.

b) Leadership in managing the change process and building and managing

effective teams
Three co- founders are supplying new ideas to drive the changes
Vijay chatterjee is in charge of look lens which will change Look
search completely
Freedom is given for employees to be active in charity work enabling
effective team implementation
Upgrading the systems with latest technology
2. Tools and methods for implementing a successful change
a) Tools, techniques and strategies for managing and leading the change process.
Using a change agent
Kurt lewin 3 step modal ( Unfreeze , behavior change, Refreeze)
Kottler and schelsinger modal
Kurt lewin force shield
Evolution, adoption , resolution and reconstruction ( concepts of
change)
3. Change leadership process in strategy implementation.
a) Role of change leader in strategy implementation
Identify restraining forces
Come with more than one option and choose most suitable one
Implementing the change management
Transmitting the learning process by documenting the change.
b) Types of change Management processes
Emergent bottom up and decentralized, informal method, uncertain
environments, flexible and adaptive.
Planned- top- down and centralized, tight control with rules and
procedures, stable and certain environment, slow and inflexible
c) Executive leadership in change management
Develop acceptance change in staff
Encourage new ideas
Permit more interaction between individuals and groups.
Tolerate failures.
Offer recognition and rewards for creative behavior- look employees
are encouraged to follow their own projects.

D. Implementing strategy

1. Tools and techniques of strategy implementation

a) Alternative Models of strategic performance evaluation
Profits based performance measure
Problems-ignores the usage of capital assets by the division,
single period measure
Importance-ROI can be compared , opportunity cost of
investment
SVA = corporate value(pv of cash flows in the forecast period +pv of
residual cash flows at the end of period ) Debt
EVA = NOPAT (adjusted invested capital 8WAAC)
BSC non financial measures restore balance in performance
measurement

Performance pyramidb) Solutions for problems in strategic performance evaluation

Performance dimensions
Competitiveness-relative market share and position, sales growth
Financial performance- profitability , liquidity , gearing , revenue
per unit , cost per unit
Quality of service reliability , responsiveness , appearance ,
cleanliness
Flexibility- speed of response to customer specification
Resource utilization productivity ,efficiency
Innovation number of successful launches as % of number of
new products development
CSF key organizational goals which if achieved bring success

E. Role of information systems in organizational strategy

1. Information systems requirements for successful strategy
a) Information systems required to sustain the strategy

 Identifying information needed by the senior management to enable to

achieve strategic objectives
Information levels strategic , tactical and operational
Learning organization - learning organizations are organizations that
facilitate the learning by all its members and continuously transforms
itself in order to cope with change. More integrative approaches would
release more ideas from unconnected sources within the organization.
b) Strategies for knowledge management
Knowledge management systems (KWS)-KWS are information
systems that facilitate the creation and integration of new knowledge
into an organization. Many organizations now attempt to formalize
systems for the gathering and dissemination of knowledge across the
organization. Knowledge management is the process of trying to
collect, store and use knowledge within the organization. Knowledge
can be formalized by designing processes to create, store and use it to
become explicit knowledge e.g. intranets, e-mail, databases, teams and
social networking.
Types of KWS
Knowledge distribution systems e.g. e-mail, scanners, e-fax, voice
mail and document image processing (DIP). Groupware software
packages like Lotus notes can help to manage e-mail, calendars, diaries
and reminders.
Knowledge sharing systems e.g. expert systems, databases, intranets
and extranets.
Knowledge creation systems e.g. computer aided design (CAD) and
virtual reality systems (VR).
Benefits of KWS
Help knowledge workers create new knowledge and expertise.
Facilitates the sharing of information.
Can reduce training time for new employees.
Retention of knowledge e.g. if an employee leaves
Could help gain competitive advantage
2. Opportunities for the organization to use IS and IT for the organization; including bid
data
a) Impact of IS and IT on organization and its strategy
Information strategy- identified data is required to produce this
information. Produce, extract this data and providing meaningful
information produced accurately and delivered on time to management.
Business driven. Deliver tangible benefits.

 Information technology to facilitate delivery of effective delivery

platform comprising both hardware and software. Suitable hardware and
software to meet the information demands of the business.
Porters five forces
o threat of new entry-creating value systems, increase economies of
scale by CAD
o Rivalry compete effectively, extranets (JIT systems)
o Threat of substitutes It creating substitutes for conventional
products, special software for researching.
o Bargaining power of consumers Find what customers buy and dont
buy, target customers with value added services, increase customers
and firms bargaining power
o Bargaining power of suppliers customized software provides value
addition to customers ,tight to suppliers
b) Strategic and competitive impact of information systems ; contribution of Big
data
Computer systems that support collaborative and the coordination of
tasks and activities.
Groupware
Workflow management
Internet, extranets and intranets
E-mail, Video conferencing and Web 2.0 tools
Knowledge work systems (KWS)
Data warehousing and mining
Data warehousing
The input and storage of high volumes of data; customer transactions
such as time of the day and type of goods purchased. Tesco collects data
via its sales order processing systems using EPOS, bar-coding and
magnetic stripe card (club card) technology.
Data mining
The process of extracting useful and perhaps previously unknown
information from a large pool of information gathered within a data
warehouse. It is also referred to as shopping basket analysis because it
is heavily applied within the retail sector.
E-marketing and E-commerce
E-marketing
Marketing over the internet. Also referred as i-marketing, web
marketing and online marketing. The presentation of the
organisations brand, product and services over the internet, to help
build strong customer relationships and brand loyalty.

 E-commerce
The processes of buying and selling goods and services
electronically, over the internet using website technology.
Web 2.0 tools
Web 2.0 tools refer to any computer application that is web-based and
will support collaboration, interaction and sharing of information over the
World Wide Web. Web 2.0 tools represent the second generation of
software for the World Wide Web, moving away from static web pages to
dynamic and shareable content. They enable people with no specialized
technical knowledge to create their own websites, publish, create and
upload audio and video files, share photos and information and many
other tasks.