Вы находитесь на странице: 1из 6

STRATEGY & ORGANIZATION 2010-2011 (7128 / 3308H)

ASSIGNMENTS

S&O Assignment 1

• Answer the three questions below in 800-1000 words (please include word count).
• Hand in to the lecturer at the start of the class. Sending in after class is not possible.
• Keep a copy to yourselves for the class discussion.
• The assignment should be made in English.
• Remember this assignment could be graded (see course description).

Week 1
Texts 2-6 all deal with the content of competitive strategy. All authors attempt to explain performance
differences between firms operating in a single business (or between individual business units of
diversified firms), but they do so from different angles and have different views on the strategic analyses
necessary to develop successful competitive strategies.

Questions
1. (understanding of texts)
Consider texts 2, 3, and 4. What are their main messages, and what are the main similarities and
differences between these messages?

2. (understanding of texts)
Now consider texts 5 and 6. What are the main ideas of these texts? And how do these ideas relate to each
other?

3. (grounded team opinion)


Two paradoxes emerge from the literature on competitive strategy. The first paradox concerns the ‘inside-
out’ versus ‘outside-in’ perspective on strategy. Some authors maintain that strategy analyses should be
undertaken ‘outside-in’ and should focus on the characteristics of the industry, while other authors
maintain that strategy analyses should be undertaken ‘inside-out’ and should focus on the characteristics
of the firm itself. The second paradox concerns the deterministic vs. voluntaristic view on strategy. Some
authors argue that the environment determines the optimal strategy for a firm (a deterministic view on
strategy), while others argue that firms can actively influence the environment through their strategy (a
more voluntaristic view).

What is your team’s collective opinion on both paradoxes? And how is this opinion based on the insights
of texts 2-6?
• Note: in addition to answering question 3, formulate a short discussion statement on the basis of your
team’s opinion and be prepared to bring forward and collectively defend this statement in class.

1
S&O Assignment 2

• Answer the three questions below in 800-1000 words (please include word count).
• Hand in to the lecturer at the start of the class. Sending in after class is not possible.
• Keep a copy to yourselves for the class discussion.
• The assignment should be made in English.
• Remember this assignment could be graded (see course description).

Week 2
The texts of week 2 are all about corporate strategy. Corporate strategy focuses on issues that are dealt
with at the corporate level (headquarters) of diversified companies with multiple business units. These
issues include portfolio decisions (which businesses do we want to be in and why?), policies for achieving
synergies at the corporate level (in order to achieve a corporate value which is bigger than the sum of the
values of all business units), and more general managerial visions on the firm as a whole and the role of
the corporate parent.

Questions
1. (understanding of texts)
Consider texts 1-5. All authors develop views on one or more aspects of corporate strategy. What are
these views and what developments do you see in the thinking about corporate strategy?

2. (understanding of texts)
Now consider text 6. What are the main messages of this text, and how does it compare to the other texts
of this week?

3. (grounded team opinion)


One could say that there are two opposite views on the ideal corporate organization. The first view sees
the corporation as a compilation of autonomous business units that each operate in their own competitive
environment, make their own strategic decisions, and have their own resources. The role of corporate
centre in this view is restricted to selecting high-quality managers for each business unit and to evaluating
the performance of the business units on the basis of preset performance targets. The other view sees the
corporate organization as an integrated network in which the different business units are in close contact
and share resources with each other, and try to achieve synergies and joint goals. In this view the
corporate parent should actively ensure that the business units really cooperate with each other.

What is your team’s collective opinion about these views? Which one do you consider most effective?
And how is this opinion based on the insights of the texts of this week?
• Note: in addition to answering question 3, formulate a short discussion statement on the basis of your
team’s opinion and be prepared to bring forward and collectively defend this statement in class.

2
S&O Assignment 3

• Answer the three questions below in 800-1000 words (please include word count).
• Hand in to the lecturer at the start of the class. Sending in after class is not possible.
• Keep a copy to yourselves for the class discussion.
• The assignment should be made in English.
• Remember this assignment could be graded (see course description).

Week 3
The texts of week 3 discuss strategic planning and possible alternatives to it. Some of the texts seem to
show a rather sharp debate between supporters and opponents of strategic planning. The different points
of view are about issues such as the methods for and level of detail of strategic analysis and strategy
formulation, the way the strategy development process should be organized and the level of formalization
that should be aimed for.

Questions
1. (understanding of texts)
Consider texts 1-3. What is the essence of strategic planning according to these texts? What do the
authors consider the main advantages of strategic planning and what are their main points of criticism?

2. (understanding of texts)
Consider again text 3, as well as texts 4-6. What are the main alternatives to strategic planning identified
in these texts? Please provide a brief description of each alternative. Which alternatives are responses to
specific criticisms on strategic planning, and why?

3. (grounded team opinion)


What would be your team’s collective opinion about strategic planning? Please base your opinion on
some of the texts of this week. Can you think of any circumstances under which strategic planning would
be less or more appropriate? Briefly explain your answer.
• Note: in addition to answering question 3, formulate a short discussion statement on the basis of your
team’s opinion and be prepared to bring forward and collectively defend this statement in class.

3
S&O Assignment 4

• Answer the three questions below in 800-1000 words (please include word count).
• Hand in to the lecturer at the start of the class. Sending in after class is not possible.
• Keep a copy to yourselves for the class discussion.
• The assignment should be made in English.
• Remember this assignment could be graded (see course description).

Week 4
The texts of week 4 all focus on human or “behavioral” factors in strategic decision making. The texts
highlight issues like bounded rationality, learning, politics, cognition, and culture, all of which have a big
influence on strategic thinking and decision making, as well as on people’s behavior. This influence is
noticeable at the level of individuals, top management teams, departments (and other groups/units) and
organizations as a whole.

Questions
1. (understanding of texts)
Consider texts 1 and 2. What are the main messages of both texts? Do you see any similarities between
them? Please explain your answer.

2. (understanding of texts)
Consider texts 3-5. What is the essence of each of these texts? What are the main similarities and
differences between them?

3. (grounded team opinion)


Organizations are collectives of humans that socially influence each other and are influenced by the
organization as a whole and by its leader (the CEO). Although leadership is not addressed directly in most
of this week’s texts, it is an important driver of organizational success. But what constitutes a good
leader? What characteristics should he/she have, and how should he/she act?

What would be your team’s collective opinion about the role of the following elements in good
leadership: logical incrementalism, bounded rationality, political behavior, cognition, intuition, and
culture? Please discuss the role of at least three of these elements.
• Note: in addition to answering question 3, formulate a short discussion statement on the basis of your
team’s opinion and be prepared to bring forward and collectively defend this statement in class.

4
S&O Assignment 5

• Answer the three questions below in 800-1000 words (please include word count).
• Hand in to the lecturer at the start of the class. Sending in after class is not possible.
• Keep a copy to yourselves for the class discussion.
• The assignment should be made in English.
• Remember this assignment could be graded (see course description).

Week 5
This week focuses on the importance of fit between organizational and environmental characteristics
(context). Like competitive strategy (see week 1), this fit can be approached from either a deterministic or
a more voluntaristic angle. Another aspect of context is the international environment in which
multinational companies operate. Should their international strategy be focused on selling standardized
products in different national markets and realizing cost efficiencies, or should it be focused on adapting
products to national markets and taking into account local tastes and conditions? And how should
multinational companies be structured and managed to execute these strategies?

Questions
1. (understanding of texts)
Consider texts 1 and 2. What is the essence of Mintzberg’s configuration approach, and what are its most
important elements? What are the main insights of text 2, and how do these insights compare to
Mintzberg’s approach?

2. (understanding of texts)
Consider texts 3-5, which discuss different ways in which multinational activities can be organized and
managed. For each text, briefly summarize these ways. What are the main similarities between the three
texts?

3. (grounded team opinion)


What does your team consider to be the best strategy for a multinational firm: manufacturing and selling
fairly standardized products in different nations or manufacturing and selling tailor-made products that
are adapted to national tastes and conditions? Please illustrate your opinion by means of one or more
examples of real firms or industries, and make use of some of the insights of the texts of this week.
• Note: in addition to answering question 3, formulate a short discussion statement on the basis of your
team’s opinion and be prepared to bring forward and collectively defend this statement in class.

5
S&O Assignment 6

• Answer the three questions below in 800-1000 words (please include word count).
• Hand in to the lecturer at the start of the class. Sending in after class is not possible.
• Keep a copy to yourselves for the class discussion.
• The assignment should be made in English.
• Remember this assignment could be graded (see course description).

Week 6
The first four texts of week 6 discuss how firms can successfully implement their strategies and how they
can realize big organizational changes. The role of CEOs, business unit managers, and other employees is
particularly important here. The final text summarizes the main schools of thought in the area of strategy
and organization, and wonders whether they should be seen as separate animals or as one big beast.

Questions
1. (understanding of texts)
Consider texts 1, 2, and 3. What are the main messages of text 1? How does this text relate to
Burgelman’s text on corporate entrepreneurship? And how do both texts compare to Bourgeois &
Brodwin’s five approaches to strategy implementation?

2. (understanding of texts)
Consider text 4. Describe what the authors mean by their punctuated equilibrium model of organizational
transformation. Can organizational transformations be achieved through a series of incremental changes?
Briefly explain your answer. And what are the main factors driving such transformations according to the
authors?

3. (grounded team opinion)


Text 5 discusses 10 different schools of thought on strategy and organization. All of these schools have
been represented in the required readings of this course. Looking at these schools, what is your team’s
overall impression of the field of strategy and organization? Which schools mostly caught your attention
or did you find most convincing? And why?
• Note: in addition to answering question 3, formulate a short discussion statement on the basis of your
team’s opinion and be prepared to bring forward and collectively defend this statement in class.

Вам также может понравиться