Strategic Management
[GB580 | Strategic Management ] 1 Unit 1 and Unit 2 Individual Assignment One key element of a successful strategic plan is its ability to prepare the organization to weather and, indeed, to capitalize on the changes in the external environment in which the organization exists. Individuals face an equally challenging and rapidly changing environment that they must plan for. The following excerpt from Friedman and Mandelbaum (2011) expresses these new challenges. Broadly speaking, today’s job market can be divided into three segments, which are steadily collapsing into two. The first includes what are known as nonroutine high- skilled jobs… In the second category are routine middle- skilled jobs, involving a lot of standardized repetitive tasks, of either the white- collar or blue-collar variety… The third segment of the job mark et involves workers doing nonroutine low - skilled jobs that have to be done in person or manually —in an office, a hospital, a shopping center or restaurant, or at a specific construction site, factory, or locale…. Putting all three categories together mak es clear why the experts speak of job market “polarization.” Nonroutine high- skilled work becomes, if anything, more lucrative, depending on the overall economy. Nonroutine low -skilled work can pay decently, depending on the local economy and how well that worker performs. But white- and blue- collar routine work shrinks, gets squeezed on pay, or just vanishes. The net result of the “rising demand for highly educated workers performing abstract tasks and for less -educated workers performing ‘manual’ or servi ce tasks is the partial hollowing out or polarization of employment opportunities,” conclude Katz and Autor. (pp. 75- 78) For the complete text, see: Friedman, T. L., & Mandelbaum, M. (2011). That used to be us: How America fell behind in the world it invented and how we can come back. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. Given this challenging outlook, we need to think of ourselves as our own company, as You Inc., and we all need to plan a strategy to succeed in this changing and challenging environment. Individuals need a strategic plan just as organizations do. To that end, we are going to develop individual strategi c plans during the next two units, using the tools that are introduced here and in your readings. [GB580 | Strategic Management ] 2 Refer to the site http://www.QuickMBA.com/strategy/strategic -planning/ for an overview of the process that you will use, as repeated below. [GB580 | Strategic Management ] 3 The site includes additional details on each of these items. In addition, tools that you will want to use are contained on the site: http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/ The learning outcomes a ddre ssed in thi s acti vit y are : (1) Define w hat stra te gy m eans in busin ess and (2) Understand t he stra te gy f ormul ating proc ess.
The c ou rse outcome a ddresse d in th is ac tivit y is GB5 80-1 (A nal yze th e busin ess env ir onm ent to id entif y opp ortu nitie s and th re a ts. ) UNIT 1 AND UNIT 2 ASSIGNMENTS U nit 1 (st eps 1–3) paper sh ould be 3–5 pag es in le ngth , not including the title pag e, th e r e fe re n ce pag e, an d th e a pp endix pag es, w hich w ill c onsist of t he p ro vid ed te mp la te s.
The content pages include your personal mission and vision statements as well as your environmental scan of your personal competitive landscape. Remember, both a vision and a mission statement should be short and succinct. Ideally, neither should exceed 3 0 words. Unit 2 (s teps 4–5) paper sh ould be 3–5 p age s in length, not including th e co ve r s heet, t h e r e fe re n ce s an d a ppen dices. U nits 1 and 2 both are included in th e Un it 2 d eliv e ra ble. This combined paper shoul d be 6 –1 0 p age s, exclusive of th e c o ve r sh eet, r e fe re nce s an d a pp end ic e s. The content pages include all of the Unit 1 pages as well as the discussion of your personal strategy and strategy formulation process, your strategy implementation tactics and the measures you will use to evaluate your progress in meeting your personal strategic plan objectives. Paper format: Y our p apers must b e w ritt en in A PA f o rm at a nd in cl ud e a t le a st th re e schol arly ref ere nce s, in a dditio n t o y our t extbooks and t h e Q uick MBA web site http ://w w w.q u ick mba.c om /strat egy/ . S epar ate each section of the paper using a n A PA hea ding o r su bhe adin g, a s appr op ria te . T he w rit te n portion o f th e pa per sh ould c ont ain y ou r m iss io n and v is ion st ate me nts as well as a s um ma ry o f each o f th e o th er sect ions o f th e p lanning p ro ce ss indicated below. The complete paper must include (in this order): title p age , table o f cont ents, abs trac t page, content pages, r efe re n ce s page, and appendix pages. B e su re y our p aper is w ell writt en and free o f gra mma tica l e rro rs. Grading: The Unit 1 A ssignment is worth 100 points , and Unit 2’s is worth 125 points.
Each will be graded according to the following guideline found in your S yllabus. Please see your course for any further grading rubric details that your instructor provides .
[GB580 | Strategic Management ] 4 Unit 1 Detailed I nformation In this step, refer to your readings in the two course texts and your chosen three additional scholarly resources as you formulate your personal mission statement. A mission differs from a vision in that the vision i s broader and more life- defining than the mission. The mission can change from time to time, but the vision generally changes very little. Remember, both the vis ion and the mission should not exceed 30 words.
Also , be sure to use scholarly sourc es to define what a vision and a mission are. Cite the source(s) and include them (it) in your reference section. In this step, using the course reading and your chosen scholarly sources, f ormulate your personal vision. One easy way to think of this is to imagine your overarching career objective. Please see instructions under “mission,” above. In this step, you review the environment in which you will be operating. You may evaluate the Political, Economic, Social and Technological (PEST) factors relevant to your future personal success. For example, what technological changes will impact how you earn your living? Will you need to work remotely at a number of jobs at the same time, is there a chance that your current work can be outsourced using technology? Can you use technology to appeal to a broader group of potential employers in a wider geogr aphic area? Similarly, what economic changes are likely to impact you? Will demand for what you do increase or decrease as a result of c hange s in th e eco nom y? Support y our ass essme nt of th e particular e nvir onment al e le me nts with research - backed references. See DocSharing for a PEST t em pla te. [GB580 | Strategic Management ] 5 Alternately, you may prepare a personal SWOT analysis (Your personal Strengths and Weaknesses and the external macroeconomic Opportunities and Threats that all of your competitors will assess.) See DocSharing for a SWOT t em pla te. Re fer to t he Qu ickMBA site f or add itional inf orma tion reg arding the PEST and SWOT Frameworks. Your completed PEST or SWOT templates must be included in your paper’s Appendix , and you must discuss the findings in the body of your paper. Rubric for Unit 1 :
Criteria Earned Possible Introduction 5 Mission 15 Vision 10 SWOT/PEST 50 Writing 20 Total 100 Unit 2 Detailed I nformation In th is ste p, y o u f o rmu late your personalized bro ad st ra te gy, u si ng th e conc epts in t h e course te xts. Y our stra te gy should f o cu s on your personal Strat egy C anv as that separ ates y o u f r o m y our c om petit ors ( people you believe will be competing for the same job.) T hin k of ho w y o u w ill cre ate v a lue by m aking it more advant age ous to em ploy o r co ntra ct w ith y o u. Ideal ly, you provide more value than just being inexpensive. R efe r to Fi gu re 1–3, p . 1 8 in B lue O ce an Stra tegy f o r gu id ance on how t o cre ate y our o wn per sonal B lu e O ce an Stra tegy. See DocSharing for the Strategy Canvas template. Please choose no fewer than six areas in which you will be [GB580 | Strategic Management ] 6 compared to your colleagues. Those will be the measures on your Strategy Canvas.
Examples can include pay, willingness to relocate, etc. In developing your personal F our Ac tio n s Fr ame work, th in k abou t w hat th in gs yo u a re doi ng now that can be lessened in some way (Reduced); n ew capa bilities you want to develop (Create); your c apabilities that need no further development e ff o rt (El im inate ); a nd your capabilities that need improvement (Raise ). See DocSharing for the Four Actions Framework template. With your personal Strategy Canvas and Four Actions Framework in hand, identify specific objectives you will need to accomplish in ord er to implement your strategy. Your completed Strategy Canvas and Four Actions Framework templates must be included in your paper’s Appendix , and you must discuss your findings in the body of your paper.
Also, be sure to cite and reference the Strategy Canvas and ERRC. In this step, you develop the specific actions that will lead to the accomplishment of your objectives. Each action should include four key elements: 1. W ha t s p eci fic acti ons will yo u ta ke to a ch ieve eac h o bjec tiv e ?
2 . W hen mu st eac h a ct io n b e c o mp lete d to a ch ie ve th e objec tiv e ? 3 . W hat me asu re (me tric) wil l yo u u se to m ea su re your succe ss in co mp letin g each a cti on?
4 . W hat le ve l o f th e m etric will yo u a ccept a s in dica tiv e o f su cce ssfu l acco mplish ment ? In o ther words, what does succe ss look like? This portion of y our p erso nal stra te gy is essential . T he f a ilu re of org ani za tions to a lig n the ir a cti ons to th eir st rat egic pla ns is a p rim ary re aso n w hy stra tegies f a il. Y ou need a cl ear l in e o f s ig h t f r o m y ou r vision, mission and objectives to your actions. Acti ons and obje cti ve s tha t do not support th e specified strat egy m ust b e mo dif ie d o r replac ed. See DocSharing for a modified Balanced Scorecard template. Your completed modified Balance Scorecard template must be included in your paper’s Appendix section, and you must discuss your findings in the body of your paper. Final reminder :
Unitss 1 and 2 Assignments are designed to develop a personal strategic plan. This A ssignment is not meant for doing a business strategic plan, even if it is your own [GB580 | Strategic Management ] 7 company. The papers are intended to guide students through developing a life plan, applying to both personal and professional strategies. Rubric for Unit 2 :
Criteria Earned Possible Strategy Canvas tamplate 10 Strategy Canvas discussion 10 ERRC template and discussion 15 Balanced scorecard template 10 Specific actions 25 Timelines 10 Measures 15 Level of Acceptance 5 Conclusion 5 Writing 20 Total 12 5
