Part A The questions in Part A refer to the material discussed in Lesson 5 of this course.

Part A

The questions in Part A refer to the material discussed in Lesson 5 of this course.

As you learned in Lesson 1, managing strategically involves formulating strategic responses and putting them into action. In Lesson 2 you learned about functional strategies (also called operational strategies), competitive strategies (also called business unit strategies), and corporate strategies. Let's now discuss implementing strong competitive and functional strategies to exploit resources, capabilities, and core competencies.

Respond to the following:

1. What functional strategies does an organization need?
2. What might provide the basis upon which an organization decides on a competitive strategy?
3. Describe briefly Porter's notion of being "stuck-in-the-middle." Is it always true?

Part B

The questions in Part B refer to the material discussed in Lesson 6 of this course.

In Lesson 5 you learned about functional and competitive strategies, including how implement these strategies to exploit resources, capabilities, and core competencies. It is now time to delve more deeply into corporate strategy, with special attention paid to growth strategies.

Respond to the following:

1. Indicate how corporate strategy is related to the other organizational strategies and describe each of the three (3) corporate strategic directions.

1. Access the following article using ProQuest, the Ashworth College online library:

Anonymous (24 July 2012). Campbell Outlines Progress on Strategies, Sets Stage for Long-Term Growth. Business Wire [New York], n.p.

NOTE: To access ProQuest articles, you MUST first open a Web browser window to the Ashworth College Library; otherwise, you will be denied access to the articles when you click the links. Once your browser is open to the Ashworth College Library, simply click on the link for the article you need to read.