MNG3701 Strategic Planning Exam Pack MNG3701 Strategic Planning Exam Pack
Strategy:
It’s generally seen as the result or outcome of fundamentally important pre-emptive, innovative management decisions about an organisation‘s strategic direction and strategic action plans ...
This EXAM PACKAGE highlights key focus areas for MNG3701 for you as a
student in preparation for the examination. It’s compiled from Study Guide,
prescribed textbook, tutorial letter and previous papers. It is therefore NOT A
SCOPE but guidelines that will prepare you for your examination. Please study
it carefully, and treat it as a guideline of how to approach the questions in the
exam
OTHER INFORMATION
This exam pack consist of GENERAL questions that you may come across in
your exam as well as the proposed solutions to previous exam questions
papers were provided. This exam pack consist of 94 pages
, LEARNING UNIT 1
INTRODUCTION TO STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
Define the concept of strategy and briefly explain its relationship to strategic
management.
Solution
Strategy:
It’s generally seen as the result or outcome of fundamentally important
pre-emptive, innovative management decisions about an organisation‘s
strategic direction and strategic action plans to attain a sustainable
competitive advantage and achieve its long-term objectives in rapidly
changing and competitive external business
is the direction provided by the actions and decisions of strategists in
pursuit of organisational goals.
a deliberate choice of activities
coherent narrative about the future direction of the organisation
provides members of the organisation with a framework to guide their
decision making
the verbalisation of the organisation‘s aspirations and can inspire, unite
and motivate members of the organisation
Explain what is meant by strategic management and discuss the dynamic
nature of the traditional strategic management process. Define strategy,
strategic planning and strategic management. Illustrate and explain the
strategic management process.
Solution
Strategic management: is a rational approach that organisations use to achieve
strategic competitiveness and competitive advantage. Traditional it draws on
the perspective that the management tasks consists of planning, organising,
leading and controlling. Building on this
, view, the strategic tasks of top management consist of formulation strategy
(planning), implementing strategy (organising and leading) and control
Strategic management can be looked at from a traditional perspective and in a
new perspective (strategy-as-practice)
The traditional perspective is structured and a process as explained below:
1. Strategy Planning/Formulation -The planning and thinking phase, where
top management:
Decides on the organisation‘s strategic direction and its long-term
objectives (usually found in the vision and mission statement)
Analyses the organisation‘s external (to identify opportunities and
threats )and internal environments(to identify best resources and
capabilities and the organisation‘s strength and weaknesses)
Selects appropriate competitive strategies strategic choice
such as focus, differentiation or best cost
2. Strategy Implementation/Execution- it’s the doing part where both human
and non- human factors in the organisation are applied to ensure that the
strategy is executed in line with the devised plans. These are the key
elements to be considered:
Leadership and culture- a strategic leader must ensure that the culture
of the organisation is aligned with strategic choice
Implementation competencies- The organisation must ensure that
individuals have the right mix of knowledge, skills and attitudes to
support the strategy
Learning organisation-The organisation must be a learning organisation
through its staff and be willing to share knowledge
Systems, policies and procedures- There must be systems such as
reward systems in place to support strategic direction
Organisational architecture and structure- the organisation needs
appropriate structure to successfully execute the strategy
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