Exam (elaborations)
MNG3701 EXAM SUMMARY QUESTIONS 2022
- Course
- MNG3701
- Institution
- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
MNG3701 EXAM SUMMARY QUESTIONS
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MNG3701 EXAM SUMMARY QUESTIONSMNG Summaries Study unit 1 Q1-3 Important
1/3. Critically differentiate between the concepts of strategy, strategic planning &
strategic management. Important question (10)
Strategy:
Long-term direction of the organisation.
A pattern, in a stream of decisions, the way organisations achieves its objectives.
It’s a choice of deliberate activities made in order to achieve a competitive
advantage for the organisation.
Strategic planning / strategy formulation:
The 1st phase of an integrated strategic management process, based on the
concepts of strategic thinking & strategy, & comprises of 3 main decision
stages:
1. Deciding on the future of the organisation – strategic direction
2. Analysing the organisation's internal & external environments
3. Selecting appropriate competitive strategies - to achieve the long term
objectives.
• Specifies: The strategy that needs to be implemented for achievement
of long term objectives.
• Involves: Making decisions about the organisation’s long term goals &
strategies
• Ongoing activity & managers are encouraged to think strategically
about long term externally – orientated issues as well as short term
tactical & operational issues.
Strategic management:
Traditionally, defined as setting strategic direction, setting goals, crafting a
strategy, implementing & executing strategy, & then, over time, initiating
whatever correct adjustments are deemed appropriate. Recent research
showed that strategy is not an in sequence & discrete process, it is a rather
messier, overlapping & iterative process. The overall purpose of strategy
remains the attainment of a long-term position of advantage, superior
performance & strategy.
Purpose of strategic management: Ensure that the organisation applies the 4
key elements of a successful strategy:
1. Clear & consistent long-term strategic direction of what the organisation
wants to achieve in future.
2. Great understanding of the competitive environment, to ensure that the
organisation is able to align itself with opportunities & to deal with threats as
effectively as possible.
3. Objective knowledge of the key resources & capabilities that the organisation
possess, as well as an understanding of its value for the organisation, to allow
the organisation to build on these & develop a distinct advantage.
4. Proper alignment of the organisation's structure, systems, culture, functional
& operational management to ensure the effective implementation of strategic
plans, projects & initiatives.
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,MNG3701 EXAM SUMMARY QUESTIONS
Strategic management is ultimately about consistently aligning the organisation
with its internal & external environments & involves specifying organisation’s
objective, developing policies & plans design to achieve the objectives.
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,MNG3701 EXAM SUMMARY QUESTIONS
2/3. Describe the different levels of strategy in an organisation: Important question (10)
Corporate Level: The first & highest level of strategy. These strategies are normally
done by the CEO, board of directors or other governing bodies & focus on how to
create value for its shareholders. Strategic decisions on this level include decisions
like mergers or entering an international market. Notably that single businesses do
not use this business level strategies or competitive strategies. Determines what
businesses a company should be in or wants to be in. It determines the direction
that the organization is going & the roles that each business unit in the
organization will plan in pursuing that direction.
Business Level: Is more concerned about developing and sustaining a competitive
advantage for the goods and services that are produced. It is strategy for
competing against competitors within a particular industry.
Functional Level: The last but not the least. Functional strategies are done on a
functional level for example by marketing- or operations managers. The aim of
strategies on this level is to find the best possible way for executing the business
level strategies executed efficiently and effectively
In order for this strategic process to be successful, all levels of strategies must be in
line with each other as well as with the organisations objectives. Managers must be
aware of this & also the implications of their choices.
3/3. Explain the importance, benefits & risks of strategy: Important question Lectors
answer (10)
Strategy is a clear story about the future direction of an organisation.
Benefits
• It combines the views & thinking of members of the organisation &
communicates the outcome back to the organisation so that everyone
follows the same strategy.
• It provides members of the organisation with a framework to guide
their decision- making.
• It provides an actionable blueprint for achieving its aspirations.
Importance
• It provides for cohesive strategic thinking, an innovative & future-
oriented decision framework for the organisation.
• Pools the contributions by organisational members, thereby
facilitating the communication of strategy to all.
• It is the verbalisation of the organisation's aspirations & serves as a source
of motivation for everyone in the organisation.
Risks
Despite its acclaimed benefits, strategic management also deals with risks of
a strategic nature. Even though there are different perspectives on risk.
Strategic risk is “an array of external events & trends that can devastate
a company's growth trajectory (route) & shareholder value”.
The 7 strategic risks categorises: Industry risk, Technology risk, Brand risk,
Competitor risk, Customer risk Project risk & Stagnation risk
There is a common view that strategic risk is about managing risk strategically
instead of examining it as a category similar to operational, financial & other risk
areas. This is a common view that mainly stems from the complexity & difficulty
of identifying strategic risk.
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, MNG3701 EXAM SUMMARY QUESTIONS
Learning unit 2 (Q1-3 Important)
1/3. What is meant by the traditional process perspective/ aproach on strategic
management? Provide a critical analysis of this perspective Important question (20)
Traditional view of strategic management is that it is a process with distinct
stages / phases including strategy formulating, strategy implantation &
strategic control.
1st Strategy formulating is the starting point: Where top management decides what
to do, deciding the future of the organisation, setting the strategic direction &
setting goals for the organisation. They do this by means of various analysis of
the organisation itself & the environment in which it operates.
A range of management tools can be used to set strategic direction such as a vision
& mission statement, a statement of strategic intent & even a value statement.
• Formulating strategic intent, vision, mission & broad statement about purpose,
philosophy & goals
• Analysing external environment: Macro-, Industry & Market Environments
• Analysing internal environment (Strengths & weakness of resources &
capabilities)
• Analysing strategic options (Matching resources & capabilities with opportunities
& threats)
• Identifying most desirable strategic options (by evaluating against vision,
mission & strategic intent)
• Select long-term objectives & strategies to achieve them.
2nd stage is strategy implementation: The most challenging stage. Once the
organisation has selected the strategies they must be put into action, & this require
the involvement of everyone (all the staff) in the organisation. The strategies must
be communicated to all parties & it is important that there is a clear understanding
& buy-in to ensure the effective implementation of the strategy. Members must be
motivated towards achieving the goals.
Successful implementation of strategic actions are ensured through certain drivers
such as leadership, management & culture, the organisation structure, inherent
systems, policies should be aligned with the overall strategic direction. Leaders &
managers should empower & enable employees to carry out tasks to implement
the strategies by ensuring the appreciate allocation of financial, human, physical &
informational resources. If the resources are lacking, the implementation will
surely fall.
• Develop annual objectives & short term functional strategies & tactics,
compatible with long- term choices
• Implement selected strategies & tactics (budgets resource, matching &
aligning tasks, people, structures etc.)
• Ensure sustainability has been integrated into strategies
3rd & final stage, strategy review & control are a continuous process: As strategies are
implemented, the strategy review takes place. Strategy review & control involves
monitoring the process of the strategy implementation, identifying problems &
instituting any necessary corrective action. Different methods of strategy review
include continuous environmental scanning, implementation control & also the use
of the balanced scorecard. It is mostly senior & middle managers who are involved
in the strategy review process. Most important is the feedback from the review that
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