Strategic Management, Leadership and Organizational
Change – Learning Goals Week 1 + Lecture Govers and
Fleuren
1.What is:
a. Strategic management? What are the core elements?
Strategic Management (Govers): an integrative management fluid that combines analysis,
formulation and realization in the quest for sustainable (1) and competitive advantage (2).
o This should be a dynamic balance between external environment (eco-system) and internal
capabilities & resources.
o What: setting overall, long-term goals and directions
o How: it is an integrative management field that combines analysis, formulation and
implementation in the quest for competitive advantage.
The core elements of strategic management (5):
1. Goal formulation
2. Environmental scanning
3. Strategy formulation and evaluation
4. Implementation
5. Strategic control
This is a dynamic, iterative and cyclic process of steps
Aim: to create a sustainable and competitive advantage
The environment can be dynamic (we call this VUCA). This is also connected with envisioned future
1. Sustainable advantage: to survive and remain viable over life
Outperforming plays an important role in this, for instance via:
Value proposition (e.g. product/service, design)
Business model (e.g. supply chain, digital platform)
Organizational capabilities (e.g. agility, reputation)
Different factors can play an role in outperforming
2. Sustainable competitive advantage: refers to a situation when one organization can over
time perform better than rivals (what).
How to realize this (how):
1. Strategic Analysis (environment, competitive and opportunity analysis): In which market
space do we want to (or can) compete?
2. Strategic Objectives (BHAG + envisioned future): Which unique value do we bring to that
market space?
3. Strategic Formulation (make plans and get resources): Which resources and capabilities can
we utilize?
4. Strategic Execution (manage internal capabilities and resources): How to sustain that unique
approach?
5. Strategic Evaluation (monitor results, correction needed?): When and how to avoid inertia
(back to step a)?
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, To answer these questions, organizations require strategic thinking and management (why)
Strategy: overall (integral) master plan over time
Tactics: activities for realizing that master plan
Important for this are the following questions:
What is your envisioned future?
In which VUCA (=environment/market place) do you operate?
VUCA: stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity -> VUCA as a ‘’wave’’.
1. Volatility: constant & rapid change
2. Uncertainty: unpredictable processes & outcomes
3. Complexity: many interconnections & interdependencies
4. Ambiguity: different realities/interpretations co-exist
If there is a lot of these factors, there is a lot of VUCA in the environment
It is about managing these concepts to become successful
Mentoring is important for ‘’good leadership’’ – is a leadership skill
To get a sense of direction for an envisioned future, we need focus in VUCA world.
Therefore we need a BHAG: concept of the Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal
Core values -> Core purpose -> translated into BHAG -> vivid description of envisioned future
Example BHAG in beer company:
1. Core values: sustainability, collaboration regional suppliers, roots in region
2. Core purpose: allowing people to enjoy quality beers produced with passion and pleasure
3. BHAG: bring the biggest of small breweries by brewing the best tasting beer in a sustainable
way, using the best quality ingredients from the best regional suppliers
4. Envisioned future: story of this……. (explains where company ones to go internally and
externally) -explains what market do you want to play in
Types of BHAG: all have goals in them
1. Target: no child left behind (Bush)
2. Common Enemy: let’s crush adidas (Nike)
3. Role model: let’s become Nike of the cycling industry (Giro sport design)
4. Internal transformation: transform from a defense contractor into the best high-technology
company in the world (Rockwell)
BHAG: not easy to achieve. Therefore it will be sustained for a longer time but eventually they can
change over a time when it is achieved (e.g. Nike may want to change it into ‘’Protect us from
Reebok’’)
Why is BHAG important: it gives direction for strategy and tactics, therefore it is essential for
strategic direction and engagement of personnel within the company
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, b. Strategy? What types of strategy can we distinguish?
Strategy (Govers): overall (integral) master plan over time
Perspectives on strategic management (Types of Strategies, Govers):
1. Fit: align organization goals to availability of resources and opportunities in the market. It
should fit with the environment
Strategic choices are made based on: existing situation and SWOT analysis
Common approaches are:
1.Cost-leadership (cost/price is king) – price is too high, adjust something in cost price
2.Differentiation (design, quality, time) – go to specific part of market (luxurious)
3.Segmentation (geographic, customer type) – difference between countries
2. Muddling through: surviving in the complexity of the strategy jungle (= context); try to come
to a synthesis of ideas and possibilities that form a strategy. ‘’You react on unexpected
changes/emerging issues, this is the jungle you have to deal with’’ -flexibility
Strategic choices: based on a contingency approach, and synthesis
Common approaches are:
3. Stretch: if you can stretch your organization with certain goal, it can create energy to move
forward but if you overstretch, performance goes down (set challenging goals to create
energy)
4. Uncontested space: create uncontested (new) market space and make market competition
irrelevant -> almost no competition
Blue ocean strategy VS Red ocean strategy: however, your blue ocean is not infinite because
competitors can copy/improve your approaches: do you have a follow up in your strategy:
life cycle management
Strategic choices: based on innovation and creating new market space (entrepreneurship)
Common approaches:
1. Differentiation (find
nice market etc)
2. Developing new
product/service
3. Innovating business
approach
5. Disruption: if you would
be able to create blue
ocean while eliminating
the current market (red ocean) and put them out of business, then you are in disruption
Often as a result of technology
Strategic choices: based on disruptive features of digital technology in combination with
innovative business and organizational models
Common approaches:
1. Data driven approaches (data as the ‘’new oil’’)
2. Digital platforms (delivering/supply chains)
Culture awareness is key in the global market place. If you know how to deal with this, diversity can
also be a competitive advantage!
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