Summary ALL LECTURES: Strategic Management UvA 2023 (6012B0430Y)

According to Volberda et al, what is the definition of strategy, and how does it differ from the general definition mentioned at the beginning of the text?

Antwoord: An integrated set of decisions actions and decisions designed to exploit and develop core competencies and gain a competitive advantage. It differs from the other definition because back in the day people thought strategy to get a competitive advantage was about just catering the best resources and protecting these. Volberda’s definition is focused more on a strategical way of thinking as a skill. Planning for certain situations. Companies can create their own resources.

Define competitive advantage and provide two examples illustrating how firms can achieve competitive advantage.

Antwoord: A firm has a competitive advantage when it implements a strategy others are unable to imitate or find it too costly to imitate. Two examples: hiring the best engineers and differentiating from other firms to be the preferred one.

Explain the difference between operational effectiveness and strategy, using Toyota\'s example. Why is operational effectiveness not considered as strategic positioning?

Antwoord: Organizational effectiveness means that you are performing certain activities better than others. This is not considered as sustainable strategy because it can be imitated. Toyota is best at spotting defects. Other firms could also hire the best designers and also become the best at spotting defects.

How is a competitive advantage sought through strategic positioning?

Antwoord: Strategic positioning attempts to get a competitive advantage by presenting what is distinctive about a company. Like performing different activities from rivals or performing similar activities in different ways.

Describe the three sources of strategic positioning mentioned in the text (Variety-based positioning, Needs-based positioning, Access-based positioning) and provide an example for each.

Antwoord: Variety-based positioning: Based on the choice of product or services. Are you going to focus on a wide range of variety rather than a specific customer segment or ar you going to target a specific need? You could make it very broad; anybody could need something from your firm. Needs-based positioning: Serving most or all needs of a particular group of customers. People who are into yoga; what do they care about? Acces-based positioning: Segmenting customers that are accessible in different ways. Focus on the acces channel: how are you going to acces a specific group of customers. Creating an online platform for people to find a handyman.

What is the definition of resources?

Antwoord: The set of inputs that go into the business proces that enables the firm to conceive and implement strategies that improve its efficiency and effectiveness.

What do you look at with firms in the same industry that have different performance?

Antwoord: Their resources and capabilities.

What is the main difference between tangible and intangible resources, and why does this difference matter in the context of competitive advantage?

Antwoord: Tangible resources are viable, physical attributes and quantifiable. Intangible resources aren’t. They differ in how easy they can be acquired or imitated. Intangible is harder.

How do you know which resources and capabilities bring competitive advantage?

Antwoord: Using the VRIN model or value chain analysis.

Explain the distinction between resources and capabilities. Provide an example to illustrate this difference.

Antwoord: Capabilities are the skill of using resources and purposefully integrate them to achieve a specific task. You need the skills to create value from resources.

Explain two main reasons why companies might choose to diversify, as mentioned in the text. Provide an example for each reason.

Antwoord: To decrease competition or because your main business is becoming less successful and you want to keep making profit.

Distinguish between business-level strategy and corporate-level strategy. Provide examples to illustrate each level.

Antwoord: Business level strategy is within a business in one product market, how can we keep achieving our objectives. Corporate level strategy is about the question of in which product markets do we want to be? And how can you as a corporate parent keep creating value with combining particular lines of business.

Define business-level strategy and its purpose. How does it contribute to gaining a competitive advantage?

Antwoord: An integrated coordinated set of commitments and actions a firm uses to gain competitive advantage by exploiting and developing core competencies in specific product markets.

Discuss the importance of understanding customers in the context of business-level strategy.

Antwoord: Businesses live on creating needs, and for this they need an understanding of their customers.

What questions do you as a business ask to better understand your customer base.

Antwoord: Who, what and how are you going to do that.

What is strategic leadership, and why is it considered a future-oriented way of thinking? Provide an example from the business world to illustrate strategic leadership.

Antwoord: The ability to anticipate, envision, maintain flexibility and empower others to create strategic change as necessary. It is a future way of thinking because you need to anticipate what people will want. Steve Jobs: smart phone.

Explain the difference between transactional leadership and transformational leadership.

Antwoord: Transactional is about setting clear objectives and having rewards and punishments for them. Very goal oriented. Transformational is about inspiring followers to achieve more than expected.

A great strategic leader should show the mision and vision of the company, but in reality it is not that easy to be a great leader. Why?

Antwoord: People have cognitive limitations, work under time constraints and have incentive issues. This can effect strategies and make people not always act rational and choose the optimal outcome.

Why is it important for a strategic leader to ensure that the mission and vision of a company are integrated into day-to-day activities? Provide an example to illustrate this concept.

Antwoord: A great leader should make mission and vision heard, without implementation a strategy is not working. Sustainability: make people divide trash.

How can unethical behavior from a leader impact the actions of their employees?

Antwoord: When a leader isn’t acting ethical, their employees aren’t either.

Define entrepreneurship. Provide an example of a market invention mentioned in the text.

Antwoord: A proces by which individuals teams or organizations can identify and pursue entrepreneurial opportunities, without being constrained by the resources they currently control. It is about inventing markets: plant based milk.

What distinguishes strategic entrepreneurship from general entrepreneurship?

Antwoord: Finding identifying and creating new opportunities. Think about if people are willing to buy the product. Firms need to integrate their actions to finding new opportunities.

How does strategic entrepreneurship contribute to a firm\'s survival and success in the modern business landscape?

Antwoord: Firms nowadays are surviving by continuously looking for new opportunities and quickly producing the innovations to use them.

Define the concept of entrepreneurial opportunities.

Antwoord: A condition in which new products can satisfy a need in the market.

What are the three types of strategic entrepreneurship mentioned in the text.

Antwoord: Start ups, corporate entrepreneurship and venture capital.