Week 2: Learning Journal

Strategic Management:

According to Alfred D. Chandler, "strategy is the determination of long sun goals and objectives of an enterprise and adoption of courses of action and allocation of resources necessary for carrying out these goals." (oxford.co.za, 2013)

Strategy was first originated during the war era. The real research in the area of strategic management only began to take shape in the 1970s when the people realized to think beyond the box and go for the mass market. Every business in the world relies on the strategy they made to achieve the ultimate success. Strategic Management upholds the entire organization.

Strategic management refers to the effective allocation of available resources according to the long run goals and objectives of an enterprise. It is also a stream of step by step decisions. Strategy made should be competitive as well. The activities done should be suitable according to the competitive market.

The on-going process of any strategy includes three components:

-          Strategic analysis: it focuses on external environment of the business and it effects on the   firm.

-          Strategic choice: it contains the various strategic options and their evaluation.

-          Strategic implementation: it is the step to take action and implement the selected strategy   effectively.

Hence, strategic management gives direction to the organization and helps to focus on the right track to achieve the goal.

Similarities between business and military strategy:

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-          The main aim of both the strategies is to gain competitive advantage.

-          Both identify their weaknesses and take advantage of competitor's weaknesses.

-          Both the strategies implement the SWOT analysis.

-          Military and Business strategy tends to move along with the pace of technology.

-          Team work, good communication and coordination, training, motivational leader and overall management is essential for both the strategies.

Differences between business and military strategy:

-          The main purpose of Military strategy is to fight for security and survival and battle for one's nation whereas the main aim of a business strategy is earn profit, promote shareholders and maximize market share.

-          The word strategy was first originated during the war period where "Stratos" meant "army" and "Agrein" meant "to lead". Now the word gives the vision of a business firm and its success.

-          Military strategy contains physical exercises, business strategy contains mental exercises.

Strategic Analysis:

Strategic analysis is about looking at what is happening outside your organization now and in the future. It asks two questions:

·         How might what's happening affect you?

·         What would be your response to likely changes?

It is about breaking something big and complex into manageable pieces of chunks.

It helps to forecast what might happen, evaluate how exactly it is to happen and prepare for what is going to happen.

Strategic Development:

Strategic development helps to change the strategy according to new advancements of technology, change in global market and increase in the number of competition. Strategic development reduces the risks as well. It provides awareness about the external environment, helps to plan according to that and gives profitable results.

Strategic implementation:

Strategic implementation means decode the selected strategy into action. This step requires everybody's full responsibility and attention to their work, a good coordination, communication, control and proper management. 

About the case study: Texas in the Shires.

The case study was like the passage that we used to do during our English class and exams. First it was a bit difficult to understand regarding the names of the cities but it was easily comprehended on the second time. It was easy to answer as the answers was on the passage itself and yes we agreed with each answers.

Case Study: Texas in the Shires. 

1)  Why are Milton Keynes, Peterborough and Swindon growing rapidly?

Answer: The chart shows the population of the cities Milton Keynes, Peterborough and Swindon growing rapidly since 2001 to 2011. It is clearly because in 1950s and 1960s, the government chose these three places as location for expansion to put Londoners displaced from demolished slums. The motorways of these places are connected to London and have decent train links. Among them, Milton Keynes is the best performing one and is almost exactly half way between London and Birmingham. Likewise, Swindon is between London and Bristol and has the advantage of vitality of Oxford nearby and Peterborough is the neighbor of Cambridge. 

 

Moreover, in 1980s, these cities ran national TV advertisement campaign intended to attract families and businesses. They even named their cities “Opportunity Peterborough” and “Forward Swindon” as a brand name to attract the businesses and investors.

Milton Keynes has plots on land wait ready to be built on whit roads and other infrastructure already in place. The edge of Swindon is marked by building sites and brand new houses and the administration of Peterborough Mr. Cereste wants to build 14,200 more houses over the next decade. The cities are anticipating growth and are prepared with local plans with commensurate amount of land set aside. This results in cheap commercial property and housing cost compared to the nearby spots.

 Having access to such managed, economical location and rapidly booming market, people are attracted to the three cities and thus the cities are growing rapidly.

2)   Why might their growth strategy be ‘mad’?

Answer: Their growth strategy might be considered ‘mad’ because the rapid growth will directly affect some long-standing residents. The local businesses might collapse. Local people might not be ready to fit in the growing population of their city. They might not want changes in their suburban life.  

   

3)  What do you think – is it a good strategy to continue with?

Answer: To a further extent, it is a good strategy to continue with. It is natural for anything to grow. Likewise, growth of the town in such speed means development and such development brings entrepreneurships, creates job, advance technology, quality education, increase in the lifestyle of people, shared culture and values etc. The local residents should think about their future generations. And thus, once a suburban town will be a history.  

4)      Would you live in any of these three towns?

Answer:

I would fell lucky to live in any of the three towns because everything there will be new and fresh. Specifically in a business point of view, it can be easier to introduce your product and services and gain high amount of market share as there will be less competitors. Similarly, I will have variety of job choices. The price of the houses are cheap than other places and the location is not so far from the main cities like Oxford and Cambridge.

References:

L. Louw and P. Venter Oxford University Press. Strategic Management Winning in the Southern African Workplace. Pg 20-22

Pappas, T., 2010. MilitarytoBusinessMentor.com. [Online] Available at: http://militarytobusinessmentor.com/3-differences-between-military-and-business/ [Accessed March 6 2013].

The Molossian Naval Acadamy Military strategy and tactics [Online] Available at http://www.molossia.org/milacademy/strategy.html [Accessed on March 6 2013]