Week 5: Strategy Job Advert

First Job Advert

Second Job Advert:

Third Job Advert:

2. Skills and traits needed to be a strategist:

The skills and traits needed to get a job as a strategist are, Leadership quality, confident, good communication skills, adaptability, work ethics, honest, reliable, flexible, persuasive, analytical , decisive e.t.c.

 I think I am suitable for the job of strategic consultant, being a business student I have several knowledge on this field.

3. When I finish this course, I have a plan of studying further and I am planning to continue with MBA course shortly after I complete BBA degree.

The skills I want to develop next year would be to understand and be able to nicely apply the studied course in many areas. I also want to develop my confidence level and the ability to express my self. 

Week 4: Learning Journal

1. Who is a strategist? Describe the main types of jobs that have a strong strategy element.

>A strategist is someone with a lot of skill and experience in planning, especially in military, political, or business matters. (dictionary.cambridge.org, 2013)

 Strategist of an organisation is the one who plans and implement new ideas in the organisation so as to achieve the set goal and mission. Usually, the individuals holding a high level position in an organisation plays the role of a strategist. 

The three main types of jobs that have a strong strategy element are:

1. Chief executive officer (C.E.O)
2. General Manager
3. Managing Director

2. What's the difference between a strategic planner and a strategic consultant?

> Strategic planner is the one who basically collect information and data and then analyse it.They are the one who implements new projects as well. Strategic planning being an internal job of an organisational development, the strategic planners generally evaluate organisational objectives and plans and then determine  whether to implement new objectives or not so as to gain sustainability.

Whereas, Strategic consultant is the one in the organisation who basically generate and prioritize options. Strategic consultant being the external member of an organisation, they basically helps in transferring knowledge and also helps in promoting strategic decisions. 

REFERENCES:

dictionary cambridge. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2013, from www.dictionary.cambridge.org: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/strategist

Johnson, Whittington and Scholes (2011) Exploring Strategy, 9th Edition, Pearson Education, Chapter 15 

Week 3: Learning Journal

Q. Why is strategy making like a  science and why is it also like an art or craft?

> Strategy is like a science because as like in science while making strategies, several experimental works are done. Similarly as in science, strategy has different tools and or set of rules. Same as in science strategies are also formulated at first and then implemented.

> Strategy is like an art and craft because as like art and craft, it is a very creative process. Likewise, strategy is an emerging factor. As like in art and craft, group activities and discussions take place while making up a strategy which also involves conflicts and compromises.

Q. In your own words using referenced quotes describe the difference between intended strategy and emergent strategy.

> The kind of strategy which one seriously intended to create generally refers to intended strategy as the name suggests. whereas, emergent strategy refers to the one which emerged just like that without any serious work out. Intended strategies are more formal ones whereas emergent strategies are the informal ones. The strategies made by planning, structuring and exploring before implementation represents intended strategy whereas the strategies that are made without any specific plans or structure represents emergent strategy. Emergent strategy basically is a kind of experiment done so as to figure out the best one from many whereas intended strategy never experiments it analyses on facts and then does serious research on several factors as to present that in act.

Q. Choose 2 of the 10 school of strategy thoughts and describe them in your own words.Try and provide a real world example for each. eg. an organisation or a situation.

 1.  The Learning School:

 In this school, strategy basically emerges after several experimentation. Here, one does a thorough learning and then act. The Learning School is all about learning, experimenting, adapting and then acting. In this school, one never stop learning from situations and circumstances. Let me take an example of an electronic company 'Samsung' (being more specific Samsung mobiles), The Samsung company has been emerging highly in the market today. The company specifically has introduced several mobile designs in the market which has functions similar to iphones and have anroid applications but rather in a cheaper price. I generally want to express that Samsung is basically learning the minds of every people's desire, keeping in mind the desire of a middle class people and a lower class people who cannot afford expensive mobiles and have acted by producing the kind of mobiles which are affordable also having functions as in expensive mobiles.

 2. The Cultural School:    

In this school, strategy is simply formulated based on shared beliefs and values. Here, the culture and traditions practiced is the main factor that matters while making up a strategy to succeed. This school believes, Change in cultures needs to me taken in mind while changing strategies. For example: Mc Donald's introduced itself in India for the first time, rather introducing the most popular of Mc Donald's beef recipies, it   learned the culture of India and changed their strategy. They got to know, people in India do not eat beef so focused on creating recipies that are suitable for indian people thus Mc donald's introduced chicken and aloo (potato) burgers in India which basically increased the Mc Donald's market in India.

Q. Write about your experience with today's case study. What answers did you give to the questions?

> I found today's case a very interesting one. The heading with how long will Google magic last? was on itself an impressive one. Likewise, getting to know more about the internet search engine that I use all the time was informative. This case discussed on a rather hot topic of present time and was a fruitful and interesting one.

REFERENCES:

Business Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved March 8, 2013, from www.businessdictionary.com: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/emergent-strategy.html

 Mintzberg, Ahlstrand and Lampel (2009) ‘Strategy Safari’ Edition 2, FT Prentice Hall, Chapter 11

Week 3: How Long will Google magic Last?

Q. Would you describe Google’s strategy as more deliberate or more emergent?

> I would describe Google’s strategy as more emergent one because it is the one online search engine that has established itself as a brand in the market. There’s no other company which has emerged so drastically in the world. Google has amazingly anything or everything we want to know about. It basically knows everything and allows everyone to learn and know everything. In this present modern era, it has been able to take attention of highest number of people around the world. Today anything we do not know or anything we do want to know about, We Google it. Starting up as a small company, Google has flourished itself along the years and has gained success in an amazing rate. Its emergence has been so drastic over the years and it has burnished its reputation as one of the quirkiest companies on the planet.

Q. What are the advantages of being very experimental?

> The advantages of being very experimental are:

• It allows one to generate more ideas. 
• It allows one to know which one is better than the other.
• It lets one test and choose the best option to implement.
• It helps one to be more realistic.
• It helps one to know about the cause and effect process.

Q. What are the disadvantages of being very experimental?

> The disadvantages of being very experimental are:

• The experimental practice may not always be success.
• It may be a risky task experimenting.
• It may be vague.
• Experimentation may result in disaster.

Q. What do you think of their strategy?

> I think Google's strategy is a good one, as it is emerging drastically in the present era. Google being able to establish and then flourish themselves in the internet world amazingly represents how strong their strategies are. I believe being able to capture the minds and hearts of numbers of people of the world being a company certainly highlights their good strategy and that is what Google is doing.

Week 2: Learning journal

1) In your own words using referenced quotes describe what "strategic management" is 

Strategic management is the analysis of the major initiatives taken by a company's top management on behalf of owners, in which resources and performance in external environment are involved. It is all about specifying the organizations mission, vision and objectives, moreover developing policies and plans usually in terms of projects and programs, that are introduced to achieve these objectives, and then using resources to introduce polices and plans.


2) How is business strategy similar to military strategy? How is it different?

Similarity:

• The term strategy has been emerged from the military field, later this term was also used in businesses.
• In a battle of military the military never goes straight ahead they look for chances and choices they have to win the battle similarly in a business they look for resources and opportunities so that they can beat their competitors.

Difference:

• In business strategy there is a assumption of competition whereas in military strategy there is a  assumption of enemies. 
• Military strategy is based on getting victory whereas business strategy is based on increasing the values of stakeholders and their interest.

 3) What do you understand by the term "strategic analysis", "strategic development", and "strategic implementation".

Strategic analysis: 

Strategic analysis is all about looking at what is happening presently outside your organization and will be happening in the future. It will lead to more clearer and relevant goals with better quality decisions and more secure future. It is also know as "external environmental analysis". We can also say that it is the process of making the right decision.

Strategic development:

Developing of the strategic plan takes place in order to obtain the required objectives. With the help of S.W.O.T analysis we can get a developed strategy. This is a very essential part for the organization for achieving its goal.

Strategic implementation:

Here a number of strategy are drawn and amongst which the best alternative strategy is selected and then implemented to achieve the required goal. So, basically we can say that strategic implementation is to implement the best strategy to achieve effective goals.

4)  Write about your experience with today's case study. What answers did you give? Was it easy to answer the questions? Did your group agree with each other?

Today case study was all about the rapid growth in Milton Keynes, Peterborough and Swindon. In this case we came to know the strategy applied to develop the cities which were in a state of being unrecognized. Due to the lack of prosperity and development, they wanted to make the cities alive.

My assessment on the case study

There was a lot of changes brought in the cities. The housing and the commercial properties were made affordable to the people in the cities, so that the people could have a standard of living. The transportation system were improved.Although there was being bought a lot of improvement in the cities. they were welcoming a lot of immigrants which was increasing the rate of population making the existed people uneasy. Moreover, attracting a lot of business with the offers that the city provided, which effected the leisure of the public.

REFERENCES:

Business Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved March 6, 2013, from www.businessdictionary.com: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/strategic-management.html

Business Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved March 5, 2013, from www.businessdictionary.con: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/strategic-analysis.html

Business Dictionary. (n.d.). Retrieved March 5, 2013, from www.businessdictionary.con: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/strategic-implementation.html

Week 2: Case study: Texas in the shires

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

1.  All three being chosen as location for expansion in the 1950 and 1960 when government was looking for places to put Londoners displaced from demolished slums.
2. They are all on motorways connected to London and have decent train links.
3. Milton Keynes is almost exactly half way between London and Birmingham, Swindon between London and Bristol and benefits from the vitality of nearby Oxford just as Peterborough does from Cambridge.
4. Three cities ran TV advertisement campaigns intended to attract families and business in 1980.
5. Peterborough's council pitches for business abroad with an outfit named 'opportunity Peterborough'. 'Forward Swindon' does the same for that town and in Milton Keynes they think the city name is brand enough.
6. In Milton plots of land wait ready to be built on with roads and other infrastructures already in place, in Swindon the edge of the city is marked by building sites and brand new houses.
7. All three states are planning to build huge number of houses resulting in cheap cost houses. 

Q.2. Why might their growth strength strategy be 'mad'?

     Their growth strength strategy might be called 'mad' because all the three states are developing and          modernizing themselves in a very fast phase which might be risky. Likewise, these states has mostly increased population of the immigrants in high number which is basically making some long standing residents uneasy and may check expansion. And also not everyone likes the smell of concrete.

Q.3. What do you think is it a good strategy to continue with?

      Yes, it is a good strategy to continue with, because as it is the era of globalization every nation is developing and modernizing themselves. Moreover, the world is taking itself to a next level in which case it is important for every nation to compete with the global world.

Q.4. Would you live in any of these three towns?

     Yes, I would live in these three towns because as written in the case, these towns has affordable housings. similarly, as these towns are developing rapidly, it has several infrastructures and it might be easy to live there. And also being a student it might be easy for me to get into the university for my further studies.

Week 1: my views on the module

What I hope to learn from this module?

• I hope to learn new interesting facts on business, how business are run and what are the role of strategies behind the success of any business.
• I also hope to learn on how we can make and develop strategies in our daily life and practice it.
• Likely, I am also hoping to develop professional skills in myself and hoping to get ,myself ready and prepared for my next step. 
• I hope I can also improve my confidence level and build up presentation skills in myself.

How helpful this module might be after I pass out from this institution?

> As I am aiming to work in a business oriented organization after I pass out from here, I think this module will help me a lot to establish myself in the workplace. Hopefully, this module will help me be a professional me and also help me stand out in the workplace. Not only in the workplace, but I believe this module will be really helpful for my daily life as well. I think it will help me make plans and develop strategies not only for the  work purpose but also for my day to day life and help me to live life in a better way.

Three things I will do to help me get good marks in this module.

1. I will revise what I have learned everyday, will update the blog every week.
2. I will surf the internet and refer to other related books on the subject matter.
3. I will participate in any activity that the module permits.

Three things that others (lecturer, classmate, others) can do to help me get good marks in this module.

1. They can guide me and point out my drawbacks and help me improve them.
2. My lecturer can check out my blog updates and give me feedback.
3. My classmates can participate with me and share their ideas and views while doing any activity.