Business Studies
Discussion must be in current APA format and must include a reference list. Reference sample make sure to include DOI-Drollinger, T., Comer, L. B., & Warrington, P. T. (2006). Development and validation of the active empathetic listening scale. Psychology & Marketing, 23(2), 161-180. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20105
There needs to be 2 scholarly references and 1 biblical references from the King James bible in the paper
Minimum of 275 words in the body Minimum of 2 sources from the literature in addition to course texts Current APA format must be used. Content must include: • Summary of the author’s Thread – no less than 150 words • What you agreed with, did not agree with and why – no less than 125 words • Support your factual assertions with citations.
Discussion to Reply to:
Strategy Development, Strategy Decisions, and Decision Models
Companies provide a product and return profit to investors. But how those two items are accomplished take planning, understanding, and review of information. Organizations must identify what they wish to accomplish, where they fit in the marketplace, and how to be successful in terms of satisfied customers and profits. This requires strategic thinking and the development of a strategic approach to accomplish organizationa goals. This discussion addresses what is strategy development, reveals the key decisions necessary for making strategy choices, and reviews two decision models utilized by the author.
Process: Business Strategy Development
Business strategy is the approach and activities structured by managers to perform better than competitors and remain profitable for the long-term (Gamble et al., 2021). The process for business strategy development, according to Gamble et al. (2021), is the organization making choices through the recurrent practice five key activities. First, the organization must develop a vision of the future state of the organization—what it desires to be. This initial stage includes the development of a coordinated mission statement on what the company does as well as core values which provide the guiding principles as the organization works towards the vision. Next, to reach that vision, in stage two strategic objectives are established to measure and track progress to making the vision a reality. Once the direction and objectives are established, management works on stage three to develop a specific plan that includes shorter-term goals to reach key milestones. In stage four, the plan is run as efficiently and effectively as possible, allowing for adjustments along the way. Stage five is a process of studying the shifting external factors that may affect objectives as well as continual evaluation of internal processes and performance. Boyd et al. (2017) modeled a similar multi-stage process emphasizing the strategic thinking aspect as opposed to strategic planning. All these stages can be influenced by changes in the surrounding economy and circumstances of competitors.
Strategic Thinking: Key Decisions Necessary for Making Strategic Choices
As opposed to tactical or operational decision making, strategic decisions determine where the company is going. There are two key decisions that need to be made prior to generating strategy choices: what is the company’s customer value propositions and how will the company make a sustainable profit (Gamble et al., 2021)? This is the company’s business model, and it sets the foundation of creating value for customers while producing sufficient income to cover all business expenses plus provide a profit. Gamble et al. includes a subcategory of strategic decision making: how does the company wish to find its role in the marketplace? Options can include being the low-cost provider, being fundamentally different than competitors, focusing on a specific niche market for lowest price or differentiation, or providing the best value combination of product features at pricing below consumer expectation (Gamble et al., 2021). However, these decisions can only be made with solid information attained by the strategic leader. Boone (2001, p. 76, as cited by Desmidt and Meyfroodt, 2021) emphasized “[good] decisions are ‘taken logically on the basis of comprehensive information, rather than intuitively on the basis of incomplete or inaccurate data’” (p. 448).
Decision Model: What are my decision models and how do they aid/hinder this process
I very much enjoyed Krogerus and Tschappeler (2017) Fifty Models for Strategic Thinking. I recognized myself in several different approaches, but chose two to explore what they are, how they work, and why the model aids or hinders strategy thinking.
Thinking Outside the Box
Dr. Peter Suedfeld (as cited in Krogerus & Tschappeler, 2017) developed the Restricted Environmental Stimulation Technique (REST) which has a person removed from stimulation visual and auditory which has been found to lower blood pressure, improve mood, and increase creativity. I find myself frequently loading up on information and then needed to go lay down for 15 minutes. Sometimes it’s a power nap, but always it allows my brain to “catch up” with the data it’s been fed. After the brief interlude I can return to the task at hand with clarity and purpose, and usually, some new ideas. The hindrance of this method is that while my brain has reclassified, processed, and stored data, it is not being shared with others on my team. While being extremely efficient in doctoral studies by following up with writing, at work I am challenged to recreate the thought process and allow my team to arrive at the same supposition. Nowak (2020) found “not only should organizations identify their mission and strategic goals; they also must ensure that all employees clearly understand the meaning of strategic objectives” (p. 487). Having your team share in the understanding vital to strategy development and implementation.
The Choice Overload
Professor Iyengar (as cited in Krogerus & Tschappeler, 2017) demonstrated too many options can lead to decision inertia. While an abundance of options seems attractive to a wider variety of people, Iyengar concluded “choice is alluring but confusing” (p. 30). Within my work environment, I like an abundance of data and can mentally sort through the options, pros, and cons, and limit the final selection to a choice few for personal decision making. I have found, however, that choice overload inhibits my board of directors from making timely decisions. They often fail to review the meeting materials that explain the options and then are overwhelmed at the meeting when presented with a wide variety of options. I have experienced the challenge of providing all available information to my board of directors and subsequently did not get a timely decision from them. Two meetings later, I readdressed the question but this time provided limited choices from which the board could select an option. Provided with sufficient data on the remaining choices, they quickly arrived at a decision. Ironically, they wondered why they had difficulty with the same question two months prior…choice is alluring but confusing!
Conclusion
Strategic thinking is a core activity of developing a business strategy. This discussion covered five actions of strategy development which builds a strategic plan as well as a continuing process of reviewing conditions and results and refining strategies to move closer to objectives. During strategy development, organizations typically develop a strategic plan which provides the guidance including the key decisions of what is the company’s customer value propositions and how will the company make a sustainable profit. Better understanding our own approach to decision making is explored through two models with discussion on how each model impacts the real-world environment. Following this discussion is an annotated bibliography covering the two articles cited in this discussion.
ANSWER
Strategy Development, Strategy Decisions and Decision Models
I agree the aim of every business enterprise is to make profit hence sharing profits with the investors will only encourage them to invest more in the business. An organization must have clear plans and strategies for its growth where it has to look for a good market for the products and ensure satisfaction of consumers with the products and services it offers (Durmaz & DÜŞÜN, 2016). I support that institutions need to have clear business strategies that will enable it to run daily operations in the short and long term while ensuring competitive advantage over its business rivals and also ensuring profitability. The business must have goals and objectives that will motivate it to be competitive in the market and give a direction on where it wants to be. An establishment should also set up a risk management team that will be able to identify, asses and come up with solutions to prevent the risks (Rostek, 2016). I concur that strategic thinking helps a company in making the hard decisions so as to continue its running and define the direction the organization is heading.
Decision model helps in making decisions that will benefit the company in achieving successful (Bang & Frith, 2017). It makes sure that the decisions made are articulate and well thought of in line with helping the growth of the organization. I agree with thinking outside the box where if one relaxes their mind and engages in other forms of resting from the normal duties, it enables them to generate new ideas that benefit the business. I agree that choice overload may hinder timely decision making since one has so many options to choose from therefore delaying daily running of the business. So many options to pick from will bring about a dilemma in making a decision that will make a company to lose to a right decision at the right time.
References
Bang, D., & Frith, C. D. (2017). Making better decisions in groups. Royal Society open science, 4(8), 170193. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.170193
Durmaz, Y., & DÜŞÜN, Z. D. (2016). Importance of strategic management in business. Expert Journal of Business and Management, 4(1). https://business.expertjournals.com/ark:/16759/EJBM_405durmaz38-45.pdf
Rostek, K. B. (2016). Risk management: Role and importance in business organization. In Analyzing risk through probabilistic modeling in operations research (pp. 149-178). IGI Global. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-9458-3.ch007
