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 (2017-2022) 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:
Setting Direction, Advantages / Disadvantages, and Decision Models
Introduction
This discussion paper will review three critical stages of setting the direction strategically for a business. First, the author will discuss the process of creating a company’s strategic plan and the important steps needed to form a successful plan. Next, what are the characteristics of a bad strategy? The paper will review Rumelt’s hallmark characteristics that identify poor strategies. The paper then reviews a decision-making model that the author uses in his consulting business. Finally, a couple of biblical principles will be reviewed that help with strategy planning and decision-making.

Process: Setting the Company’s Direction with Strategy
“Crafting and executing strategy are the heart and soul of managing a business enterprise” (Gamble et al., 2021, p. 15). This quote is the opening sentence to Chapter 2 of our textbook, Essentials of Strategic Management, and introduces the core concept that the creation and execution of the corporate business strategy is foundational for a successful business enterprise. Management is responsible for setting the business direction and charting the strategic course for employees and customers (Kabeyi, 2019). The entire management team is needed to craft a good strategy.

The Five-Stage Strategy Creation Process
Creation of the strategic plan follows a business process that has five stages (Gamble et al., 2021). Each stage can be modified at any time, but if a modification or change does occur, a review and adjustment might be required. The five stages are:

Develop the strategic vision and mission statement and link the company’s values to this statement. Management must be able to make decisions and know where they are heading. The vision cannot be vague but must be distinct and specific to the company. Copying a rival’s strategy will not work!
Establish the objectives of the company. These objectives must be quantitative in nature so that they can be measured and tracked to completion. There are two categories of objectives: financial objectives which are lagging indicators and show the results of past decisions; and strategic objectives, which are leading indicators and future-looking performance.
Craft a strategy that will be capable of achieving the objectives and fulfilling the vision and mission of the company. This stage of the process will involve the “how’s” of the business – how to attract customers, how to compete against rivals, how to position the company in the market, how to respond to market changes, how to achieve the performance target, etc.
Implement the strategy plan and execute the tasks at all levels of the company to achieve successful completion of the objectives. Gamble et al. state this phase of the strategic management plan is the most time-consuming part and requires the entire management team and employees to be fully engaged in executing.
The last phase is to evaluate and analyze the external environment (market, rivals, regulations, etc.) and the company’s internal health and well-being to determine if the strategy is working, or does it need to be modified.
Strategic Thinking: Discussion of a Key Disadvantage
Characteristics of Bad Strategies
Rumelt (2011) looks at what makes a strategy good or bad and provides several use cases demonstrating each. Rumelt realizes the majority of managers are not sure what makes a business strategy a good one or a bad one until some time has passed and the results of the strategy are either positive or negative for the business, but by that time it might be too late to recover from a poor decision. Therefore, Rumelt provides a list of characteristics of both so that a manager can immediately identify if a strategy is good or bad. Due to the brevity of this assignment, this paper will review the characteristics and disadvantages of a bad strategy. There are four characteristics pointing to a bad strategy:

Fluff – a strategy that is full of “fluff” or gibberish masquerading as a strategic concept or argument. A strategy that is using inflated and unnecessary words to puff itself up is usually a poor strategy disguised as a high-level thinking document. This kind of plan cannot be acted upon and eventually is a failed strategy.
Failed to face the challenge – a bad strategy will usually fail to identify or define the problem or challenge the business is attempting to solve or fix. Management is unable to evaluate or determine success if the challenge is not defined.
Mistaking goals for strategy – the most common mistake in the creation of the business strategy is to confuse “goals” with “strategy.” Many bad strategies are simply a list of desired outcomes or goals, and not actionable strategies.
Bad strategic objectives – when strategic objectives are not specific or operational targets that can be measured, then the strategic plan is useless.
Decision Model
The Rational Model of Decision-Making
According to Krogerus and Tschappeler (2012), making good decisions consistently involves choosing options that have the best chances of leading to favorable outcomes. Applying a rational decision-making model can be much more effective than intuition or guessing. The author is taking the time to learn what a rational decision-making model is and how to implement it to improve his ability to choose between alternatives at work.

The Rational Model Decision-Making Process Steps
The author provides risk management consulting for small to medium-sized enterprises in Oklahoma. A significant challenge is the establishment of sustainable risk management processes for energy clients needing to comply with US energy regulations. Enterprise risk management must be integrated with strategic planning level (Sax & Andersen, 2019). One of the best methods to make decisions for sustainable risk management is using the rational model. The rational model of decision-making uses logical steps to select the best possible solution. Multiple alternatives are analyzed, based on data or facts, to chose best options. This model is an attempt to be objective using five steps (Rumelt, 2011). 1. Start by identifying or defining the problem and understand why making a decision is necessary. If the problem is not clearly defined, then the other steps in the model can result in an incorrect decision. 2. Next, determine what are the relevant criteria and data that are related to the goal. 3. At this point, the decision criteria are ranked based on factors that are important. This step requires analytical and critical thinking skills. 4. Once the decision criteria are ranked, then a list of options are created and ordered, along with evidence as to how the options can help reach the goal. 5. The final step is to choose the best option and finalize the decision after reflecting on alternative solutions. Now commit to implementing the decision.

Biblical Principles
God blesses the decisions that He initiates in our hearts. Our business decisions should align with the Word of God (Hardy, 1990). As we study the Scriptures, we grow in godly wisdom and the ability to make good decisions (Keller & Alsdorf, 2016). “I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness” (Proverbs 4:11, ESV). In addition, we can trust that God will teach us what we need to know to make the best decisions. “Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes; and I will keep it to the end” (Psalm 119:33, ESV).

Conclusion
Every business needs to create and implement a strategic plan. This paper showed that the process to create a business plan only requires five steps. However, the entire management team must be committed to creating the strategic plan. Once a vision and mission statement has been created, it is critical that the management team understand what objectives will need to be identified that will result in future success. To identify the objective requires good decision-making which can be supported using the rational model. In addition, this paper identifies four characteristics of what makes a bad strategy. The management team needs to be aware of these traits to ensure their strategy is not flawed by one or more of these errors. Finally, the paper closes with reminder that every Christian business leader needs to rely on God in every decision and trust He will provide the wisdom to make the right decision.

ANSWER

Discussion Reply 1 770

Crafting a strategy is key to running a successful enterprise. Strategic planning is at the core of any successful business. Crating a strategy that will help the business in achieving the business objectives and attaining the vision and mission of the business is also key to running a successful business (Ellitan, 2021). Strategic planning when starting an enterprise is important because if one does not plan how they are going to compete or the methods they will use to attract customers and compete with the rivals, they are likely to fail (Gamble et al., 2014). Good planning is key to any successful business. According to the bible, one is required to plan. According to proverbs 21:5, the plans of the diligent lead to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes to poverty. This means that for an enterprise to be successful, strategic planning is required. They also need to carefully plan and not copy their rivals.

I agree with your description of a good strategy. A good strategy is written in simple terms, and it is brief. This is because it is concerned with solving the issues of the company. This means that it goes straight to the point on the things that should be done to keep the business running (Bryson et al., 2018). A good strategy also faces challenges. It identifies the problems the business is likely to face and tries to solve them. Managers also need to understand that strategy is not a goal. Goals and strategies are different. A goal is the primary outcome, while the strategy is the approach one takes to achieve the goal. Strategy and goals go hand in hand but are not the same. A good strategy is required to achieve the goal.

References

Bryson, J. M., Edwards, L. H., & Van Slyke, D. M. (2018). Getting strategic about strategic planning research. Public management review, 20(3), 317-339. https://doi.org/10.1080/14719037.2017.1285111

Ellitan, L. (2021). The Importance of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology for SMEs Strategic Planning. International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development, 5(4), 1003-1009.

Gamble, J., Thompson, A., & Peteraf, M. (2014). Essentials of Strategic Management 4e. McGraw Hill.

King James Bible