MS 11 IGNOU MBA Solved Assignment -Discuss as to why evaluation of a strategy is important for an organization. Support your answer with the help of an example from the corporate world.

Discuss as to why evaluation of a strategy is important for an organization. Support your answer with the help of an example from the corporate world.Ans :
Strategy is a plan of action developed to achieve a specific goal or objective. Strategic business planning isn't just for large companies. It's also required for small and mid-sized companies competing in markets that have become smaller due to technological advances that have increased the interconnection of markets. Strategic evaluation is the assessment process that provide executives and managers performance information about programs, projects and activities designed to meet business goals and objectives
 Strategic PlanningCorporate-level strategies are developed to ensure that value is created in excess of its cost. The best business strategies will add more value than those of your competitors. This requires business leaders to identify where the opportunity for improvement exists and assess the company's current capability to seize them using existing human and capital resources.
Nuts and BoltsLook to the company's business goals and objectives when evaluating business strategies that have already been implemented. Projects, tasks and activities are developed to move these goals and objectives forward, which is best achieved by what "Management Review" calls the SMART criteria: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-limited. This gives management the opportunity to set milestones and assess the progress toward strategic business goals and objectives.
Business PerformanceHenry Mintzberg states in "The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning" that the main failings in strategic planning relates to elaborate processes, detached management and an over-reliance on hard data. Regarding the latter, Mintzberg made an argument for "soft data," such as contacts, networks and communications with customers, employees and suppliers. While these more intuitive and qualitative assessments are important, hard data about the company's performance -- such as industry and competitors' performance data -- is at least equally important in evaluating the effectiveness of strategies.
Reassessing GoalsAn organization's performance data might be the key indication that business goals and objectives need to be reviewed and re-evaluated. For example, under-performing program and project outcomes might result from several factors. For example, this might include inefficient team performance, changes in the needs of the targeted market or ineffective or flawed strategies.

MS 11 IGNOU MBA Solved Assignment -What do you understand by an organizational culture? Is there a relationship between service and culture of an organization? Justify with the help of a case of an organization

What do you understand by an organizational culture? Is there a relationship between service and culture of an organization? Justify with the help of a case of an organization
Ans : WHAT IS ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE?          
 A single definition of organizational culture has proven to be very elusive. No one definition of organizational culture has emerged in the literature. One of the issues involving culture is that is defined both in terms of its causes and effect. For example, these are the two ways in which cultures often defined. OutcomesDefining culture as a manifest pattern of behavior- Many people use the term culture to describe patterns of cross individual behavioral consistency (CIBC). For example, when people say that culture is “The way we do things around here,” they are defining consistent way is in which people perform tasks, solve problems, resolve conflicts, treat customers, and treat employees. Process Defining culture as a set of mechanisms creating cross individual behavioral consistency- In this case culture is defined as the informal values, norms, and beliefs that control how individuals and groups in an organization interact with each other and with people outside the organization.Both of these approaches are relevant to understanding culture. It is important to know on what types of behavior culture has greatest impact (outcomes) and how culture works to control the behavior of organizational members. We will address these two questions later in the module.
 FUNCTIONS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURELike all social mechanisms, an organization's culture performs certain social functions, some or them intended and some of them unintended. Like organizational structure, culture is difficult to observe, measure or map. in some cases, culture supports or reinforces structure, in others it conflicts with structure. in yet other situations, cultures acts as a functional alternative to reducing behavioral variability in organizations. These are the most commonly discussed functions of organizational culture Behavioral ControlMost systems of social organization attempt to control the variability of member behavior. Whether it is a business organization, a club, community or nation, social systems need to limit certain behaviors and encourage others. At one level organizations setup rules, procedures and standards along with various consequences for compliance and non-compliance. This system of formalization is part of the organization's formal structure. However, we often find a high degree of behavioral regularity (cross individual behavioral consistency) in system without a strong formal systems of rules and regulations. In these cases, it is often the organizational or group culture that provides informal direction. We will see in the Cultural Control Mechanisms section how the culture performs this control function
 Encourages StabilityTurnover and transitions exists in most all social systems. Despite changes in membership and leadership many organizations maintain certain characteristics, problems are handled essentially the same way, and behavior continues to be directed toward the same mission and goals. An organization's culture is often passed on from "generation" to "generation" creating a relatively high level of stability over time.
 Provides Source Of IdentityIndividuals continually search to define their social identities. Sometimes identities are defined by roles or professions and in other cases people define themselves through their organizational membership. When taking on an organization as a source of identity, people are taking on the values and accomplishments of that organization.
 LIABILITIES OF CULTUREWhen looking at functions of culture, it is easy to see these in positive terms and assume that a strong culture would lead to an organization's success. While this is often true, we often find that a strong culture impedes some of the actions taken by managers. This often happens in unexpected and unpredictable ways. Remember that while cultural control mechanisms direct individual behavior, they do not always direct is in manner consistent with the organization's mission or managerial goals. For example, employees may set production norms and enforced these on group members. These norms or limits are often lower than production standards desired by managers. Groups often exert powerful influences on their members in an effort to protect each other from managerial action. In theses can formal structure and group norms may be in conflict. Here are some other situations where a strong culture may be an impediment to action.
 Barrier To Change And Improvement The very fact that cultural derived norms, values and mental models are often internalized by members, often makes them resistant to change when they see these changes in conflict with these values. This is especially true when organizational change is implemented through structural change. For example, while a new reward or incentive system is implemented in support of the change in direction or strategy, employee values and other cultural mechanisms supporting the former direction are still deeply imbedded which conflict with the new structure. This becomes a battle over the relative strengths of the structure and culture. Even if the structure ends up being a more powerful force, the implementation of the change is slowed as multiple forms of resistance emerge.
 Barrier To DiversityStrong company cultures create uniformity and consistency of behavior among employees. This is known as cross individual behavioral consistency. While this may be desirable in many ways, it works against a company's goals of creating a diverse workplace and utilizing this diversity for competitive advantage in at least two ways. The first is that one of way in which strong cultures are created is through selection of new employees based on person-organization fit, that is applicants are selected who are believed to "fit" into the organization. This practice tends to limit diversity of any kind. A related issues is that when potential employees are choosing employers, they tend to avoid companies with strong cultures not aligned with their values.
The second way in which strong cultures acts as a barrier to diversity has to do with the way in which a strong culture acts to homogenize the workforce. One the reasons why companies desire increased diversity is based on the assumption that more diverse decision-making teams will be more creative and make decisions more inline with a diverse marketplace. Any benefits achieved through diversity hiring can be lost as the mechanisms of a strong culture as new employees attempt to fit in with the team.
 Barrier To Cross Departmental And Cross Organizational CooperationWhile we often use the terms organizational culture or company culture, most large organizations have sub-cultures associated with different geographic locals or different functional units. For example the culture of an engineering department is often very different than the culture of a marketing department. When communication and coordination is essential between units with very different sub-cultures, messages are often misinterpret and conflict in priorities hampers the ability of these units to work cooperative on a project of solve a problem.
 Barrier To Mergers And AcquisitionsOne of the factors cited from the high percentage failure of merged organizations to meet their goals, is the change process did not account for or do anything to deal with conflict in cultures between the two original organizations. This is especially true when the merger plan seeks to merge different departments into one and requiring them to operate as a single unit. This may be as simple as dress codes, or a fundamental as leadership style and team decision-making protocols (see section: What Types of Behavior Does Culture Control?

CULTURAL ATTRIBUTESWhile there are a number of models that attempt to define the dimensions or characteristics that differentiate one culture from another, the model that I find the most useful was developed by Kilmann, Saxton, M. J., and Serpa (1986).
 DirectionThe Direction of impact is the course that culture is causing organizations to follow. Does culture influence behavior so that organizational goals are accomplished, or does culture push members to behave in ways that are counter to the formal mission and goals of the organization?
 PervasivenessThe Pervasiveness of impact is the degree to which the culture is widespread, or shared, among the members of a group.
 Strength The Strength of impact is the level of pressure that culture exerts on the members in the organization, regardless of direction. How strongly held or the social values? How committed our members to the shared mental models? How vigorously enforced other social norms?

MS 11 IGNOU MBA Solved Assignment -What is the balanced scorecard (BSC)? As a strategist what challenges will you face while developing and implementing a BSC? Discuss.

What is the balanced scorecard (BSC)? As a strategist what challenges will you face while developing and implementing a BSC? Discuss.

Ans :

balanced scorecard

kaplan and norton's organizational performance management tool

In the beginning was darkness. We went to work, did our job (well or otherwise) and went home - day in and day out. We did not have to worry about targets, annual assessments, metric-driven incentives, etc. Aahh… life was simple back then.

Then there came light. Bosses everywhere cast envious eyes towards our transatlantic cousins whose ambition was to increase production and efficiency year-by-year. Like eager younger siblings we trailed behind them on the (sometimes) thorny path to enlightenment.

Early Metric-Driven Incentives - MDIs - were (generally) focused on the financial aspects of an organization by either claiming to increase profit margins or reduce costs. They were not always successful, for instance driving down costs could sometimes be at the expense of quality, staff (lost expertise) or even losing some of your customer base.

Two eminent doctors (Robert S Kaplan and David P Norton) evolved their Balanced Scorecard system from early MDIs and jointly produced their (apparently) ground-breaking book in 1996. Many other 'gurus' have jumped on the Balanced Scorecard wagon and produced a plethora of books all purporting to be the ‘Definitive' book on Balanced Scorecards. Amazon.com shows over 4,000 books listed under Balanced Scorecards, so take your pick - and your chances!

balanced scorecard - definition

What exactly is a Balanced Scorecard? A definition often quoted is: 'A strategic planning and management system used to align business activities to the vision statement of an organization'. More cynically, and in some cases realistically, a Balanced Scorecard attempts to translate the sometimes vague, pious hopes of a company's vision/mission statement into the practicalities of managing the business better at every level.

A Balanced Scorecard approach is to take a holistic view of an organization and co-ordinate MDIs so that efficiencies are experienced by all departments and in a joined-up fashion.

To embark on the Balanced Scorecard path an organization first must know (and understand) the following:

• The company's mission statement

• The company's strategic plan/vision

• The financial status of the organization

• How the organization is currently structured and operating

• The level of expertise of their employees

• Customer satisfaction level

Department	Areas
Finance	Return On Investment Cash Flow Return on Capital Employed Financial Results (Quarterly/Yearly)
Internal Business Processes	Number of activities per function Duplicate activities across functions Process alignment (is the right process in the right department?) Process bottlenecks Process automation
Learning & Growth	Is there the correct level of expertise for the job? Employee turnover Job satisfaction Training/Learning opportunities
Customer	Delivery performance to customer Quality performance for customer Customer satisfaction rate Customer percentage of market Customer retention rate

1. Financial

1. Internal business processes

1. Learning & Growth (human focus, or learning and development)

1. Customer

• Improved processes

• Motivated/educated employees

• Enhanced information systems

• Monitored progress

• Greater customer satisfaction

• Increased financial usage

• Compliant with your current technology platform

• Always accessible to everyone - everywhere

• Easy to understand/update/communicate

Then

The following table indicates what areas may be looked at for improvement (the areas are not exhaustive and are often company-specific):

balanced scorecard - factors examples

Once an organization has analysed the specific and quantifiable results of the above, they should be ready to utilise the Balanced Scorecard approach to improve the areas where they are deficient.

The metrics set up also must be SMART (commonly, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely) - you cannot improve on what you can't measure! Metrics must also be aligned with the company's strategic plan.

A Balanced Scorecard approach generally has four perspectives:

Each of the four perspectives is inter-dependent - improvement in just one area is not necessarily a recipe for success in the other areas.

balance scorecard implementation

Implementing the Balanced Scorecard system company-wide should be the key to the successful realisation of the strategic plan/vision.

A Balanced Scorecard should result in:

There are many software packages on the market that claim to support the usage of Balanced Scorecard system.

For any software to work effectively it should be:

It is of no use to anyone if only the top management keep the objectives in their drawers/cupboards and guard them like the Holy Grail.

Feedback is essential and should be ongoing and contributed to by everyone within the organization.

And it should be borne in mind that Balanced Scorecards do not necessarily enable better decision-making!

MS 11 IGNOU MBA Solved Assignment -Discuss the concept of strategic alliances. Why do organizations pursue strategic alliances? Explain with the help of an example

Discuss the concept of strategic alliances. Why do organizations pursue strategic alliances? Explain with the help of an example

Ans :

A strategic alliance is a relationship between two or more entities that agree to share resources to achieve a mutually beneficial objective. For example, a company manufactures and distributes a product in the United States and desires to sell it in other countries. Another company wants to expand its product line with the type of product the first company creates, and has a worldwide distribution channel. The two companies establish an alliance to expand the distribution of the first company’s product.

Critical Success Factors

A successful strategic alliance is mutually beneficial to the two companies involved. Each must see a clear benefit from the arrangement. The responsibilities of each company in implementing the alliance must be clearly identified. Both parties must agree on the objectives of the relationship and be flexible and adaptable in the operation of the alliance. Each company may have a different culture and method of doing business.

Basic Steps

To secure a strategic alliance, define what type of partner you are seeking, along with the ideal characteristics of a partner. Clearly identify what strengths you could offer the other party and why the potential partner would want to forge a relationship with you. Develop a list of potential alliance candidates. If possible, contact alliance partners through someone you both know. If that isn’t feasible, send out a direct letter outlining your interest and asking for an opportunity to explore a relationship. Have an exploratory meeting and, if there is an interest, develop a letter of understanding outlining how both partners will work together and how money will be allocated. Have your attorney prepare a formal agreement for both of you to sign.

Advantages

Strategic alliances permit a company to pursue an opportunity more quickly, leveraging the resources and knowledge of the other party. Fewer resources are required than if a company pursued an opportunity on its own. An alliance can provide easier access to new opportunities and a lower barrier to entry.

Disadvantages

Implementing and managing a strategic alliance may be difficult because each alliance partner has a different way of operating. Mistrust could occur, particularly when competitive or proprietary information is involved. The alliance partners could become more dependent on each other, making it difficult to operate again as separate entities if required.

Tips

A successful alliance builds on the strengths of each party. Do not quickly relegate the details of a relationship to an attorney without your involvement. Successful strategic alliances are built on establishing and nurturing relationships. This is particularly important during the early stages.

MS 11 IGNOU MBA Solved Assignment - What is the purpose of strategy? Explain. What are the different levels of strategy in an organization? Explain these levels with the help of an illustration.

What is the purpose of strategy? Explain. What are the different levels of strategy in an organization? Explain these levels with the help of an illustration.

Ans

• Don’t be afraid. Engage in strategic conversations on what your organization’s purpose is.

• Purpose is a necessary element of any worthwhile strategy. Define it. Communicate it. Act on it in all you do.

• Rise up to the challenge of purpose. The Millennial Generation expects it and everyone before and after will embrace it.

• Within a corporation, strategy determines how a business's actions are directed. Different areas or levels within an organization's structure, such as its business and operational areas, require individual strategies that direct processes within each area. According to Gaeblers Resources for Entrepreneurs, a corporate strategy operates at the uppermost level of an organization. It coordinates processes between the different levels that make up an organization and wields the greatest amount of influence. In effect, the purposes and goals laid out in a corporate strategy define each department level's purpose in terms of overall goal outcomes.

• Without a clear plan in place, organizations can quickly lose sight of goals and objectives and ultimately weaken their impact in the marketplace. A corporate strategy provides the focus and direction needed to accomplish organizational goals in a timely fashion, according to Chartered Quality Institute. Its overall effect enables a business to allocate department resources, coordinate systems and processes within and between departments and ultimately produce the desired outcomes as outlined in the corporate strategy. Once desired outcomes are reached, a business can incorporate additional goals, such as new product lines or expansions into new markets, into the corporate planning process.

• Cohesiveness

• A corporate strategy forms the basis for an organization's structure in terms of how well individual areas or departments work together as a coordinated whole, according to Gaebler Resources for Entrepreneurs. And while corporate-level planning provides the framework for an organization, it should also function as an integral aspect of each department's strategic plan. Corporate strategies are based on a company's mission and vision statements, which define its purpose, values and direction. In effect, department strategies lay out department-specific goals and objectives that correspond with the primary directives contained in the corporate strategy.

• As different organizations and businesses serve different purposes, a corporate strategy should suit an organization's overall purpose in terms of how it delivers its products to the marketplace, according to CodedVision Consulting. In effect, a corporate strategy allocates available resources to achieve a desired outcome. Desired outcomes can take the form of mass production runs or custom-made designs. In each case, the corporate strategy matches the type of business it's designed for. In some cases, the type of strategic approach needed will coincide with where an organization falls within its corporate lifecycle. For example, a corporate strategy developed for a start-up company would require a completely different approach than the strategy used by an established company.

Real Organizations Have Purpose

Purpose is not fluff. It is the content of our strategy’s character. It is what makes organizations strong because it inspires people to engage in their work and achieve meaning in what they do. Purpose defines the personality and story of an organization and, in turn, the policies and processes that flow from it.

Key points:

Levels of Strategy

Focus & Direction

Implementation

Strategy may operate at different levels of an organization -corporate level, business level, and functional level.

Corporate Level Strategy

Corporate level strategy occupies the highest level of strategic decision-making and covers actions dealing with the objective of the firm, acquisition and allocation of resources and coordination of strategies of various SBUs for optimal performance. Top management of the organization makes such decisions. The nature of strategic decisions tends to be value-oriented, conceptual and less concrete than decisions at the business or functional level.

Business-Level Strategy.

Business-level strategy is – applicable in those organizations, which have different businesses-and each business is treated as strategic business unit (SBU). The fundamental concept in SBU is to identify the discrete independent product/market segments served by an organization. Since each product/market segment has a distinct environment, a SBU is created for each such segment. For example, Reliance Industries Limited operates in textile fabrics, yarns, fibers, and a variety of petrochemical products. For each product group, the nature of market in terms of customers, competition, and marketing channel differs.

There-fore, it requires different strategies for its different product groups. Thus, where SBU concept is applied, each SBU sets its own strategies to make the best use of its resources (its strategic advantages) given the environment it faces. At such a level, strategy is a comprehensive plan providing objectives for SBUs, allocation of re-sources among functional areas and coordination between them for making optimal contribution to the achievement of corporate-level objectives. Such strategies operate within the overall strategies of the organization. The corporate strategy sets the long-term objectives of the firm and the broad constraints and policies within which a SBU operates. The corporate level will help the SBU define its scope of operations and also limit or enhance the SBUs operations by the resources the corporate level assigns to it. There is a difference between corporate-level and business-level strategies.

For example, Andrews says that in an organization of any size or diversity, corporate strategy usually applies to the whole enterprise, while business strategy, less comprehensive, defines the choice of product or service and market of individual business within the firm. In other words, business strategy relates to the ‘how’ and corporate strategy to the ‘what’. Corporate strategy defines the business in which a company will compete preferably in a way that focuses resources to convert distinctive competence into competitive advantage.’

Corporate strategy is not the sum total of business strategies of the corporation but it deals with different subject matter. While the corporation is concerned with and has impact on business strategy, the former is concerned with the shape and balancing of growth and renewal rather than in market execution.

Functional-Level Strategy.

Functional strategy, as is suggested by the title, relates to a single functional operation and the activities involved therein. Decisions at this level within the organization are often described as tactical. Such decisions are guided and constrained by some overall strategic considerations. Functional strategy deals with relatively restricted plan providing objectives for specific function, allocation of resources among different operations within that functional area and coordi-nation between them for optimal contribution to the achievement of the SBU and corporate-level objectives. Below the functional-level strategy, there may be operations level strategies as each function may be dividend into several sub functions. For example, marketing strategy, a functional strategy, can be subdivided into promotion, sales, distribution, pricing strategies with each sub function strategy contributing to functional strategy.