Strategic Thinking and Discipline Thinking - Essay Example

?Insert Strategic Thinking Disciplined thinking is valuable in the strategic planning and implementation process of an organization in a number of ways. Disciplined thinking provides a systematic framework and procedure for doing work and creates teamwork and co-ordination amongst workers. It is also essential in helping organizations come up with legal solutions to problems thus avoiding legal problems such as lawsuits. In addition, strategic thinking enables flow and implementation of ideas through a chain of command and consequently enhancing the structure of an organization. Discipline thinking is important in minimizing strategic blunders as plans are thoroughly thought through. It promotes a system of self/ internal correction while at the same time enhancing clear modes of formulation and implementation of ideas. It enhances an organization’s self-discipline, self-monitoring and self-corrective thinking and apart from enhancing and effective and open communication within the organization, it enables effective interpretation of ideas leading to solid conclusions and solutions, testing them against relevant criteria and standards. Strategic thinking saves costs that may be incurred from poor decision making - capital that can be redirected towards further development (Encyclopedia of Creativity, Invention, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 2013). The organization has overtime exhibited disciplined thinking and behavior that has served to propel it to global heights. For example, the idea to establish offices worldwide has helped expand the market and consumer base to every corner of the world and boost its competitiveness. Also, the increased variety of goods and services offered such as loan and banking services, video game equipment, mobile phones, televisions, music and sound systems, clothing amongst others has seen to a capturing of millions of varied consumers on a global scale. Disciplined thinking is a process that can be enhanced in an organization by promoting and encouraging new ideas amongst workers and motivating employees to feel part and parcel of the organization. The workers must feel that the organization’s problems are their problems in order to be innovative and creative enough. Cases of ridicule of ideas and negative office gossip must be weeded out from the workplace and those who have seen their ideas fail or get rejected by the organization must be encouraged to soldier on and not throw in the towel as further innovations and ideas could offer a breakthrough and shape fortune of the organization. Strategic thinking can further still be promoted by constituting idea sharing forums, seminars and suitable, convenient channels amongst all workers with enhanced open upward, downward and sideways communication for flow of ideas. Workers should be offered a conducive, calm and peaceful work atmosphere and their efforts and breakthroughs recognized through promotions, pay rises, employee of the duration awards, parties, trips and vacations fully catered for by the organization and so on. Positive deviance is based on the idea that in every society there are a particular people or cliques whose peculiar behavior and strategies enable them find better solutions to problems than their mates in better circumstances and similar resources/ intentional behavior that depart from the norms of a referent group in honorable ways. In an organizational setup, positive deviance is useful as it is affordable and sustainable since it is often employed during risks saving money and lowering operational costs. It is acceptable and does not conflict with the local culture. Positive deviance enhances organizational mobilization as participants are excited and honored to do something right and provide successful solutions to their problems while also improving attitudes and behavior change. It serves equity in society under the notion that it provides solution for those with similar societal constraints. Positive deviance is advantageous in introducing a generic approach for in-house problem solving and in enhancing internal/ local/ personal research capacity for solving problems and in addition to all these, it provides partial solutions at the time rather than waiting for long-term solutions that may not be forthcoming. By quickly identifying positive deviants, motivating a willingness in others to adopt positive deviant approaches, efficiently gathering and organizing the positive deviant knowledge, scaling the positive deviant knowledge to large numbers of people simultaneously and sustaining the changes by others into integrating it and into their pre-existing emotional and cognitive functions, organizations can employ contrary thinking in emerging issues and concerns that arise, minimizing budget deviations and costs and the capital channeled to other development agendas. Contrary thinking also facilitates proper communication which in turn boosts organizational performance and consequently development (Encyclopedia of Creativity, Invention, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, 2013). Strategic Planning – Understanding Internal and External Variables Organizational scanning is the acquisition and use of information about events, trends and relationships in an organization’s environment. It is important in the sense that it provides management with a systematic approach for navigating complex behavior toward positive and productive outcomes. Knowledge from scan assists management in planning organization’s future course of action. Organizational scanning is used in determining possible obstacles, competition and threats that may be encountered during business and offers some insight on how these can be gone about. It also identifies opportunities and enables organization gain competitive advantage over its competitors. In addition, scans help determine tastes and preferences and assist in ascertaining various trends in consumer preferences while also proving useful and handy in evaluating and predicting operational costs and profit margins expected. SONY has overtime conducted vigorous internal and external scans that have led them to successfully identify competition, market trends, achieve globalization, create suitable working conditions for the employees and seeing the need to employ highly skilled, interactive, innovative and loyal workforce. One particular trend that SONY would do well to incorporate is the office space trends with current trends suggesting that the office is getting a new look or may be phased out entirely. Experts have predicted obsolescence of the workplace for ages but with technological advances, people could work from anywhere with internet connection. SONY small offices can start testing this new idea of work with employees receiving orders and making deliveries even from their own homes resultantly making work as natural a part of life as possible. The end result is the employee enjoying their work and giving good returns in terms of dedication and effort to the organization. One possible implication amongst a plethora of effects of ignoring the trend would be the workplace becoming a norm and a burden for the workers with time leading to reduced productivity and profits. On the other hand, embracing this trend promotes worker interaction with potential customers in the field leading to better understanding of the market preferences and tastes; gives the organization much required competitive edge and more market wisdom while also educating the public on the services and products they offer and their uses. The workers enjoy their work from wherever they are and this means there could be millions of 24-hour economy employees worldwide – a serious possibility to ponder. SONY recently restructured its quality management system by reviewing its processes quality management mechanisms, that is, from development, design, planning, manufacturing, sales and services including a redefinition of roles and responsibilities of those in charge of product and service quality and establishing methodologies that improve goods and services. These measures to improve quality of products and services included appointment of a Corporate Executive in charge of products quality and safety, Quality Officers within each business unit, CS Officers and Software Quality Officers in each business division, and has in addition created a framework for promoting initiatives that enhance product compliance with laws and regulations, obtained certification under ISO 9001 for all electronic manufacturing sites, held regular quality strategy meetings, formulated mid-term and fiscal year quality and CS targets, strengthened rules worldwide from September 2006 to ensure prompt reporting of corporate executive in charge of product quality and safety and has also formulated SONY group quality standards applicable to SONY’s electronic products and related customer services. These have improved company performance, organization’s general performance and have further enhanced opportunity to capitalize on new and emerging trends (Sony USA - Consumer Electronics Products, Movies, Music, Games and Services, 2013). An example of a recent strategic initiative is the infusion of the smart-phone business into SONY with huge synergies with the television industry integrating with both the smart-phone technology and business. SONY India, for instance, predicts the smart-phone business to overtake the organization’s flagship LED television division by the end of the current fiscal. According to SONY, the sale of SONY’s Xperia smart-phones, for example, has grown four times between April and August 2013 while the organization’s Bravia LED televisions posted a 20% growth in the same period with the smart-phone business already accounting for up to a fourth of the company’s revenue. SONY plans and ideas are proposed, discussed and determined by the board and if approved are then budgeted into the next period’s budget or scheduled and implemented as deemed timely and appropriate by a panel of experts who closely monitor the recommendation’s progress to determine if in tune with company’s overall goals (Sony USA - Consumer Electronics Products, Movies, Music, Games and Services, 2013). Strategic planning and effective implementation within SONY are the sole reasons for the immense growth, development and expansion that the company has witnessed overtime going from a local organization to a multinational enterprise that competes globally while offering a superior range of quality products and services, improving the livelihoods of its employees and the larger society as the world kept entertained and leisurely indulged. Works Cited "Encyclopedia of Creativity, Invention, Innovation and Entrepreneurship." springer.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2013. . "Sony USA - Consumer Electronics Products, Movies, Music, Games and Services." Sony USA - Consumer Electronics Products, Movies, Music, Games and Services. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2013. . Read More