Strategizing - More than Planning, Forecasting and Visioning - Essay Example

Strategy Introduction Strategizing is a lot more than just planning, forecasting and visioning. In the current changing business environment, all basic strategy issues have been redefined as issues concerning implementation. In the current world, strategizing is majorly concerned with the link between internal abilities of a business and its external environment. The new subject of business strategy is a combination of analytical techniques for better understanding, therefore having an influence on the position of the company in its actual and potential markets (Hitt, 2012). In several organizations, business projects are not tightly connected to the entire picture of the approach due to various reasons; i.e. the people at the project level may not be well informed about the strategy of the business in detailed except in just a general manner. Those in top management may be unwilling to share the picture out of fear of commercial sensitivity (particularly of the future direction). Strategic planning is a vital tool within an organization and should be embraced within any level of management (Barry J. Witcher, 2010). A good organizational planning process is that which brings the organization together. It the process where clear vision of the organization is articulated and also the direction in which it intends to go. A strategic organization makes deliberate actions towards the future direction by coming up with ways to measure and benchmark the progress. Contemporary issues in strategic planning Several organizations are faced with the challenges of adopting to changing business environment. The conventional view is that for firms to acquire competitive advantage, core competencies, it has to strategically allocate resources so as to be adoptive in the rapid changing environment. As a result, organizations should streamline their efforts and carry out extensive planning and analysis in selecting markets and products which to engage. The evolutionary, or ecology of population, perspective suggests the degree of organizational change is very high that adaptation is almost impossible; instead organizations grow to adopt into an environment through natural selection. At the other end are those who are of the opinion that the contemporary changes in environment are so high and unanticipated that planning becomes difficult, somewhat, organizations have to be adoptable and nimble. Critically, the metaphor that organizations as entities trying to adopt to their changing environment expresses a sense naturalness and inevitability that covers the discretion and internal conflicts of human agents. Looking at a strategy as an emergent phenomenon arising from a dispersed and complicated corporate process indicates the most procession, mainstream approach. In the contemporary business environment full of uncertainty, complexity and rapid change, efforts at rational top-down planning are regarded as not just unachievable but also undesirable. The idea that a strategy is a set of practices and assumptions amalgamating and emerging from split organizational currents suggests a conception of discourse. Writers on emergent strategy argue that bottom-up strategic processes are greater since they bring more expertise and perspective to the task and enhances implementation. Emergent strategy It is a set of behavior or actions, constant over a period and a realized pattern that was not the intention of the original strategy. It is a sect of action that grows with time in an organization without a particular goals and mission, or regardless of mission and goals. When a deliberate strategy has been achieved, the outcome matches the intended course of action (Charles, 2011). An emergent strategy grows when an organization takes a number of actions that turn into a constant pattern of behavior with time, irrespective of particular intentions. This strategy means that the organization tries to learn what is workable in practice. Mixing the emergent and deliberate strategies will assist an organization to have control of its course while encouraging the process of learning. A good example of emergent strategy is seen in the viagra drugs. The original intention was to control the high blood pressure. The patients in clinical trials continously reported that it had some side effects. The manufucturer of the drug repositioned and turned around the effects and later made a multi-billion dollar category in the process Conventional strategic planning Conventional planning is the process of creating detailed, planned strategies that can be followed by managers so as to achieve organizational goals. It is driven by calendar and majorly focuses on some issues like reducing returns or market share. As in the case of conventional strategic planning, the organization focuses on investigating data relating to certain problems affecting its growth (Cole, 2003). Unlike in emergent strategy, the aim of conventional strategic planning is to bring together objectives of the organization with operational effectiveness so as to some intended set of results. The process of conventional strategic planning is strategic since it involves how to respond effectively to circumstances facing the company within a particular environment. For instance, during late 1990’s, Procter and Gamble was anticipating to be one of the leading player in providing beauty care products but it had a big problem. It did not have a credible skin care brand, the biggest and most profitable sector. It only had Oil of Olay, a lesser, down-market brand with old consumers base. The company crossed its Rubicon and came up with two possibilities: it could either do some drastic transformation on Oil and Olay into a competitive brands like L’Oreal, La Prairie and Clarins, or it could invest in billions of dollars in purchasing a skin care brand in existence. This framing assisted managers to internalize the extent of what hand. At that point of time, P&G moved from anticipating an issue to making a serious choice. Strengths and weaknesses of emergent strategy Strengths Best-laid down plans can at times produce unintended outcome. Emergent strategy involves the process of discovering unforeseen results from the implementation of corporate strategy and learning to amalgamate those unexpected outcome into plans. For instance, using the social website to improve marketing plan forms an integral part of a broad marketing program (Courtney, 2002). However if at all the aspect of social website is successful, and then it becomes an emergent strategy that needs to be attended to. Like any other corporate planning method, emergent strategy has the following strengths Unexpected benefit Emergent strategy can be made in a manner that provides solutions to problems and can also be used to maximize unexpected marketing benefits. One of the benefits of using emergent strategy is that could be something that a company invents before other competitors does. A good illustration of emergent strategy is the development of Buffalo wings. Frank Bellissimo was given credit by coming up with the first Buffalo wings in the Anchor Bar, in New York. Bellissimo got delivery of wings instead of the desired necks and backs he used to increase the taste of pasta sauce. He deep-fried the wings instead of wasting them and presented to his customers. A tradition was born that was later identified with the city. The emergent strategy was discovering the use of chicken parts that were being paid for by Anchor Bar that could otherwise be thrown out. The emergent strategy was discovering the use of chicken parts that were being paid for by Anchor Bar that could otherwise be thrown out. The unexpected benefit was conception of Buffalo wing. It was something new that no other restaurant had done before, and it made the Anchor Bar successful and famous (Varbanova, 2013). Development of new products Emergent strategy is very crucial in the enhancement of technology offered in the market. When companies develop and improve their products, they are after new features to offer to its customers so as to be distinctive and outdo the competitors. The company seeks to use emergent strategy to capture the developments of new products that could make them to be leaders in technology within the industry (Stephan Kaiser, 2009). Tangents In the world of business, “putting out fires’’ is a term associated with the task of solving unplanned issues that can pose some challenges to the company (Hitt, 2012). Emergent strategy is the idea that most companies should keep an eye on it, but the original plan should be a guide for the company’s success. If an organization focuses continually on emergent strategy in capturing that single idea that could yield success, strategic plan elements can go off and come up with a new set of challenges that an organization did not foresee. Emergent strategy must be analyzed and aligned carefully into strategic planning. Forcing emergent strategy to happen leads to new strings of problems that may lead to less business benefits. Weaknesses of emergent strategy planning Bad planning Emergent strategy planning does not always by default. In order for potential benefits to be achieved, a corporate strategic plan should be followed. When these benefits are seen, an emergent planning strategy is in operation so as to make an analysis and see if further benefits should be explored. For proper use of emergent strategy, it requires a strong strategic plan together with accountability and focused goal for it to yield good results. The weakness of emergent strategy is the failure of some organizations to do proper planning on it and the effects it can cause to the structure of the organization (Roney, 2004). Strengths and weaknesses of conventional strategic planning Strengths Conventional strategic planning is arranged in a systematic manner where business managers are supposed to follow the exact plan. It shows specific priorities to be met by organizations and calls for a commitment from various stakeholders so as to be successful. Furthermore, Conventional strategic planning assists in giving directions during the purchase and distribution of resources in the organization. It leads to a clear understanding of the organization’s missions, goals and values, plans on what is to be done basing on what is happening now and provide a benchmark for measuring the progress (Cole, 2003). Strategic intention Strategic intention goes beyond the usual competitor analysis and their advantages, and looks for ways to resolve, toughness and resourcefulness of competition. Strategic intentions seek to create a passion with winning at every level of the organization. It entails active engagement with the stakeholders by communicating the target value, encouraging personal contributions, and creating passion through operational alertness. Strategic intention summarizes the winning spirit. In order to achieve strategic intentions, it requires inventiveness and flexibility so as to find an effective means to an end. With strategic intentions, growth is achieved through the ability to invent by small teams and groups, and not the management effort to amass the individual efforts (Richard D. Duke, 2004). Strategic thinking entails more of a qualitative approach as opposed to quantitative as it gives an opportunity for individuals to use their expertise and their creativity to determine the best that suits the organization. It enhances flexibility in the plan to make adjustments for the here-and now basing on the current market conditions. According to Freeman (2010), Conventional strategic planning ensures that resources are available for all the employees to get the necessary training and extra tools to maximize their potential in the productivity of their jobs. Strategic intent is predicated by involving various stakeholders. In order to think strategically, one must be involved, active, connected, alert, committed and stimulated. It is calculated chaos that motivates one’s thinking and enables building of reflection basing on actions as an interactive process. Action moving details should only inform such a thought, but also be driven by the presence of action Weaknesses of conventional strategic planning Conventional strategic planning is led by the calendar and has a tendency of focusing on issues like reducing profits or market share. As long as this happens, the organization will trapped into investigating data related issues instead of exploring and testing likely solutions. Another challenge of conventional strategic planning is that it focuses so much on the information and analysis of the present business climate to make future prediction. It simply means it uses today’s happenings to make plans. In the end, organizations find themselves taking much time and resources just to outdo their competitors, and not putting much light on forward strategies. Concepts of management that supports conventional strategic planning in countries like US are different from those that are in use, in other countries, making them be flat –footed and not able to take charge proactively of their markets (Jack Rabin, 2009). Conventional strategic planning does not provide a clear account on changes that have been made within the organization. It does not also provide an opportunity for learning to take place within the organization. Change becomes a big enemy in this strategy, therefore, causing many problems in the business and eventually leads to failure of a business (Stephan Kaiser, 2009). Conclusion today’s more unstable world no longer lends itself to deliberate strategy, especially where there are a lot of competition. Emergent strategy seems to solve the problems emerging in the current markets. Emergent strategy implies that organizations continuously learn what is practically workable. Several scholars (Barry J. Witcher et al) have criticized conventional strategy basing on the fact that the strategy is a deliberate action. They suggest that several manifestations of a strategy be very much fluid, fragmented and implicit. A business strategy is, therefore, a collection projects that are mutually aligned so as to create a competitive positioning. As a result, most of the strategies should be done basing on mini strategies since it gives an opportunity to the management at all levels to get a better grip on business strategy. Building on mini strategies makes the managers have a grip on business strategy so that they can move on and implement it. Emergent strategy is a very crucial in the enhancement of technology offered in the market. When companies develop and improve their products, they are after new features t5o offer to its customers so as to be distinctive and outdo the competitors. The company seeks to use emergent strategy to capture the developments of new products that could make them to be leaders in technology within the industry (Charles, 2011). Unlike Conventional strategy, Emergent strategy is the idea that most companies should keep an eye on it, but the original plan should be a guide for the company’s success. If an organization focuses continually on emergent strategy in capturing that single idea that could yield success, strategic plan elements can go off and come up with a new set of challenges that an organization did not foresee. References Barry J. Witcher, V. S. (2010). Strategic Management: Principles and Practice. Cengage Learning EMEA. Charles Hill, G. J. (2011). Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach. Cape Town: Cengage Learning. Charles Hill, G. J. (2012). Strategic Management Theory: An Integrated Approach. Ireland: Cengage Learning,. Cole, G. A. (2003). Strategic Management. Cengage Learning EMEA. Courtney, R. (2002). 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