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ASS IGNMENTS
ADL-15 : CORPORATE STRATEGY

Subject Name & Code Stud y Centre Permanent Enr ollment Numb er (PEN) Student Name

Corporate Strategy

INSTRUCTIONS a) Students are required to submit three assignments ASSIGNMENT Assignment A Assignment B Assignment C b) c) d) e) f) DETAILS Five Subjective Questions Three Subjective Questions + Case Study 40 Objective Questions MARKS 15 15 10

Total weightage given to these assignments is 40/. All assignments are to be completed in your own hand writing/typed. All questions are required to be attempted. All the three assignments are to be completed by due dates (specified from time to time) and mailed/given by hand for evaluation at the ACeL office Noida/your Study Centre. The evaluated assignments can be collected from your study centre/ ACeL office after six weeks. Thereafter, these will be destroyed at the end of each semester.

Signature Date ( ./ ) Tick mark in front of the assignments submitted Assignment 'A' Assignment 'B' Assignment 'C'

Copyright ? 2004. Amity.

ADL-15: Co rpo rate Strategy Assignment 'A' Not e: All qu esti ons carry equal mar ks Mar ks : 15

1. Explain through appropriate illustrations the following terms in the context of corpora te policy (a) Strategy and tactics (b) Policies, plans and rules (c) Plans and programmes 2. Assuming yourself to be the CEO of an organisation relates the difficulties you would face in choosing and setting the objectives of your organisation. 3. Write a comprehensive note detailing the different types of grand strategies and the dimensions along which they may be defined. 4. A business that did not prev iously bothe r with corpora te strategy has decided to formulate a strategy. Write a report to the CEO of this business sugg esting the main fac tors that need to be considered during the formulation of its strategy statement. 5. (a) Describe the evaluation process for operational control. (b) Distinguish between operational control and strategic control.

ADL-15: Co rpo rate Strategy Assignment 'B' Not e: All qu esti ons carry equal mar ks Mar ks : 15

6. There is no such thing as "The Learning Organisation" per se beca use all the characteristics of the so called Learning Organisation are nothing more than examp les of conventional good management practice. Discuss the statement. 7. (a) What problems might eme rge from inadequacies in a firm's organisational structure. (b) In what sense does "structur e follow strategy"? 8. (a) Explain the concept of corporate social responsibility? (b) What is meant by alignin g social responsibilit y to strategic management?

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The Tough Leath er Compa ny (TCL) is presently faced with the problem of bringing about structural changes in order to implement its new strategy of forward integration through divers ification in related areas. The company hired the services of a consultant who has gone into the problem in detail and has come up with a numb er of alternative plans for structural changes. The Company TLC was set up in 1980 as public limited comp any by the Khan Group of indu stries which set up a leather tannery at Kanpur. The Khans were originally in the trading business of raw hides and skins. During the previous decade, TLC has successfully emerged as a medium- sized company and
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has a good reput ation as a reliable suppl ier of semi-finished leather. For the last five years, it has also ente red the export market. The paid-up capital of TLC is Rs. 1.3 crore and the curr ent year's sales are of Rs. 5.25 crore, out of which Rs. 45 lakh and net profit is Rs. 55 lakh. TLC plans to increase its sales in the next three years to the level of Rs. 10 crore out of which export earnings are expected to be Rs. 6 crore. It is obvious that the company wishes to go in a big way for the export market. The Lure of Ex port Market The leather indu stry in India, in rece nt years, has faced an acute shortage of finished leather in the dome stic market, specially of the bovine leather. The Government is aware of this problem and recently, a Ministry of Comme rce Working Group sugg ested the phasing out of the export of finished leather so that more value-added leather goods export can be encouraged. Even otherwise, ther e has been a sharp decline in the share of finished leather as a proportion of the leather export. The share of leather products is expected to rise considerably in the coming years. Germany, USSR and US are considered as major export markets. The Prop osed St rat eg ic Plan Owing to the bright prospects in the export markets for leather products, TLC is planning to take advantage of low production cos ts and building up international competitiveness. It is felt by the comp any's senior managers that the major emphasis will have to be placed on quality upgradation, strict adherence to delivery schedules, and attainin g distinctiveness in designs and variety, importance will also have to be given to developing trained manpower, dealing with shortage of good quality raw material, and modernizing and upg rading technology. The Struct ural Alte rn ati ves In order to implement its strategic plan, TLC has identified organisational structure as an important area which needs imm ediate attention. Exhibit depicts the present organisation structure and the four alternative plans that the consultant has proposed. The consultant made a presentation to the executive committee and then made a brief report outlining his recommendations. The recommendations are based on four options that could be adopted. 1. Add leather products as a section along with other processing sections within the Production Department. 2. Create a separate production unit for leathe r products under the Produ ction Department. 3. Create a Leather Produ cts Department at par with other functional departments. 4. Create a Leather Produ ction Division at par with Finished Leather Division. Now, it is for the top management of TLC to decide which alternative plan to adopt. It is felt that the new structure will have to satisfy the requirements of the proposed strategic plan and also should not entail a heavy financial commitment at the present stage. QUESTIONS: 1. What issues should the top management of TLC consider whilst assessing the four options recommended by the consultant? Indicate the merits and demerits of each option. 2. In your opinion, which subjective factors are likely to aff ect the decision making process? 3. Do you agree with the statement, "structur e always follows strategy"?

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ADL-15: Co rpo rate Strategy Assignment 'C' Objec tive Type Questions Not e: All qu esti ons carry equal mar ks Tick mark the m ost appro priate (only one) answer.
1. Objectives when stated in specific terms become-

Mar ks : 10

(a) targets (c) aims

(b) rules (d) goals

2. A good mission statemen t invariably includes the firm's-

(a) vision (c) corporate plan

(b) business definition (d) strategy

3. A board term which includes goals, procedur es, rules and steps to be taken in put ting a plan

into action is(a) project (c) budg et

4.

(b) plan (d) program

An Executive Assistant has a generalist orientation and excellent communication skills. He assists the(a) CEO (c) Executive Director (b) Chairman (d) Company Secretary

5.

Good strategies give rise to good(a) policies (c) tactics (b) procedure (d) projects

6.

Strategy opera tes at three levels Corporate divisional/SBU and(a) regional (c) plant (b) functional (d) local

7.

The terms long range planning, cor pora te planning and are used synonymously(a) contingency planning (c) short term planning (b) strategic planning (d) project planning

8.

Contingency planning come s into operation due to changes in a firm's(a) organisational set-up (c) board of directors (b) external environment (d) CEO's dismissal

9.

The implementation of functional policies is the main role of(a) junior managers (c) supervisors (b) senior managers (d) middle managers

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10. The definition of business along the thre e dimensions of customer groups, customer

functions and alternate technologies was given by(a) A bell (c) Porter (b) Glueck (d) Mckinsey

11 . Planning covering a period of 3 to 5 years is referred to as-

(a) operational planning (c) medium term plannin g

(b) short term planning (d) long term planning

12 . Strategy mo stly follows structur e in firms which-

(a) are start-up s (c) are in export business

13 . The functional structure promotes-

(b) have been in existence for some time (d) implement multi-strategies

(a) good coordination (c) line-staff harmony

(b) narrow specialization (d) inefficient distribution of work

14 . A matrix structur e violates the principle of-

(a) unity of comm and (c) sca lar chain

(b) unity of direction (d) centralization

15 . The definition of strategy as a "unified, comprehensive and integrated plan designed to ass ure that the basic objectives of the firm are achieved" was given by(a) Igor Ansoff (c) William F. Glueck (b) Alfred Chandler (d) Kenneth Andrews

16 . The adaptive form of structure is referred to as(a) entrepreneurial (c) matrix (b) functional (d) divisional

17 . Business firms unde rtake SWOT analysis to as sess the(a) internal environment (c) national environment (b) international environment (d) internal and external environment

18 . Concentric divers ification involves taking up activity that is(a) (b) (c) (d) related to unrelated related to unrelated the existing business definition of to the existing business definition the existing business definition of to the existing business definition the firm of the firm the competitor of the competitor

19 . Merger and acquisition strategies basically involve(a) internal dimension of expansion (b) backward integration (c) external dimension (d) forward dimension
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20. Firms adopt stability strategy because(a) (b) (c) (d) it is a conservative approach divestment strategy is not feasible the environment faced is relatively stable advantage may accrue from the experience

21 . The experience curve is a commonly used concept in(a) SWOT analyasis (b) Corporate portfolio analysis (c) Organisational structure analysis (d) Environmental analysis 22 . The PLC curve exhibits the relationship of sales with res pect to time as the product passes through(a) Intr oductory stage (c) Declining stage (b) Growth stage (d) All stages

23 . The BCG matrix enables assessment of individual business on the basis of indu stry growth rate and(a) Firm's overall grow th rate (c) Relative market share (b) Competitor's growth rate (d) Indu stry's growth rate

24. 'Star' opera te in a high- growth indu stry and have(a) high market share (c) high cash generation (b) low market share (d) low cash generation

25 . In terms of product life cyc le (PLC), products in the late maturity or declining stage are referred to as(a) Stars (c) Question marks (b) Dogs (d) Cash cows

26 . The five forces model of competition which helps to determine the intensity of industry competition and profitabilit y was developed by(a) Mintzberg (c) Kotler (b) Porter (d) Ansoff

27 . The only responsibilit y of business is to perform its economic functions efficiently and provide goods and services for society and earn maximum prof its. The above view has been propound ed by which of the following luminaries(a) P. F. Drucker (c) Adam Smith (b) D. F. Abell (d) A. Ginsberg

28. Capital budg eting is used by firms to alloca te resources for-

(a) Mergers (c) Joint ventu res

(b) Takeovers (d) New projects or products

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29. A leader ensures effective and smooth implementation of strategy by overcoming-

(a) Line and staff conflict (c) Commun al tension

(b) Barr iers to communication (d) Resistance to change

30. In the strategic evaluation and control process, operational control is exercised through(a) Momentum control (c) Action control (b) Premise control (d) Leap control

31 . Albert S. King traces the historical development of leadership theories and identifies nine revolutionary eras. The focus on traits and qualities refers to which of the following areas. (a) Influence (c) Personality (b) Behaviour (d) Culture

32. Historical perspective of evolution of business policy is viewed in terms of four paradigm shifts. The last paradigm which eme rged in the 1980s is(a) ad-h oc policy making (c) planned policy formulation (b) strategic management (d) strategy

33 . Mckinsey's seven "S" frameworks denote seven policy areas that affect long term organisational success. Of the se "skills" refers to(a) managers' skills in motivating employees (b) workers' skills in absorbing new technology (c) organisational and individual capabilities (d) managers' skills in decision making 34 . The price of a product is determined by(a) producer (c) retailer (b) consumer (d) competitor

35 . In a firm the most impo rtant strategist responsible for formulation and eva luation of strategy is the(a) Board chairman (c) CEO (b) Executive director (d) SBU head

36 . The marketing mix is said to consist of 4 Ps i.e; product, pricing, promotion and place. The term 'place' is also referred to as(a) warehousing (c) distribution (b) retailing (d) comp any showroom

37 . The management function of directing is performed through exercise of leadership function of(a) planning and organizin g (b) staffing and motivating (c) coordinating and commu nicating(d ) leading and motivating

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38. The term 'organisational culture' implies(a) (b) (c) (d) climate of an organization shared values and beliefs amongst employees corporate vision and mission none of the above

39 . The term 'strategy' is derived from the greek word 'strategos' which means(a) generalship (c) victory (b) leadership (d) none of the above

40. A joint ventu re involves a combination of two or more comp anies into one company through(a) absorption (c) takeover (b) merger (d) consolidation

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