Strategy Formulation & Implementation

MGMT.6910-061

Week 1 Slides
Introductory comments

Review Syllabus, text book, class notes, etc.

Discuss Group Project and assignments

Introduce What is Strategy?

Course Description

The Course walks you through the process of strategic

analysis, development of alternate courses of actions,
strategic decision making, implementation and
management of strategic plans.

It offers students detailed discussion on how

contemporary firms develop their business strategies in
an ever changing competitive environment.

The Course places a special emphasis on the integrative

aspects of strategy implementation.

It will cover major concepts and numerous real life

examples to elaborate these concepts.
6. Evaluation/Grading

Discuss Board participation 25%

(discussion board posts and quizzes)

Individual Assignments (4 assignments) 35%

(Assignments 1, 2 and 3 - 10 points each; assignment 4- 5 points)

Group Project (Business Strategy Game - BSG) 40%

(BSG graded- 30 points; Report- 5points and Presentation- 5points)
Text Book

There is a Custom eBook based on Crafting and

Executing Strategy, Thompson, Strickland, Gamble, 21st
edition, McGraw Hill Publishing.

instructions in Syllabus

Class Notes
uploaded by Sunday 8:00AM

Weekly Chat Sessions

Sundays see Blackboard home page for times
Participation
DB Posting comments
Use microphone for audio chats
Group Project
BSG Business Simulation

Instructor will form groups by Sunday

Discussion Board Posts - Weekly

Question responses must be posted by Saturday midnight

Comments on a classmates post(s) by following Wednesday

Chat Sessions
Not mandatory but STRONGLY recommend to participate
Discuss DB Posts and Assignments

Email
Must use Blackboard email to communicate with me
DO NOT USE UML EMAIL
Week 1 Notes
-Examples (Apple, Microsoft, Maytag, Xerox, Kodak, FedEx
and UPS)
-Analyzing financial performance
-Understanding of strategy and execution
-Strategy Planning Process and Issues
- Too much structured, tops-down, rigid
- Lacks organizational involvement, thus creates execution issues
- Too quantitative and analytical
- Does not recognize/accept fast changing World
- Lacks employee empowerment
- Focuses on Market share Vs Opportunity share
-Importance of Strategy Execution (organizational Alignment,
staffing, communication, performance evaluation)
-Breakdown in the process experience
-Business Basics and Starting Points
-What is Strategy?
Strategy decisions, actions, resource allocations &
management, long term effect

Strategy formulation is based on Strategic Analysis

Strategic analysis of Internal and External environments

Financial statements are the best place to start
External Environment
Internal Analysis
Trends
Understand causes (for good as well as bad)

Strategic decisions (on what to do and what not to do) leads

to resource allocation --- hierarchical, from top to operating
units

Strategy Execution detailed action plan, managing,

monitoring, evaluation and control
 Assignments
&
Group Projects
Assignments
There are 4 individual assignments, three(3) of which are based on Mini
Case Studies and one Reflection paper.
Specific instructions are given for each assignment

Discussion Board Postings

Weeks 1, 2, 4, 6. and 9 questions assigned to students
Weeks 3, 5, 7 and 8 short quizzes
Week 10 feedback (not graded)
Group Projects

BSG-Online Business Strategy Game) simulation

game

Students will be assigned to groups by Sunday

- 4 students per group
- Connect with your group; first Practice Round is due Saturday
May 27
-You can use collaboration tools (Chat rooms, email, Discussion
Boards) in Blackboard and also Chat in BSG
- Register using the Registration given in Syllabus and in
Blackboard (see Groups)
. After registration, download and review Players Guide (Players
Guide is also available on Blackboard).
- Log on to BSG-Online and familiarize with different decision
screens.
 What Is The Business
Strategy Game All About?
Its an online, PC-based exercise where you run an athletic
footwear company in head-to-head competition against
companies run by other class members.
The marketplace is worldwideproduction and sales
activities can be pursued in North America, Latin America,
Europe-Africa, and Asia Pacific
There are 12 market segments4 geographic segments each
for branded footwear sales to retailers, for online footwear
sales direct to consumers, and for private-label sales
 Your Companys Situation
All companies start out on the same footingwith equal sales
volume, global market share, revenues, profits, costs, footwear
quality, and so on.
Each decision period in The Business Strategy Game represents a
year.
The company you will be running began operations 10 years ago,
and the first set of decisions you and your co-managers will make
is for Year 11.
The company had Year 10 revenues of $238 million, net profits of
$25 million (equal to $2.50 per share), an ROE of ~17%, and a
solid B+ credit rating.
Your company is in sound financial condition, is performing well,
and its products are well-regarded by the buyers of athletic
footwear.
 The Decisions You Will Be
Making
You and your co-managers will make decisions each period relating to
Corporate social responsibility and citizenship (up to 6 decisions)
Production of branded and private-label athletic footwear (up to 10
decisions each plant, with a maximum of 4 plants)
Plant capacity additions/sales/upgrades (up to 6 decisions per plant)
Worker compensation and training (3 decisions per plant)
Shipping (up to 8 decisions each plant)
Pricing and marketing (up to 10 decisions in 4 geographic regions)
Bids to sign celebrities to endorse your companys footwear (2
decision entries per bid)
Financing of company operations (up to 8 decisions)
Plus there is a screen for making annual sales forecasts and deciding
whether to have inventory clearance sales
 Competition Is Head-to-Head:
Company Against Company

The head-to-head competition among companies to persuade

consumers to buy their brand of athletic footwear is based on
10 factors:
Price
Number of models/styles
Styling/quality (S/Q) rating
Advertising
Size of retailer network
Celebrity endorsements
Delivery time
Retailer support
Mail-in rebates
Shipping charges (Internet sales only)
BSG Key Points
You Have Many Strategic Options

No One Strategy Is Best

A Companys Competitive Effort vis--vis Rivals Is

Crucial

The Contest in the Marketplace Is a Battle of

Strategies

Outcompeting Rivals Is the Key to Market Success

Its All About Developing Winning Strategies

 All times are displayed in the US/Eastern time zone UTC -04:00
Decision Deadline For Saving Entries

Quiz 1 Available 15-May-17 11:59 pm

Quiz 1 Deadline 27-May-17 11:59 pm

Practice Decision 1 - Practice Year 11 27-May-17 11:59 pm

Quiz 2 Available 28-May-17 11:59 pm

Practice Decision 2 - Practice Year 12 3-Jun-17 11:59 pm

End of Practice Period

(Data reset to Year 11 and practice results
are no longer available) 5-Jun-17 11:59 pm
Decision 1 - Year 11 7-Jun-17 11:59 pm
Decision 2 - Year 12 10-Jun-17 11:59 pm
Decision 3 - Year 13 14-Jun-17 11:59 pm

Decision 4 - Year 14 17-Jun-17 11:59 pm

Decision 5 - Year 15 21-Jun-17 11:59 pm

Quiz 2 Deadline 24-Jun-17 11:59 pm

Decision 6 - Year 16 24-Jun-17 11:59 pm

Decision 7 - Year 17 1-Jul-17 11:59 pm

End-of-Game Peer Evaluations

Available 2-Jul-17 11:59 pm
3-Year Strategic Plan 8-Jul-17 11:59 pm
Decision 8 - Year 18 8-Jul-17 11:59 pm
Decision 9 - Year 19 12-Jul-17 11:59 pm

Decision 10 - Year 20 15-Jul-17 11:59 pm

End-of-Game Peer Evaluations
Deadline 22-Jul-17 11:59 pm
Decision Screens
Corporate Citizenship
Sales Forecast Performance Reports
Plant Capacity Footwear Industry Report
Branded Production 7-Page
Branded Distribution Competitive Intelligence Report
Internet Marketing Market Snapshot
Wholesale Marketing Company Analysis
Celebrities Bids Company Operating Reports
Plant-Label Operations
Finance & Cash Flow
 Discussion Board Question
Question Assigned to

Q. 1 Review P&Gs income and balance sheet statements for ALL

the last 5 years (you will get this data from their website) and
comment on trends in revenue, gross margins, R&D, SG&A,
cash position and debt (it is suggested that you convert income
statements to a common size statement, that is all line items
as % of revenue). Include in your comments what you see as
their strategy and how do you think they are doing.

Post question(s) for instructor and/or comments to share ALL

with all
Questions?