9/17/2019

Business Strategies 2019

Dr. Giles A. Hindle
600552

Hull University Business School

Connected Thinking!

Introduction to the module – Week 1 Session A

Dr. Giles A. Hindle

E: giles.hindle@hull.ac.uk
T: +44 1482 463 457

1
 9/17/2019

Teaching Team
• Module Leader – Giles Hindle, PhD
• Currently:
• Senior Lecturer, Hull University Business School
• Teaching Fellow, Warwick Business School
• Previously:
• Assistant Professor, Warwick Business School
• Senior Business Consultant at Tribal plc.
• Business Consultant, Lancaster University Management School
• Other staff working on the module (tutorials)
• Peter Mount
• Haidy Ashour

Canvas Site - 600552

Module number is 600552 – the resources will be posted there.

• Lecture slides
• Tutorial details
• Announcements to help you navigate the module
• Assignments explained here

2
 9/17/2019

E-Book

Business Strategies core textbook 1

‘Exploring Strategy’ Johnson et al (2014)

E-Book

Business Strategies core textbook 2

‘Contemporary Strategy Analysis’

Grant RM (2014)

3
 9/17/2019

Module Structure
• The module introduces the topic of business strategy. We explore the
nature of strategy making and how to develop strategies in practice.
• There are:
• 20 x 1hr lectures – 2 per week (Monday 9am, Tuesday 4pm)
• 5 x 1hr practical tutorials – every 2 weeks starting week 5 (W/C 30th Sept)

• Guest Lecture: Mike Dobson (Tuesday 24th September 4pm)

Assessment

The module will be assessed by 2 assignments:

• A strategy report on a case study.

• An essay discussion strategy making.

4
 9/17/2019

Your first tutorial in week 5 (W/C 30th September)

• Learning how to express a strategic situation
• Appreciate elements such as:
• Stakeholders, history, perspectives, processes,
environment, competitors, customers, products,
services, etc.
• Watch the following video on YouTube:
• “What is Rich Picturing? 6 Tips to Get Started
with Rich Picturing”
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39Wc5ACx5v4

5
 9/17/2019

What is Strategy?
• What do you associate with the term strategy?
• What do you think of when you hear the term?

What is Strategy?
• … a firm’s theory about how to gain competitive
advantage (Drucker)
• … the plan enabling a company to gain ... a
sustainable edge over its competitors (Ohmae)
• … the art of creating value (Normann and
Ramirez)

12

6
 9/17/2019

What is Strategy?
• … the determination of the long run goals
and objectives of an enterprise, and the
adoption of courses of action and the
allocation of resources necessary for carrying
out these goals (Chandler)

What is Strategy?
• ... the pattern of objectives, purposes, or
goals and major policies and plans …, to
define what business the company is in or is
to be in and the kind of company it is or is
to be (Andrews)

14

7
 9/17/2019

Our Definition
… the direction and scope of an organisation over
the long term, which achieves advantage in a
changing environment through the configuration of
resources and competencies with the aim of
fulfilling stakeholder expectations.
Johnson, Scholes and Wittington

Characteristics of Strategy
• Long-term and organisation-wide
• No right answer – uncertainty, values
• Involving significant commitments and resources
• Not easily reversible - ‘sunk cost’
• Critical but risky: complexity & uncertainty
• Limited resources, but deliberate choices

8
 9/17/2019

What are Strategic Issues?

• The performance of the organisation.
• The long-term direction of your organisation.
• The scope of your organisation’s activities.
• Your advantage over the competition.
• The fit with the environment.
• Your resources and competences.
• Actors and stakeholders in the organisation.

Levels of Strategy
Head Office
Corporate
strategy overall scope of
the business

Business
strategy Business Unit 1 Business Unit 2

R&D R&D
Operational
strategies HR HR

Finance Finance

Production Production

Sales Sales

9
 9/17/2019

Language of Strategy

• Mission – overall purpose of organisation

• What we do!
• Vision – a desired future state
• Goal or Objective – specific targets
• Strategic Capability – the unique capability of the
organisation (resources / activities)
• Strategies – action plans over long term

Searching for Differences?

•Strategy … often means performing

differently from our rivals
•It is about deliberately choosing to be
different, have a clear identity
•You can’t be all things to all people

10
 9/17/2019

Analytical Framework
Environment Organisation

Broad: Political, Powerful actors

economic, social, threats strengths
environmental, legal. Mission and goals
Industry: entrants, Culture and values
substitutes, buyers, Strategy Resources and
suppliers
capabilities
Markets: strategic
groups, market weaknesses Structure and
segments, customer opportunities systems
value

Semi-academic Journals
•Harvard Business Review
•California Management Review
•Sloan Management Review
•Academy of Management Executives

11
 9/17/2019

Academic Journals
•Strategic Management Journal
•Academy of Management Journal
•Academy of Management Review
•Long Range Planning
•Organisation Studies
•Journal of Management Studies

12