The article “’A Contingency View of Porter’s “Generic Strategies” by Murray seeks to address the implementation of contingency approach to the generic strategies of Porter. The article indicates the significance of generic strategies to the business policy researchers as it differentiates the strategies of high performing companies from the less successful companies in the similar industry. It states that Porter has suggested different generic strategies, which are used by the high performing firms, i.e. cost leadership, production differentiation, cost focused etc. The research problem that is addressed in the paper is whether these strategies can be implemented simultaneously. The author wants to position the fact that how the Porter’s generic strategies are connected with the external preconditions, like; customer price sensitivity. As per the view of Michael Porter, product differentiation and cost leadership can be practiced simultaneously only under exceptional situations. Apart from this, it is not clear in the article that how these generic strategies can be executed by the organizations (Murray, 1988). After the implementation of contingency approach, the author founded that Porter’s strategies are not exclusive mutually and each and every strategy can be linked with different strategic means. The organization can use these different strategic means for attaining product differentiation.
By the critical analysis of the article, it can be stated that generic concept is very much disappointing and confusing as it does not describe how the generic strategies should be executed. The author has suggested an approach, i.e. contingency approach that can be used to overcome the weaknesses and issues related to generic concept implementation. This approach shows that there is no any specific reason that companies should restrict themselves to only one generic strategy (Ahmedi, Salamzadeh, Daraei, & Akbari, 2012). There are so many studies, which have evaluated different aspects of generic strategies and their conclusions were different as they used different approaches for the implementation of the strategies.
The study “’Making Strategy: Learning by Doing” conducted by Christensen, states that there are so many reasons, why the companies find it complex to make changes in their strategies. One major reason is that strategic thinking is not the specific competence of the managers at most of the firms. When the managers found an effective strategy, they want to implement it, not alter it. 1There are so many organizations, where the management team does not develop the competence to think strategically. Along with this, they even cannot make the changes in the strategies, when they become outdated. The author states that most of the organizations are outsourcing the strategic planning, because they are disappointed with the low productivity and higher costs of internal strategic planning (Christensen, 1997). For this, they are dependent on the consulting agencies, which advise them on the strategic implementation.
In addition to this, this article includes a methodology that can be employed by the executives to develop and execute rational and innovative strategies. They can implement this methodology in repetitive manner to reevaluate the strategic direction of organization, thus developing both their competencies in thinking strategically and understanding of how their strategic decision making link to the market trends and conditions. In this article, the author defines some challenges in the process of strategy making and guides the readers via three steps by analyzing the case of manufacturing firm Butterfield Fabrics.
In this context, Mulgan stated that “Learning by making and doing; the virtue of combining very old and very new ideas”. This line given by him describes that managers in an organization can learn about strategy making by doing as they can combine both old and new innovative ideas and opinions (Pretorius, & Maritz 2011). Moreover, after considering the article given by Pretorius and Maritz, it can be concluded that organizations need to use some effective approaches for strategic making and changing (). Identification of an appropriate and best strategy making approach will give the managers and executives’ flexibility. They can use the deliberate and emergent approaches of strategy.
The chosen article, “’It’s what’s Inside: Impact of Culture on Strategy Making”, is given by Mehndi, Raza and Usman that reflects how the effect of organizational culture on the organizational success and growth and its performance. This article represents the implications of cultural positioning for formulating thee strategies and tactics. It shows that corporate culture has a huge impact on the strategy making and planning. The major objectives of this paper are to define the organizationally related cultural framework, to analyze the given topic using prior research on strategy and culture and to evaluate the deficiencies in addressing the chosen topic and setting the example for the future research and work (Mehdi, Raza, Raza, & Usman, 2017).
According to another author, the strategic management and planning should ensure the novelty among its competing firms that is only possible, when the organizational culture aligns with its strategy. It shows how the corporate culture has impact on the strategy making and its implementation. In addition to this, the author states that corporate culture affects the strategy making by manipulating the informative meanings and schemes that the strategists assign to the situations inside and outside the organization. Thus, it is an important process for the growth of company, but as per Ahmedi, Daraei, Salamzadeh and Akbari, most of the companies fail because of lack of implementation rather than strategy formulation. From this, it can be concluded that implementation of the strategies is as crucial as their formulation (Ahmedi, Salamzadeh, Daraei, & Akbari, 2012).
In the chosen article, the author has explained each and everything clearly, using the diagram and literature review that includes the opinions of different authors. The quality of writing is very good and reliable for the readers and it can be used for the future work and research. From this analysis, it can be assumed that organizations should enhance its corporate culture to improve strategic formulation and implementation.
The major objective of the article, named as ‘Strategic Management: How to Apply it to Firms in the Hospitality Industry’, by Reichel is to examine the significance and contribution of strategic management to the firms in the hotel and hospitality sector. Same as other industries, this industry also has strong competitive forces. There are some factors, such as; vulnerability to recession, quick changes and other environmental challenges, which need a continuous result oriented process for managing the companies and their external and internal environment via using experience and knowledge that aimed to the growth, profitability and survival. The statistics of hospitality industry shows that hospitality industry is approaching its maturity stage. It is going ahead with the trends towards the immense competition, concentration and competition in terms of price, quality and market share. To deal with the issues, the organizations implement different strategic alternatives, like; merger and acquisition (Reichel, 1983). In the article, there are some examples of different hotels, which have implemented the strategic management approaches in an effective manner. For example; The Dunfey Hotel Corporation has implemented the Dunfey management approach that involved each and every management personnel of the organization. The author suggests a systematic process for the strategic management and strategy implementation in hospitality industry.
In this context, Bardis stated that organizations in hotel and hospitality sector can use different strategic frameworks, like; SWOT Analysis and PESTLE analysis. It indicates that first hospitality organizations should analyze external and internal factors, which may affect the growth and profitability of company over its competitors. The major problem with the article is that it does not explain the things clearly (Bardis, 2012). The source is totally reliable and it is still valid in the current business environment to deal with the external environmental factors. From this article and other author, it can be concluded that a systematic approach can assist the industry in managing the firms in today’s competitive business environment.
The article “Strategic Planning and Strategic Management in Australian Organizations” by Ali, & Shaw seeks to examine different planning and organizational aspects of 48 organizations of Australia. In this article, a research is conducted on 48 Australian companies that resulted that some of them are adopting a well-managed and advanced strategic management concept. In this article, the author stated that emphasis of strategic management is on developing the future of company rather than responding on the changing trends. In my view, Australian organizations are implementing the strategic management process effectively, because there are various companies, which are leading their global industries (Ali, & Shaw, 1988). In their article, Ali, & Shaw includes different steps, like; strategy formation, implementation and monitoring and control.
There are some other writers, who have given their views on strategic management and they also identified same evolutionary and sequential planning procedure by emphasizing on pre-planning phase. In this context, Kaye stated in his article that Australian organizations are also implementing the strategic human resource management that connects the management of human resources to the cultural change and strategic planning in the organizations. From the analysis, it can be concluded that growing global exposure and enhancing environmental unpredictability of Australian firms and anywhere in the Asia Pacific area will enhance the competitive pressure to execute global management system, inclusive of strategic planning and management (Kaye, 1997).
One of the major limitations of this article is that it has focused on the some of the organizations in Australia and limited industries. The article is relevant and reliable to implement strategic planning and management in the real world organizations. In order to engage the more readers, author has given examples of various manufacturing and non-manufacturing firms in Australia, which is very relevant and supporting in understanding the approach of strategic management and planning. Overall, the article is well written and gives an important message for the Australian organizations.
References
Ahmedi, S. A., Salamzadeh, Y., Daraei, M., & Akbari, J, 2012, Relationship between Organizational Culture and Strategy Implementation: Typologies and Dimensions. Global Business and Management Research: An International Journal, 4(3), 4th ser., 1-14.
Ali, M, & Shaw, R 1988, ‘Strategic Planning and Strategic Management in Australian Organisations’, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 6, 1, pp. 105-127.
Bardis, P. 2012. Strategic Management in a Hotel. Saimaa University of Applied Sciences.
Christensen, Cm 1997, ‘Making Strategy: Learning By Doing’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 75, no. 6, pp. 141-156.
Kaye, L., 1999, Strategic human resources management in Australia: the human cost”, International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 20 Issue: 8, pp.577-587.
Mehdi, M, Raza, A, Raza, SH, & Usman, B 2017, ‘It’s What’s Inside: Impact Of Culture On Strategy Making’, Annual International Conference on Business Strategy & Organizational Behaviour (BizStrategy), pp. 40-44. Available from: 10.5176/2251-1970_BizStrategy17.13.
Mulgan, G. 2017, Learning by making and doing; the virtue of combining very old and very new ideas. Retrieved from https://www.wise-qatar.org/learning-doing-uk-geoff-mulgan.
Murray, AI 1988, ‘A Contingency View of Porter’s “Generic Strategies”‘, Academy of Management Review, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 390-400. Available from: 10.5465/AMR.1988.4306951.
Pretorius, M. & Maritz, R., 2011, Strategy making: the approach matters”, Journal of Business Strategy, Vol. 32 Issue: 4, pp.25-31
Reichel, A 1983, ‘Strategic Management: How to Apply it to Firms in the Hospitality Industry’, Service Industries Journal, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 329-343.
Essay Writing Service Features
Our Experience
No matter how complex your assignment is, we can find the right professional for your specific task. Contact Essay is an essay writing company that hires only the smartest minds to help you with your projects. Our expertise allows us to provide students with high-quality academic writing, editing & proofreading services.
Free Features
Free revision policy
$10Free bibliography & reference
$8Free title page
$8Free formatting
$8How Our Essay Writing Service Works
First, you will need to complete an order form. It's not difficult but, in case there is anything you find not to be clear, you may always call us so that we can guide you through it. On the order form, you will need to include some basic information concerning your order: subject, topic, number of pages, etc. We also encourage our clients to upload any relevant information or sources that will help.
Complete the order form
Once we have all the information and instructions that we need, we select the most suitable writer for your assignment. While everything seems to be clear, the writer, who has complete knowledge of the subject, may need clarification from you. It is at that point that you would receive a call or email from us.
Writer’s assignment
As soon as the writer has finished, it will be delivered both to the website and to your email address so that you will not miss it. If your deadline is close at hand, we will place a call to you to make sure that you receive the paper on time.
Completing the order and download