Studying Strategy

1

http://nl.youtube.com/watch?v=iJPFSNu_QNs Why Pinky & The Brain? Because they set out to conquer the world, which is what you try to do when studying strategic management. Maybe you don’t exactly aim for world domination, but in general we develop strategies because they give us a sense of control over our future. The idea of being able to predict the future, suggests that you are able to turn your own current and future actions into your own advantage. Several questions rise, after all: maybe we really can’t predict the future, in spite of all our efforts and models or maybe the future is a specific result of our predications, a wonderful self-fulfilling prophecy or maybe we, like Pinky & The Brain, are lab-rats as well, but just don’t know it (which would mean we would be subjected to someone else’s models and predictions) The context of this PDF file: Maaike de Jong created this document as a brief addition to the introductory lecture for the Student Led Seminar - Module Strategic Management 2008 - 2009. The notes below the slides are (quick) ‘speaker notes’ to be used as ‘tips and trics’ when studying. This document is not intended for publication. It is intended for personal use. Please think about the environment before printing this document. (If you do intent to print it, consider printing two pages on one sheet and using both sides of the paper.)

Strategies in studying strategic management Maaike de Jong e-mail: [email protected]

2

Some tips & trics to make this module easier for you, based on the experiences of your predecessors

Consider the following • “If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter”

• Blaise Pascal

3

“Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte. (I have made this letter so long only because I did not have the leisure to make it shorter.)”

This quote is addressed here, because of the paradox it reveals. [See also: ‘wicked questions’ later on in this slideshow]. Generally, we think we produce ‘more’ if we have ‘more time’. This quote is a nice way of saying ‘less is more’, especially if you know how to properly pronounce the French version of the quote :-)

Six pages, are you for real? • Yes • Writing in a concise manner displays analytic skill.

• It can be done, it has been done • How? 4

And in fact, it has been done brilliantly by some. If you assume your tutor knows what you’re talking about, you don’t have to explain the whole theory. Just make sure you apply it properly. Your tutor knows what the PESTEL-framework is, you don’t have to explain the framework. If you doubt s/he knows, refer to the literature, so s/he can check. This is a way to briefly demonstrate you know what you are doing (unless of course, your tutor checks your references and you’re sources don’t match your statements). Often, in case texts we receive, a lot of theory is discussed. You tend to do this, not because it is needed for the story you’re telling, but because you need to get the information clear; you’re learning. So, for yourself, you may be writing down: “the PESTEL-framework is a way to ....” Once your learning has taken place and you’ve developed your ‘expert’-opinion as a consultant, you rewrite or delete these sections (you do leave a reference to the literature though). They were useful to you, while learning, they’re no longer useful for the story you want to tell: your strategy, your arguments for your strategy and your plan for implementation.

A little bit aobut yuor brian

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snO68aJTOpM

5

Your brain is able to read words ‘correctly’ even if they are misspelled. A lot of different claims are made about the brain and learning. Some things are quite certain: 1) you’re always learning, any moment. That is: your brain is always busy, reorganizing and restructuring. In the past, we thought the brain stops changing after age 21, this turns out not to be the case. (before 21 it is easier to learn new things, after 21 it is easier to connect information (verbanden leggen) Learning in a strategic fashion, i.e. actively and consciously, does speed things up. Activating your brain in advance (prior knowledge) helps information to ‘land’ quicker. 2) Repetition is key (this has to do with neural pathways, think of a green field and a small thread where people walk every time. The grass doesn’t grow back as fast, a path has been made). Studying 1 hour every day, 5 days in a row is generally more effective than studying 5 hours in one day. (Also, having a good sleep enhances your understanding of difficult subject matters) (See also: Woolfolk (2004) Educational Psychology.)

How? • By developing a helicopterview • By organizing the information in an active way - don’t read, summarize

• By using the analytic tools provided in

Johnson & Scholes (Pestel, SWOT, TOWS, Power matrix)

• The difference is in the doing 6

You can only develop a helicopter view if you also know what it is that you are looking at. If you’re flying over the Alps, but you don’t know what they are, you won’t be able to navigate. If you put in the (active) hours for creating a map of the landscape, you’ll notice it is easier to find your way. This means: thoroughly reading the case text, connecting it to the literature, discussing it with your peers, questioning one another, ‘mapping’ the information, ‘owning’ the problem, taking no short cuts. (So: don’t divide the work. If you split up your group and one of you does the pestel analyses and the other the swot, you’re in for a weaker strategy. You all need to be ‘in the know’ about the different subjects in the whole case.)

Other Tools • Mindmaps • Organizing charts • Who is who? • Timelines • Key numbers 7

It is a very common thing to have to read the case text two or three times. One way of reading while organizing the information is by highlighting certain years, persons, strategic changes etc. A practical way might be to first peruse the case, get a feel for the subject matter, write down the structure of the text, ask yourself why it is structured that way and see if you already get an idea of the general contents. Then, you read the case in more detail while taking notes (taking notes helps in processing the information. If you are more visually than verbally oriented, you can also try to think of symbols that summarize the contents for you, creating a mind map of symbols). Then, with your notes, you read the case again to see if you’ve missed anything or whether the meaning of certain parts of the case has changed. (If you read it once before and once after studying chapters 1 - 4, you may find that you’re perspective is already different)

Keep in mind • Much of what you’re learning this module is repetition

• The difference is that it is now all interconnected

• This requires ‘thinking things through’ again and again

8

In all the different cases you will be tempted to look for problems to solve and to come up with a quick solution. However: if you think you’ve identified the problem easily, try to consider whether what you’ve found is a problem in itself or maybe just a syptom of a ‘notso-visible’ problem. How do you know? Johnson & Scholes also discuss the concept of ‘causal ambiguity’, see what you make of that. The term ‘problem’ may also be guiding you off track, what happens if you rephrase it as a challenge? If a company doesn’t have ‘problems’, would that mean you don’t need a strategy?

You’re the consultant •

In each case, imagine you’re the consultant. The company flies you in for your knowledge and skills

•

What’s your advice?

9

image copied from: www.evolvingpractices.co.uk/Images/ist2_48018... The image you see is quite a stereotypical image of consultants, confident people in nice suits, somewhat reserved (body/posture/non verbal communication), yet smiling and willing to lend a helping hand. What other images can you think of? Could you come up with images of people that lend a helping hand as well, yet break through the ‘suit’-idea?

Some differences An imperative for every company

Your job

“You need to be (more) “Based on our market aware of the environment research we see a shift in and watch current trends” consumer preferences toward authentic (it’s good advice, but what communication. You can does it say, really?) ride this wave by .... ”

10

Imagine during this whole module that YOU are the consultant. Imagine that you are a really, really good one, companies fly you in, pay for your travel expenses and your hotel room and loads of so-called ‘billable’ hours because the advice you give them is so accurate and to the point that they feel their companies are back in business. What did you tell them that was so special? And how did you come up with it?

Some differences Theory

Practice

“The pestel framework categorises environmental influences into six main types: ... ”

P = for political Yes, very true

It is a tool. Don’t explain it, use it.

What is happening at this moment and in the near future in politics that may affect the future?

11

Mind you, this is one of the main reasons your analyses result in weaker strategies. The company that hires you knows it needs to be aware of politics. They’re hiring you to tell them how.

Resources • Your book • The case text • www.chn.nl/sls (next slide) • Library (Studielandschap) • iTunes U 12

Ofcourse your book and the case text - try to read them actively iTunes U: seriously, check it out. It contains hours and hours of speeches, lectures, documentaries on subjects ranging from quantum physics, to arts to history to psychology introductions to research methodology, a range of subjects by some great universities.

Stenden provides ... • www.chn.nl/sls (due to change soon) • go to: ‘catalogi & digitale databases’ • go to: full text databases

13

What is there? • marketline - full country profiles, sector reports, company profiles and products analyses

• lexis nexis - full text database of most Dutch quality papers and magazines

• business source premier (ebsco.chn.nl) (only one available from outside the schoolnetwork)

14

Stats • Check your book: Methoden & Technieken van Onderzoek (2004, 2008) Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill. (English version is available as well)

• for the UK: www.businesszone.co.uk • for Europe: europa.eu.int 15

Wicked Questions •

“Wicked questions, unlike “trick” questions, have no right answers but can expose straitjacketed assumptions about an issue, context, or situation, opening up options and possibilities not considered before”

• •

(Wang & Singhal, 2008, p. 24)

celebrate the contradiction, help me when I fail to walk unafraid

•

R.E.M. - Walk Unafraid (1998, Up)

16

Hua Wang and Arvind Singhal (in press). Entertainment-Education through Digital Games. In Ute Ritterfeld, Michael J. Cody, & Peter Vorderer (Eds.) Serious Games: Mechanisms and Effects. New York: Routledge. See also: Papa, M.J., Singhal, A. & Papa, W. H. (2006) . A Dialectic Journey of Theory and Praxis. New Delhi: Sage Publications “Polarity managers can uncover the power of opposing ideas by posing wicked questions, questions that have an embedded paradox or tension in the question [ ... ] Wicked questions have no obvious answers, but help expose people’s strait jacketed assumptions about an issue, context or situation. For example: how can we set direction when we don’t know the future? How can we be both a system and many interdependent parts? A wicked question is not a trick question. With a trick question, someone knows the answer. The value of the wicked question lies in their capacity to expose our assumptions, and open up new options not considered before. Exposing these assumptions in a question is both uncomfortable and a relief.” (2006, p. 242)

Some examples •

“How can we set direction when we don’t know the future?” (Papa, Singhal & Papa, 2006)

• •

If we love ‘our customer’, why do we ‘target’ her?

•

In your presentation of the chapter you have to prepare, come up with a wicked question to discuss in groups.

How do we find groundbreaking strategies, if we all use the same information and the same models?

17

Strategic management comes from the military. Is the customer our enemy?

APA • www.apa.org • http://www.uvt.nl/diensten/bibliotheek/ instructie/litond/ verwerken_bronvermelding_APA.html

18

This is a great opportunity to make sure you ‘master’ how to refer to literature. This will save you a lot of time when writing your thesis. In these cases you’ll benefit from it, because it allows you to keep them brief.