25/10/2021

Workshop 12: Current Trends and Exam Review

(this material largely drawn from Robert Grants 10th edition of Contemporary Strategy Analysis, 2019, John Wiley and Sons, Australia)

Strategic Management, Semester 2, 2021

John Knight

Current Trends in Strategic Management

OUTLINE

1. The New Environment of Business

2. New Directions in Strategic Thinking

3. Redesigning Organizations

4. The Changing Role of Managers

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The New Environment Of Business: The Turbulent 21st

2008-9: Century
Financial crisis 2011:
Terrorism Arab Spring
• Attacks of September 11, 2001
2000: Collapse of • Invasion of Afghanistan
“New Economy” & Iraq
•Dot.com bubble bursts Volatile
• March 2000 NASDAQ Global Pandemic Markets
at all-time peak • Coronavirus E.g. Brent
The Third Industrial • CoVid-19 (2019 - ?) crude June
Revolution: ’09 $148;
Decline of US • Digital technologies Dec. ‘09 $38
world influence • Intelligent systems Mar ‘20 $50
--emergence of a • Disintermediation of Apr ‘20 $17
human beings Natural Disasters
multi-polar world Hurricanes, earthquakes, fires

Demands of society The New Politics

•Social & environmental responsibility • The decline of liberalism
• The rise of demagogues
Globalisation reverses
•Ethics & fairness
• The politics of identity The rise of economic nationalism
•Quest for meaning

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The New Environment Of Business: Forces Shaping the

Business Environment
Digital Technology
• Destruction of industries: travel agencies, bookstores, broadcast TV
• Rise of new industries: e-commerce, ride-share services, audio & video streaming, shared ownership,
• Transformation of industries: financial services, communications, dating

Competition
• Rise of dominant firms: in mature sectors (A-B Inbev, Starbucks, Boeing, Walmart; in new industries
(Alphabet, Apple, Alibaba, Amazon, Facebook, Tencent)
• New competitors from emerging markets (Huawei, Haier, Infosys, Embraer)
Systemic Risk
• In interconnected world, initial disturbances are amplified and transmitted: e.g. Financial crisis of
2008-9, Arab Spring, Islamic State
Social Forces and the Crisis of Capitalism
• Twin pillars of Western civilization—liberal democracy & market capitalism—undermined by
inequality, intolerance, decline of rationalism

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The New Environment Of Business: Ratio of average CEO

compensation to that of the average worker, USA 1965-2016

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New directions in strategic thinking: Rethinking Strategy

Seeking
Reorienting More Complex Sources
Corporate Objectives of Competitive Advantage
• Emphasis on stakeholder goals • Multiple layers of competitive advantage
and societal role of firms • Exploiting cross-business linkages
• Focus on profit drivers rather • Emphasis on innovation and new
than stock market valuation
Strategy business development
in a Digital World
• See next slide
Managing Options Understanding
•Turbulence increases option values Strategic Fit
•Strategies to create options: lower • Complementarity of management
financial leverage, experimentation, practices
exploratory R&D, alliances,
product platforms • The implications of complexity
• Contextuality of linkages

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New directions in strategic thinking: The strategic characteristics
of digital industries
Strategic characteristics
Importance of
complementary products
Industry Complex industry
structure Structures (“ecosystems”)
Network externalities
Competitive Fast cycle innovation and
product development
advantage
Ease of imitation of
successful strategies
Fungibility of IT resources
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Redesigning Organisations: The Emerging Shape of the
Business Enterprise
The New Environment of Business
Multidimensional Informal Self-
structures organization organization
New Directions in Strategic Thinking
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Strategy implications
Platform competition and winner-
take-all markets)
Potential for complex and
innovative business models
Swift erosion of competitive
advantage (unless supported by
network dominance)—hence
need for speed
Critical importance of timing:
strategic windows of short
duration
Ease of diversification between
technology-based industries
7
Permeable
Boundaries
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The changing role of managers: New Models of Leadership

THE LEADERSHIP THE REQUIRED

NEEDS OF COMPETENCIES OF
BUSINESS LEADERS
ORGANISATIONS
• motivating colleagues
The ability to:
• cultivating sense of purpose
• build confidence
• cross-cultural flexibility
• build enthusiasm
• self-awareness
• cooperate
• resolve
• deliver results
• proactivity
• form networks
• problem-solving
• influence others
• relationship building
• use information
• vision

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What is an avocado leader?

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Examination

1. MCQ x 50 – 1 mark each (50%)

2. Short Essay (Harder) x 2 – 10 marks each (20%)

3. Short Essay (Easier) x 6 – 5 marks each (30%)

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Examination
▪ Time allowed is Two (2) HOURS.

▪ Assessment only draws from material covered in Topics Six to Twelve (inclusive) for
Multiple Choice Questions but draws from all topics for the short answer essay questions

▪ Assessment is made up of THREE SECTIONS

SECTION A (50 MARKS): You are required to answer ALL FIFTY (50) Questions worth (1)
mark each

SECTION B (20 MARKS): You are required to answer ALL TWO (2) Questions worth (10)
marks each

SECTION C (30 MARKS): You are required to answer ALL SIX (6) Questions worth (5) marks
each

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Face to Face
Examination

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Face to Face
Examination

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Exam Module
On Line
Before Exam Day

IMPORTANT: YOU MUST CONNECT TO YOUR

PROCTOR WITHIN 15 MINUTES OF YOUR
SCHEDULED EXAM TIME AS COMMUNICATED
VIA MYADELAIDE. IF YOU FAIL TO CONNECT
WITHIN 15 MINUTES, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE
TO SIT THE EXAM. If you experience a problem
and you're not sure what to do, contact the
Online Exams Call Centre on +61 8 8313 3311.

On Exam Day

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Exam Module
On Line

On Exam Day

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On Line Examination
Each section will be separated by an instruction page along the lines of…

SECTION A (50 MARKS):

You are required to answer ALL FIFTY (50) Multiple Choice Questions from
Topics 6 to 12 and worth ONE (1) mark each by clicking on your chosen answer

OR

SECTION C (30 MARKS):

You are required to answer ALL SIX (6) Short Essay Questions from Topics 1 to
12 and worth FIVE (5) marks each by writing in your own words in the text box
provided. Note that your written answers may be submitted to Turnitin
similarity software

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‘Harder’ Essay Question Example

(suggest spend no more than 12 minutes answering)

Explore whether two organisations competing in the same industry can

both benefit from the same competitive advantage (10 marks)

Explain some key terms to suit your answer e.g. ‘…A competitive advantage can be
seen as…(you may choose) a combination of assets (i.e. resources and competencies)
that facilitates an organisation creating more value than their competitors…’

Then some argument for and against using examples if you can…

Then a conclusion that answers the question e.g. ‘…Thus, two organisations can have
the same competitive advantage (or not)….’

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‘Easier’ Essay Question Example

(suggest spend no more than 6 minutes answering)

Why does an organisation need a strategy? (5 marks)

Makes sense to start with definition of key terms to frame your

answer (e.g. ‘…strategy is…an organisation is…)

And then try to ensure you answer question (e.g. ‘…thus, an

organisation needs a strategy because…’)

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‘Easier’ Essay Question Example

(suggest spend no more than 6 minutes answering)
Explain why the separation of ownership and management is
the root problem of corporate governance (5 marks)

Some of the key terms you might consider including on the way to
answering the question…

‘….The agency problem is…’

‘…The shareholders/owners are…’

‘…The managers are…

‘…Corporate Governance is…’

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Usual suspects…
Exam questions are aimed at testing different levels of your learning as far as
the course content is concerned. So while you may have the odd question
needing across course learning, there are also more narrowly focused questions
on your understanding of key terms…so it makes sense to be familiar with the
terms introduced or used in the ‘introduction and objective’ for each topic…

Test yourself, for example, can you explain the meaning of the following terms:

competitive advantage; core competencies; differentiation; diversification;

isolating mechanism; resources and capabilities; segmentation; strategic
innovation (and so on)…

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GOOD LUCK

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