English resume :

 Definition of Strategy :
the word strategy has been derived from Greek ‘Strategos’, which means generalship . the strategy
literally is the art of leading and directing . so a strategy can be defined as :

- A plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major overall aim.

- “ The determination of the basic, long-term goals and objectives of an enterprise, and
the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for those
goals2 ”.

- A coordinated series of actions which involve the deployment of resources to which one has
access for the achievement of a given purpose.
The strategy involves resources in order to achieve goals , those resources can be :

 Physical resources such as plant & machine

 Financial resources i.e., Capital

 Human resources i.e., Man Power

 Approaches of to strategy and strategy making

There are two alternative approaches to strategy and strategy making :

 First approach : The traditional approach assumes that the strategy is rational , linear and
sequential process in which strategy is determined by a top manager and handed down to
be implemented by others .

 Second approach : this approach consider the strategy as much intuitive , creative plus
rational and it is iterative , in general the strategy must be monitored based on the
environment changes

 Strategic thinking :

Strategy demands from the strategist(s) both creativity , so there are two principal ways of
thinking :

 Vertical thinking ( rational thinking ) : often applied to convergent problems.

 lateral (intuitive) thinking : often applied to divergent problems, and rationality.

 Strategists and stakeholders :

 There is one sense in which all members of an organization are strategists, since all
would benefit from thinking strategically, and another sense in which there is but one
strategist, the person who leads strategically, usually the chief executive officer.
 Since the interests of all employees differ, their objectives also differ. This is part of a
much broader problem, the existence of various groups of stakeholders with markedly
different interests in the organization.
 Corporate culture and strategic stances :
  Such culture differs from one enterprise to another. It is impossible deliberately to
create a corporate culture overnight, or even change an existing one
 There are three possible strategic stances:
o The enterprise might be deliberately seeking to shape, or reshape, its
environment, it is the revolutionary change.
o It might try to adapt incrementally to changes in its environment simply to
remain viable.
o It might reserve the right to postpone strategic action until it reads the
changing environment better, at least temporarily.
 The paradigm :

Logical incrementalism is the normal stance, because an enterprise has an existing paradigm,
which is difficult to change, the paradigm can be defined as the core set of beliefs and
ideology that want an enterprise to reflects to itself or their environment.
There are types of paradigm :
 The repeated patterns of behaviour.

 The control systems.

 Organizational systems.

 The power structures.

 The symbolic expressions.

 The stories or legends.

All these areas interact within the central paradigm to create a cognitive, and even emotive,
structure through which individuals interpret the world of the organization for which they work.

Paradigm shift : A paradigm shift is when a fundamental and/or monumental change or disruption
occurs in current processes, models or perceptions. In other words, a massive adjustment in norms,
standards, thinking, patterns, and set values, etc.

Strategic drift : Strategic drift can be defined as a gradual deterioration of competitive action that
results in the failure of an organization to acknowledge and respond to changes in the business
environment.

Turnaround : The Turnaround Strategy is a retrenchment strategy followed by an organization when

it feels that the decision made earlier is wrong and needs to be undone before it damages the
profitability of the company.

Period of flux : is when an enterprise loses the track of environment and couldn’t adapt to it .

Transformational change or death : this the phase when the enterprise change in revolutionary in
order to get back its performance , this phase could be successful and impact the strategy positively
or deteriorate it .

The Chain of Command : The chain of command is the unbroken line of authority that ultimately
links each individual with the top organizational position through a managerial position at each
successive layer in between.

This concept has two basics principals :

Unity of command : consist that an employee should have one and only one supervisor to
whom he or she is directly responsible.
The scalar principle : states that there should be a clear definition of authority in the organization
and that this authority flows, one link at a time, through the chain of command.

 The Basis of Strategy: Structure :

Building an organizational structure engages managers in two activities:

 Specialization: dividing tasks into jobs : Organizing activities into clusters of related tasks
that can be handled by certain individuals or groups is called specialization. This aspect of
designing an organizational structure is twofold:

o Identify the activities that need to be performed in order to achieve

organizational goals.

o Break down these activities into tasks that can be performed by individuals or
groups of employees.

 Departmentalization :

This concept divide the organization’s jobs into units called departments , divisions or groups that
have the same tasks .

This division depends on the organisation’s structure .

 Types of Structures :

is the allocation and control of work tasks. This implies power relationships based on the acceptance
of managerial power by subordinates and society and has different types :

o Functional Structure :

The functional structure is characterized by the simultaneous combination of similar

activities and the separation of dissimilar activities on the basis of function.

 Advantages of a functional structure

 Specialized resources are used efficiently.

 Quality is enhanced by other specialists from the same functional area.

 Opportunities exist for extensive division of labor.

 Disadvantages of a functional structure

 Inefficient co-ordination of functional departments.
 Responsibility for overall outcomes is unclear.
 Interdepartmental conflicts.
o Divisional structure :

The divisional structure is a type of organizational structure that groups each organizational
function into a division. These divisions can correspond to either products or geographies

 Product structure: A divisional structure organized by product

departmentalization means that the various activities related to the product or
service are under the authority of one manager.

 Geographical structure : Another basic form structural grouping is geographic

structure, in which activities and personnel are grouped by specific geographic
 locations. Each geographic unit includes all functions required to produce and
market products in that region.

o Matrix structure: In a matrix structure, the organization is grouped by both product and
function. Product lines are managed horizontally and functions are managed vertically.
This matrix seeks to add flexibility and lateral co-ordination to the traditional
vertical hierarchy.

o Complex forms of organisation : Hybrid structure is a form of departmentalization that

adopts parts of both functional and divisional structures at the same level of
management.

o Flexible Firm Model : John Atkinson's Flexible-Firm Model (1984) is a managerial and
organizational technique used to optimize the allocation of human resources in
accordance with market instability and workforce flexibility. It defines two clear groups
of workers, the core and peripheral group, which are organized within the company
based on three types of flexibility: functional, financial and numerical.

 Process/ Elements of Strategic Management :#

The strategic management process can be broadly divided into three phases. Each phase consists of
a number of steps.

The three phases are as follows: Strategy Implementation/Strategy Evaluation/Strategy formulation

 Strategy formulation : Strategy Formulation is an analytical process of selection of the best

suitable course of action to meet the organizational objectives and vision. It is one of the
steps of the strategic management process.

o Steps of Strategy Formulation : The steps of strategy formulation include the

following:

 Establishing Organizational Objectives:

 Analysis of Organizational Environment:

 Forming quantitative goals:

 Objectives in context with divisional plans:

 Performance Analysis

 Selection of Strategy:

o Levels of strategy formulation : There are three levels of strategy formulation used in an
organization:

 Corporate Strategy : This level outlines what you want to achieve: growth,
stability, acquisition or retrenchment. It focuses on what business you are
going to enter the market.

The corporate strategy typically fits within the three main categories:
 - Stability Strategy : Firm using stability strategy tries to hold on to their
current position in the product market. The firms concentrate on the
same products and in the same markets.

- Growth Strategy : It is also called as expansion strategy, when a firm

aims at substantial growth strategy. A growth strategy is one that an
enterprise pursues when it increases its level of objectives upward in
significant increment, much higher than an exploration of its past
achievement level.

- Retrenchment Strategy : This strategy is often used in order to cut

expenses with the goal of becoming a more financial stable business. As
examples : Turnaround strategy, Divestment, Liquidation.

 Competitive/Business level strategy: Business-Level Strategies concern how

an organization should compete, whereas Corporate-Level Strategies
concern in what businesses an organization should compete. According to
the Business-Level Strategies theory, there are two types of competitive
advantage that an organization must choose between:

- Cost Leadership: ensuring you cost less than your competitors.

- Differentiation: ensuring you are different from your competitors.

There are also two types of competitive scope than an organization must choose
between:

- Broad market: serving a diverse market.

- Narrow market: focusing on a niche market.

 Operational/Functional level strategy : This level concentrates on how an

organization is going to grow. It defines daily actions including allocation of
resources to deliver corporate and business level strategies. Functional Level
Strategy can be defined as the day to day strategy which is formulated to
assist in the execution of corporate and business level strategies.

o Types of Strategy formulation : Strategies may come about in different ways and
Mintzberg and Waters (1985) has recognized that there are different modes of strategy
formulation, which are described below. According to Mintzberg and Waters, strategies
can be deliberate or emergent or a stage in-between. There is a corporate intent
followed by its implementation. Sometimes this intent is not formally written down but
emerges over time as part of the culture, as a series of related decisions. Meanwhile,
various types of strategies uncover:

 The planned strategy : The planned strategy aims at realizing the intentions
of the authority without much distortion.

 The ideological strategy : clear and collective intentions are embedded in

the behaviour of everyone in the company, and actions are therefore highly
deliberate. It differs from the planned strategy in that an authority does not
impose it, and there is therefore some tolerance for emergent strategy.

 The entrepreneurial strategy : The owner has a strong control over the
organization and is able to impose his vision. The key difference with the
ideological strategy is that the employees don’t share the vision.
 The umbrella strategy : the umbrella strategy, in which the leader doesn’t
have tight control over the members of the organization and the
environment. The management therefore provides general guidelines that
rule the behaviour of the actors: emergent strategies are accepted within
these boundaries.

 The process strategy : When confronted to an even more uncertain

environment, leaders can’t impose boundaries. Instead, they define the
process of strategy formation, based on which patterns of actions emerge.
This is the process strategy, in which the management doesn’t have direct
control on the content of the strategy.

 The unconnected strategy : depending on what they are experiencing and

how the environment is evolving, they decide on a common relevant pattern
that the organization must follow, This is a consensus strategy.

 The imposed strategy : As soon as the organization loses control over its
own strategy formation, it has an imposed strategy. It is the environment
that dictates the strategy of the organization and the company has no other
option than consenting.