Welcome to
Strategic Management
BMGT 682
My name is Ray Van Ness
Please call me “Ray”
Greetings & Introductions
Please take a minute
and introduce yourself
To the people sitting around you
My background…
… the prism through which all information I give you is filtered
ACCOUNTANT to EXECUTIVE to
ENTREPRENEUR to PROFESSOR
20+ years in business followed by 30+ years of teaching:
• Began as general accountant then…
• Traveling Internal Auditor for International shoe manufacturing Corp.
• Cost Accountant
• Controller then entered finance and became …
• Vice President of Finance, elected to board of directors, later elected
as Executive VP, then President & CEO, then
• Branched into business acquisitions (entrepreneurship)
• Later, retired for a few days and decided to begin a second career
• Here I am, 30 + years into my second career

It is –
More about PROCESS
and
Less about NEW CONTENT
Focus on thinking and acting in unique ways…
Daring to challenge the status quo and still be likeable…
How will Your Course
be conducted?
• It will be EXPERIENTIAL with competing OPINIONS and energetic
DISCUSSIONS and you should expect to experience CREATIVE TENSION
• Strategic Concepts will be presented by you
• Case Studies will be presented by you
• Merger Activities & Strategic Debates will be by you
This course will be conducted as a
Professional Development Workshop
It is about assessing corporate strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
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It is about contemplating effective corporate strategies for capitalizing on strengths to
take advantage of opportunities and minimizing weaknesses and threats.
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It is about refining TEAM WORK ABILITY
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It is about refining PEOPLE SKILLS
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It is about refining CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
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It is about refining COMMUNICATION SKILLS
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Practice communicating technical information
Practice communicating sometimes “dry” but important data
Practice capturing and holding the attention of others
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It is about refining POWER OF PERSUASION SKILLS
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Effective managers must develop strong persuasion skills
Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, identified three methods of persuasion and effective
managers have mastered each:
 Logos = Persuasion by REASONING
 Pathos = Persuasion by EMOTIONAL
APPEAL
 Ethos = Persuasion by CHARACTER
You are encouraged to practice each of these persuasion skills
Course Purposes and Objectives
CRITICAL THINKING
To create an environment that supports critical thinking and encourages
creative problem solving
CREATIVE TENSION
To provide an environment where differing opinions are seen as a valuable and
productive source for CREATIVE TENSION.
Thought: You learn more from the person who disagrees with you than from the
one who agrees.
SKILLS & TOOLS
To add to your arsenal of management skills and abilities.
PEER LEARNING
To support and encourage the process of peer-to-peer (coworker) learning.
Thought: Asking for and listening to opinions of coworkers offers not only a rich
opportunity for learning but also the likely benefit of endearment.
EFFECTIVE EXPRESSION & PERSUASION
To encourage and support the practice of expressing appropriate personal
opinions, thoughts, concerns, and ideas in a persuasive manner.
Syllabus: Distribution & Discussion
Syllabus -- click
Formation of 6 Teams
The Professor has divided the class into 6 distinct Teams
Teams will elect (3) leaders for their team
(President, VP, & Secretary)
BONUS: Pres earns 200 points, VP earns 150 points;
Secretary earns 250 points
Team Assignments (see syllabus)
Team 1:
Team 2:
Team 3:
Team 4:
Team 5:
Team 6:
Team 6: You will be presenting Chapter 2: Charting A Company’s Direction. Power Points
are on the course website to help you with your planning. Select a MAXIMUM of 20 slides for
your presentation.
Team 1: You will be presenting Case 10: Chipotle –
SEE pages 13-17 of your SYLLABUS for directions.
Teams 2, 3, 4, & 5: Read Chapter 2 in the text AND read Case 10 – page C-114)
Members of teams 6 and 1 please see me immediately after class
Brief points…
Thoughts about Strategy
Strategic Questions
1. What’s the company’s present situation?
2. Where does the company need to go from here?
3. How should it get there?
A company’s answer to
“How it will we get there?” is its strategy
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Consists of Management’s
competitive moves and business approaches
Combines
planning, decision-making, and actions
Strategies can be:
OFFENSIVE
(primary goal: grow market share; pressure competitors)
CONSERVATIVE
(primary goal: avoid risks; minimize confrontations with strong
competitors)
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How to grow the business
Strategy
is HOW
to . . .
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How to please customers
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How to outcompete rivals
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How to manage each functional division
(R&D, production, marketing, HR, finance, and so on)
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How to respond to changing market conditions
How to achieve a competitive advantage and
targeted levels of performance
Successful firms develop bases for competitive advantage
1. Cost leadership (Advantage: Known for low prices)
(Wal-Mart)
2. Differentiation (Advantage: Distinctive, desirable features to product or
service) (Harley-Davidson)
3. Narrow market niche (Advantage: able to satisfy the need and desires of
customers within a micro market)
(Antique Car parts companies)
4. Developing superior expertise and resources (Advantage: able to make it
difficult for competitors to replicate products or services)
(Microsoft)
2 and 4 are very closely related
Strategies are always works in progress…
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Shifting market conditions
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Technological breakthroughs
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New actions by competitors
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Evolving customer preferences
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Emerging market opportunities
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Creative thinking
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Crisis situations
Company strategies are generally partly Proactive and partly Reactive
Strategies planners ask:
In summary,
Strategic planners think, plan, and act…. Now it’s your turn…
Movie, Meeting, Closing comments
(1) Movie: Are Consumers Living beyond their means?
What are the consequences of different consumer behavior?
Case 11: In a Slumping Economy: A Shift in Shopping Habits
[5.13min]
(2) Closing comments
(3) Professor meeting with Team 6 and Team 1