Dev Joshi
w/ Management Society
 Tips
 Examples
 Cover
to use in essays
TWO Business Strategy extra readings

Colin’s course is comprehensive and he does
what he says  not out to trick you

Listen for hints/tips/areas that may come up in
the exam

Plan the essay CLEARLY, with examples

Intro, middle and conclusion

Prepare examples and cases, not just theory

Draw diagrams/models if it adds to your answer
Suggested Resources/Areas not to forget
Non-linear nature of
strategy
Johnson et al.
Exploring Corporate Strategy
Frameworks
Shortcomings of the frameworks
(5Fs/SWOT/PESTEL etc) Apply to examples within
industries/companies
5Fs
Porter, ME (2008) The Five Competitive
Forces That Shape Strategy. Harvard
Business Review
Breakout Strategy
System
Johnson et al.
Exploring Corporate Strategy
SWOT
Don’t forget the strategic options
Emergent Markets
Established Markets
Taking by
storm
True Originals
•Sony
•Google
•Apple iTunes
Revolutionaries
•Low-cost carriers
•Ikea
Laggard to
Leader
Wave Riders
•Apple
•Spotify/Amazon Music
•Ryanair
Big Improvers
•Tesco
Expanding
Horizons
Boundary Breakers
•Starbucks
Conquistadors
•Arcelor Mittal
Shifting Shape
Early Adapters
•Dell
Power Players
•IBM
•Lanover
Subtitles found in the article:
1. Operational Effectiveness is not Strategy
2. Strategy rests on Unique Activities
3. Sustainable Strategic Position requires
trade-off
4. Fit drives both Competitive Advantage and
Sustainability
5. Rediscovering Strategy
Great examples, particularly Southwest
Airlines and their business model
In order of importance:
 Colin’s lectures


any company he has mentioned in his lectures
any sector he has hinted at
NOTE:Past paper qns have inc. Sectors e.g.
tech or pharma, specific companies such as
Apple and Google
 Read the FT
 Other modules such as OBHRM and ISIH
 See
word documents for summaries/extracts
from FT for examples of companies that
highlight various parts of the course made by
Group Project Group
 Read
the FT if you can
 http://money.cnn.com/2011/08/24/news/co
mpanies/gm_report_card.fortune/index.htm
 New CEO – Dan Akerson return GM to largest
automaker
 ‘Frozen middle’  middle mgt layer. So
removed the old matrix mgt. System to get
closer to car model decisions (strategic
change and corporate failure)
 Fresh thinking  Ikea kitted offices rather
than designer
 Greater autonomy to section heads
 Change in strategy from old trucks
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/08/25/howapple-works-inside-the-worlds-biggest-startup/
 Top-down management style and leadership 
Top 100 (Apple elite)
 Good vertical communication
 Great team coordination  ‘command-andcontrol structure’ where ideas are shared at the
top. ‘Sony had too many divisions to create the
iPod’
 Vision, mission, culture, etc
 Sustainability  focus on institutionalising his
way of doing business

 Look
at the diagram  simplifies
understanding
 Links
to both Apple and GM article
 http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/
08/23/why-mcdonalds-wins-in-any-economy/
 Satisfying customers, even at expense of self
 Tight management team, backing them even
if he didn’t always agree with them
 Changed strategy to increasing sales at
existing stores rather than opening new ones
 Sustainability  leadership institute
(Hamburger U) and culture that ‘good no.2s
don’t usurp bosses authority’ but each
executive trains at least 2 successors
 http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/18/news/co
mpanies/morris_nooyi.fortune/index.htm
 Leadership change  direction of company
 Strategy change
 Five Forces  competitors (Coke), suppliers,
buying out substitutes (Naked Juice and
Vitamin Water)
 SWOT analysis potential
 http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2007-
04-29/wal-marts-midlife-crisis
 Long article
 Needs-based positioning gone wrong
 Incorrectly stratified the market
 Bad reputation of stores and treating staff
(CSR?)
 Compare with Tesco model
 Mahi
Gill, Krishan Patel, Miraj Patel, Abbas
Dewji and Namrata Gandhi for their
contributions of cases
 Namrata
Malhotra, OB-HRM lecturer 2011/12
for a great course
 dj408@ic.ac.uk
 Good
 See
luck for upcoming assignments/exams
you next term for more :D