IB Business & Management
Topic 6 – Strategy
HL ONLY
Understand the meaning of business strategy
and strategic management
Discuss the three key elements of the strategic
framework – Strategic analysis, Strategic
choice, Strategic implementation
Recommend and evaluate business strategy in
a variety of business contexts
Strategic Implementation
– Process of
allocating and controlling resources to support
the chosen strategies
• Final section of strategic management process
• Putting into effect or carrying out the idea
Strategic Implementation
• Without effective implementation there can
be no effective change within an organisation
• Implementing a major strategic change is a
very important cross functional management
task
Strategic Implementation
• Involves ensuring that all the following factors
are in place:
– Appropriate organisational structure to deal with
the change
– Adequate resources
– Well motivated staff
– Leadership style and culture that will allow change
to happen
– Control and review systems to monitor the firms
progression towards the desired final objectives
Strategic Implementation
• Processes used and issues raised by strategic
implementation:
– Planning for changes in size
– Implementation of marketing strategies
– Reviewing management\leadership styles
– Adoptions of corporate social responsibility and
ethical approaches
– Strategies to globalise operations
– Management of change
Corporation Culture & Strategic
implementation
• How does a corporation's culture affect a
strategic implementation?
– Consider how different organisations with different
cultures introduce important changes
– EG. Business with power culture wont consult or
communicate with staff, the changes will be imposed
on them, this approach could stir up resentment
– EG. Businesses that operate with task or people based
cultures more likely to encourage participation and
staff may be willing to accept chnage
Corporation Culture & Strategic
implementation
Strong and weak culture
Promotes and facilitates successful
strategy implementation.
Widespread sharing of common
beliefs , practices and norms within
the business. Nearly everyone has
accepted what the business stands
for. This energises people to
promote successful strategy as they
will want it to be successful.
Employees may have no agreed set of
beliefs and there is no pride in ownership
of work. People may form their own
groups within this type of organisation,
based around cultures that conflict with
the weakly expressed business culture.
Provide little or no assistance to strategic
implementation.
Evaluating the importance
• Significance and power of an organisations
culture to drive people’s behaviour and
attitudes shouldn’t be underestimated
• Most employees do not want to be seen as
doing the ‘wrong thing’
Evaluating the importance
Examples
• The values of a business establish the norms of
behaviour of staff – what is acceptable and what
isn't, is it acceptable for an organisation to accept
bribes ‘as long as we are not found out’?
• Culture determines the way in which company
managers and workers treat each other, if CEO is
open and receptive to new ideas and proposals
from senior managers, then this will filter through
the whole organisation
Evaluating the importance
• Distinctive organisational culture can support a
business’s brand image
• Culture determines not just how strategic
decisions are made and implemented but also
the type of strategic decisions that are taken
• Organisational culture has been clearly linked to
the economic performance and long term success
of organisations. Businesses dedicated to
continuous improvement with staff involvement
have been shown to be more profitable in the
long term