In order to facilitate the sprinting stage for the participants in the 2013 csa examination, the csanet forum participants shared high frequency points in various subjects of the cai examination, with the hope that they would be of assistance to a wide range of candidates。
Strategic analysis, strategic choice and strategic implementation together constitute the corporate strategic cycle。
(i) strategic analysis (response to “current state of the enterprise”)
The main objective of the strategic analysis is to evaluate the key factors affecting the enterprise's current and future development and to identify the specific impact factors in the strategic selection steps. The strategic analysis comprises two main elements:
(1) external environmental analysis. Understanding what changes are taking place in the environment in which enterprises operate (including macro-level, industrial, competitive and market demand conditions) and whether these changes will increase opportunities or threats for enterprises。
(2) internal environmental analysis. Internal environmental analysis can be carried out in several areas, including the resources and capacities of enterprises, and the core competencies of enterprises. Strategic analysis needs to understand the relative position, resources and strategic capabilities of the enterprise itself, as well as the expectations of business-related stakeholders, how they respond in the process of strategic selection and implementation, and how they affect and constrain business behaviour。
The boston matrix, the generic matrix, and the swot analysis are commonly used strategic analysis tools。
(ii) strategic choice (response to “where the business goes”)
At the strategic selection stage, enterprises need to consider both the type of strategy available and the aspects of the strategy selection process。
1. Selected types of strategies
(1) overall strategic choice. Overall strategic options include three basic types of development strategy, stabilization strategy, and contraction strategy。
(2) strategic selection of business units. Competing strategies at the business unit level include three basic types of cost-lead strategy, differential strategy, and centralized strategy。
(3) strategic selection of functions. Functional strategies include marketing strategies, production operations strategies, research and development strategies, human resources strategies, financial strategies, information strategies, and so forth。
2. Strategic selection process
Johnson and schles proposed four components of the strategic selection process in 1989:
(1) develop strategic options. The more options available, the better. Enterprises can choose a top-down, bottom-up or bottom-up approach to strategic programming from a variety of perspectives, including security of corporate goals, motivation of middle- and lower-level managers, and coordination of strategic programmes in various sectors of the enterprise。
The main difference between the three approaches to strategy development lies in the degree of ownership and decentralization in strategy development. Enterprises can choose the appropriate strategy-setting approach from a variety of perspectives, including security of corporate objectives, motivation of middle- and lower-level managers, and coordination of strategic programmes in various sectors of the enterprise。
(2) assessment of strategic options. The assessment of options usually uses three criteria: the criteria of suitability, i. E. Whether the strategy chosen has served the firm's advantage, overcomes the firm's disadvantage, exploits the opportunities offered by the external environment, minimizes external threats and helps the enterprise achieve its objectives; the criteria of acceptability, i. E. Whether the strategy chosen is acceptable to business stakeholders; and the criteria of feasibility, i. E. Whether the enterprise has the resources and capacity to implement the strategy。
(3) select strategy. That is, final strategic decision-making, defining the strategies to be implemented. If the evaluation of multiple strategic programmes with multiple indicators results in inconsistent results, the final strategic choice may consider the following: 2 submitted to higher management for approval. External agencies are engaged。
(4) development of strategic policies and plans. Development of policies and plans in the research and development, capital needs and human resources sectors。
(iii) strategy implementation (response “how to translate strategy into practice”)
Strategic implementation translates the strategy into action, and in order to put it into practice, key decision-making is required。
(1) to be successful, an enterprise needs an effective organizational structure. The development of the organizational structure, which involves the allocation of job responsibilities and decision-making powers within the enterprise, requires the following decisions: the number of management levels in an enterprise is high or flat; decision-making power is centralized or decentralized; the type of organizational structure of an enterprise is adapted to the positioning of corporate strategy; and so on。
(2) the management of people and systems is important. Human resources are linked to the success and failure of strategy implementation, and the question of what kind of institutions are used to manage enterprises cannot be ignored。
(3) corporate politics plays an important role. The various groups within the enterprise have their own objectives and requirements, many of which are conflicting, so corporate political activity is part of the enterprise. These conflicts of interest can lead to rivalries and alliances that play a role in the strategic management of the enterprise。
(4) strategy implementation involves the selection of appropriate organizational coordination and control systems. The implementation of the strategy requires collective action and coordination among the various units within the enterprise, and enterprises must determine the criteria used to evaluate the effectiveness of the units and control their actions。
(5) to ensure the success of the implementation of the strategy, it is necessary to harmonize business strategies, structures, cultures and controls. Different strategies and environments require different corporate requirements and therefore require different structures, cultural values and control systems。
The practice of corporate strategic management has shown that while strategy development is important, strategy implementation is equally important. A good strategy is only a prerequisite for its success, and effective strategy implementation is the guarantee that corporate strategic objectives will be successfully achieved. On the other hand, if enterprises fail to formulate appropriate strategies well enough to overcome the shortcomings of the old strategies in their implementation, it may eventually lead to their improvement and success. Of course, if an imperfect strategic choice cannot be reversed in its implementation to the right track, there will be only a failure。
[treaties 3] strategic management is a circular process, not a one-time exercise, and the implementation of the strategy is continuously monitored and evaluated. Revision of original analysis, selection and implementation is a circular process。
