Strategy implementation is the transformation of chosen strategy into organizational action so as to achieve strategic goals and objectives. The journey towards success is a saga or penance, where your effort and concentration is focused only on achieving the goal. It can be compared to the blinkers of a horse to give direction and avoid distractions. Proper resource planning is the key factor that gives a practical shape to your strategies. The available resources should be put into optimum use. Corporate Resource Planning: Resource planning at the corporate level comprehensively covers the planning for physical resources, human resources, financial and intangible or intellectual resources like patents, copyrights, technology, trademark etc., at the macro level of the firm. These are needed for the corporates to achieve their vision and also give direction to the departments at the functional level. These resources are allocated after giving due consideration to the industry’s cycle position, competitor strength, technological changes in the industry, market share and the type of competition in the industry. Economic Models with Value Additions: For instance, automobile owners have tapped the customer psychology and are concentrating more on producing bug cars that is very appealing to the upper middle class families, since a four wheeler is more comfortable and safe to drive, well within the budget range, ideal for a nuclear family and at the same time serves the purpose of a status symbol. So, these car manufacturers become direct competitors for two wheeler producers. Even if say, 25 to 30 percent of two wheeler population is shifted to four wheeler usage it is a huge success to the car manufacturers. Tata Nano car, a brain child of Ratan Tata is one of its kind. He has capitalized on the middle class Indian frame of mind to go for economic models with value additions. “Nothing is permanent except change”, so in this fast moving business arena all business persons are subjected to the necessity of thinking new, if not big. Corporates concentrate more on their strategic business units which serve as functional units and also a part of an organization, say a factory or a showroom. The resources for each of these business units have to be planned. The human resource department has to play its part in a promising way as human personnel are the critical success factors of an organization that manipulate other resources efficiently. Product and Process Innovations: Product and process innovations are the need of the hour and corporates are spending huge amounts on research and development of new products and processes. It has to be kept in mind that the innovations have to reach the markets quickly in order have an edge over your competitors. Identify your strength Tap the unidentified needs of the consumer Allocate management responsibility for each task Set your priorities by resource rationing Test your key assumptions Whether your product is acceptable in the market Whether the technology is updated All of these help you in forming a strategic platform upon which strategic implementation is done. Rational and realistic assumptions are the basic premises on which your decisions have to be based. Adequate finance, machinery and maintenance, labor force, marketing mix, your product strength, critical success factors of your organization, everything has to be thoroughly analyzed and put into action for successful strategic implementation. Related Videos… Alternative Competitive Advantage Introduction to Strategic...

Management styles vary by company, level of management, and even from person to person. Let us see the different management styles practised in different parts of the world for your better understanding. Managerial practices in Asian countries  The managerial practices in Asian countries like Japan, China and India are quite different from that of economically advanced countries in the west. Industrial nations are in a position to adopt managerial approaches that suits their mode of operations and nature of labor force. In Asian countries, a paternalistic or participative leadership style is followed while directive style of leadership pattern suits the west. Basically, this difference arises due to the cultural background of people influenced by their tradition. Japanese management East Asian countries like Japan have a set of cultural norms that cannot be overlooked or sacrificed for the sake of business.  Their cultural instincts are very strong and they believe in life long employment. Japanese management practice lays emphasis on seniority and shows great concern for each and every employee.  The objectives are set by the lower level employees and it is passed on to the top level management for approval.  These proposals are scrutinized by the supervisors who tactfully suggest the necessary changes, instead of simply accepting or rejecting the proposed objectives. This creates a sense of belonging and the employees identify themselves with the goals of the company. Participative Style  You cannot assure that a participative style of decision making always proves beneficial. Sometimes, managers have to show their individualism by taking tough decisions, when the situation warrants for such an action. Here the leader also becomes the firm decision maker. This is quite common in the west, where the leaders identify themselves with the profession rather than the company. Such solo decision making sometimes result in sub-optimal decisions. We are not going to compare and contrast between the various management approaches and which is better. The discussion aims at throwing light on different approaches and styles of management and how it affects the productivity of an organization. https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=omtjfcspUOE&mid=39197&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.udemy.com%2Fcourse%2Fleadership-and-lean-management-masterclass%2F Collective Decision Making Japanese management relies on collective decision making (consensus), where the decision making might take time, but it is implemented quickly. The Japanese management is highlighted in this discussion to demonstrate the effectiveness of their approach which is followed by many western nations to ensure success. The novelty is in the fact that they treat people as human beings and not just another factor in production. The communication flows from bottom to top and back. Care is taken to define the problem with clarity before going for a decision. In the west, managers are criticized to come to conclusions even before defining the problem. https://click.linksynergy.com/deeplink?id=omtjfcspUOE&mid=39197&murl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.udemy.com%2Fcourse%2Fnew-manager%2F Bureaucracy Bureaucracy still prevails in most of the Asian countries hindering the progress of business communities. What started as an amazing administrative legacy has now turned authoritarian. Even if the employee knows what the manager says is incorrect; he has to obey the instructions, just because it is issued by his superior. The people are expected to follow the instructions provided and not to question or suggest. Collective Responsibility  Collective responsibility and accountability, an informal organizational structure, common organizational culture and competitive spirit makes participative management approach distinct and successful. When the leader acts as a facilitator and not a dictator, naturally the employees will try to give their best shot. Collective responsibility might sometimes lead to ambiguity of decision responsibility. But individual responsibility and accountability vouches for clear and specific decision responsibility. Quality control circle Quality control circle is another feature that distinguishes Japanese management from others. Workshops are organized in a periodic fashion to arrive at solutions for problem situations, be it worker welfare, bottlenecks or interpersonal skills. The focus is on group performance and peers help one another in enhancing the performance and...

What is Strategic Management There are three core elements to be discussed when it comes to strategic management. Analysis Decision Action Strategic management is nothing but taking the organization or project or process to the next higher level by implementing strategic actions. When we say strategic action or plan of action, it concerns both the internal and external environment thoroughly analyzed, to decide upon the future course of action. Strategic management is oriented towards future development with the present environment and past experiences serving as the premises.     Definition of important terms: Strategic Management: Strategic management consists of the analysis, decisions, and actions an organization undertakes, in order to create and sustain competitive advantages. Competitive Advantage: A firm having an edge over its competitors. For example, Narasus Coffee has established its foot hold very strongly in South India, because of its unique flavor. The advantage can be in the form of uniqueness, service, customer satisfaction or availability. Distinctive Competence: Strategy is all about being different from everyone else. Sustainable competitive advantage is possible only through performing different activities from rivals or performing similar activities in different ways. Think about this, if you do not keep your eyes and ears open as to how your competitors are planning to capture the market, where will you be in the next two or three years? Suppose you are running a restaurant that offers multicuisine menus, what will be your plan of action to make it distinctive from your competitors and where would you want the facility to be located? And how will you popularize your service? Crux of Strategic Management: So, what do we mean by strategic analysis? Analysis or interpretation of strategic goals of the organization and also of the internal and external environment of an organization. Vision Mission Goals Objectives All these are some of the means by which an organization devises its short term and long term plans and actions. Say, you are running a blog, your blog will be yet another blog among the millions of other blogs to start with. Two things to be considered if you want to survive and sustain. 1. Your blog should be unique in order to attract audience- Returning visitors are the key to success. 2. Search Engine Optimization is equally important to satisfy the search engines who are the carriers. In modern corporate firms, there is a separate wing established for strategic planning. Next is strategic decisions: Ask yourself the following questions! 1.What industries should we compete in? 2.How should we compete in those industries? 3.Domestic or international arena?   Broadly speaking, in an automobile industry a car manufacturer would have to compete both with competitors in his own niche and other niches, say two wheeler manufacturers. He must analyze why a person would want to buy a four wheeler instead of a bike, whether he owns a product that would satisfy the buyer in terms of service and features, what part of the demography he should target and what would be the value added services he might offer to the buyers, e.g., insurance and loan. Strategic decisions are taken by the owners or senior executives of the top level management.  Next, what do we mean by strategic action? 1. Allocation of resources- financial, human and other physical resources 2. Structuring the organization to bring the intended strategies to reality Focusing on two basic questions, 1· How should we compete in order to create competitive advantages in the marketplace? For example, managers need to determine if the firm should position itself as the low-cost producer, or develop products and services that are unique which will enable the firm to charge...