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Competing For Advantage. Part I – Strategic Thinking Chapter 2 – Strategic Leadership. Managerial Discretion. 1) Discretion – latitude for action or decision making How much influence do you really have? 2) Hubris – excessive pride, leading to a feeling of invincibility.
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Competing For Advantage Part I – Strategic Thinking Chapter 2 – Strategic Leadership
Managerial Discretion 1) Discretion – latitude for action or decision making How much influence do you really have? 2) Hubris– excessive pride, leading to a feeling of invincibility
Decision-Making Biases • Reliance on previously formed beliefs • Focus on limited objectives • Exposure to limited decision alternatives • Insensitivity to outcome probabilities • Illusion of control • Reliance on a limited set of heuristics or rules of thumb
Top Management Teams • Group composed of the CEO and key managers who are responsible for setting the direction of the firm and formulating and implementing its strategies
Factors that Influence the Effectiveness of Top Management Teams • Top management team heterogeneity • The CEO and top management team power • Executive succession processes
Heterogeneous Top Management Team • Introduces a variety of perspectives • Has a greater propensity for strong competitive action • Tends to "think outside of the box," leading to more creative decision making, innovation, and strategic change • Offers various areas of expertise to identify environmental opportunities, threats, or the need for change • Promotes debate
Heterogeneous Top Management Team Challenges • Cohesion • Communication • Comprehensive examination of threats and opportunities
The CEO and Top Management Team Power • CEO Duality - CEO also serves as chair of the board of directors to achieve power relative to the board • Independent Board Leadership Structure –the structure in which the board's ability to monitor top-level managers' decisions and actions (particularly in terms of financial performance) is enhanced by employing two different people to serve as CEO and board chair
CEO Duality • Is more common in the United States • Occurs most often in the largest firms • Is criticized for causing poor performance and slow response to change
Top Management Power • Members of top management can use their social and business ties with directors • Powerful CEOs can appoint members of the top management team or other sympathetic associates to serve on the board • CEO tenure
Executive Succession Processes • Process can be internal or external
Benefits of Internal Labor Market • Continuity • Continued commitment • Familiarity • Reduced turnover • Retention of "private knowledge"
Benefits of External Labor Market • Since tenure with the same firm is thought to reduce innovation, outsiders can bring • diverse knowledge bases • new social networks • ….which may offer new synergies and new competitive advantages
Effect of CEO Succession and Top Management Team on Strategy
What is strategic effectiveness? Consistent, long-term goals and objectives Consistent, long-term goals and objectives Reflects and understanding of the environment Strategic Effectiveness (fit) Takes resources into consideration Effectively implemented
Strategic Vision vs. Mission • A strategic vision concerns “wherewe are going” or ”what do we want to be.” • Markets to be pursued • Future product/ market/customer/ technology focus • Kind of company management is trying to create • The mission statement focuses on its “who we are and what we do” • Current product and service offerings • Customer needs being served • Technologicaland businesscapabilities
Mission Statements • Boundaries of the currentbusiness • Fundamental purpose that sets it apart from other firms of its type • Conveys • Who we are, • What we do, and • Why we are here
Objectives • Turns mission into performance outcomes • Organizations produce what is measured • Long and Short term
Control Systems • Financial Controls • focus on short-term financial outcomes • produce risk-averse managerial decisions • Strategic Controls • focus on the content of strategic actions • encourage decisions that incorporate moderate and acceptable levels of risk
Leading versus Lagging Indicators • Current financial results are “lagging indicators” reflecting results of past decisions and actions—good profitability now does not translate into stronger capability for delivering better financial results later • However, meeting or beating strategic performance targets signals growing competitiveness & strength in the marketplace, thus developing the capability for better financial performance in the years ahead • Good strategic performance is thus a “leading indicator” of a company’s capability to deliver improved future financial performance