Kindly show your workings clearly.

You have been hired as a Management trainee assisting the Head of Strategy for a multinational Company. Your immediate boss has requested you to brief him on your understanding of the Strategic Management process. In his request to you, he admitted that, there are a number of approaches but he indicated his preference for the one adopted by Pearce and Robinson. You are therefore required to answer the following questions in an attempt to explain the strategic management process;

In one of the definitions used by Pearce and Robinson, Strategic management was described as the "art and science of formulating, implementing and evaluating cross- functional decisions aimed at achieving organizational goals"; Briefly discuss the context in which strategic management could be described as 'an art' and when it also could be described as 'a science'. (4 marks)

Describe the strategy formulation process; clearly explaining three major activities that are undertaken at this stage? (3 marks)

Distinguish between business level strategies and corporate level strategies. (3 marks) Total = (10 marks)

Question Two

Organizations formulate and implement policies and strategies that are shaped by the forces within the external and internal business environment. University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA) is one organization that has initiated a number of policies over that past decade. This include the establishment of the Centre for International Education and Collaboration (CIEC), the Law faculty, development of MPhil programmes in Finance and Marketing, development of Open Distant learning programs among others.

You are required to analyse how the following factors/forces within the remote external environment could have influenced these policies that were formulated and implemented by UPSA.

a) The Political environment

b) TheEconomicenvironment

c) The Socio-economic environment

d) TheTechnologyenvironment

e) The legal/regulatory environment

Question Three

(10 marks)

There are a number of techniques employed to conduct an analysis of strategic options from which an organization can choose from to aid its attainment of long term objectives. As staff of

Lecturer - Kwame Fosu - Boateng

1

UT Holdings, co-opted into a business development committee, you have been tasked to do the following;

What is the Boston Consulting Group's Growth-Share-Matrix (BCG-GSM)

Present a well labelled graphical illustration of this model (Boston Box)

Explain each of the four quadrants in this matrix with appropriate strategies that may

work out for each quadrant. (10 marks)

Question Four

The industry environment plays a critical role in the profitability of a company. Hence, companies are to critically examine an industry towards ascertaining how its strategies success could be influenced by the industry factors. With the aid of a diagram, conduct an industry analysis of the carbonated drink industry assuming you are the business strategist working for NESTLE Milo Ghana Limited.

Question Five:

(a) A strategist has two broad approaches from which he/she can approach the development of strategies through the strategic management approach. Discuss the fundamental differences and similarities between "outside-in" and "inside-out" thinking about strategic management, and their influence on strategy. (4 marks)

(b) In examining the competitive dynamics within an industry, we discussed the need to first ascertain "the extent to which a company is a strong competitor" and the three (3) drivers of competitive behaviour. You are required to explain the two elements or basis used to determine the extent of competition from another company in the same industry and further explain the three (3) drivers of competitive behaviour. (6 marks)

Total = 10 marks

Question Six:

Understanding the common vocabulary used in strategic management is important to the application of its concepts.

Required:

There are four general steps in conducting an external environmental analysis starting with scanning of the environment. Briefly, explain all four steps. (2.5 marks)

Choose any organisation of your choice and employ the "SWOT Matrix" to demonstrate the current strategic position of the organization and clearly indicate the strategy options available to help match that organization's internal environmental elements against its external environmental elements. (5 marks)

Compare and contrast "strategic blunder" and "strategic drift"? (2.5 marks) Total = 20 marks

Lecturer - Kwame Fosu - Boateng

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Question Seven:

There are so many avenues through which the concepts of strategic management could be applied in real life.

Required:

With reference to the business model canvas (as discussed in class), illustrate how the nine (9) elements interact in ascertaining how a business can sustainably generate revenues. (3 marks)

Using an organization of your choice, practically demonstrate your understanding of the

organization's business model.

(7 marks).

Exercise 2.

Here is some balance of payments data for a country (in bln USD):

Merchandise export = 200

Merchandise import = 180

Primary income payments from abroad = 50

Primary income payments to non-residents = 70

Unilateral international transfers from abroad = 10

Unilateral international transfers to non-residents = 5

Capital account balance = 0

Change in foreign direct investment to abroad = 15

Change in foreign direct investment from abroad = -25

Balance on portfolio investmenti= 50

Balance on other investmentii= -80

Change in international reservesiii= -10

Net errors and omissions = -30

Find the balance on trade in services for the given period.

iii.

Answer the following questions.

In reporting on real GDP growth in the second quarter of 2016, an article on Reuters news noted that: "U.S. economic growth unexpectedly remained tepid in the second quarter as inventories fell" and also that the "inventory drawdown was almost across the board." Source: Lucia Matikani, "Inventory Reduction Curbs U.S. Economic Growth; Rebound Expected," reuters.com, July 20, 2016. If companies are drawing down inventories is aggregate expenditure likely to have been larger or smaller than GDP? O A. Smaller than GDP, because more is being bought than produced. O B. Larger than GDP, because less is being bought than produced. O C. Larger than GDP, because more is being bought than produced. O D. Smaller than GDP, because less is being bought than produced. The chief economist at UniCredit Research is quoted in the article as stating that: "The U.S. economy just went through a meaningful inventory correction cycle." What would an "inventory correction cycle" be? O A. A situation where companies deplete low levels of inventory to earn economic profits. O B. The process of companies increasing production levels to create more inventory. O C. A situation where inventory levels are held constant for stability. O D. The process of companies decreasing or increasing actual inventories to match planned inventories. The article states that: "Though the inventory drawdown weighed on GDP growth, that is likely to provide a boost to output in the coming quarters." Why would an inventory drawdown boost output in the coming quarters? O A. Once the firms are able to sell off their excess inventories, consumption will be lower. O B. Once inventories reach desired levels, firms will increase production to match expected planned aggregate expenditures. O C. This would indicate that the quantity of output demanded is greater than the quantity of output supplied, and production levels will rise. O D. An inventory drawdown would reduce storage costs, thus giving firms an incentive to produce more output.er/Downloads/Introductory%20Email%20Assignment%20.pdf Profile & Instructions: Assume you are a salesperson for a Hamilton-based company that designs and implements web sites for businesses. Assume that you have identified, researched and qualified a new prospect for your web site design services, and have learned the following about this prospective customer The prospect's company is named Lawn & Order Landscaping, and they provide residential and commercial outdoor landscaping services in Hamilton. Lawn and Order is a small but growing company and is owned and operated by David Lain. You have seen many of their crews working in the Hamilton area, which suggests the business is doing well, and you can see that their services are highly rated (5 stars) on customer review web sites. Lawn and Order currently has a web site, but it is just a single page and is poorly done. By contrast, they are running a radio ad that is professional and effective, as is the Lawn and Order company signage and sales literature that you have seen in the market. Lawn and Order recently won a Hamilton Spectator award as Top Landscaping Company in the Hamilton area, and has been recognized by Homestars.com (a home improvement services review web site), as a "Top Pick" in the landscaping category. The company you work for, Dynamic Web Creations, distinguishes itself by offering high quality web sites at affordable prices, and has successfully designed and launched over 20 web sites in the past 2 years. The company has several happy customers in the home services industry and specializes in designing mobile web sites. Dynamic Web Creations was recently ranked by Digital Business Magazine as the #1 web site design company in Ontario for Value and Design Capabilities. Your task: I Write an introductory Pre-Approach email to the owner of Lawn and Order Landscaping, David Lain. The goal of your email should be to introduce yourself and your company, generate interest, and secure a follow-up phone call. Be sure to follow the format and advice referenced in the 'Building Customer Relationships Chapter 7 slides and discussed in class