Three basic questions must be answered by managers of organizations of all sizes as they begin the process of crafting strategy:

• What is our present situation?

• Where do we want to go from here?

• How are we going to get there?

After you have read the Participant’s Guide or Player’s Manual for the strategy simulation exercise that you will participate in during this academic term, you and your co-managers should come up with brief one- or two-paragraph answers to these three questions prior to entering your first set of decisions. While your answer to the first of the three questions can be developed from your reading of the manual, the second and third questions will require a collaborative discussion among the members of your company’s management team about how you intend to manage the company you have been assigned to run.

1. What is our company’s current situation? A substantive answer to this question should cover the following issues:

• Is your company in a good, average, or weak competitive position vis-à-vis rival companies?

• Does your company appear to be in a sound financial condition?

• Does it appear to have a competitive advantage, and is it likely to be sustainable?

• What problems does your company have that need to be addressed?

2. Where do we want to take the company during the time we are in charge? A complete answer to this question should say something about each of the following:

• What goals or aspirations do you have for your company?

• What do you want the company to be known for?

• What market share would you like your company to have after the first five decision rounds?
• By what amount or percentage would you like to increase total profits of the company by the end of the final decision round?
• What kinds of performance outcomes will signal that you and your co-
managers are managing the company in a successful manner?
3. How are we going to get there? Your answer should cover these issues:
• Which one of the basic strategic and competitive approaches discussed in this chapter do you think makes the most sense to pursue?
• What kind of competitive advantage over rivals will you try to achieve?
• How would you describe the company’s business model?
• What kind of actions will support these objectives?