BBA 4951 Unit III Assessment

BBA 4951 Unit III Assessment

1) Explain how you would motivate managers and employees to implement a major new strategy.

Motivating managers and employees within an organization can be a very daunting, but very rewarding task. One way that I would try and motivate managers and employees in implementing a major new strategy would be to include them in the strategic-management process. As detailed by David and David (2017, p. 62), “involvement in the strategic-management process can lead to understanding and commitment from organizational members” and “individuals appreciate having the opportunity to contribute ideas and to gain a better understanding of their firm’s industry, competitors, and markets.” I would begin by informing managers and employees of the new process and by soliciting ideas and inputs from them prior to implementation, after all, these are the people who will likely carry out the new strategy and may have some really good inputs and ideas. I would describe the new processes and how they will have a positive impact on the organization as a whole and also explain the company’s expectations of how the managers can help to carry out and implement the change. I would keep members involved and provide continuous updates as this may help in providing them with a sense of ownership in the new strategy. I will fully explain steps that need to take place in order to prepare for any possible upcoming changes to processes or procedures and how this may impact specific workflows as a means of preparing members for change. Additionally, I will try to motivate the employees by providing them with the tools and resources they need to be fully prepared to effectively implement the new strategies. Finally, I would tie the organizations vision and mission into the new strategy as a means to get managers and employees to buy in as these two “statements ideally are the passion behind the company, the foundation for employee morale, and the basis for customer loyalty” (David & David, 2017, p. 51).

Reference:

David, F. R., & David, F. R. (2017). Strategic management: A competitive advantage approach, concepts and cases (16th ed.) [VitalSource Bookshelf version]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780134167947

2) The global recession forced thousands of firms into bankruptcy. Does this fact alone confirm that external factors are more important than internal factors in strategic planning? Discuss.

According to Morah (2019), a recession is an event in which there is a significant decline in economic activity spread across an entire economy, lasting more than a few months, and is normally visible through the decline of real gross domestic product (GDP), real income, employment, industrial production, and also in wholesale retail sales. Additionally, other factors signifying a recession include an extended period of time in which businesses cease to expand, the GDP declines for two or more consecutive quarters, and the unemployment rate rises while home prices decline (Morah, 2019). As far as a global recession is concerned, to put it simply, a global recession would be signified by all of these factors occurring around the world simultaneously. While the global recession may have played a key role in thousands of organizations going bankrupt, I do not believe it would be solely responsible for this fact and does not make external factors more important than internal factors in terms of strategic planning. When it comes to strategic planning, organizations take into account the impacts that both internal and external factors may have on their businesses. In terms of the global recession, many firms would have accounted for the things to come by utilizing tools such as the external factor evaluation (EFE) matric. This is “a widely used strategic planning analytical tool designed to summarize and evaluate economic, social, cultural, demographic, environmental, political, governmental, legal, and competitive information” (David & David, 2017, p. 629). With this in mind, it can be seen that are indeed many external factors that may have lead to the bankruptcy of thousands of firms during the global recession, however this does not mean that these factors are more important than internal factors. While organizations must take into account external factors, they must also take into account internal factors such as budget constraints; which can have an impact on the resources an organization has available to allocate to specific strategies such as training employees, proper planning and providing finds for efficient operations (David & David, 2017). While the global recession likely played a key role in the bankruptcy of these organizations, I do believe that both external and internal factors are equally important in strategic planning.

Reference:

David, F. R., & David, F. R. (2017). Strategic management: A competitive advantage approach, concepts and cases (16th ed.) [VitalSource Bookshelf version]. Retrieved from https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780134167947https://online.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780134167947

Morah, C. (2019, June 25). What Causes a Recession? Retrieved from https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/08/cause-of-recession.asp