Value stream mapping is a framework that could be used by the line-managers to identify the types of wastages in a value chain. The goal of value stream mapping is to identify, demonstrate and decrease the waste. Value stream mapping identifies the non value adding activities in a process and eliminates wastage due to non-value adding activities. It focuses on visual maps the flow of materials and information from the time products come in the back door as a raw material through all manufacturing raw materials. In this frame work, the line-manager could be able to track the process flow and value addition to the product in every activity. Whenever a non value adding activity is identified then it is called as waste. 1. Value stream mapping to identify the type of wastage Value-adding steps are drawn across the center of the map and the non-value-adding steps be represented in Continue reading
Strategic Management Terms
Prescriptive and Emergent Approaches to Corporate Strategy
The concept of corporate strategy battles with the perennial issue of determining the overall purpose and scope of an organisation. From a contemporary perspective, it involves the specification of long-term goals and objectives that will add value to the business and cope with the uncertainty of modern times. As a practice, it consists of adopting courses of action and allocating resources in ways necessary for carrying out the overall objectives. Widely recognized as the most principal theories for strategy development, the prescriptive and emergent approaches must be examined within the context of an increasingly dynamic, highly competitive and global business environment. Powerful external forces are driving organisations to reduce costs, enhance processes and identify new opportunities for growth. Many businesses are compelled to make dramatic improvements not only to compete and prosper but also merely to survive. This brings to the fore the importance of determining how effectively the prescriptive Continue reading
Strategy Implementation
Business Strategy can be described as the plan which guides organizations in the selection and application of resources that will help them obtain a competitive advantage. It is more concerned with how a business competes in a particular market. It consists of strategic decisions about the choice of products, meeting the needs of customers, exploiting/creating opportunities, etc. In simple terms, it can be defined as a plan that says where a business/organization wants to go and how it envisages getting there. Often the difference between the market leaders and other players in the industry is the ability to execute strategy. Effective strategy implementation involves getting people’s buy in, choosing the right metrics and tracking performance on an ongoing basis. Much of strategy implementation involves managing change. So the behavioral issues involved, must not be overlooked. Effective strategy implementation allows the company to be more successful in pursuing a cost leader Continue reading
External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix
An External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix allows strategists to summarize and evaluate economic, social, cultural, demographic, environmental, political, governmental, legal, technological, and competitive information. EFE Matrix indicates whether the firm is able to effectively take advantage of existing opportunities along with minimizing the external threats. Similarly, it will help the strategists to formulate new strategies and policies on the basis of existing position of the company. External factors are extracted after deep internal analysis of external environment. Obviously there are some good and some bad for the company in the external environment. That’s the reason external factors are divided into two categories opportunities and threats. Opportunities are the chances exist in the external environment, it depends firm whether the firm is willing to exploit the opportunities or may be they ignore the opportunities due to lack of resources. Threats are always evil for the firm, minimum no of threats in Continue reading
The 10-P Framework of Global Strategic Management
The 10-P framework for globalization symbolizes the aspirations and needs of employees and organizations in the new competitive settings. It comes a long way from the initial impetus provided to the subject by Michael Porter in his book Competitive Strategy (1980), and goes beyond his purely industrial organization perspective. The framework operationalizes the 4-Diamonds for a nation’s competitive advantage of Porter. The 10-P framework integrates theory of strategic management and practice of business policy and provides a structure for the practicing manager to evaluate competitiveness at regular intervals. The 10-P framework explores a fine `fit’ between the soft and hard strategic choices. It seeks a self-motivated network of stakeholders who are able to self-actualize a high sense of satisfaction, self-worth, liberty and freedom in business organizational settings. True to the vision of a world-class organization, the central fulcrum in the framework is a PEOPLE-ORIENTATION – both inside and outside the Continue reading
Organizational Goals – Meaning and Definition
Organizational goals can be defined as broad statements of what the organization wants to achieve in the long run, or on a permanent basis. Goals are broad objectives. Goals are fairly timeless statements. Goals and objectives are properly defined. If they are vague or ill-defined, it may not be possible to measure the performance of the organization. The clarity of goals and objectives is quite often more evident to the initial employers and promoters of institutions. With expansion of activities and joining of new member, goals and objectives as perceived by participants tend to get diffused. Different key managers may have different perceptions about goals and objectives. It is because of this that organizations insist on proper induction of new entrants to the philosophy of the organization. External pressures, sometimes political in nature, may force an enterprise to alter its goals and objectives, particularly in the case of public institutions, Continue reading