Ray Van Ness

Welcome to Strategic Management BMGT 682

My name is Ray Van Ness Please call me “Ray”

Greetings & Introductions Please take a minute and introduce yourself To the people sitting around you

My background… … the prism through which all information I give you is filtered ACCOUNTANT to EXECUTIVE to ENTREPRENEUR to PROFESSOR

20+ years in business followed by 30+ years of teaching: • Began as general accountant then… • Traveling Internal Auditor for International shoe manufacturing Corp. • Cost Accountant • Controller then entered finance and became … • Vice President of Finance, elected to board of directors, later elected as Executive VP, then President & CEO, then • Branched into business acquisitions (entrepreneurship) • Later, retired for a few days and decided to begin a second career • Here I am, 30 + years into my second career



It is –

More about PROCESS and

Less about NEW CONTENT Focus on thinking and acting in unique ways… Daring to challenge the status quo and still be likeable…

How will Your Course be conducted? • It will be EXPERIENTIAL with competing OPINIONS and energetic DISCUSSIONS and you should expect to experience CREATIVE TENSION • Strategic Concepts will be presented by you

• Case Studies will be presented by you • Merger Activities & Strategic Debates will be by you

This course will be conducted as a

Professional Development Workshop

It is about assessing corporate strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. 

It is about contemplating effective corporate strategies for capitalizing on strengths to take advantage of opportunities and minimizing weaknesses and threats. 

It is about refining TEAM WORK ABILITY 

It is about refining PEOPLE SKILLS 

It is about refining CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS 

It is about refining COMMUNICATION SKILLS   

Practice communicating technical information Practice communicating sometimes “dry” but important data Practice capturing and holding the attention of others



It is about refining POWER OF PERSUASION SKILLS  

Effective managers must develop strong persuasion skills Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, identified three methods of persuasion and effective managers have mastered each:  Logos = Persuasion by REASONING  Pathos = Persuasion by EMOTIONAL

APPEAL

 Ethos = Persuasion by CHARACTER

You are encouraged to practice each of these persuasion skills

Course Purposes and Objectives CRITICAL THINKING To create an environment that supports critical thinking and encourages creative problem solving

CREATIVE TENSION To provide an environment where differing opinions are seen as a valuable and productive source for CREATIVE TENSION. Thought: You learn more from the person who disagrees with you than from the one who agrees. SKILLS & TOOLS To add to your arsenal of management skills and abilities. PEER LEARNING To support and encourage the process of peer-to-peer (coworker) learning. Thought: Asking for and listening to opinions of coworkers offers not only a rich opportunity for learning but also the likely benefit of endearment.

EFFECTIVE EXPRESSION & PERSUASION To encourage and support the practice of expressing appropriate personal opinions, thoughts, concerns, and ideas in a persuasive manner.

Syllabus: Distribution & Discussion

Syllabus -- click

Formation of 6 Teams The Professor has divided the class into 6 distinct Teams Teams will elect (3) leaders for their team (President, VP, & Secretary)

BONUS: Pres earns 200 points, VP earns 150 points; Secretary earns 250 points

Team Assignments (see syllabus) Team 1: Team 2: Team 3: Team 4: Team 5: Team 6: Team 6: You will be presenting Chapter 2: Charting A Company’s Direction. Power Points are on the course website to help you with your planning. Select a MAXIMUM of 20 slides for your presentation. Team 1: You will be presenting Case 10: Chipotle – SEE pages 13-17 of your SYLLABUS for directions. Teams 2, 3, 4, & 5: Read Chapter 2 in the text AND read Case 10 – page C-114)

Members of teams 6 and 1 please see me immediately after class

Brief points… Thoughts about Strategy

Strategic Questions 1. What’s the company’s present situation? 2. Where does the company need to go from here? 3. How should it get there? A company’s answer to “How it will we get there?” is its strategy







Consists of Management’s competitive moves and business approaches Combines planning, decision-making, and actions

Strategies can be: OFFENSIVE (primary goal: grow market share; pressure competitors)

CONSERVATIVE (primary goal: avoid risks; minimize confrontations with strong competitors)



How to grow the business Strategy is HOW to . . .



How to please customers



How to outcompete rivals



How to manage each functional division (R&D, production, marketing, HR, finance, and so on)

 

How to respond to changing market conditions How to achieve a competitive advantage and targeted levels of performance

Successful firms develop bases for competitive advantage 1. Cost leadership (Advantage: Known for low prices) (Wal-Mart) 2. Differentiation (Advantage: Distinctive, desirable features to product or service) (Harley-Davidson)

3. Narrow market niche (Advantage: able to satisfy the need and desires of customers within a micro market) (Antique Car parts companies) 4. Developing superior expertise and resources (Advantage: able to make it difficult for competitors to replicate products or services) (Microsoft) 2 and 4 are very closely related

Strategies are always works in progress…



Shifting market conditions



Technological breakthroughs



New actions by competitors



Evolving customer preferences



Emerging market opportunities



Creative thinking



Crisis situations

Company strategies are generally partly Proactive and partly Reactive

Strategies planners ask:

In summary, Strategic planners think, plan, and act…. Now it’s your turn…

Movie, Meeting, Closing comments (1) Movie: Are Consumers Living beyond their means? What are the consequences of different consumer behavior? Case 11: In a Slumping Economy: A Shift in Shopping Habits [5.13min]

(2) Closing comments (3) Professor meeting with Team 6 and Team 1