Unit 8: Strategic Evaluation & Leadership

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers key concepts of strategic evaluation, Rumelt's criteria, David's evaluation characteristics, and the contingency planning process as discussed in Unit 8.

Strategy Evaluation

The final stage of the strategic management process that provides a control loop to determine the successful implementation of corporate, competitive, functional, and global strategies.

Accuracy

A key characteristic outlined by David (2007) where adequate feedback is vital for strategy evaluation.

Timely

A characteristic where feedback must be provided quickly to be critical for strategy evaluation and decision making.

Action Oriented

Evaluation that reflects current economic reality to allow strategic leaders to make sound decisions.

Economical

A characteristic indicating that too much or too little information can be harmful, and too many controls can be detrimental rather than helpful.

Meaningful

Evaluation that takes into consideration the objectives and goals of a firm, acknowledging both short-term and long-term focuses.

Consistency

A criterion from Rumelt (1980) stating that organizational strategies should have uniform goals and policies.

Consonance

A criterion from Rumelt (1980) involving the scrutiny of a set of trends, as well as individual trends, when evaluating strategies.

Feasibility

A criterion from Rumelt (1980) assessing if a strategy can be attempted within the physical, human, and financial resources of the enterprise.

Advantage

A criterion from Rumelt (1980) stating that a strategy must create and maintain a competitive advantage in terms of resources, skills, or position.

Balanced Scorecard

A helpful tool used to evaluate strategies and ensure organizational goals are met.

Contingency Planning

Planning ways to deal with unfavorable and favorable events before they occur, involving alternative plans that can be put into effect if key events do not occur as expected.

Trigger Points

A step in the contingency planning process used to calculate when contingency events may occur.

Action Plans

Advance plans developed to allow full capitalization of lead time during contingency implementation.

Corrective Action

The process of making changes to competitively reposition a firm for the future and ensure it does not stray too far from stated objectives.

Activity One (Strategy Evaluation Framework)

The step involving the review of the underlying bases of strategy, including the preparation of revised IFE and EFE matrices.

Activity Two (Strategy Evaluation Framework)

The step involving measuring organizational performance by comparing planned to actual progress towards meeting stated objectives.

Activity Three (Strategy Evaluation Framework)

The final step in the framework which involves taking corrective actions if significant differences occur.

Internal Factor Evaluation (IFE) Matrix

A matrix revised during strategy evaluation to determine if major changes have occurred in the firm’s internal strategic position.

External Factor Evaluation (EFE) Matrix

A matrix revised during strategy evaluation to determine if major changes have occurred in the firm’s external strategic position.