Strategic Management Lecture Notes

A collection of vocabulary terms and definitions from the Strategic Management lecture covering case styles, leadership, and strategy formulation.

Traditional Case (Erskine et al, 1981)

An actual administrative situation, commonly involving a decision or problem, that allows the student to step into the shoes of the decision maker.

Flipped Pedagogy

A teaching approach where out of class time is spent acquiring information and engaging in lower order learning via online tutorials, while in class time is spent analyzing, synthesizing, and creating usually in groups.

Strategic Management

The analyses, decisions, and actions an organization undertakes in order to create and sustain competitive advantages.

Analysis (Strategic Management Component)

A component consisting of strategic goals and the study of the internal and external environment of the firm.

Intended Strategy

Decisions belonging to the strategic management process that are determined only by analysis.

Realized Strategy

Decisions determined by both analysis and unforeseen environmental developments, unanticipated resource constraints, and/or changes in managerial preferences.

Zero sum view

A perspective of stakeholder management where stakeholders compete for attention and resources, such that the gain of one is a loss to the other.

Strategic Analysis

The "advance work" that must be done in order to effectively formulate and implement strategies; it serves as the starting point.

Strategy Formulation Levels

The development of strategy at several levels: Business-level, Corporate level, International, and Entrepreneurial.

Strategy Implementation

The process of ensuring proper strategic controls and organizational designs, and establishing effective means to coordinate activities within the firm and with external partners.

Local line leaders

A type of leader who has significant profit-and-loss responsibility.

Executive leaders

Leaders who champion and guide ideas, create a learning infrastructure, and establish a domain for taking action.

Internal networkers

Leaders who generate power through the conviction and clarity of their ideas.

Corporate governance

The relationship among various participants in determining the direction and performance of corporations.

Board of Directors

Elected representatives of the owners who ensure the interests and motives of management are aligned with those of the owners.

Social responsibility

The expectation that businesses or individuals will strive to improve the overall welfare of society.

Triple bottom line

An assessment of a company's performance in financial, social, and environmental dimensions.

Hierarchy of goals

A range of goals from those that are less specific yet massively inspiring to those that are more specific and measurable.

Organizational vision

A goal that is massively inspiring, overarching, and long term, representing a destination driven by passion.

Mission statement

A set of goals that include the purpose of the organization, its scope of operations, and the basis of its competitive advantage.

Strategic objectives

Specific, measurable, appropriate, realistic, and timely goals used to operationalize the mission statement.