Strategy Planning 7

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The Nature of Technology and Technological Change

In the readings for this week, you will find widely varying debates about the nature of technology and technological change, as well as the ways in which technology interacts with organizational processes. To prepare for this assignment, review the required readings for this week and read the three articles below.

Your well-written paper should meet the following requirements:

  • Be 3-4 pages in length, which does not include the required title page or reference page, which are never a part of the content minimum requirements.
  • Use APA style guidelines.
  • Support your submission with course material concepts, principles, and theories from the textbook and at least two scholarly, peer-reviewed journal articles unless the assignment calls for more.

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Corporate Strategy ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 1 Learning Objectives By the time you have completed this topic you will be able to: •be familiar with the concepts of economies of scope, transaction costs and the costs of managing complexity, and understand how these ideas help to explain firm boundaries and the shifts in firm boundaries over time •understand the rationale behind multi-business activity and the potential benefits and costs of extending the horizontal or vertical scope of a firm •be able to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of changing a firm’s scope and the different ways of exploiting opportunities for value creation •appreciate the trends in diversification and vertical integration over time •be familiar with the techniques of portfolio analysis and be able to apply them to corporate strategic decisions ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 2 The Scope of the Firm • Product scope - How wide a range of products does the firm supply? • Vertical scope - What range of vertically linked activities does the firm encompass? • Geographical scope - What is the geographical spread of the firm’s activities? Does it compete locally or globally? ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 3 Key Concepts for Analyzing Firm Scope • Economics of scope – are the cost economies that arise from increasing the output of multiple products. • Transaction costs – are the costs of market transactions. When the costs of administering transactions within the firm are lower than the costs of market transactions, the firm grows in size and scope. • The costs of corporate complexity – impose limits to the firm’s growth in size and scope ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 4 The Scope of the Firm: Specialization vs. Integration In the integrated firm there is an administrative interface between the different vertical units (V), product units (P), and country units (C). Where there is specialisation, each unit is a separate firm linked by market interfaces. Which arrangement is more efficient depends upon economies of scope, transaction costs and costs of complexity. ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 5 Diversification: Motives • Growth – A powerful motive for managers—but growth without profitability does not create value for shareholders. Growth through acquisition a major destroyer of shareholder value. • Risk spreading – Diversification tends to reduce fluctuations in profits; but this does not necessarily create value for shareholders. • Value creation – For diversification to create shareholder value it must exploit some linkage (“ create synergy”) between the different businesses, e.g. by: o exploiting economies of scope o operating an efficient internal capital market o operating an internal labour market ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 6 When Does Diversification Create Value?: Porter’s “Three Essential Tests” • The attractiveness test – the industries chosen for diversification must be structurally attractive or capable of being made attractive. • The cost-of-entry test – the cost of entry must not capitalise all the future profits. • The better-off test – either the new unit must gain competitive advantage from its link with the corporation, or vice versa. ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 7 Vertical Integration: Benefits and Costs Benefits Costs Technical economies from integrating processes Differences in optimal scale between different stages of the production process Avoids transactions costs in vertical exchanges; especially where there are: • Small number of firms • Transaction-specific investments • Limited information Limits flexibility in responding to changes in demand and in technology. However, may enhance system-wide flexibility Superior coordination Incentive problems May compound risk ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 8 The Vertical Chain for Steel Cans ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 9 Vertical Integration Versus Outsourcing: Some Key Considerations Characteristics of the vertical relationship Implication Number of firms in the vertically adjacent activity A smaller number of firms means greater transaction costs and bigger advantages of VI Necessity of transaction-specific investments by either party Transaction-specific investments increase the advantages of VI Distribution of information between vertical stages Greater information asymmetries increase the likelihood of opportunistic behavior; thus the advantages of VI are greater Presence of taxes or regulations on market transactions in intermediate products Taxes and regulations are a cost of market contracts that can be avoided by VI Degree of uncertainty of the circumstances of the transactions over the period of the relationship Greater uncertainties concerning costs, technologies, and demand, imply greater difficulty of writing contracts, and the greater the advantages of VI Similarity of the two stages in terms of optimal scale of operation Greater dissimilarity implies greater advantages of market contracts as compared to VI Strategic similarity of the two stages (similar KSF, common R/C) Greater strategic similarity implies greater advantages of VI over OS Need for continual in upgrading and extending capabilities whithin individual activities The greater the need to invest in capability development, the greater the advantages of OS over VI Need for entreprenurial flexibility and drive in the separate vertical activities Greater need for entrepreneurship and flexibility implies greater advantages of high-powered incentives provided by market contracts, and greater administrative disadvantages of VI Degree of uncertainty in market demand Greater unpredictability values the flexibility advantages of OS Does vertical integration compound risk, exposing the entire value chain risks affecting individual stages? The heavier the investment requirements and the greater the indipendent risks at each stage, the more risky is VI ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 10 Different Types of Vertical Relationship ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 11 Managing the Corporate Portfolio: the BCG Growth-Share Matrix ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 12 The GE/McKinsey Portfolio Planning Matrix ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 13 The Heartland Matrix: The Potential for Parenting Advantage ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 14 Industry Evolution and Strategic Change ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 1 Learning Objectives By the time you have completed this topic you will be able to: •recognise the different stages of industry development and understand the factors that drive the process of industry evolution; •identify the key success factors associated with industries at different stages of their development and the strategies appropriate to different stages in the industry life cycle; •appreciate the sources of organizational inertia that act as barriers to change; •be familiar with different approaches to strategic change, including the quest for ambidexterity and the use of tools of strategic change management; •be familiar with the concept of ‘dynamic capabilities’ and how firms can anticipate change and shape their futures; •be aware of different approaches that firms have taken in developing organizational capabilities. ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 2 The Industry Lifecycle The two major forces that drive industry evolution are: • Demand growth • The production and diffusion of knowledge ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 3 Product and Process Innovation Over Time Once a dominant design emerges, the focus of innovation shifts from product innovation to process innovation ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 4 Innovation and Renewal in the Industry Life Cycle: US Retailing ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 5 Industry Structure and Competition Over the Life Cycle Introduction Growth Maturity Decline Demand Early adopters Rapidly increasing market penetration Replacement/ repeat buying; price sensitive customers Obsolescence Technology Competing technologies; rapid product innovation Standardization; rapid process innovation Diffused know-how; incremental innovation Little innovation Products Wide variety of features & designs Design & quality improve; dominant design emerges Commoditization; brand differentiation Differentiation difficult Manufacturing & Distribution Short runs; skill intensive Capacity shortage, mass- production Over-capacity emerges; deskilling of production Over-capacity Trade ------Production shifts from advanced to developing countries Competition Few companies Entry, mergers and exits Shakeout & consolidation Price wars & exits Key Success Factors Product innovation Design for manufacture Process innovation Cost efficiency (scale economies, low-cost inputs) Low overheads; rationalization; buyer selection Why is Organizational Change So Difficult? Organizational routines Complementarities and fit Limited search ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com Social and political structures Conformity 7 Coping With Technological Change • Competence-enhancing and competencedestroying technological change (Tushman & Anderson, 1986). • Architectural and component innovation (Henderson & Clark, 1990). • Disruptive technologies (Christensen, 2000). ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 8 Tools of Strategic Change Management Tool Creating perceptions of crisis Establishing stretch targets Creating organizational initiatives Reorganization and new blood ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com Example Jack Welch at General Electric Paul O’Neill at Alcoa Intel’s product development turnaround Dave Lewis succeeding Philip Clarke as CEO of Tesco 9 Dynamic Capabilities • A firm’s ability to integrate, build and reconfigure internal and external competences to address rapidly changing environments (Teece et al. 1997 p.516). • The organizational and strategic routines by which firms achieve new resource configurations as markets emerge, collide, split, evolve and die (Eisenhardt & Martin. 2000 p.1107). ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 10 Scenario Planning Identifying driving forces ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com Identifying critical uncertainties Developing plausible scenarios Considering implications 11 Shaping the Future ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 12 Developing New Capabilities • Key issues include: o Path dependency o Integrating resources to create capability o Developing capabilities sequentially ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 13 Phased Development at Hyundai Motor ©2015 Robert M. Grant & Judith Jordan www.foundationsofstrategy.com 14
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Outline
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Introduction

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Conclusion

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References


Running Head: THE NATURE OF TECHNOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGICAL
CHANGE

The Nature of Technology and Technological Change
Name
Institution

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THE NATURE OF TECHNOLOGY AND TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE
The Nature of Technology and Technological Change
The business world rapidly changes. Some changes are internal while others are external
and for an organization to remain competitive in this kind of environment it needs to put
strategies in place that enable it to adjust to the environment. If a business does not put up
strategies that enable it to be dynamic, then it will soon be phased out by other better-prepared
organizations. Some of the external and internal environmental factors that affect business are
disruptive technologies in the industry, competition, financial constraints, expanding market, and
employee factors like inability to find a person with the right skills for the vacant positions
among others (Teece, 2013).
Dynamically capable organizations continue to adapt their resource base to changing
factors that are both external and internal. For an organization to be dynamically capable, it
should continually do the following four things. First, the organization should foster an
environment that fosters learning. Second, an organization should build new assets regula...


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