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o The extent to which you understand a potential or current employer’s business
and strategies.
• Broaden Your Task and Functional Knowledge
• Set Aside Time to Reflect
• Engage in Lateral Thinking
o The concept of lateral thinking was developed by Dr. Edward De Bono to
Connect® Exercise
CLICK AND DRAG: Engaging in Lateral Thinking
Summary of Activity:
In this Click and Drag exercise, students will match the different types of hats to the appropriate
description.
Career Corner Group Exercise: Developing Lateral Thinking
Learning Objectives:
Students will enhance their ability to think strategically by engaging in lateral thinking
Click to view activity.
CAREER
READINESS
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MANAGEMENT IN ACTION
GENERAL ELECTRIC’S EVOLVING STRATEGY
Problem-Solving Perspective
1. What is the underlying problem in this case from CEO John Flannery’s perspective?
2. What are some of the causes of this problem?
3. Can GE survive as one organization? Explain why or why not.
Application of Chapter Content
1. Explain how GE is creating a “fit” among its activities at its factory in India.
GE recently spent $200 million on creating a “brilliant factory” in India that can make
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3. Develop a SWOT analysis for GE.
Student responses will vary, but their responses should utilize the information in Figure
6.3:
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Some examples include:
4. Is CEO Flannery employing a growth, stability, or defensive strategy? Is this different
than Immelt’s strategy? Explain.
5. Which of Michael Porter’s four competitive strategies is GE trying to follow? Explain.
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LEGAL/ETHICAL CHALLENGE
IS YOUR SCHOOL SELLING YOUR BANK ACCOUNTS?
Solving the Challenge
1. Sign a contract that provides the university with an incentive for each account opened.
Both the university and bank are providing students with special benefits. So it is all right
if the school is compensated based on volume?
2. Sign a flat-fee contract only. Schools should not receive an incentive for each account
opened, but they should be compensated for allowing the bank to have an increased
presence on campus.
3. Refuse to sign a contract. Schools should be neutral parties and not be promoting banks.
This may also be acceptable if a school wants to stay away from financial services once
4. Invent other options. Discuss.
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 6 Strategic Management: How Exceptional Managers Realize a
Grand Design
TEXTBOOK EXAMPLES
EXAMPLE: Evernote and Groove HQ Get Started with Strategic Planning
The Example describes how two small companies, Evernote (325 employees) and Groove HQ
(50 telecommuting employees) saw a need to try strategic planning. The focus of Evernote is to
identify its appropriate strategic position, away from broad needs many customers to few needs,
many customers. Groove HQ is focused on trying to do some basic corporate and business-level
strategic planning emphasizing revising its long-term goals, finding new customers, and
accelerating growth.
YOUR CALL
Why do you think Evernote and Groove temporarily lost sight of their strategic goals? Do you
agree with their CEOs about their plans for refocusing their respective companies? Why or why
not?
Do students feel that the constantly accelerating demands for new technology played a part? You
might ask them how many telephones they have owned, how frequently they expect new
products, new upgrades? Is it customer demand that is driving small companies to move faster
and expand further than they can sustain? You might also ask if they think Evernote can retain its
customer base if it cuts back on add-ons and new products. Will it be viewed as a failing
company rather than one that is merely focusing its strategy to better serve its customers?
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES
Have students go online and research small companies, their visions, missions, and strategic
goals. They could do this as individuals or as teams. You could use this as an in-class or out-of-
class activity. After your students have done the research, have them create posters about the
company and sponsor a poster session in class. Students should look at the posters and develop
hypotheses about what these small companies seem to have in common in their strategies. Can
they suggest ideas as to what seems to work best?
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EXAMPLE: SWOT Analysis: How Would You Analyze Toyota?
This example gives a simple summary of Toyota then delves into a detailed SWOT analysis of
the company.
YOUR CALL
1. Which internal strengths could Toyota make better use of in the future?
2. Which internal weaknesses are most important for Toyota to address?
3. Is Toyota situated to take advantage of all its current external opportunities?
4. Which external threats should it prioritize, and why?
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES
Have students watch the 4-minute YouTube video “Toyota: Past to Future.” This video details
Toyota’s history in the United States and plays up its ongoing commitment to research and
development, as well as corporate social responsibility. Consider asking students:
1. Did you realize Toyota has such a large presence in the United States?
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2. What elements of the Example’s SWOT analysis do you see reflected in the video?
3. Can you identify any internal strengths not discussed in the Example?
Return.
EXAMPLE: Developing Competitive Advantage: Who Dominates the Internet Economy
and Who’s Losing?
Five companies—Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, and Microsoft—dominate the Internet
economy. This Example delineates the competitive advantages held by each and also points out
YOUR CALL
If you can visualize a “frightful 5” Internet company losing its competitive advantage, how do
you think it would come about?
Students can be encouraged to think about the VRIO positions of each of these companies. Are
their core competencies valuable? Rare? Imitable? Organized for success? Students should also
think about the five companies in relation to the stack fallacy. Are any of them in danger of
sticking too close to their original ideas and not branching upward to expand into the next, best
thing? If they do try to move into the next layer of technology, do they truly understand what
customers want from that layer? For example, will Amazon succeed in the grocery industry? It
may understand what people want from an online shopping supercenter, but does it understand
what customers want in their grocery store?
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES
You can build on the Example by adding an article from Business Insider: “Dropbox Is Falling
Prey to a Common Fallacy.” This article examines competitive errors and the potential failure of
Dropbox due to its lack of understanding of the stack fallacy.
Consider such questions as:
1. Can a company succeed by moving down the stack as well as up?
2. Why is it important to think about the users’ needs when considering expanding into a new
level of tech (whether up or down the stack)?
3. How can companies overcome the tendencies that lead to engaging in stack fallacy?
Return.
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EXAMPLE: Contingency Planning: How Walgreens, and FedEx Coped with Hurricane
Harvey
Companies encounter disasters—natural, economic, and manmade. The question is, can they
survive them? Contingency, or scenario, planning involves putting “what if?” plans in place in
advance of disasters. This Example discusses how three companies (CVS, Walgreen’s, and
FedEx) put contingency plans into play when Hurricane Harvey hit the Gulf coast in 2017.
YOUR CALL
1. How much do you think companies like FedEx and UPS can do to prepare in advance for a
major weather event like a devastating hurricane?
2. Ask how many of these a given company can prepare for? What are the limiting factors in
such planning?
What other contingency plans could companies like CVS and Walgreens put in place?
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES
Increase the depth of the discussion in Your Call by asking students to read “6 Kinds of Disasters
Most Businesses Don’t Foresee.” This will increase the breadth of their thinking about the types
of disasters that can occur.
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TEXTBOOK PRACTICAL ACTIONS
PRACTICAL ACTION: Building a Foundation of Execution
The foundation of execution is based on leadership (discussed in Chapter 14) and organizational
culture (discussed in Chapter 8). Bossidy and Charan advise managers to engage in the following
behaviors:
Know your people and your business—engage intensely with your employees.
Insist on realism—don’t let others avoid reality.
Set clear priorities—focus on a few rather than many goals.
YOUR CALL
Which behavior is probably the most difficult for you to adopt personally?
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES
One way that you could build on this Practical Action and to synthesize your coverage of the
strategic-management process is to have the students read the Harvard Business Review article
“Second Thoughts About a Strategy Shift.” This article is an HBR Case Study and includes a
fictional case (though it is based on events at JCPenney) and case commentary by industry
experts. This case looks at whether a company should continue with its hablar claro, or “straight
talk,” strategy, which does away with discounts and special sales. Using this case study would be
an excellent way to review the stages of the strategic-management process. You can ask students
to read only the article or also ask them to read the professional commentary. Consider using the
following discussion questions:
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ARTICLE CITATION
Return.
Kinicki/Williams, Management, 9e: Chapter 6 Strategic Management: How Exceptional Managers Realize a
Grand Design
SELF-ASSESSMENTS
SELF-ASSESSMENT 6.1
Assessing Strategic Thinking
This survey is designed to assess an organization’s level of strategic thinking.
STUDENT QUESTIONS
1. What is the level of strategic thinking? Are you surprised by the results?
2. If you were meeting with an executive from the company you evaluated, what advice would
you provide based on the survey results and what you learned about assessing current reality?
SUPPLEMENTAL ACTIVITY
Students should be put into groups based on their Self-Assessment results. Students who have
high strategic thinking should be grouped together, and students who have low strategic thinking
should be together.
Can any of the groups describe Porter’s five forces as they pertain to an organization a group
member might work for?