Strategy Planning Case

humChapter 1

1. What are the different steps of strategy planning process and how are they related to each other?

2. What do you mean by strategic leadership, strategy formulation and strategy implementation?

3. What do you understand by shareholder value, profitability, profit growth, competitive advantage, sustained competitive advantage, business model?

4. What are the causes of difference in performance across industries?

5. Are resources important for non-profit industries?

6. Understand the different levels of managers in a company - corporate level, business level and functional level? The term general manager denotes whom?

7. What do you understand by mission, vision, values?

8. Why are external and internal analyses important? What role do they play in SWOT analysis?

9. What are intended and emergent strategies? What does the Mintzberg's model say about strategy development?

10. What is scenario planning? Decentralized planning?

11. What are the characteristics of strategic leaders?

12. Explain six different types of cognitive biases which limit manager's effective strategic decision making ability? What are the two techniques for improving strategic thinking and decision making? Understand each of these.

Chapter 2

13. What is an industry, a sector, market segment? Why do industry boundaries change?

14. What are Porter's five forces? How do they impact profitability in an industry? What happens to firms profit making ability as each of the force gets stronger? What is the sixth force proposed by Andrew Grove?

15. How can companies within an industry increase barriers to entry or decrease risk of entry by potential competitors? What role does economies of scale, brand loyalty, absolute cost advantage, customer switching cost and government regulations play in this?

16. What are the differences between fragmented and consolidated industries?

17. Why are exit barriers high for some industries or some firm?

18. When are the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers high/low?

19. What are strategic groups? What are their CHARACTERISTICS and implications? What are mobility barriers?

20. Understand industry life cycle analysis? What are its different stages? In which stage is rivalry most intense? In which stage is demand high? In which stage excess capacity emerges?

21. What role does innovation and punctuated equilibrium play in industry life cycle?

22. What are macro-environmental forces which can impact industries?

Chapter 3

23. When does a company have competitive advantages over its rivals?

24. What do you mean by distinctive competencies?

25. What are resources (tangible and intangible) and capabilities? How do resources and capabilities lead to superior profitability?

26. What are utility, cost, and price? What is the relation between the three? How do they interact to