Written and prepared
by Professor Omar Hasan Kasule Sr.
ISSUES FOR DISCUSSION
· Leadership competencies for change management
· Models for successful change management
· Critical issues and troubleshooting in change management
CONCEPTS OF STRATEGY
· Strategy is a rational approach to management of
uncertainties
· Strategic management involves assessment of the internal and
external environments, forecasting the future, thinking forwards and reasoning
backwards, and preparing for various hypothetical scenarios by establishing
strategic objectives and formulating plans to accomplish them.
· Strategic management deals with sudden changes in the
environment and is likened to shooting at a moving target when riding on a
galloping horse.
· Study of the seerah reveals effective strategic
thinking and planning at all stages of the forward march of the Islamic
mission.
· The Hudaybiyah events illustrate very clearly the
strategic thinking of the prophet.
CONCEPTS OF PLANNING
· Action planning is laying down the detailed tactical or
operational plans.
· Effective plans are specific, action-oriented, flexible, and
consistent with organizational long-term goals and objectives.
· Planning has limitations due to environmental factors beyond
the control of the planner.
· Failure to plan is due to philosophical objections to
planning the future, resistance to change, fear of commitment, and difficulty
of the planning process.
CRITERIA OF CLASSIFICATION OF PLANS 1
· By objective: strategic, tactical/operational
· By duration: short, medium, long-term
· By specificity: general, specific
· By complexity: complex, simple
· By methodology: top to bottom, bottom to top
· By scope: comprehensive, narrow
· By importance: major, minor
CRITERIA OF CLASSIFICATION OF PLANS 2
· By scale of measure: qualitative, quantitative
· By security class: confidential, public
· By formality: formal, informal
· By implementability: easy, difficult
· By flexibility: flexible, inflexible
· By creativity: rational, intuitive, creative
· By cost: expensive, cheap.
STAGES OF STRATEGY FORMULATION
· Defining organizational vision and mission
· Clarifying externally-imposed mandates
· Analyzing stakeholders
· Analyzing the internal and external environments
· Identifying strategic issues
· Collecting information
· Making assumptions and forecasts
· Formulating general strategic approaches for various
possible scenarios
· Choosing the most favored scenario and formulating detailed
tactical plans for it.
MAKING A STRATEGIC CHANGE PLAN
· A strategic plan covers a long period of time. Its practical
implementation is through a series of annual action or tactical plans.
· Contingency plans should be ready for immediate
implementation if the chosen plan fails or encounters obstacles.
· Each chosen plan must be subjected to a workability test:
can it work in practice?
· Can the underlying vision be maintained, can the barriers be
overcome?.
· Strategic plans need constant revision.
· Strategic moves are actual measures taken to implement the
strategy.
TYPES OF STRATEGIC MOVES TO PRODUCE CHANGE
· Sudden and major to throw competition off balance
· Paced and incremental with continuous evaluation
· Slow today with major impact in long-term perspective.
· Sequential or simultaneous.
· Conditional or unconditional.
ZERO and NON ZERO SITUATIONS
· Strategic moves are preceded by assessment of key players.
· In a zero sum situation, in which one person's gain is
always another person's loss.
· In non-zero sum situations collaboration and coordination
lead to a win/win outcome.
FACTORS IN STRATEGIC MOVES
· Relative power
· Resources
· Time
· Environment.
BRINKMANSHIP and PRE-EMPTIVE MOVES
· Brinkmanship in strategic thinking is risky but has its
rewards.
· Pre-emptive moves involve taking reactive moves even before
the events reacted to have not yet fully unfolded which results in gain of lead-time
and an upper hand.
STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION
· The timing and sequence of strategic moves must be in stages
and be part of strategic logic.
· Each strategic move must be broken down into its separate
specific components to make analysis, monitoring, and modification easier.
· Very big strategic moves are riskier.
· Each move must consider previous moves and anticipated
future ones.
STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION
·
Strategy
implementation requires motivated leaders, resources, organizational
restructuring, and behavioral changes.
· Strict control measures are needed to ensure that there is
no deviation.
· Contingency or back up plans must be made.
· Opportunities should always be exploited.
DIFFICULTIES OF STRATEGY IMPLEMENTATION
· Long lag-time between action and outcome
· Uncertainty about the future
· Dynamic shifts that require changing plans rapidly.
TYPES OF MANAGERIAL PERSONALITIES FOR STRATEGIC TRANSITIONS:
· Pioneer (Intuitive Thinking, Explosive Growth)
· Conqueror (Rational Thinking, Expansive Growth)
· Level-Headed (Rational Thinking, Continuous Growth)
· Administrator
(Conformer In Thinking, Consolidation Of Growth)
· Economizer (Legal Thinking, Cautious Growth)
· Diplomat (Open-Minded, Retreat And Repositions)
OLD AND NEW MANAGEMENT TEAMS
· Advantages of using new as opposed to old management teams
in implementation of new strategies.
· Disadvantages of using new as opposed to old management
teams in implementation of new strategies.
