reply to another students discussion post on strategic thinking

Please Draft a response to another students discussion board post related to strategic thinking in business. Here is the original post you are replying to:

Strategy Formulation and Strategic Thinking

The purpose of this forum is to provide an overview of business strategy development, describe strategic thinking, and focus on business and decision models. Aids and hindrances to decision-making associated with the decision models will be mentioned. The science and process of creating strategy will be included in this forum. After reading this main thread, you should have a solid foundation from which to build a better understanding of strategic thinking and decision making for business strategy. At the conclusion, with the inclusion of a biblical perspective, I hope the reader will gain insight into decision-making models, understand strategy, and know the meaning of a competitive advantage.

Process: Business Strategy Development

In an attempt to analyze and explain the process of developing a business strategy, the knowns are why an organization needs a business strategy? The simple answer is to gain a competitive advantage. A sustainable competitive advantage is achieved when buyers prefer a specific companiesâ€™ products or services, despite its competitors attempt to erode its advantage (Gamble et al., 2019). When an organization uses a set of actions in which to outperform its competitors, it is said to be defined as the companyâ€™s strategy (Gamble et al, 2019). Other parts of strategy development are achieving high profits. To develop a business strategy, the company must have attractive products, be well positioned in their industry, develop and deploy resources and decide how each functional area of the business will be operated (Gamble et al., 2019). A good business strategy will deal with the known versus the unknown (Rumelt, 2011). The science of strategy and the process of creating strategy is important to understand. Good strategy can be based on the functional knowledge of what works, what does not work, and why (Rumelt, 2011). â€œA new strategy is, in the language of science, a hypothesis, and its implementation is an experimentâ€ (Rumelt, 2011, p. 241). A companyâ€™s strategy must coincide with their business model. Once the strategy is implemented, the two elements of the companyâ€™s business model must take place. These two elements include: its customer value proposition and its profit formula (Gamble et al., 2018). Business model innovation has become more complex than product or process innovation and implies a substantial change of the firm’s business model components (Schneckenberg et al., 2017).

Strategic Thinking

Strategic thinking requires leaders who are willing to say no to a variety of actions and interest (Rumelt, 2011). Cognitive and behavioral sciences have investigated how coping mechanisms help in mastering ambiguous decisions and in general improve strategic thinking (Schneckenberg et al., 2017). Strategic thinking deals with coping mechanisms as psychological and behavioral responses potential stressors that derive from sources like conflict, contextual threats, and uncertainty (Schneckenberg et al., 2017). It was found in a study that pilots could adapt to specific assumptions guiding their actions according to the degree of insight they were able to derive from the information systems of their airplanes (Schneckenberg et al., 2017). It can therefore be suggested that coping mechanisms can influence the behavioral response of decision making to handle contextual uncertainty. Coping mechanisms relating to strategic thinking are more complex and interwoven in their structure, process, and content dimensions than current literature accounts for. Futures literacy (FL) provides the capacity of strategic thinking and uses the thinkerâ€™s ability to undergo a learning-by-doing process (Cagnin, 2018). FL is therefore a systematic approach to improving the capacity of our anticipatory systems and providing decision makers who are futures literate a more explicit awareness of the expectations and values that shape their (and their communityâ€™s) view of the future (Cagnin, 2018). With strategic thinking, organizations are more able to design collective intelligence processes that use the future to see opportunities in todayâ€™s global economy. According to Rumelt (2011), entrepreneurial deadens innovation. Following up on business models and strategic thinking require the use of decision model(s).

Decision Models

Decision models are great tools that can be used to improve business processes and profits, however there are obstacles that aid / hinder the decision-making process. Senior management must support the efforts of decision making. Models reduce complex situations by enabling organizations to dismiss complexity and concentrate on things that are more important (Krogerus & TschÃ¤ppeler. 2018). Decision making is likely to be weakened by a variety of uncertainty factors residing in interdependencies between potential business model components and organizational contingencies of established routines and structural inertia (Schneckenberg et al., 2017) After reading the text, the decision models that interested me most was the SWOT analysis and the Feedback box. A SWOT analysis is a model used to evaluate and identify the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats in a project (Krogerus & TschÃ¤ppeler. 2018). The Feedback box is perhaps one of the most difficult progression models available because of the sensibility of the process. Of the four boxes included in the feedback model, advice and criticism will be sensitive areas.

Aids. A SWOT analysis can be applied to make both business and personal decisions (Krogerus & TschÃ¤ppeler. 2018). The Feedback box will aid the organization in finding what can stay as is and what needs to change (Krogerus & TschÃ¤ppeler. 2018).

Hindrances. A SWOT analysis without the complete overview of forecasted favorable trends can cause an organization to move to a premature identification of what the organization should do (Siciliano, 2016). The word opportunity has organizations reverting back to a focus on their strengths rather than a scan of the external environment, since company strengths are easily thought of as “opportunities (Siciliano, 2016). The Feedback box can be a hindrance to organizations as criticism is sometimes not well accepted. Additionally, Krogerus and TschÃ¤ppeler (2018) pronounces how compliments can cause complacency in the Feedback model. Employees may develop low self-esteem from criticism, causing them to make poor decisions.

Biblical Perspective/Conclusion

In developing a business strategy, there is no doubt strategic thinking must take place. Through strategic thinking and the use of a decision model(s), sound business strategies can be developed. Obstacles that hinder the decision models can be overcome by explaining the process and implementing critical thinking. The organization or group can be successful and profitable if the participants understand the process (what to do and what steps to take). They must also understand the thinking behind the process, just as Godâ€™s followers had to understand his strategic thinking when he provided us with the gospel to trust and follow him. Providence is the means by which God directs all things â€” both animate and inanimate, seen and unseen, good and evil â€” toward a worthy purpose, which means His will must finally prevail. â€œPraise the Lord, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word. Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will. Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominionâ€ (Psalm 103:20-22). In Ephesians 1:11 Paul tells us that â€œIn him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his willâ€ (NIV). â€œGod made the world not as a warrior digs a trench but as an artist makes a masterpiece (Keller & Alsdorf, 2012, p.34).

References

Cagnin, C. (2018). Developing a transformative business strategy through the combination of design thinking and futures literacy. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 30(5), 524-539. https://doi-org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1080/09537325.2017.1340638

Gamble, J., Peteraf, M., & Thompson, A. (2019), Essentials of Strategic Management, McGraw – Hill Higher Education (6th ed.), New York, NY

Keller, T. (2012). Every good endeavor: Connecting your work to Godâ€™s work. New York, NY: Dutton. ISBN: 9780525952701.

Krogerus, M., & TschÃ¤ppeler, R. (2018), The decision book: 50 models for strategic thinking., W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York, NY

Rumelt, R. (2011), Good strategy/bad strategy: The difference and why it matters., Crown Business, New York, NY

Schneckenberg, D., Velamuri, V. K., Comberg, C., & Spieth, P. (2017). Business model innovation and decision making: Uncovering mechanisms for coping with uncertainty: Business model innovation and decision making. R&D Management, 47(3), 404-419. https://web-a-ebscohost-om.ezproxy.liberty.edu/ehost/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=11f4c3a5-ec16-4e85-bd2f-b2acbbe60348%40sdc-v-sessmgr01&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZSZzY29wZT1zaXRl#

Siciliano, J. (2016). SWUF analysis: A new way to avoid the “opportunity” error of SWOT. Journal of the Academy of Business Education, 17, 201.

Strategic Formulation and Strategic Thinking: Annotated Bibliography

Cristiano Cagnin (PhD) is an advisor at the Center for Strategic Studies and Management Science, Technology and Innovation (CGEE) who conducted research methodology that fosters decision making processes that embrace complexity and treat uncertainty as a resource, thus improving an organizationsâ€™ capacity to use the future to expand its understanding of the present. The research is a current quality peer-reviewed publication that describes a systematic methodology that combines futures literacy and design thinking to enable the collective discovery of new and disruptive business niches. Dr. Cagnin used a participatory approach centered on design know-how, which promotes innovative forms of engagement and articulation. Dr. Cagnin is well qualified to discuss business strategy and is currently engaged in both research and practice concerning sustainable and smart cities as well as in overall sustainability. He is actively working on national and international projects related to sustainability across diverse thematic areas. His past and current research interests fit well into decision-making based on strategic thinking, which will provide a better understanding of alternative ways of developing business strategies

Schneckenberg et al. (2017) conducted a business model study on how decisionâ€makers coped with uncertainty and gain understanding about interdependencies in new business model configurations. They combine topâ€down theorizing and evidenceâ€based exploration and seek to unpack some of the coping mechanisms that operate in the evolutionary view of business model innovation. A key point they found was that coping mechanisms supported decision making during the development of new business models. These findings have important implications for decision making in business model innovation. The publication was a high-quality peer-reviewed study that aimed to fix research gaps in business model research. With more than 40+ peer-reviewed published papers in journals, books, and conference proceedings, the authors of this journal have a tremendous amount of experience in business model and innovation research. This annotation fits into this forum due to the experience and research used and applied to the topic of business. The authorâ€™s current research continues to focus on business models, product & service innovations, adoption theory and innovation networks.

**** When replying Two Sources are required

reply to another students discussion post on strategic thinking

"Looking for a Similar Assignment? Get Expert Help at an Amazing Discount!"

Looking for a Similar Assignment? Our Experts can help. Use the coupon code SAVE30 to get your first order at 30% off!