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8/9/2019 Formulating Business Strategy
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Key Ethical Issues 1
KEY ETHICAL ISSUES IN STRATEGY
Key Ethical Issues in Business Strategy
Karl R. Knapp
Anderson University
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Abstract
Strategy has existed for several thousand years in the form of military strategy. The
adaptation of strategy to the business realm did not occur until the mid-1960s. Since that time
several schools of thought have evolved and a general process for strategic management has been
developed. A historical ethical issue for strategic management is the environmental review
process. A more specific, current ethical issue in strategic management is competitive
intelligence (CI).
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Key Ethical Issues in Business Strategy
This paper evaluates the purpose and process of strategic management in order to identify
a historical ethical issue at the core of the discipline and trace this historical issue forward into its
current context.
Strategic Management Overview
Strategy has been around for millennia. One of the earliest written works on strategy was
developed by Sun Tzu during the fourth century BC. In The Art of War, Sun Tzu wrote that
what is of supreme importance in war is to attack the enemys strategy; next best is to disrupt
his alliances; the next best is to attack his army (1963). Military strategy has existed for thousands of years. It was not until the mid-1960s that military strategy was applied to business.
One of the earliest authors on business strategy was Alfred Chandler. Chandler defined strategy
as the determination of the long-term goals and objectives of an enterprise, and the adoption of
courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for carrying out these goals (1962).
Following Chandlers work business thinkers began to consider the discipline of strategic
management. Foundational elements were added by Peter Drucker, Bruce Henderson, H. Igor
Ansoff, Henry Mintzberg, Michael Porter, Ohmae, Gary Hamel, C.K. Prahalad, Andrew
Campbell, Michael Goold and Marcus Alexander.
The Strategic Management Process
According to Michael Porter, developing a competitive strategy is developing a broad
formula for how a business is going to compete, what its goals should be, and what policies will
be needed to carry out those goals (1980). According to Strickland & Thompson, the five tasks
of strategic management are (1) Forming a strategic vision; (2) Setting objectives; (3) Crafting a
strategy; (4) Implementing and executing the strategy; and (5) Evaluating performance (1999).
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Schools of Thought on Crafting Strategy
Within the process of crafting a strategy Henry Mintzberg has identified three groups
encompassing ten different schools of thought (1998). The prescriptive group includes the design
school, the planning school and the positioning school. The descriptive group includes the
entrepreneurial school, the cognitive school, the learning school, the power school, the culture
school and the environmental school. The integrative group includes the configuration school.
Foundational Principles of Strategic Management
The strategic management process and the ten different schools of thought on crafting
strategy can be combined to identify the foundational principles of strategic management.
Ethical Issues in Strategy
Figure 1: Foundational Principles of Strategic Management
The first foundational principle is that strategy is based on setting specific objectives.
These objectives drive the analysis and strategy making process.
The second foundational principle is that the internal environment must be reviewed
when crafting strategy. This review usually includes at least two questions: 1) How well is the
Set ObjectivesSet Objectives
Craft StrategyReview Internal Review External
Environment EnvironmentSet Appropriate Strategy
(based on school of thought)
Craft StrategyReview Internal Review External
Environment EnvironmentSet Appropriate Strategy
(based on school of thought)
Implement StrategyImplement Strategy
Evaluate & RepeatEvaluate & Repeat
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Key Ethical Issues 5
companys present strategy working? 2) What are the companys resource strengths and
weaknesses? (Strickland & Thompson, 1999).
The third foundational principle is that the external environment must be reviewed when
crafting strategy. The external review can be much more substantial than the internal review. The
external review usually includes industry economic information; competitive forces information
such as Porters Five Forces model (Porter, 1980); industry driving forces (Porter, 1980);
competitive positions of rival firms using a strategic group map (Porter, 1980); strategic moves
expected by rivals; industry key success factors; and industry attractiveness.
The fourth foundational principle is that strategy must be implemented to obtain theobjectives set forth. Organizational behavior and change management disciplines are crucial in
the implementation of strategy.
The fifth foundational principle is that the environment is constantly changing and the
strategy must be evaluated and revised in a never-ending cycle.
Ethical Issues in Strategy
Business ethics concentrates on the moral standards as they apply to business policies,
institutions, and behavior. (Velasquez, 2002). Any attempt to analyze ethical issues in strategic
management requires a specific focus. If the analysis were to extend to all possible strategic
choices and courses of action, it would be without end. In order to obtain focus, this analysis will
only evaluate ethical issues inherent in the strategic management process, not with specific
strategic choices.
Historical Ethical Issue in Strategic Management
The key historical ethical issue in strategy is environmental review. This issue includes
review of the internal and external environments.
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A review of the internal environment faces several challenges, including employee
privacy. The internal review can also be colored by politics and power. An analysis of a
companys weaknesses may not be favorable to parts of the organization and may be difficult to
address objectively.
A review of the external environment also presents challenges. In fact, this issue has
existed in strategy formulation for thousands of years. The prehistory of business strategy,
military strategy, faced this same challenge.
What is called foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits, nor from gods, nor by
analogy with past events, nor from calculations. It must be obtained from men who knowthe enemy situation. An army without secret agents is exactly like a man without eyes or
ears. (Tzu, 1963).
The historical ethical issue for competitive strategy, the environmental review, has been a
key ethical issue for as long as strategy has been formulated. This issue continues to be a
challenge to the application of strategic principles in business.
Current Ethical Issue in Strategic Management
The key current ethical issue in strategic management, competitive intelligence, flows
from the historical ethical issue. The review of the external environment, and more specifically,
the gathering of information on specific competitors has created the need for what is termed in
todays business as competitive intelligence or CI.
Competitive Intelligence
Most of the environmental and competitive analysis tools for strategic management rely
on competitive intelligence. Information about the environment and competitors is critical to the
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use of tools such as: The Five Forces Model (Porter, 1980), Driving Forces Analysis (Porter,
1980), Strategic Group Mapping (Porter, 1980) and SWOT Analysis.
According to the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP), Competitive
intelligence (CI) is the process of monitoring the competitive environment. Effective CI
is a continuous process involving the legal and ethical collection of information, analysis
that doesn't avoid unwelcome conclusions, and controlled dissemination of actionable
intelligence to decision makers. (SCIP, 2001).
Competitive intelligence is a core issue to the strategic management process. In fact, it is
required in order for strategy formulation to be successful. Performing successful and ethicalcompetitive intelligence is a major current ethical issue in strategic management.
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References
Chandler, A. (1962). Strategy and structure, chapters in the history of the industrial enterprise .
Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Mintzberg, H. (1999). Strategy safari . New York: The Free Press.
Porter, M. (1980). Competitive strategy . New York: The Free Press.
Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (2001). What is CI? .
Retrieved November 11, 2001, from http://www.scip.org/ci/ .
Strickland, A. J., & Thompson, A. (1999). Strategic management: concepts and cases . New
York: Irwin/McGraw-Hill.
Tzu, S. (1963). The art of war . London: The Oxford University Press.
Velasquez, M. (2002). Business ethics; concepts and cases . New Jersey: Prentice Hal
http://www.scip.org/ci/http://www.scip.org/ci/8/9/2019 Formulating Business Strategy
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What is strategy?
Definition: strategy is what we want to do, what we want our organization to be & where wewant it to go.
Why do we need a strategy?
- for understanding our position in the market place- to give some sense of direction- focusing on key issues
What does a strategy involve:
- Where are we now & how did we get there? What did we do well or badly to arrive at our current position- What business are we in? Will this remain the same or will we need to change over business? If
so, what?- What factors, internal or external to the organization will or can have a telling impact on whatwe do in the future?
The steps written in "What does a strategy involve" above are a continuous process.
Where does strategy fit:
Strategy Models:
# Growth model
Growing market share by reduction in production cost & increasing sales# Porter's 5 forces model:# Growth by Mergers, Acquisitions & Takeovers[Inorganic growth model]- GE / Mckinsey Model [latest]- BCG [old strategic tool]- Value Chain -Porter - Core Competitiveness - C K Prahlad/ Gary Hamel
- GE / Mckinsey Model
It's also called as Product Portfolio Matrix.
- BCG
- Value Chain
- Core Competitiveness
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- How does activity "X" significantly improve the end product for the customer?
- Does "X" offer access to a range of application & needs?
- What would happen to our competitiveness if we lost our strength in "X"?
- How difficult is it for others to imitate activity "X" & compete with us?
- 7S - Mckinsey
Strategists:Ansoff, Porter, Prahlad, Hamel, Mintzberg, Goldratt, Tom Peters
Guidelines for strategic formulation:- be different- learn from the past
- change continuously- be innovative- involve people [CFT - cross functional team]
Strategic analysis:- external environment - SLEPTW analysis- internal environment - SWOT- competition - 5 forces model
While making a strategy, look for the following perspectives also:- strategic horizon
- alternate strategy- leadership- customers- people- control- integration- processes- results
During the process of strategic formulation:- seriously question
- involve everyone- avoid "paralysis by analysis"- encourage & foster innovation & creativity- go for a balance- embrace conflict- remember that strategy never stops
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4 types of organizations:- short lived- watchers- learning organizations &- movers
Strategic formulation & implementation:
Learning strategy framework