Discussion: View Thread

  • 1.  Basic questions on strategy- request for inputs

    Posted 03-18-2010 16:09

    Colleagues,

     

    I am writing a book on 'Strategy in India'. Fortunately I have good access to top management of firms in India and I am going to CEOs/ Presidents/ Vice Presidents/ Managing Directors in next few days for their inputs. I am asking seven basic open-ended questions. Would you please give your critical inputs, looking at the faults/shortcomings in it? I plan to ask the same seven questions, for 10 sub-themes in strategy like global strategy , competitive strategy, innovation strategy etc from others in senior position. The idea is to get views from 3-5 senior people from industry and then put these views together in the beginning or end of each chapter.

     

     

    The Five plus Two Questions

    1.      Is your company formulating and implementing strategies?

    While answering kindly also look in terms of: Recent past (Post liberalization of 1991) and Present times, Is there any difference across sectors/industries? Is there any difference between Indian and foreign firms? Share any interesting examples of success or failure?

    2.      How is your company doing it?

    I mean what kind of strategies you are making for example Corporate governance, Corporate social responsibility , Global strategy , Mergers and acquisitions, Green management and sustainability, Innovations, Entrepreneurship etc.

    3.      Why is your company making strategies?

    I mean what are the reasons behind this, for example Survival, Growth, Managing Failures, Providing Direction, Strategic Positioning and Competitive advantage, Changing business environment, Globalization etc.

    4.      How formulating and implementing strategies' is making an impact on performance of your company?

    5.      What are/shall be the future plans of your company for strategy? While answering kindly also look in terms of: Not doing it and won't do in future, Not doing it but may do it in future, Doing it and will continue the same way, Doing it but will change the course of action, Doing it and will do more etc.

    6.      What are your key learning's in strategy till now?

    7.      What other firms/CEOs must not do while operating/entering into India?

    8.      Any other inputs you would like to share, which you feel, are not covered by the seven questions.

     
     
    Looking forward to your kind inputs.
     
    Best regards
    Rajesh
     
    Dr. Rajesh K Pillania,
    Chairman,
    Institute for Strategy
    New Delhi, India.
     
    Institute for Strategy is a think tank exploring strategy , particularly in Indian context. It is based in New Delhi,India and supported by industry and faculty collegues from IITs/IIMs.


  • 2.  Basic questions on strategy- request for inputs

    Posted 03-27-2010 02:26

    Rajesh,

     

    Good luck with the project. Sounds interesting.

     

    I would ask the questions (or sub questions) –

     

    What is your innovation strategy?

    Do you have (or what is) a technology strategy?

    What is your human capital development strategy?

     

    I am writing an article on technology management and making the case- that building on the recent prosperity <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> must now invest to innovate in renewable energy, healthcare, education etc.  - to bridge the huge economic imbalance which if not addressed will lead to social unrest (especially given the large youth population.) – it's not business as business ten years ago. What must change?

     

    Sorry for the late reply – I am travelling around in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> – in gurgaon these days.

     

    Cheers,

     

    Regards,

    Neerja Raman, http://neerja.raman-net.com

    Blog http://fromgoodtogold.blogspot.com/

     

    MediaX Distinguished Visiting Scholar

    http://mediax.stanford.edu/people/visiting-scholars.html

    2006-2008 Senior Research Fellow, Stanford

    http://rdvp.org/fellows/2006-2007/neerja-raman1/


    From: International Management Discussion List [mailto:IMD-L@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of rajesh pillania
    Sent: Thursday, March 18, 2010 1:09 PM
    To: IMD-L@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
    Subject: Basic questions on strategy- request for inputs

     

     

    Colleagues,

     

    I am writing a book on 'Strategy in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>'. Fortunately I have good access to top management of firms in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region> and I am going to CEOs/ Presidents/ Vice Presidents/ Managing Directors in next few days for their inputs. I am asking seven basic open-ended questions. Would you please give your critical inputs, looking at the faults/shortcomings in it? I plan to ask the same seven questions, for 10 sub-themes in strategy like global strategy , competitive strategy, innovation strategy etc from others in senior position. The idea is to get views from 3-5 senior people from industry and then put these views together in the beginning or end of each chapter.

     

     

    The Five plus Two Questions

    1.      Is your company formulating and implementing strategies?

    While answering kindly also look in terms of: Recent past (Post liberalization of 1991) and Present times, Is there any difference across sectors/industries? Is there any difference between Indian and foreign firms? Share any interesting examples of success or failure?

    2.      How is your company doing it?

    I mean what kind of strategies you are making for example Corporate governance, Corporate social responsibility, Global strategy, Mergers and acquisitions, Green management and sustainability, Innovations, Entrepreneurship etc.

    3.      Why is your company making strategies?

    I mean what are the reasons behind this, for example Survival, Growth, Managing Failures, Providing Direction, Strategic Positioning and Competitive advantage, Changing business environment, Globalization etc.

    4.      How formulating and implementing strategies' is making an impact on performance of your company?

    5.      What are/shall be the future plans of your company for strategy? While answering kindly also look in terms of: Not doing it and won't do in future, Not doing it but may do it in future, Doing it and will continue the same way, Doing it but will change the course of action, Doing it and will do more etc.

    6.      What are your key learning's in strategy till now?

    7.      What other firms/CEOs must not do while operating/entering into <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>?

    8.      Any other inputs you would like to share, which you feel, are not covered by the seven questions.

     

     

    Looking forward to your kind inputs.

     

    Best regards

    Rajesh

     

    Dr. Rajesh K Pillania,

    Chairman,

    Institute for Strategy

    <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">New Delhi</st1:city>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place>.

     

    Institute for Strategy is a think tank exploring strategy , particularly in Indian context. It is based in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">New Delhi</st1:city>,<st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place> and supported by industry and faculty collegues from IITs/IIMs.

     



  • 3.  Basic questions on strategy- request for inputs

    Posted 03-27-2010 12:23
    Dear Rajesh
     
    My apologies if this response is a bit late. I have been overwhelmed with academic duties.
     
    One thing I could suggest is to focus on a few types of strategies, e.g., innovation and internationalisation, rather on too many. You run the risk of spreading thin. If you want to be more specific, you may want to characterise concrete attributes and group strategies by the way these attributes score for each strategy, e.g., focused (or not) on mass customisation, modularisation, flexibility, etc. You may prefer a different angle. Also, you may need to distinguish types of firms; one way could be by type of motives, or strategic orientation and position or industry lifecycle and structure etc
     
    It might be a good idea to develop an evaluation framework from the onset - perhaps using a balanced score card or similar approach. You could add this to your book as part of a toolkit.
     
    Although not in the same topic, the book by Mark Gottfredson and Steve Schaubert, from Bain & Co, "The Breakthrough Imperative", presents an structured methodology and various measures and clever diagrams to gauge the performance of global firms taking into account strategies adopted by CEOs (a very personal approach).  I had the fortune of meeting one of the authors at a Financial Times conference in London, and his arguments were convincing and supported by evidence and analysis.
     
    Another book aimed at practitioners I could recommend, and you may be aware of, is Steve Hamm's "Bangalore Tiger". It presents the story of Wipro and their strategies for global competition.
     
    Best of luck with your research and forthcoming book.
     
    Kind regards,
     
     
     
     


     

    Dr Angel J Salazar

    Digital Business and Management Division
    Manchester Metropolitan University Business School
    www.mmubs.mmu.ac.uk

    Editor, "Innovation in the 21st Century" Series
    World Scientific Publishing
    www.wspc.com

    Founder and Editor
    ReInnovation21
    www.reinnovation21.com


    Before acting on this email or opening any attachments you should read the Manchester Metropolitan University's email disclaimer available on its website
    http://www.mmu.ac.uk/emaildisclaimer

    >>> rajesh pillania <rajesh@pillania.org>18/03/10 8:18 PM >>>

    Colleagues,

     

    I am writing a book on 'Strategy in India'. Fortunately I have good access to top management of firms in India and I am going to CEOs/ Presidents/ Vice Presidents/ Managing Directors in next few days for their inputs. I am asking seven basic open-ended questions. Would you please give your critical inputs, looking at the faults/shortcomings in it? I plan to ask the same seven questions, for 10 sub-themes in strategy like global strategy , competitive strategy, innovation strategy etc from others in senior position. The idea is to get views from 3-5 senior people from industry and then put these views together in the beginning or end of each chapter.

     

     

    The Five plus Two Questions

    1.      Is your company formulating and implementing strategies?

    While answering kindly also look in terms of: Recent past (Post liberalization of 1991) and Present times, Is there any difference across sectors/industries? Is there any difference between Indian and foreign firms? Share any interesting examples of success or failure?

    2.      How is your company doing it?

    I mean what kind of strategies you are making for example Corporate governance, Corporate social responsibility , Global strategy , Mergers and acquisitions, Green management and sustainability, Innovations, Entrepreneurship etc.

    3.      Why is your company making strategies?

    I mean what are the reasons behind this, for example Survival, Growth, Managing Failures, Providing Direction, Strategic Positioning and Competitive advantage, Changing business environment, Globalization etc.

    4.      How formulating and implementing strategies' is making an impact on performance of your company?

    5.      What are/shall be the future plans of your company for strategy? While answering kindly also look in terms of: Not doing it and won't do in future, Not doing it but may do it in future, Doing it and will continue the same way, Doing it but will change the course of action, Doing it and will do more etc.

    6.      What are your key learning's in strategy till now?

    7.      What other firms/CEOs must not do while operating/entering into India?

    8.      Any other inputs you would like to share, which you feel, are not covered by the seven questions.

     
     
    Looking forward to your kind inputs.
     
    Best regards
    Rajesh
     
    Dr. Rajesh K Pillania,
    Chairman,
    Institute for Strategy
    New Delhi, India.
     
    Institute for Strategy is a think tank exploring strategy , particularly in Indian context. It is based in New Delhi,India and supported by industry and faculty collegues from IITs/IIMs.
    </rajesh@pillania.org>