Question

Please provide your response for the following questions.

What types of plans and decisions most likely require board of director involvement, and why? What types of decisions and plans are not appropriate for board involvement, and why?

    Tell about a time when an organization was not able to fully achieve all of its goals simultaneously. Why did this occur? Is complete realization of all goals impossible for an organization? Why or why not?

    Describe the process that an organization follows when using a deliberate strategy. How does this process differ when an organization implements an emergent strategy?

    Assume that you are the owner and manager of a small business. Write a strategy for your business. Be sure to include each of the three primary strategic components.


The submission should be between 700-to-900-words, and written in APA Style.

• 12-pt. Times New Roman font
• Double-spaced
• 1” margins on all sides
• Please provide a title page including your Name, Course Number, Date of Submission, and Assignment name.
• Paraphrasing of content – Demonstrate that you understand the case by summarizing the case in your own words. Direct quotes should be used minimally
• Make sure to include at least three (3) reputable sources.

Answer 1

1(a). What types of plans and decisions most likely require board of director involvement, and why?

• Managing of the organisation at the highest level: The board is expected to be involved in receiving all updates regarding the business and its stakeholders, be it financial updates or policy related updates, etc because being in the top level hierarchy of any organization, the Board is expected to manage the business as a whole, thus, being acquainted with all such organizational changes.
• Strategic Decisions for the Organization: The board is expected to always incline the company towards the centralised vision & mission goals of the organization as they’re considered to be the torch bearers for setting & revising the strategic goals for the organization.
• Financial Decisions: Deliberations on the annual budget need involvement of the Board since with their enormous experience & goodwill for the company, they are the sole bearers expected to be responsible for keeping all the stakeholders satisfied (at least financially)
• Decisions regarding the top level management: Personnel decisions regarding the top-level management need active involvement of the Board as these managers are their direct reports and, it is the responsibility of the direct manager to look after all personnel decisions related to their direct reports.
• Apart from these, the board acts as the external face of the organization and is expected to advocate for the organization

1(b). What types of decisions and plans are not appropriate for board involvement, and why?

• Decisions regarding mid level & frontline employees: To take care of these employees, hierarchies have been laid down.
• Making operational decisions: Since it involves several people down the hierarchy, work is delegated to specific people while the Board may act as approval-only authority.
• Apart from these, decisions regarding internal complaints need no involvement of the Board.

2(a). Tell about a time when an organization was not able to fully achieve all of its goals simultaneously. Why did this occur?

One such incidence is when Reebok failed in its Corporate Governance. Reebok faced allegations due to the former Managing Director (in 2012) who was blamed for falsifying balance sheets by creating dummy buyers, selling merchandise to them and again getting them back to the warehouses. This led to several allegation by three different agencies as well as a ‘Bad Debt’ was claimed by the Income Tax Department.

This occurred because Reebok lacked transparency in the then governance across subsidiaries. It was observed that as Reebok expanded globally, even after hierarchies were established successfully but there was no centralised authority in their business model to keep a check & ensure corrective measures across all subsidiaries. This led to subsidiaries acting as stand-alone independent authorities thus, leading to Reebok’s failed attainment of all goals simultaneously.    

2(b). Is complete realization of all goals impossible for an organization? Why or why not?

The complete realization of goals of an organization needs the true and honest efforts of all stakeholders of the organization. There should always be a central authority which keeps a check on the same. This is why the need of Boards emerged.

Thus, if all stakeholders contribute effectively and are always positively governed & directed by a central authority called The Board, complete realization of all goals is always possible for any organization.

3(a). Describe the process that an organization follows when using a deliberate strategy.

‘Planning first then acting upon it’ – this is the essence of a deliberate strategy. The process followed when using a deliberate strategy is as follows:

• First, the agenda is thought of
• A complete 360 degree analysis of the agenda takes place
• Taking into view all internal & external perspectives, several strategic options are outlined
• Out of all options available, the best option is selected post strong deliberations & discussions
• The best strategy chosen is implemented step by step
• Performance is monitored at every step

3(b). How does this process differ when an organization implements an emergent strategy?

Emergent strategy is the strategy that the organization arrives at in the course of and due to the business they’re involved in. Thus, emergent strategies need to developed & implemented faster since the best possible solution is already encountered.

4.Assume that you are the owner and manager of a small business. Write a strategy for your business. Be sure to include each of the three primary strategic components.

(Following is an example of a sales & distribution business for fmcg)

The strategy for the Business including each of the three primary strategic components is as follows:

• Strategic Analysis (understanding the position of the business)
  • The environment:
    • Potential threat by the strong & old players in the market
    • The company itself being a small nascent staged business
    • High bargaining power of clients
  • The resources available:
    • Three warehouses
    • Large frontline employee base in all tier 1 cities
  • Expectations of different stakeholders:
    • Clients- Efficient demand & supply of stocks
    • Employees- Job satisfaction & fair incentives
    • Company- Increase in profits
    • Shareholders- share of profits
• Strategic Choice (outlining the strategic options available; and selecting the best course of action)
  • Focus on newer clients in the market
  • Collaborate with stronger old players
  • Create a unique proposition of supplying stocks

For example, say. COURSE CHOSEN : Creating a unique proposition of supplying stocks

(Like: The business has a unique proposition of supplying goods to both e-commerce stores as well as brick & mortar stores)

• Strategy Implementation
  • Creating two different distribution channels, one for e-commerce & the other for brick & mortar stores