Strategic Planning & Analysis Flashcards

Which analytical tool maps an organization's activities along a series of steps to identify where value is added and where costs are incurred?

Answer: Value Chain Analysis

Value Chain Analysis, developed by Michael Porter, breaks down organizational activities into primary and support activities to identify sources of competitive advantage.

An organization's mission statement primarily serves to:

Answer: Articulate the fundamental purpose and reason for the organization's existence

A mission statement defines the organization's core purpose, what it does, who it serves, and why it exists, providing direction for all strategic decisions.

In a PESTLE analysis, the 'L' factor refers to:

Answer: Legal and regulatory considerations affecting the business

The 'L' in PESTLE stands for Legal factors, encompassing laws, regulations, court rulings, and compliance requirements that affect organizational operations.

Which portfolio analysis tool classifies business units into 'Stars,' 'Cash Cows,' 'Question Marks,' and 'Dogs' based on market share and market growth?

Answer: BCG Growth-Share Matrix

The BCG (Boston Consulting Group) Growth-Share Matrix uses market growth rate and relative market share to categorize business units for portfolio management decisions.

Scenario planning in strategic management is best described as:

Answer: Developing multiple plausible future stories to prepare for uncertainty

Scenario planning constructs several distinct, plausible future environments to help organizations develop flexible strategies that can succeed under different conditions.

A 'blue ocean strategy' is characterized by:

Answer: Creating uncontested market space by making competition irrelevant

Blue Ocean Strategy, by Kim and Mauborgne, involves creating new demand in uncontested market space rather than fighting over existing demand in competitive 'red oceans.'

In the context of strategic planning, 'strategic drift' refers to:

Answer: The gradual divergence of an organization's strategy from its changing environment

Strategic drift occurs when an organization's strategy incrementally falls out of alignment with environmental changes, often going unnoticed until a crisis emerges.