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Systematic Understanding and Critical Evaluation of KEY ASPECTS OF STRATEGIC Management
Systematic Understanding and Critical Evaluation of KEY ASPECTS OF STRATEGIC Management
Systematic Understanding and Critical Evaluation of KEY ASPECTS OF STRATEGIC Management
MANAGEMENT:
weaknesses. In this way the foundations are laid for the establishment of
different strategies.
The second part deals with Strategy Formulation. The diversity of qualifying
criteria with regard to strategic alternatives is significant. For this reason, we
have opted for the use of differentiation by levels of decision, distinguishing
between corporate levels, strategies at the level of the business and
functional strategies.
It is important to conceptually distinguish these levels since they imply
different decisional situations. At the corporate level, general questions,
referring fundamentally to the definition of the scope of activity and to the
different types of development, are raised. At this level, a global vision of the
business is therefore necessary as a starting point for the possible
identification of business opportunities and consequent decision-making.
At the business level, the main problem is how to be more competitive and
successful in concrete businesses, once they are defined. At this point,
decision-making is related to the type of activity carried out and the
identification of the best options to compete in these activities. Lastly, at a
functional level, the decisions to be made are related to the functional areas
of the business, that is: production and technology, financing, marketing,
purchasing and human resources.
In the section on Strategy Formulation, only corporate and business
strategies are taken into consideration, although a brief reference is made to
strategic implementation. Strategies at the business level are included in the
block where competitive strategies, strategies based on industrial
characteristics and strategies for technology-based industries are examined.
All these strategies attempt to identify the possibilities of business
The design of the strategic control system, necessary for the evaluation and
follow-up of the entire process, completes the model. In this respect,
characteristics, methods and informative needs to put strategic control into
practice are studied, as well as the specific problems in this context such as
the measurement of business results, the control of organizational units and
the information system for strategic control.
Understanding and use of Bench Marking:
Benchmarking
Competitor Research
Although there are many forms of benchmarking, they can be classified into
three categories internal, competitive and strategic.
Strategic Benchmarking:
Going outside ones own industry is often challenging for a company. Keep in
mind, however, that customer satisfaction is driven by critical-to-quality
measures that are similar regardless of the industry.
For example, when considering the metric, wait times, it does not matter
whether waiting for a car repair at a body shop, or to make a deposit in a
bank lobby, customers do not want to wait in long lines. Similarly, whether
using a telephone help line of a cable company or of a favorite department
store, customers do not want to remain on hold. They want their concerns
in their cars driving around seeking places to park when they should have
been going through security checks before moving to the check-in desks.
The delays in finding appropriate parking spaces were compounded when
staff reached the terminal building itself. There were problems with signage.
One BA check-in attendant who spoke to the BBC said It took an hour for
people to get to the right place. The place is so enormous, we dont know
where were going; we have been given no maps, no numbers to ring. Some
staff had difficulty finding the locations for security checkpoints which they
needed to pass through to get airside. These delays were compounded by
problems at the security checkpoints. Long queues started to build up at
these security checkpoints.
Once staff had managed to find and get through security checkpoints they
encountered other problems. Some workers in the baggage handling sorting
area, for example, reported being unable to log on to the computer system.
Others who had been provided with new hand-held equipment running the
Resource Management System (RMS) which was supposed to allocate
baggage handling staff to their duties unloading or loading specific flights
found they could not operate the systems properly. This meant workers who
had successfully managed to gain access to their work areas were unaware
of the tasks they had been allocated. This affected both outgoing and
incoming baggage.
BA staff that had managed to find parking spaces and to navigate their way
around the new building to their check-in desks were unaware of the
problems in baggage handling and continued to load more suitcases to the
baggage system. With not enough baggage handling staff to take luggage off
the underground conveyors, the system soon became completely clogged.
This led to long delays in planes taking off waiting for the baggage.
Search facilities for both staff and passengers (including transfer search)
were not ready.
Staff facilities including parking were not ready.
A number of passenger and staff lifts were either not fully commissioned or
were unserviceable for use on the day.
jetties to transfer passengers on and off the planes failed to perform as
specified and caused frequent stoppages which meant maintenance crews
having to reset the operating system on each jetty before they could be reused, leading to departure and arrival delays.
Regular, fixed electrical ground power units failed necessitating the
unplanned towing of mobile power units around the apron.
Stand guidance systems were incorrectly calibrated requiring attendance by
airfield signaling marshals.
Staff accommodation areas and staff access routes were not fully completed
or fitted out.
Execution, handling and running: The automated temperature controls failed.