MNG3702

STRATTEGY IMPLEMANTATION AND CONTROL

Exam Portfolio

by
Name Student number
KEFILOE MOATSHE 42360854

Date of Submission

28.11.2020

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HONESTY DECLARATION
I, __KEFILOE GLADYS NANISI MOATSHE __(Student number): __42360854__________am
a student registered for (degree) BCOM IN MARKETING (98301)_____and module:
___MNG3702_______in the year _2020____. I hereby declare the following:
✓ I know that plagiarism means taking and using the ideas, writings, works or
inventions of another as if they were one’s own. I know that plagiarism not only
includes verbatim copying, but also the extensive use of another person’s ideas
without proper acknowledgement (which includes the proper use of quotation
marks). I know that plagiarism covers the use of material found in textual sources
and from the Internet
✓ I declare that this examination is my own original work. Where I have used
someone else’s work, I have indicated this by using the prescribed referencing
style. Every contribution to and quotation in this assignment/proposal from the
work/s of other people has been referenced accordingly
✓ I acknowledge and understand that plagiarism is wrong
✓ I understand that my examination must be accurately referenced
✓ This research proposal/assignment is my own work. I acknowledge that copying
someone else’s research, or part of it, is wrong, and that submitting identical work
to others constitutes is a form of plagiarism
✓ I have not allowed, nor will I in the future allow, anyone to copy my work with the
intention of passing it off as their own work
✓ I will not plagiarise my future work and will adhere to the Policy on Academic Integrity
and Policy on Plagiarism Prevention
Student signature: ____KGN MOATSHE____________ Date: _____27/11/2020____________

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QUESTION 1

1.1 Discuss the ten mechanisms that can be implemented to assist an organisation to
become a learning organisation and apply the theory to the case study above.

• Leadership commitment to learning :Problems within an organisation generally

begin with top management and filter down, as do successes. Thus, in order to
generate a culture of organisational learning, leaders should demonstrate their own
commitment by being models of learning, championing learning and using learning
strategically for business results Venter.(2019).
Example : There is evidence in WD-40 case study that organisational learning starts
at top management this is stated by the CEO of WD-40 Garry Ridge who is intensely
committed to leaning and requires all employees to do the same , his motto is I am
responsible for taking action, asking questions and getting answers . In that way Garry
motivates his staff to ask questions which will innovate and collaborate with each other
he also motivates his staff not to be afraid of failure.
Building shared visions : Leaders need to develop genuine visions not just pieces of
paper that can inspire employees. Visions cannot be dictated to employees;
employees must believe and buy into them. Genuine shared visions will inspire
employees in good times and bad and have the power to bind an organisation together
for the long term (Venter and Tersia Botha,2019:244). It is also important to empower
people towards a collective vision, not only by involving them in setting the vision, but
also by distributing responsibility in such a way that people are motivated to learn
toward what they are being accountable to achieve.
Example: There is more evidence in the case study of Publix which is an employee-
owned supermarket chain its diversity of viewpoints is encouraged by all its
employees by awarding them with a stake in the company after working for the chain
for a year and additional shares every year after . This allows Publix employees have
a vested interest in the company’s success and know that they are valued by the
company leadership .Publix employees are supported in pursuing career goals and
reaching out to colleagues for assistance.

• Encouraging diversity People from similar backgrounds, for example similar cultural
groups and similar education, tend to see things in a similar way. Quite often, if the top
management team is too similar in their backgrounds, it is easier for them to get caught
up in a dominant management logic, and much more difficult to change. For this

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 reason, diversity in the organisation and specifically in the top management team
should be encouraged. The more people have divergent views, the more they are likely
to influence each other’s mental models and effect change because employees took
part in the process of developing the vision, they also bought into it.( Venter; 2019).
Example : This evidence is encouraged Adobe Inc the company works to recruit
talent from underrepresented minority communities .They recognise the value of
having diverse staff within a variety of ideas experiences and talents in working
together .
• Encouraging double-loop learning : Single-loop learning occurs when individuals or
organisations strive to achieve a goal and when they fail, evaluate what went wrong.
They may then try a different strategy, fail again, evaluate again, and so on until they
run out of ideas. This persisting failure may push the individual or the organisation into
a situation where the fundamental elements or rules governing the situation are
questioned, leading them to re-evaluate their own mental models – the goals, values
and beliefs they hold. This questioning of the fundamental underlying assumptions is
known as double-loop learning. Challenging existing mental models is critical to be a
learning organisation, since our mental models can prevent new powerful insights and
organisational practices from becoming a reality. The process of unlearning mental
models begins with self-reflection to develop an understanding of our deeply held
beliefs and generalisations, and how they influence the way we do things. Until we are
prepared to challenge our own mental models, real change cannot take place. There
is evidence in the case study that the organisation encouraged double-loop learning
(Venter 2019:245).
Example : This is indicated in the WD-40 case study where Garry requires his
employees to ask questions ,to innovate and collaborate with each other and take
risks and not be afraid of failure .
• Developing systems thinking abilities Systems thinking refers to the ability to see
the ‘big picture’, and to see patterns rather than isolated events. Systems thinking
means that as an organisation, we understand how we are connected to the world,
how we fit into our environment, how we are influenced by it and how we can influence
it in turn. Another element of systems thinking requires people to be assisted to see
the effect of their work on the entire enterprise (Venter 2019:245). In the case of
Google, it has given its employees the flexibility to set their own schedules and work
hours that suits them .
Example : Google values employees’ contributions and works with staff to constantly
improve themselves and the company in that way google distribute responsibilities to
its employees in such a way that they could be productive and creative.

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• Encouraging individual and team learning :Venter (2019) states that being
committed to lifelong learning is an important element of a learning organisation.
Learning should be designed into work so that people can be trained on the job, while
ample opportunities should be provided for ongoing education and growth. Peter
Senge promotes the idea of personal mastery as focusing on becoming the best
person possible and striving for a sense of commitment and excitement in our careers
to facilitate the realisation of our potential. Encouraging top managers to enrich their
experience bases through sabbaticals and educational experiences, and rehearsing
as a management team for a broad range of future industry scenarios are examples of
such individual learning opportunities. Modern organisations operate based on
teamwork, which means that organisations cannot learn if team members do not come
together and learn. This process requires teams to develop the ability to create desired
results, to have a goal in mind and to work together to attain it.
Example: This is illustrated in the Publix supermarket where collaboration and
communication are among the company’s core values where employees are
supported in pursuing career goals and reaching out to colleagues for assistance.
Publix also encourages its employees to work in the company’s various divisions to
learn new skills , information and aspects of the business.
• Legitimising dissent : Thinking is not the exclusive domain of top managers. In
learning organisations, everybody should think and contribute ideas, and to this end,
employees should be encouraged to question key business practices and
assumptions. A culture of dialogue and debate is very important in a learning
organisation. It is also important to double-loop learning, since it allows employees to
challenge the mental models that organisations use in their decision making (Venter
2019).
Example :This is indicated in WD-40 case study where Garry requires his employees
to asking questions and getting answers and where both management and employees
can make decisions.
• Encouraging experimentation: Few people learn how to ride a motor bike without
falling off several times. In fact, falling and getting back up is an important part of the
process, and in organisations, it is no different. Without failure, there is no learning.
For this reason, it is important to encourage experimentation and to see the failures for
what they are learning opportunities. (Venter ,2019:246).

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 Example: Google who also values managers, Google wanted to understand the
importance of managers in that way they conducted a study by looking at managers
performance ratings and feedback on googles annual employee survey which
indicated that managers mattered and that teams with great managers where
productive and happy .Google values employees contributions and risk taking even
when it leads to failure.

• Establishing communities of practice Communities of practice: According to

(Venter,2019)”CoPs are the building blocks of learning systems”. The idea of CoPs
closely fits Peter Senge’s notion of ‘team learning’. CoPs can also exist across
organisational boundaries. For example, a CoP on procurement practices may include
suppliers and academics from outside the organisation. One of the key roles of a CoP
is to define what competence entails in its context, and there are three elements: There
must be a sense of joint enterprise, meaning that members of the CoP need to have a
shared understanding of what their community is about and how they can contribute
to it. Members must be accepted and trusted, and able to interact with other members
of the community, in other words there should be relationships of mutuality. The value
of CoP for organisations occurs when sharing of information takes place across the
boundaries of the CoPs, either between individuals or with other CoPs as a whole.
Example :This is illustrated in Adobe Inc case study that provides learning
opportunities for their staff at the company through on demand online courses
,mentorship and leadership development programs and education reimbursements.

• Collaboration :Collaboration with suppliers, customers and even competitors is

becoming a more and more common means of fostering learning in organisations.
However, it does require a specific mindset organisation than cannot or will not trust
their collaboration partners or share openly will not be able to learn (Venter,2019:247).
Example: The growth mindset at Google with opportunities for collaboration results in
a staff that works constantly to improve themselves and the company.

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QUESTION 2

2.1 Discuss organisational culture as one of the strategy implementation elements that
Unilever introduced.

(a) Definition of organisational culture

Organisational culture is defined as “a pattern of shared basic assumptions learned by a group

as it solved its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, which has worked well
enough to be considered as valid and, therefore, to be taught to new members as the correct
way to perceive, think and feel in relation to those problems.

(b) Explain the various layers of organisational culture and provide two examples from
the case study for each element of the layers of organisational culture.

• Visible artefacts :it contains attributes of the organisation that are there for everybody
to see and includes artefacts like company advertising, slogans, rituals and uniforms
(Venter,2019). This is illustrated by Unilever slogan “Brands with a purpose and
Unilever lifebuoy and Domestos adverts that promote hygiene and sanitations in our
national schools .
• Espoused values and norms : those shared values that the organisation claims that
it subscribes to around key topics such as customer service (Venter,2019:286). The
Espoused values for Unilever have always been in doing well by doing good and
working everyday to make the world better . Unilever is determined to be a catalyst
or change that enhances livelihoods and embeds sustainable values .
• Taken-for-Granted assumptions: it’s the deepest level, and these elements of
culture are not dealt with in everyday interactions in the organisation and may in fact
be taboo to discuss(Venter,2019:288). . Culture at this level is very difficult to define,
yet it is vital as it is the driving force of organisational culture. This can be illustrated
in Unilever case study where they active in economic growth by preparing young
South Africans , eager to apply their minds in the workplace through youth
development programmes. Contributing towards women empowerment by prompting
formal active participation of women throughout their businesses .

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2.2 Which type of strategic change can mostly be associated with the socio-economic
changes that were implemented by Unilever in the above case study

Strategic change occurs when the organisation decides to change its strategic direction
considering internal or external factors. -This then leads to large-scale changes in structure,
culture and systems to support the new strategic direction. What makes strategic change
complicated is that it often comprises of many large and small-scale changes within the larger
strategic change programme. Unilever Socio-economic change is mostly associated with
Evolution change : this are changes aligned with projects that Unilever has already
embarked on by revitalising the township economy and training and employing youth through
inclusive growth models with SMME and start-ups.(Venter,2019 ) refers to Evolution as a
transformational change that is implemented gradually through inter -related initiatives.

2.3 Discuss the balanced scorecard (BSC) as a strategic planning and control tool that
Unilever can adopt.

The balanced scorecard (BSC) is widely accepted tool for managing organisational
performance. The BSC focuses on four dimensions, and its purpose is to define the small
numbers of strategic goals and key measures that measures that measures performance
across the organisation. For each goal, the organisation must identify how it will be measured,
what target it wants to achieve in the given time frame, and the strategic initiatives that it will
implement to achieve these goals. The BSC plays a pivotal role in the management
performance across the organisation, as each goal and target can be broken down into
functional objectives, measures (often also referred to as key performance indicators or KPI’s),
targets and initiatives, which are ultimately reflected in the performance targets of individual
employees (Venter and Tersia Botha,2019:244).

An organisation like Unilever might have the long-term objective of “increasing customer
lifetime value”. As a measure, average customer lifetime value can be used, which is the net
present value of all future cash flows generated by a customer. The customer lifetime value
depends on customer retention, the profitability of a customer and the amount of money a
customer spends. Therefore, typical, strategic initiatives may include investing in social
awareness programmes, this programme to increase sales to customers and ways to
increase customer profitability, for example by increasing online sales

• Marketing may now have the objective of increasing customer retention, e.g. by
launching a social awareness programme and school hygiene and sanitation
programmes in partnership with department of basic education.

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 • Operations may introduce a programme to increase customer satisfaction by
shortening delivery times by manufacturing 95% of their products in South Africa and
training young jobseekers in the Unilever youth employability programme .
• The sales function may be given the goal of increasing the sales value per sale such
as cross-selling
• The IT function may introduce an initiative to improve township economies and creating
new local and linking people to opportunities in the formal business sector .

These initiatives will also influence the individual performance management. For example, by
training and employing the youth through inclusive growth models Unilever will be able to
create SMMEs and start -up businesses for the youth. , whereas previously they may have
been rewarded purely based on transaction values. The BSC also offers an opportunity of
developing strategy maps. Strategy maps show how the objectives of the organisation are
connected and how value is created for the organisation. This in turn helps the organisation
to understand how improving performance in one area will lead to improved performance in
another area.

QUESTION 3

3.1 Discuss the organisational structure that can mostly be associated with how ARC
has been structured.

Organisational structure is the formal reporting relationships, procedures, controls, and

authority and decision-making processes. The organisational structure helps the organisation
to distribute resources and to deliver its core products and services as effectively and
efficiently as possible. If the organisational culture is the soul of the organisation, the
organisational structure is the body (Venter and Tersia Botha,2019:326). ARC has been
structured under :

Holding-company structure ACR is headquarter of the organization or corporate centre it

largely acts as an investment company. The operations associated with ARC are largely
independent .This structure is appropriate for organization that is pursuing a restructuring
strategy, buying, selling or taking over other organizations , its advantages involves relatively
low central overhead costs as holding company is this able to finance subsidiaries at a
favourable cost of capital(Venter and Tersia Botha,2019:334).. Risks are spread between the
companies and limitations. There disadvantage is that they are no centralized skills to support
the organization and there is no synergy and there is a possibility of lack of organizational
culture and strategic control

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3.2 Identify and explain four stakeholders that have been covered by the information
in the case study and provide one example from the case study for each stakeholder .

• Employees : According to (Venter ,2019) This responsible strategic leaders mobilise

people and lead them across business ,countries and cultures to gain performance
objectives that are derived from strategic objectives of the organization .

Example – ARC is a fully black owned company controlled and focusing on South
African and African services industry . ARC seeks to utilize its empowerment credentials for
business track record of its leadership team and brand.

• Clients and Customers: This entails responsible strategic leaders to ensure that
products and services meet the needs of their customers that they are safe and real
and potential risk are openly transparently communicated (university of South
Africa,2020:61)
Example – Good cooperate governance is instilled at ARC and they engage their
stakeholders with transparency ,honesty and respect .

• Business Partners : Day to day actives are conducted , strategic leaders are in
contact with various business partners. According to (Venter ,2019:311) “Business
partners is any individual or organisation who has some degree of involvement with
the organisations business dealings”.
Example: ARC is to be a leading service provider of financial cervices covering the
full spectrum of fiscal needs such as life insurance and healthcare etc .They do so by
building strategic partnerships in both South Africa and further a field . ARC Astute
capital management is used to create the best possible return on investment equity.

• Shareholders : Shareholders own shares in the company and are responsible leaders
that must protect the investment capital of their shareholders and ensure an adequate
return of investment (Venter,2019).
Example – ARC holds a voting -only B share in ARC investments the structure
ensures that new and existing investee companies to treat ownership from ARC fund
as if ownership were held by black investors .

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3.2 Explain the three key elements of resource allocation for strategy implementation.

• Organizations differ from one another in terms of set of experiences, assets, skills and
organizational cultures. These sets of resources and capabilities determine how
effectively and efficiently an organization performs it activities. Therefore, an
organisation will succeed if it has the best and the most appropriate resources for its
strategy (Venter and Tersia Botha,2019:258).
• To achieve successful strategy implementation, it is essential that resources can be
allocated in such a way that they support the organization’s long-term goals, chosen
strategy, structure and short-term goals.
• Research has indicated that one of the barriers to successful strategy implementation
is the resource barrier. Strategy implementation efforts will seldom succeed if the
resource allocation plan or budget is not linked to the strategy. A change in strategy
requires a change in the resource allocation plan of an organization to ensure a
continued strategy-resource fit.

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