In this assignment I am aiming to access, in a critical manner, the classic and contemporary models, concepts and tools running a business strategy and planning. I am going to also be evaluating the methods used by organisations to recognize their goals and values. I will be doing the aforementioned two in reference to the British bakery chain Greggs plc.
1) Manning (1988:27) made a couple of assumptions about the contemporary concept and ideas of strategy, and with regards to Greggs plc they are:
The strategy Greggs develops must be designed in order to permit the organisation to cope with an uncertain future.
The strategy developed designs a restructuring process instead of a plan per se.
The rules of competition with other bakery must be inherent in the strategy.
Inspiration and imagination of Greggs allow better performance to them.
Synthesis is the most important skill for Greggs.
All discussions in the Greggs board room are followed by measurements, which in turn is managed.
'Transformational' is an executive management tactic. This calls for combining Greggs' organisational strategy and target with the initiatives for the employees, process and technology. This tactic assists with supporting the business enterprise strategy and attaining the long-term goals. This tactic is achieved by combining different areas of people, process and technology, and trying to achieve specific targets together; this calls for changing appearance, form and form, and also through new technology, business models and management practices.
Incremental is a gradual increase by way of a certain (or fixed) amount. E. g. Greggs experienced the contrary of incremental (a decrement) as it had a gradual reduction in its profit margins from 2009 to 2010, and then continuing to 2011. However, in addition they had an increment as sales increased on a fixed percentage of 2. 1% year on year.
2) Greggs uses various methods, as shown above, to achieve their targets. As today's day organisations, it is fair to judge the success of those options for Greggs.
The strategy Greggs developed a few years back has surely failed to ensure it was created for an uncertain future. This is evidenced by their fall in profits from 52 million to 48 million; these were not able to prepare for another they were not sure of and so had to face consequences. Alternatively, if Greggs' initial strategy was to increase sales they have indeed succeeded as they have observed increases in sales of 2. 1%. But, however Greggs can be taken to be considered a failure as it failed to increase profit. Therefore we can conclude the success of their strategies will depend on exactly what these were, but either way Greggs have faltered.
Transformational is visibly utilized by Greggs. This is evidenced by their use of newsletters to increase communication between employees; this allows staff, beginning with those in the cheapest level to prospects in the most influential position, to be aware of the organisation's target, as well as staying updated on any happenings around other departments. This in turn will assist in motivating and inspiring staff to work harder together towards the normal target.
3) The main variations between prescriptive and emergent theories with regards to Greggs plc are:
Prescriptive approach, as utilized by Greggs, will be systematic and based after pre analysis of future happenings in the bakery industry. But, emergent, in contradiction compared to that is, unplanned and develops over time as Greggs continually keeps adjusting to the changing business environment in the bakery market.
In prescriptive, the executives of Greggs set the objectives, and design the organisation strategy. But, in the emergent approach, managers at any level (e. g. managers of local branches) can have an input in setting the objective or strategy.
The prescriptive approach supports analysis of the problem in the bakery market as a solid base for competitive advantage. But, the emergent approach supports Greggs' expert knowledge as the foundation for competitive advantage.
The logical and analytical approach of the prescriptive allows Greggs to predict and revise their strategies to be able to take advantage of any new opportunities that will come up. One of these of this approach (with regards to another company) is when EasyJet effectively predicted and lowered their cost in order to gain an advantage in the cost-conscious European market. Whereas, the emergent approach allows a more creative and responsive strategy which is often well suited for a hyper-competitive and unpredictable business environment (as that in the food market). Types of organisations (other than Greggs) that don't tie themselves to pre-designed objectives and strategies include big names such as Microsoft and Apple.
In today's organisations, like Greggs, the emergent approach would have a greater relevance. The reason being the prescriptive model doesn't allow the contemporary style of allowing employees at the lower levels to make contributions to your choice made. As a result of such an approach employees become less motivated.
4) You will find three types of goals. They act together to create the overall organisation goal. The three goals in relation to Greggs plc are: Strategic Goal (the targeted position Greggs intends to be in the near future), Tactical Goal (the targets set for the most important departments within Greggs), and Organisational Goal (specific results expected from a certain department, groups or individuals). Goals help in designing the actions to be taken, and is most effective when clear choices exist regarding the future. But, in may well not work properly if Greggs restructures at a fast rate.
Every organisation has its own values, including Greggs. This values form the Greggs' culture and working environment. It can help in setting goals based on the culture, and in increasing performance in key areas such as quality and customer service.
Peter Drucker's Eight Content Areas in Developing Goals are:
Marketing
Innovation
Productivity
Physical and financial resources
Profitability
Managerial performance and development
Worker performance and attitude
Public responsibility
One of the most important problems with goal and value setting is the failure of Greggs to believe strategically. A universal problem that occurs is the fact that planners (i. e. the executives at Greggs) confuse organisational efficiency with organisational effectiveness. In doing so, they only look at internal matters and how to make things slightly better than they currently are. Ultimately, they wrap up without having solved potential threats, and without needing their strengths to gain advantage. Steps to a progressive strategic thinking (quite simply settings goals and values) are:
Select the strategies that Greggs wants to implement.
Strategies must focus with the restructuring of Greggs, as this supports directing and sustaining changes.
Strategies must be designed to be able to permit adaptation to unexpected results.
Use brainstorming techniques to allow fellow planners to contribute.
While developing the strategy the planners (the executives at Greggs plc) must think whether it'll allow a big change in the organisation, as well as it was whether it was actually a strategic activity.
Reconsider strategies which may have failed before.
Make certain to avoid conflicting strategies.
Also, Greggs must take the following into considerations to ensure their strategies, targets and values are truly effective and do not contradict each other:
The most important issues always present the most complicating problems. It is therefore highly recommended to concentrate more on such matters.
Continually question every idea to ensure clarity.
Each of the strategies must be associated with currently running programs.
5) Stakeholders in Greggs plc have different interest, some of which are conflicting plus some which are in agreement. Examples of agreement include high profits (which brings about high dividends and job security), involvement in growth and prosperity, etc. Types of conflict include wage rises (which results in a reduction in dividends), growth of the organisation at the expense of short-term profit and neighborhood, etc.
It cannot be taken that stakeholders have equality in conditions of power and influence. Stakeholders can exert influence by disrupting and causing uncertainty in Greggs' plans. However, Governments, community groups and managers can also exert influence; government can indirectly by using taxation, community groups through protests and violence, and managers as they make decisions and for that reason hold comprehensive power.
In conclusion, even though stakeholders in some recoverable format have greater influence and power, other individuals or groups can exert influence through indirect means and methods. However, if conflict or disagreement exists between stakeholders, than proportionality in the ownership of the company makes effect, as people that have the most significant share are the most influence.
7) Strategic intent 's the reason behind the existence of any organisation like Greggs. It forms a specific way to achieve the vision of the company. It helps to prioritise and concentrate on the top issues. The means of strategic intent are the following:
A properly designed strategic intent allows development of strategies and setting of targets.
Inspiring people by making targets a valuable asset.
Encouraging participation and contribution.
Careful direction of resources.
Emphasises on building new resources.
Strategic intent has certainly been utilized by Greggs in restricting their organisation. They have ensured participation, efficiency of resources and also have developed a well thought strategy. That is clearly noticeable as their variety of sales as increased before years.
In conclusion, strategic intent is indeed an effective theory as seen by the success of Greggs because of their implementation from it.
Mission statement states the importance behind the existence of Greggs. It explains the basic expectations, and the primary values of the business. The statement should be brief, to-the-point and easy to understand. Also, it should showcase the uniqueness of the organisation.
Vision statement is the way the organisation wishes to be in the future, in other words its future position.
8) Mission intent is a description of the role the organisation plays in serving their stakeholders. It provides a framework after which strategies are formulated. The means of mission intent are the following:
Produce a mission statement that is feasible and clear.
A statement which is inspiring and credible.
A statement which is exclusive and analytical.
Greggs' mission statement is "Making a difference to the lives of people in need in the heart of Greggs' local communities. " It is a well-structured mission statement since it is feasible and incredibly clear (to help the neighborhood communities), it is inspiring (helping others is often a motivating cause) and analytical (since it looks carefully at the specific needs of the city). And it really appeared to have succeeded as Greggs successfully raised profit aid of the neighborhood community, as well as ensuring to provide environmental friendly packaging because of its products.
In conclusion, the mission intent is an efficient tool in creating a friendly and comfortable atmosphere and environment. It does increase organisation profile and allows successful growth.
Vision statement is a statement identifying the particular organisation intends to be in providing its services. A well planned statement should be clear, realistic and really should harmonize with the organisation's culture and values. Greggs' vision is "Our vision is to be Europe's finest bakery-related retailer. Our purpose is the growth and development of a thriving business, operating with integrity, for the power and enjoyment of our own people, customers, shareholders and the wider community. " It really is a perfect vision statement as it is clear (grow into Europe's finest bakery), realistic (it can almost be achieve as it continues to grow across Europe) and harmonize with the organisation's culture and values (of support for the city). The actual fact Greggs' clear vision has allowed it to become one of Europe's biggest and most effective growing bakery shop, proves that vision intent is definitely a highly effective method.
Objectives are targets that the organisation aims for in a certain time. The idea of objectives suggests they are simply:
They will be the basics of any plan.
Policies are designed in order to attain objectives.
Setting objective is the responsibility the executives.
It is common to truly have a group of objectives, rather than one single.
Objectives are set in the short-term, as well for as long term.
Objectives must be set in order to ensure they can be adjusted in the future if needed.
The objectives must be feasible, realistic and operational.
Greggs' objective of being a 'customer-focused business' has certainly been a success, as seen using their company increased sales and their growth. This proves that setting objective is definitely effective as it allows an organisation to meet their target within an organised manner.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, businesses now-a-days use all varieties of models, concepts and tools, regardless of whether their classic or contemporary, to develop their strategy and plans, and do so in a successful manner so that the strategies and plans are both compatible for both the present and future situations that the Greggs might find themselves in. Also, the techniques used by organisations like Greggs to recognize their goals and values, are certainly effective and aids in developing and furthering growth for the company.
Online resource (Bibliography):
www. Greggs. co. uk
en. wikipedia. org
www. docstoc. com
www. managementhelp. org
www. foodanddrinkeurope. com
www. managementstudyguide. com
www. greggsfoundation. org. uk
www. managementhelp. org
tutor2u. net
www. apple. com
www. microsoft. com
www. easyjet. com
