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MANAGING PROJECTS

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Projects represent nonroutine business activities that often have long-term strategic ramifications for a firm. In this chapter, we examined how projects differ from routine business activities and discussed the major phases of projects. We noted how environmental changes have resulted in increased attention being paid to projects and project management over the past decade. In the second half of the chapter, we introduced some basic tools that businesses can use when planning for and controlling projects. Both Gantt charts and network diagrams give managers a visual picture of how a project is going. Network diagrams have the added advantage of showing the precedence between activities, as well as the critical path(s). We wrapped up the chapter by showing how these concepts are embedded in inexpensive yet powerful software packages such as Microsoft Project. If you want to learn more about project management, we encourage you to take a look at the Web site for the Proj...
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Internal Analysis: Resources, Capabilities, and Core Competencies

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This chapter demonstrated various approaches to analyzing the firm’s internal environment . Differentiate among a firm’s resources, capabilities, core competencies, and activities. Core competencies are unique, deeply embedded, firm-specific strengths that allow companies to differentiate their products and services and thus create more value for customers than their rivals, or offer products and services of acceptable value at lower cost. Resources are any assets that a company can draw on when crafting and executing strategy. Capabilities are the organizational and managerial skills necessary to orchestrate a diverse set of resources to deploy them strategically. Activities are distinct and fine-grained business processes that enable firms to add incremental value by transforming input into goods and services. The compare and contrast tangible and intangible resources . Tangible resources have physical attributes and are visible. Intangible resources have...
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External Analysis: Industry Structure, Competitive Forces, and Strategic Groups

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This chapter demonstrated various approaches to analyzing the firm’s external environment . Generate a PESTEL analysis to evaluate the impact of external forces on the firm. A firm’s macroenvironment consists of a wide range of political, economic, sociocultural, technological, ecological, and legal (PESTEL) factors that can affect industry and firm performance. These external forces have both domestik and global aspects. The political environment describes the influence government bodies can have on firms. The economic environment is mainly affected by five factors: growth rates, interest rates, levels of employment, price stability (inflation and deflation), and currency exchange rates. Sociocultural factors capture a society’s cultures, norms, and values. Technological factors capture the application of knowledge to create new processes and products. Ecological factors concern a firm’s regard for environmental issues such as the natural environment, global...
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Managing a Holistic Marketing Organization for the Long Run

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The modern marketing department has evolved through the years from a simple sales department to an organizational structure where marketers work mainly on cross-disciplinary teams. Some companies are organized by functional specialization; others focus on geography and regionalization, product and brand management, or market-segment management. Some companies establish a matrix organization consisting of both product and market managers. Effective modern marketing organizations are marked by customer focus within and strong cooperation among marketing, R&D, engineering, purchasing, manufacturing, operations, finance, accounting, and credit. Companies must practice social responsibility through their legal, ethical, and social words and actions. Cause marketing can be a means for companies to productively link social responsibility to consumer marketing programs. Social marketing is done by a nonprofit or government organization to directly address a social pr...
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Motivating Employees

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A six-stage motivational model indicates that individuals behave in certain ways to satisfy their needs. Leaders have three motivational challenges: Motives can only be inferred, needs are dynamic, and there are considerable differences in individuals’ motivations. Two human needs models of motivation are widely recognized. Maslow proposed that individuals have five types of needs: physiological, security, affiliation, esteem, and self-actualization, and that when a need is satisfied it no longer motivates a person. McClelland believed that individuals have three learned needs (achievement, power, and affiliation) that are rooted in the culture of a society. We focused on the role of the achievement need and indicated the characteristics associated with high achievers, including that they like to set their own moderate goals and perform tasks that give them immediate feedback. Herzberg claimed that two types of factors affect a person’s motivation: motivator and hygiene...
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Strategic Leadership: Managing the Strategy Process

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This chapter explained the role of vision, mission, and values in the strategic management process. It provided an overview of strategic leadership and explained different processes to create strategy . The roles of vision, mission, and values in the strategic management process. A vision captures an organization’s aspirations. An effective vision inspires and motivates members of the organization. A mission statement describes what an organization actually does—what its business is—and why and how it does it. Values define the ethical standards and norms that should govern the behavior of individuals within the firm. The strategic implications of product-oriented and customer-oriented vision statements . Product-oriented vision statements define a business in terms of a good or service provided. Customer-oriented vision statements define business in terms of providing solutions to customer needs. Customer-oriented vision statements provide managers with more ...
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