Question

Strategic Management

Section 2 = Discussion Questions.                                      

Questions   

Discuss the following questions:

1. Is the evaluation and control process appropriate for a corporation that emphasizes creativity? Are control and creativity compatible? Explain. - Max 300 words (3 Marks)

2. How can corporate culture be changed? Give examples.   Max 250 words   (2 Marks)

3. How is the cellular/modular structure different from the network structure? Give at least three differences.   – Max 200 words (2 Marks)

Answer 1

Is the evaluation and control process appropriate for a corporation that emphasizes creativity? Are control and creativity compatible? Explain 300

SABIC uses customer retention evaluation criteria and target setting control measures. Customer retention is more about satisfying the needs of the customer. Proper satisfaction of the employees' needs is only possible if the company is able to tailor-make products and services that match the needs of the customers. Inorder for a company to tailor-make products and services that match the needs of the customer, then they must be innovative and creative enough to not only provide the products and services but to ensure that the products and services provided match the needs of the customers. For instance, there is a customer who would only want herbicides. In this case, the herbicides must only kill the unwanted plants while sparing the wanted plants. The production process of herbicides requires innovation and creativity to ensure that they produce a chemical that only kills unwanted plants.

The control measure criteria used also promotes innovation and creativity. This is because inorder for employees to meet the set targets, then they must be in a position to innovate and come up with technologies that will assist in reaching these targets. They must also creatively utilize these innovations and ensure that they have the right systems that will help in achieving meeting the set targets.

Control and creativity are compatible only when the control measure utilized support creativity. Some control measures reduce an individual’s creativity to the extent that they are not in a position to develop creative strategies that will help them in accomplishing the assigned tasks. For instance, tracking the employees’ communication system shows that the employer does not trust the employees and hence demotivating them and reducing their creativity.

How can corporate culture be changed? Give examples 250

Corporate culture refers to the norms and beliefs that influence the performance of a company. One of the primary ways that can be used to change an organization's culture is through the introduction of advanced technologies .For instance,the introduction of technologies that promote virtual working reduces the number of times that people have to meet up or even stay in the same place while working. SABIC has branches in different parts of the world. Virtual workers would help even in the development of more branches in the world. This means that the new branches with virtual workers will have to change the company’s culture, which ensures that all employees work from one physical location to the introduction of virtual teams that will be working from different physical locations.

In addition, the use of advanced technologies enables the company to move to modern ways of handling transactions. For instance, the introduction of modern information and data storage system reduces the number of errors associated with the lack of previous information of that particular transaction. SABIC has one primary challenge of storing information on all the production processes together with the information on all the customers. Most of the time, errors are made primarily because they do not have access to previous information. This corporate culture of making these errors will reduce through the introduction of an advanced system of storing information and data. In addition, due to the advancement in technologies, there will be a reduction in the tasks and responsibilities assigned to each employee, which will eventually reduce their rate of physical interaction. SABIC has tried to deal with these challenges by introducing team-building activities. This ensures that employees can still interact even if it is not at the workplace. Therefore, advanced technology can be used to change corporate culture.

How is the cellular/modular structure different from the network structure? Give atleast three differences 200

The cellular or modular structure is an organizational structure where tasks and responsibilities re separated but work together to achieve the set goals and responsibilities of the company. For instance, a company is divided into different departments that have specific roles and responsibilities but which are in line with the goals of the company. SABIC is divided into product distribution department, finance department, customer care department, and even the inventory department. These departments are flexible enough to lay down the particular strategies that will be used by the department to accomplish its tasks. Network structure, on the other hand, refers to a less hierarchical organizational structure that is more centralized.In this case, the company is not divided into many departments or business units. Therefore, the employees can be assigned any task or responsibility in the organization without a particular division. In addition, network structure promotes more interaction of the employees than the cellular or modular structure. The network structure is a less flexible organizational structure, and hence the employees have to follow the general strategies established by the company to achieve the set goals and responsibilities. The employees are not allowed to make their own strategies even if they will still help in achieving the goals of the organization.