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MGT 312

Strategic Management

TU BHM · Semester 8 · Recent BHM syllabus series

Requirement
elective
Credits
3
Study Guide
8 units available

Chapter notes

Authoritative study guide across 8 syllabus units

Open a unit to read its study notes.

Unit 1: Introduction· 4 LHs· ~5 marks

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Pass path: Memorize must-know definitions, operational roles, and core terminology of Strategy, Strategic Management Model, and Planning Mode of Formality. Top path: Master advanced exam requirements: diagram and execute the Mintzberg’s Three Modes of Strategic Decision-Making and accurately contrast Strategic Decisions vs Operational Decisions, resolving TU board problem scenarios with complete working steps.

Part 1: Core Concepts (2 Marks)

  • Strategy: A comprehensive, unified, and integrated master plan designed to ensure that the basic objectives of the enterprise are achieved through competitive positioning in its operating environment.
  • Strategic Management Model: The overarching conceptual framework integrating four sequential, interconnected phases: Environmental Analysis →\rightarrow Strategy Formulation →\rightarrow Strategy Implementation →\rightarrow Strategic Evaluation and Control.
  • Planning Mode of Formality: Henry Mintzberg’s formal strategic decision-making mode where professional planners use systematic data collection, scenario models, and corporate guidelines to formulate comprehensive strategy.
  • Adaptive Mode of Formality: A reactive, incremental approach to strategy formulation where management responds to immediate environmental pressures and problems through short-term adjustments rather than grand forward plans.
  • Entrepreneurial Mode: Strategy formulation dominated by a single visionary founder who makes bold, intuitive, centralized strategic leaps based on personal risk appetite.

Part 2: Structural Frameworks (10 Marks)

Mintzberg’s Three Modes of Strategic Decision-Making

STRATEGIC DECISION-MAKING MODES

MODE DECISION-MAKING CHARACTERISTIC ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT
1. ENTREPRENEURIAL Intuitive, bold, visionary, Small founder-led firms,
MODE personalized leaps by founder. startups, boutique hotels
2. ADAPTIVE MODE Reactive, incremental steps, bargaining between coalitions. Established firms in highly volatile markets.
3. PLANNING MODE Systematic, data-driven, structured formal analysis. Large multinational hotel corporations.

Part 3: Distinction Tables

Basis of Comparison Strategic Decisions Operational Decisions
Time Horizon Long-term (3 to 10 years into the future). Short-term (daily, weekly, or monthly).
Resource Impact Heavy multi-million capital allocations (CapEx). Minor routine operational expense consumption.
Reversibility Extremely difficult and costly to reverse once begun. Easily modified, adjusted, or reversed with zero loss.
Decision Maker Board of Directors, CEO, and General Manager. Frontline supervisors, chefs, and station attendants.

Part 4: Worked Problems & Exam Traps

The Comprehensive Strategic Management Sequence

Scan External/Internal→Define Vision/Mission→Formulate Strategy→Execute Plans→Evaluate & Control\text{Scan External/Internal} \rightarrow \text{Define Vision/Mission} \rightarrow \text{Formulate Strategy} \rightarrow \text{Execute Plans} \rightarrow \text{Evaluate \& Control}

TU Exam Trap: On formality questions, students often assert that formal strategic management is identical across all companies. Remember Mintzberg’s insight: Small hotel startups operate in the Entrepreneurial Mode; only large multinational hotel conglomerates (like Marriott or IHG) operate in the fully structured Planning Mode!

Students lose marks here because they overlook key operational criteria: on formality questions, students often assert that formal strategic management is identical across all companies. Remember Mintzberg’s insight: Small hotel startups operate in the Entrepreneurial Mode; only large multinational hotel conglomerates (like Marriott or IHG) operate in the fully structured Planning Mode.