07/10/04

I have done many assignments throughout my collegiate career that deal with my upcoming career path.  One can see a couple of examples of these assignments and their corresponding reviews by following the related links on this page.  One example of this prior coursework is an occupation paper that I had to do for my Sociology class, and an occupation review for this assignment is also available.  Another assignment example is an advertisement critique that I did for a Consumer Behavior course, and a critique review for this is also available.  

Strategic Management Realized Through Class Activities

There were many activities in class during the semester that helped my understanding of strategic management.  These not only aided in understanding strategic management principles, but also to be able to see how these principles were implemented in the real world.  The activities that gave me this opportunity were the case studies, Wall Street Journal discussions, and topics from the chapter readings. All three of these learning tools worked together to provide an overall understanding of strategic management principles.

      The case studies were probably the most effective in teaching me how to really look deeper into a situation and analyze it in more detail.  In the case studies I had to be able to pick out strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for the given company of an industry of a company.  This SWOT analysis helps one to see what a company is good and not good at now, and it shows what the company can take advantage of or needs to watch out for in the future.  The Porter’s Five Force analysis is then used to determine the strength of potential threats such as competition, new entrants to the market, substitutions, buyer power, and supplier power.  These analyses can then be used to determine key issues that need to be dealt with, possible alternative solutions to issues, and a recommendation that is the most effective in satisfying the key issues.  The case studies allowed me to look more into the “roots” of the situation and to be able to discover the problems and solutions that may not be easily seen otherwise.

      The Wall Street Journal discussions were the more effective in allowing me to see strategic management principles being implemented in today’s market place.  There were many articles that displayed subject matter relating to the class.  Pointing out different influences on a company or industry such as broad, task, and organizational level forces became easier as the semester went on.  Business strategies, such as low-cost and differentiation, were evident in many articles, and a good bit of these were being changed or altered in some fashion.  Also, other issues like agency problems were observed in the articles on several occasions.  The subsequent discussion of the articles was an interactive way of allowing the whole class to work together to analyze the articles and see what different point of views there were.  This process allowed us to even further consider issues through classmate suggestions.

      The chapter topic readings that were discussed in class were a key factor in laying a foundation to be able to understand strategic management.  These readings made me familiar with terms and principles that are very important to the course.  Learning the terms from the chapters really helped me to understand the larger concepts of the course.  These would include ideas such as the value chain, vertical integration, and generic strategy.  Without knowledge of the terms it would have been nearly impossible to comprehend the more important concepts of strategic management.  The chapter readings were like building blocks to being able to do the Wall Street Journal discussions and the case studies.

      The activities in class throughout the semester have greatly assisted me in understanding strategic management principles.  The case studies, Wall Street Journal discussions, and chapter topic readings all worked together to help my understanding of the principles.  Each activity had its own purpose, but each one helped the other accomplish their purpose.  Through case studies, Wall Street Journal discussions, and chapter readings I have developed the ability to do a thorough industry analysis as well as many other principles associated with strategic management.