Could someone please help me with this discussion post. I have also put down lea

Question

Could someone please help me with this discussion post. I have also put down learning act 1 and my answer to it :Vince Lombardi was quoted as saying “The best game plan in the world never blocked or tackled anybody”; strategist often believe their work is done once they’ve identified the right strategy to be implemented, but in reality the strategy implementation phase is often far more difficult than the strategy formulation phase.

In addition to organization design, there are several other factors that can cause a good strategy to fail: management, operations, marketing, finance, R&D and MIS issues. Review your response to Learning Activity #1 and determine which ONE of these additional factors could cause that specific strategy to fail. Clearly identify the factor, explain why it could cause the strategy to fail – fully support your response.

Here's my response to Learning Act 1 Question:The best strategies often fail not because they weren’t good strategies, but because they weren’t implemented properly. One of the most important aspects of implementing a good strategy is ensuring that the organization is designed in a way that will properly support the plan. In Week 4 you identified a generic strategic direction for a selected organization; in Week 5 you narrowed down that strategic direction and identified possible alternative strategies and then narrowed those alternatives down to ONE specific strategy to implement for either Kroger or Nike. Using that specific strategy, identify what type of organizational design would best support that strategy. Provide a high level overview of the organizational design – be sure to fully explain the design and why it was selected to support the strategic direction and, more importantly, the specific strategy to be implemented.

Selected Strategy for Subway: Development of new product line or product development strategy

Suggested organizational design: Matrix Structure

In a matrix organizational design, specialists or experts from different functional departments work together on one or more projects assigned. When the project is complete they go back to their previous functional responsibilities. So the structure can be characterized with two managers on every employee, one being the project manger and the other will be functional manager.

Matrix organizational design will support the new product development strategic direction or subway, as the selected leader or the project head who is responsible for the new product line (organic foods or fruit drinks) will be able to select or gather experts and other resources from the different functional departments to serve this project. These experts will have the knowledge and skill required to steer the new product line in the right direction, as per the Subway’s working processes they are experienced with. Also, once the project passes the test phase and the new product line has to be launched, new hires can be trained under these experts which can result in a better functioning of the new product line aligned to the Subway’s policy and process requirements. After the new product line’s manpower is set and functional, these managers or experts cane either go on their previous responsibilities or can be assigned to other such strategic projects.

Explanation / Answer

I would comment on your learning act 1 answer. I think operations is majorly the department of business function that ensures the implementation of all the plans created for the smooth functioning of the business. These strategies fail because of the people actually involved in driving the actions underperform. Let's take an example of a manufacturing firm. Now the major portion of the business is to produce good quality products while maintaining a low cost of production to give sales a good margin of profit. Now many strategies are created in such companies to maximize their margin by improving production quality which includes aspects like labor quantity and cost, cycle time of producing products, good management of machines and labor, etc. Now consider all other business functions like marketing, finance, R&D, etc. working properly. But still, if the end goods produced from the line are not of good standards, or the productivity is low, there won't be much margin for the sales and also the customer value goes down. This consequently leads to non-implementation of business strategies.

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