Nature of Strategic Management
- Definitions
- Stages of strategic management
- Key terms in strategic management
- Strategic management model
- Benefits of strategic management
- Business ethics and strategic management
- Business and military strategy
Strategies in Action
- Types of strategies
- Integration strategies
- Intensive strategies
- Diversification strategies
- Defensive strategies
- Guidelines for pursuing strategies
- Mergers and leveraged buyouts
- Generic strategies
- Strategic management in governmental organisations
- Strategic management in small firms
Business Mission
- Importance of a clear mission
- Nature of a business mission
- Components of a mission statement
- Writing and evaluating mission statements
External Assessment
- Nature of an external audit
- Economic forces
- Social, cultural, demographic and environmental forces
- Political, governmental and legal forces
- Technological forces
- Competitive forces
- Sources of external information
- Forecasting tools and techniques
- Competitive analysis
- Industry analysis
Internal Assessment
- Nature of an internal audit
- Relationships among functional areas
- Management
- Marketing
- Finance
- Productions/operations
- R&D
- Computer information systems
- Internal audit checks
- Internal factor evaluation matrix
Strategy Analysis and Choice
- Nature of strategy analysis and choice
- Long term objectives
- Comprehensive strategy formulation framework
- Input stage
- Matching stage
- Decision stage
- Cultural aspects of strategy choice
- Politics of strategy choice
- Role of board of directors
Strategy Implementation, Management Issues
- Nature of strategy implementation
- Annual objectives
- Policies
- Resource allocation
- Managing conflict
- Matching structure with strategy
- Restructuring and reengineering
- Linking performance and pay to strategies
- Managing resistance to change
- Managing the natural environment
- Creating a strategy-supportive culture
- Production/operations concerns when implementing strategies
- Human resource concerns when implementing strategies
Implementing Strategies, Other Issues
- Nature of strategy implementation
- Marketing issues
- Finance issues
- R&D issues
- Computing information systems issues
Strategy Review, Evaluation and Control
- Nature of strategy evaluation
- Strategy evaluation framework
- Published sources of strategy evaluation information
- Characteristics of an effective evaluation system
- Contingency planning
- Auditing
- Using computers to evaluate strategies
- Guidelines for effective strategic management
Example Candidate Response Booklet
Example Candidate Response (ECR) Booklets are a source of crucial information for Centres and Candidates as they use real candidate responses. We ask Senior Examiners to comment on five or more responses in terms of why the mark was awarded with commentary about how to improve the answer (if necessary).
