Topic: Assignment Two – Identifying Themes and Concerns to Support Strategic Direction: a paper for the attention of the Board of Directors: Lectures Three, Four, and Five
Introduction
The prominent themes that could be apprehended from the lectures in the context of strategic decision-making include the necessity of purpose and potential, the significance of focusing on questions rather than answers to cope with the dynamics of contemporary business issues, the exploration of ideas, and the ability to communicate a vision. Each of the lectures depicted various insights into the crucial entities that can be addressed for accomplishing effective strategic direction (Eisenhardt & Zbaracki, 1992, p.20).
The Three Themes
Emphasizing the future is a prominent necessity for determining the strategic direction of a leader. Contemporary business issues are subject to the supervision of business leaders and their strategic direction is guided by the competencies of the leaders alongside the stories of adversity which they have tackled. The ability to demonstrate capabilities for dealing with downhill situations are formidable requirement for future managerial personnel. Thereafter the concern for questions rather than settling for answers is also assumed as a plausible moderator of the strategic direction of an enterprise or individual (Koryak et al., 2015).
The role of investigating questions on the formulation of plausible strategic decisions as well as the involvement of operational context and the behavioral context in the decision-making process have also been illustrated in the report. The theme of strategic navigation must be better than focusing on strategic plans since planning could be possible with existing resources and knowledge of the scenario (Lockett et al., 2013).
The theme of exploring ideas can be associated with the identification of purpose and potential for a specific objective. The report illustrates the interpretation of leadership and management as creative processes that could be enhanced by the provision of adequate space to others for innovation (Paul & Falls, 2015). Leaders could accomplish the establishment of a common entity that holds the organization together in response to a particular strategic direction by prioritizing the preservation of creativity.
Leadership capabilities for strategic direction
As a leader, individuals must anoint specific importance to strategic direction and the impact of a vision for the future on the efficiency of the same. Various industrial sectors have been revolutionized with the introduction of technological advancements which provide impeccable benefits alongside revising the contemporary approaches followed for operations. Therefore, it is necessary to note that the development of leadership qualities can be a viable contribution to the strategic direction of an organization (Smith, 2013). The development of critical competencies that could deliver plausible results in the context of a strategic direction has been discussed in the lecture. The proliferation of adversity stories can be a major highlight for the board to consider for determining the capabilities of a leader to cater to the needs of the assumed strategic direction (Bolden & O’Regan, 2017).
As per Herrmann & Felfe, the recruitment of potential candidates has to be dependent on their abilities to tackle adversity and the skills used by the employees to accomplish the same must be in unison with the specifications in the job description (Smith, 2013). This theme can be critically reflective of the necessity for potential graduates to apprehend their inherent traits and experiences which could prepare them for contemporary real-world business issues. The board should look after the concern of leadership qualities requirement in the accomplishment of a plausible strategic direction to improve recruitment and selection of leaders (Herrmann & Felfe, 2014, p. 215). One prolific argument that can be placed in front of the board is that they have to hire leaders who could be able to implement their skills and competencies in the most dynamic approach possible for addressing the strategic direction of the organization.
Therefore experience of new graduates in the labor market could be acquired from participation in community programs at the university, involvement in challenging tasks, and ability to communicate their competencies to probable employers. The reforms should not be limited to a single department of the organization and should be realized on an organizational level (Klemm, 2017). The majority of present real-world business issues are derived from external factors and market forces which require the Board to adopt variable approaches rather than sticking to the conventional objectives and strategy of the organization.
Bolden & O’Regan said that graduates who are capable of depicting inherent association with obstacles in their personal and academic routines prove to be appropriate candidates who could tailor their competencies according to the requirements of the job description alongside realizing the strategic direction of the organization (Bolden & O’Regan, 2017). For example, an organization that faces increased volumes of product orders has to opt for leaders who can be directive, and in cases where the organization has to cope with internal change management, leaders are supposed to be participative (Taylor et al., 2016). Therefore, observation of the capabilities of the graduates to deal with adverse scenarios by determining the situation, the required objectives, implemented actions, and the outcomes obtained from the same. From a personal perspective, it can also be argued that the significance of competencies in the existing labor market is at par with any other requirement and therefore the board needs to consider the theme of leadership qualities and their impact on strategic direction.
Strategic planning or Strategic Navigating
The observations of entrepreneur case studies and examples could be considered crucial in the context of the strategic direction of an enterprise. Therefore the Board could review the argument that relying on strategic planning for dealing with unprecedented scenarios can only deliver prolific outcomes with the availability of information and resources. On the other hand, strategic navigation is concerned with scouting opportunities in the existing business environment that can facilitate substantial competitive advantage to an individual or enterprise (Eisenhardt & Zbaracki, 1992, p.20). Entrepreneurs have depicted the functionality of exploratory thinking using their intellect to accomplish social benefits as well as financial returns.
The argument is primarily inclined towards the impact of stagnancy in an organization’s strategic direction. The strategy can be considered as a stepping stone for a leader or the organization to cater specified objectives which are generally observed in the conventional frameworks of business such as revenue acquisition (Smith, 2013). However, leaders and organizations face the immediate need to acquire an interpretation of the long-term objectives in the changing business environment (Taylor et al., 2016). Decision-making of leaders was discussed in the lecture and it was prominently observed that it was dependent on evidence and reason-based truth as well as imagination and intuition.
Comparisons to the different roles of leaders suggest variations in the perception of the truth by leaders. Therefore, it can be concluded that leaders with the necessary capabilities for moderating the balance between evidence and intuition as well as belief and facts could be suitable for addressing real-world business issues. The truth is perceived through experience and the stated truth. The stated truth is based on reason while the truth perceived through experience can be considered based on evidence (Barney & Hesterly, 2015). Generally, evidence is acquired through observation and experimentation which could help leaders to apprehend the particulars of any situation by referring to their earlier experiences with similar situations.
The profoundly observed elements that characterize truth refer to innate acquired and infused truth. The innate truth is considered as the information which is hardwired in human psychology such as basic senses and awareness of existence. The infused truth is the result of the influence of society and its intensity is dependent on association with societal practices and customs (Baylis, Wirtz & Gray, 2016). Furthermore, prolonged exposure to specific environments could lead to the development of acquired truth.
Therefore leaders have to ascertain the three profound characteristics of the operational context such as the story that has to be communicated to the employees to drive efficiency, beliefs that could be referred to as the conventional values held by the leaders, and the final component i.e. vision and purpose (Taylor et al., 2016). The capability of a leader to formulate a specific vision for the future and estimate specific objectives can provide the employees with a precise target to achieve and thus the efficiency of the decision-making process can be realized.
Leaders tend to accept reason-based truth and address business issues with the implementation of conventional remedial frameworks. However, it is not necessary that the measures could provide accurate results. For example, change management has proved to be a prolific initiative for many organizations while on the other hand; it has also proved to be a pitfall for various organizations due to their incapability to cope with the technologies and lack of guidance (Albrechts, 2017). The profound argument against the adoption of technological advancement was that it had to be dealt with through the recruitment and selection of competent personnel. Furthermore, the assumption of significance on values by safeguarding the existing workforce and relying on their technical expertise which was not able to cater to the functions of modern quality management and change management frameworks failed leaders.
Therefore, the necessity for maintaining a prolific balance between imagination and truth ensures that leaders can defer the necessity of questions for strategic navigation. Formation of strategy has to be guided according to questions that leaders can put forward such as, ‘Why do they need to expand into international business?’, ‘What are the new supply chains that could be associated with the organizational framework?’ and ‘What are the resources that are required to accomplish objectives of sustainability?’. The primary requirement of the hour is the enforcement of innovative ideas in the domain of business and the rise of the entrepreneurial wave has also resulted in strategic changes in large established corporations. The most prolific argument that can be placed against the influence of answers on strategic decision-making is its efficiency in stable scenarios (Baylis, Wirtz & Gray, 2016).
This leads to prolific insufficiencies for leaders to cater the unprecedented scenarios and therefore entrepreneurial thinking in such cases could lead to the formulation of strategies leading to outcomes such as engagement of people and possibility thinking. Reflection on people and their experience with change could be capitalized upon to accomplish strategic advantage in the context of real-world business issues.
Leadership and Creativity
The rigid frameworks of the business environment, as well as academic institutions wherein future leaders, ascertain the principles and theoretical paradigms associated with business management. It can be argued that literature on business management is imperative for the development of leadership skills and competencies to address existing business issues. However, the critical perspective suggests that the principles and practices of management have been categorized into various wooden boxes.
A similar case is observed for other disciplines. Therefore leaders have to understand the capability of interdisciplinary studies to improve the capabilities for dealing with contemporary issues. The objectives of leaders are diverse in the present business environment and hence the requirement of understanding management through the lens of creativity can be observed profoundly (Bolden & O’Regan, 2017). Furthermore, the dynamics of the existing business environment suggest that creativity is mandatorily required for developing employee engagement. Employee involvement in the decision-making process is reflective of creativity on behalf of employees which could strengthen the communication between leaders and employees leading to a proliferation of unconventional measures to address present business issues.
The argument that can be placed for the significance of creativity and interdisciplinary studies is the development of leadership competencies alongside the estimation of a precise objective. The purpose can be considered as a major contributor to the vision of the organization leading to sustainability in the long term. The vision enables leaders to ensure appropriate resource allocation mechanisms and precise objectives leading to the resolution of issues posed by the present-day dynamic environment.
Critical reflection
I was able to understand the distinct aspects that are involved in the present-day labor market for graduates who have the potential to become leaders, the significance of strategic navigation, and creativity. The prolific element that I found to be relevant in the resolution of existing business issues was strategic navigation. While organizations can implement changes in HR practices to acquire potential leaders from the accessible graduate pool through recruitment and selection, it would involve a substantial amount of costs.
Furthermore, I observed that the costs of training and development, as well as the feasibility of the same, were ambiguous elements that could be considered with this practice. On the other hand, creativity and interdisciplinary studies could be assumed as prolific solutions to present-day business issues. However, the short-term implications of business issues could vary from organization to organization thereby limiting the prospects for implementing creativity in the resolution of business issues.
I argue that such organizations are more likely to adopt traditional business frameworks and wait out the storm rather than fight against it. However, I observed that the capabilities of leaders for strategic decision-making should be based on the perception of truth and establish a cognizable balance between beliefs and intuition. I was able to review the different lectures from the captures and I found the second lecture to be more reflective of the pressing situation of contemporary business issues and therefore it can be validated as a plausible theme in the context of strategic direction.
References
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