Business Strategy and Organizational Management
What to Know
Candidates must distinguish strategy formulation (mission, vision, environmental scanning, goal setting) from strategy execution (structure, culture, resource allocation, performance measurement). Know the classic frameworks: SWOT, Porter's Five Forces and generic strategies (cost leadership, differentiation, focus), value chain analysis, and the balanced scorecard's four perspectives (financial, customer, internal process, learning and growth). Understand organizational structures - functional, divisional, matrix, flat - and their trade-offs between specialization and coordination. Grasp change management basics (unfreezing–change–refreezing, stakeholder buy-in, communication cadence) and the difference between leadership and management. Governance concepts: board oversight, separation of duties at the executive level, and alignment of IT strategy with business strategy.
Traps
Questions often swap strategy and tactics, or present a SWOT item as a strength when it is an internal weakness or an external threat (opportunities and threats are always external). Another trap conflates cost leadership with simply cutting costs; the strategy requires a sustainable structural advantage. Matrix-structure questions reward recognizing dual reporting and the resulting conflict-resolution burden. Balanced-scorecard items may ask which perspective a metric belongs to - customer satisfaction is customer perspective, not internal process.
Worked Example
A retailer faces price competition and asks which generic strategy fits. Rule of thumb: match the strategy to the source of advantage (low cost vs. uniqueness) and the scope (broad vs. narrow). If the firm has scale-driven supply chain efficiency and serves a mass market, cost leadership fits; if it serves a niche with tailored service, focus differentiation fits. Then test feasibility against the value chain - identify which primary and support activities create the advantage.
Exam Tip
When a scenario asks for the first step, prefer assessment/analysis (scanning, stakeholder identification) before action planning.