What Should The Purpose Of The Firm Be: Strategy For Decision Making Assignment, NCI, Ireland

Answer All Questions: 

1. What should the purpose of the firm be? Should managers strive to maximize shareholder value or stakeholder values? Discuss in the context of the shareholder value versus stakeholder values perspectives.

2. As no consensus has yet developed within the field of strategic management on how to balance markets and resources, it is once again up to each individual to assess the arguments put forward in the debate between the Porter-like environmental models and the resource-based models of competitive advantage.

3. Many points of view have been put forward on how to reconcile the opposing demands of responsiveness and synergy in the context of corporate-level strategies. Discuss in relation to the debate between the integrated organization perspective and the portfolio organization perspective approaches to corporate-level strategy.

4. What should be the nature of the relationship between a firm and other organizations in its surroundings? Should firms be independence-minded and competitive towards other organizations, or should they embrace cooperative partnerships? Discuss in the context of network-level strategy.

5. How should the strategy be formed? Should managers strive to formulate and implement strategic plans, supported by a formalized planning and control system? Or should managers move incrementally, behaving as inventors, organizational developers, and explorers? Discuss these different perspectives on strategy formation.

6. In a world of new technologies, transforming economies, shifting demographics, reforming governments, fluctuating consumer preferences, and dynamic competition, it is not a question of whether firms should change, but of where, how, and in what direction they must change. Discuss this statement in the context of how an organization can best approach the issue of strategic change.