David Asch

Foresight as a core competence

Abstract Foresight is an elusive and oft-misunderstood term. Lacking a widely accepted definition, it is unclear when and whether it refers to a process, to a human attribute or competence, or to a national Foresight programme. This paper argues that foresight has developed largely in isolation to the extensive literature on business strategy. By relating foresight to this literature it can be put into a context with a far larger pool of existing knowledge. This paper relates foresight specifically to the core competence view of strategy. The resultant connections have implications for the process and competence concepts of foresight, national Foresight programmes and the core competence view.

Readings in strategic management

Introduction - Preface - PART 1 STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT PROCESSES - Of Strategies Deliberate and Emergent H. Mintzberg & J.H. Waters - Managing Strategic Change? J.B. Quinn - Rethinking Incrementalism G. Johnson - Paralysis by Analysis: Is Your Planning System Becoming too Rational? R.T. Lenz & M.A. Lyles - Strategic Planning for the World Wildlife Fund G.J. Medley - Corporate Strategy and the Small Firm S. Birley - PART 2 STRATEGY FORMULATION/INTRODUCTION - Does Strategic Planning Improve Company Performance? G. Greenley - Business Policy Formulation: Understanding the Process R. McLellan & G.Kelly - Whatever Happened to Environmental Analysis? J.Engledow & R.T. Lenz - How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy M.E. Porter - Portfolio Planning: Uses and Limits P. Haspeslagh - Defining Corporate Strengths and Weaknesses H. Stevenson - The Risky Business of Diversification R. Biggadike - Assessing Opportunities for Diversification: an analytical approach M. Younger - An Introduction to Divestment: The Conceptual Issues J. Coyne & M. Wright - End Game Strategies for Declining Industries K.R. Harrigan & M.E. Porter - From Competitive Advantage to Corporate Strategy M.E. Porter - The Use of Corporate Planning Models: Past, Present and Future J.K. Shim & R. McGlade - Business Ethics: Two Introductory Questions T. Sorell - Strategy and Ethics: Pilkington PLC T. Sorell - PART 3 MANAGING STRATEGIC CHANGE/INTRODUCTION - Choosing Strategies for Change J.P. Kotter & L.A. Schlesinger - Strategy Implementation Versus Middle Management Self Interest W.D. Guth & I.C. MacMillian - The Structuring of Organisations H. Mintzberg - Configurations of Strategy and Structure: Towards a Synthesis D. Miller - Evolution and Revolution as Organisations Grow L.E. Greiner - Successfully Implementing Strategic Decisions L.D. Alexander - Strategic Control: An Overview of the Issues D. Asch - The Nature and use of Formal Central Systems for Management Control and Strategy Implementation R.L. Daft & N.B. MacIntosh

The globalization of the European white goods industry

This paper reassesses competitive strategies in the European white goods industry by revisiting the effectiveness of national, regional and global strategies. Changes to markets, manufacturing processes, cost drivers and greater sophistication in the co-ordination processes and internal learning mechanisms within global competitor firms provide an a priori for both the resurgence and the increased appropriateness of global strategies in this industry. The paper focuses on the effectiveness of national, regional and global strategies from the perspective of the historic positioning of the European competitors.

Social and psychological influences

In Chapter 1 we emphasised the distinction between descriptive and prescriptive approaches to strategy-making. In our exploration of systematic approaches to strategy-formulation (Chapters 3–8) a variety of tools and techniques have been presented which theorists and practitioners believe can help firms to make better strategic decisions. In this chapter we consider a range of social psychological factors that may affect decision-making within the firm. These influences are grouped into individual, group and organisational factors, but before we consider these, some general points should be made.

The Nature of Markets

In this chapter we will address the central issue of how markets work and what influences the nature of competition across the whole value chain of a product or service. The chapter starts by introducing a framework which helps us to understand the nature of competition, and to identify the key determinants of the nature of competition in a market or industry. Following this we identify factors or influences which shape the way in which a market develops. We also consider the different stages of development of the industry. We conclude the chapter by looking at an example and flagging some key issues for consideration in subsequent chapters.

Management education: another way forward?

In this article, David Asch and Rosemary Smith ‐ both Lecturers in Management in the Open Universitys School of Management ‐ consider ways of increasing the provision of management education to meet the growing needs of industry and commerce. They review some of the research on traditional’ methods of distance teaching in management education, and compare these with two more ‘open’ projects developed by the Open Business School (now subsumed within the School of Management) in collaboration with commercial organisations.

Models of strategic decision-making

In this chapter we set out to explore a range of different approaches to strategic decision-making. We examine incremental models, a decision-process model and a number of studies which focus more on the content of strategic decisions. We end the chapter with some suggestions for the development of a contingency theory of strategic decision-making, but first of all we consider some criticisms of rational approaches to strategy-formulation.

Not-for-profit organisations

In Chapter 2 on objectives we suggested that, while in many respects not-for-profit organisations (NFPs) displayed similar characteristics to the profit-seeking firm, there were fundamental differences between the two types of organisation. As this book is primarily concerned with strategic decision-making in the firm we make no apologies about the overwhelming emphasis on private sector organisations. However, in this chapter we shall attempt to go some way towards redressing the balance by explicitly focusing on the distinctive features, and strategic management issues that are peculiar to NFPs. Other writers have taken a view that NFPs are not sufficiently different from firms to warrant much more than a passing reference to them (see, for example, Johnson and Scholes, 1984). In contrast, we believe that NFPs require special treatment in a book on strategic management, and that to fail to make clear the distinctive features of NFPs is to invite confusion in strategic thinking.

Management Educa Tion and Distance Learning: a New Model?

This article discusses the recent growth, popularity and use of distance learning in management education. Some of the issues involved in distance teaching are analysed by reviewing experience to date and by a consideration of some new developments in the utilisation of distance teaching material in three organisations. The differing uses of and experiences with distance learning material in these organisations are described. The paper concludes by developing a simple model which may be of use in determining potential outcomes from the customisation of distance learning material and notes that it is the quality of the overall experience which is crucial to success.

Markets in Action

This chapter considers a number of examples of markets. A range of examples and issues are considered so that we can lay the groundwork for a consideration of what the future may hold in our final chapter. We start by revisiting the PC market which we discussed first in Chapter 3. We then look at the international air travel industry, a subset of the telecommunications industry, and the car industry. We conclude the chapter by reconsidering retailing. We consider this to be an important dimension in our understanding of competition, because the way that organizations relate to each other across the value chain, as well as how consumers conceive of purchasing goods (usually from retail outlets or their equivalent), will determine whether or not a reasonable profit is earned from the sum of the value activities. It will also determine whether a reasonable deal is provided for the consumer.