Strategic Leadership

Developing Strategic Management & Leadership Skills in H.J. Hinchel Ltd



Developing Strategic Management & Leadership Skills in H.J. Hinchel Ltd

Task 1

Link between strategic management and leadership

Strategic management is a dynamic loop that adapts to a constantly changing marketplace in pursuit of business survival and higher profits. After being hugely popular in the 1960's and 1970's, strategy became somewhat unpopular in the 1980's, and then again saw a resurgence in the 1990's with its own fashionable jargon. In the 60's and 70's, strategy consulting was about market share gain, low cost vs. premium positioning, quadrants, and top-down planning committees. These worked very well when the manufacturing bases of Germany, Japan, Korea and China were still developing, but when the 80's hit, US corporations left scrambling to restructure and improve quality to face more nimble, global competitors and smaller entrepreneurs. Obviously, those consultants and their clients who had not anticipated globalization and innovation; were arrogant to take their elite status for granted; and did not develop appropriate responses blamed, and the whole strategy field became unpopular due to its collective ineffectiveness at the time.

Impact of management and leadership styles on strategic decisions

The companies that survived to see U.S economy recover in the 90's, by hiking productivity and efficiency soon realized that profits could be squeezed out only so much by streamlining operations. So in search of higher revenues and profits, they brought strategy consultants, who aided by the technology revolution; democratization of thought process; and globalization of marketplace, adopted newfangled jargon to help navigate the ever rising hurdle of profit maximization. It refers to potential growth opportunities that do not match existing business units' expertise, but may be tapped by cross-merging talents and synergies. E.g. a toy maker and a furniture maker could pursue white-space opportunities by making a toy/furniture combo product. Transfer of wealth and market share from existing competitors to new, more competitive ones that are able to satisfy end consumers more effectively. E.g. Honda, Toyota and Hyundai gaining market share at the expense of the Big Three automakers. By forming a network of relationships with various stakeholder such as customers, suppliers and rivals, a company can learn, act and react to the demands of the marketplace. E.g. Google, Apple, AT&T, Verizon, Motorola, Adobe co-developed products & apps and sometimes competed with each other in a shared ecosystem. Employees and clients all over the world connect on social media sites to share experiences, ask questions and learn from each other.

Adaptation of leadership styles to different situations

They and their families want to use the latest interactive technology tools, video files to try products and services, especially those that their own professional and social networks recommend. Seamless message integration and online and offline professional resources needed for clients and employees to stay cutting edge in terms of their skills and information sharing. Leading companies from around the world are increasingly collaborating to become portals of information equipped by various technology tools with appropriate metadata. As disruptive technologies emerge and new apps get ...