Introduction What is strategy? When your friend tells you that his “strategy” in

Introduction
What is strategy? When your friend tells you that his “strategy” in soccer is to win, he is not telling you a strategy at all. A strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a goal—in the case of your friend, a more appropriately defined strategy for his soccer game would be: “I am going to apply defensive pressure and force the opposing team to make mistakes with the end goal of winning the game.” Clearly defining goals can help you develop strategies in order to achieve them.
Strategy in business is similar to strategy in sports, war, or politics; the parallels are so close that early business strategists studied military strategies in depth. The science of strategy development has progressed beyond this by now, but the parallels remain. Still, understanding the history of strategy will shed light on the modern concepts of strategic management.
Reading Assignment
To get started, thoroughly read the Syllabus for this course found on the course home page in the “General Information and Forums” section.
Maijanen, P. (2020). Teaching Strategic Management. Edward Elgar Publishing. https://www.elgaronline.com/downloadpdf/edcoll/9781788978354/9781788978354.00009.pdf
Meyer-Cuno, Doug. (2021, February 21). Is a vision statement important? Forbes. forbes.com/sites/forbesbooksauthors/2021/02/24/is-a-vision-statement-important/?sh=6933640a3be7
Sedmak, J. (2021, March 11). What is Stakeholder Engagement, and Why is it Important for Strategic Planning? https://www.smestrategy.net/blog/stakeholder-engagement-management-for-strategic-planning
Schneider, T., & Sachs, S. (2017). The Impact of Stakeholder Identities on Value Creation in Issue-Based Stakeholder Networks. Journal of Business Ethics, 144(1), 41–57. http://www.jstor.org/stable/45022229
Optional Videos
Cascade Strategy. (2019, March 19). How to Write a Good Vision Statement. [Video] Youtube. https://youtu.be/fNErBaQfpE4
Girdler, A. (2019, November 6). The difference between mission and vision statement [plus examples] [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/DzhJNiQ3vMM
Discussion Assignment
For this first discussion forum, engage in a dialogue with your classmates by answering the following questions:
How has modern strategic planning changed? In what ways has strategic planning stayed the same? How do firms use mission and vision statements within a modern organization?
Research the vision and mission statement of an organization you’re familiar with and share it with the class. How might you improve on the statements?
Your Discussion should be at least 250 words in length, but not more than 750 words. Use APA citations and references for the textbook and any other sources used.
You are expected to make at least three posts to the discussion forum during the course of the discussion period.
Written Assignment
Pick an organization you are familiar with and identify which stakeholders ought to be involved in the strategic planning process. What makes these stakeholders particularly important? What unique insights do they offer? Describe which functional areas are important to the process. Which functional areas are relatively less important? Identify the most important and influential decision-makers in the strategic planning process. Evaluate the relative importance and their effect on the planning process.
Prepare a two page (double-spaced) essay. The paper should be 12-point font, Times New Roman, be at least 500 words, and include a final source list.
Learning Journal
Student should document their activities, record problems they may have encountered and draft answers for Discussion Forums and Assignments. In addition, the student should consider the following questions for reflection: Should firms begin their strategic planning process by setting vision and mission and then go on to analyze its environment? Or, should firms first consider their environment and then shape vision and mission around it? What are benefits and drawbacks to each approach?