Running head: RESPONSE TO DISCUSSION POST ON STRATEGIC THINKING 1
Response to Discussion Post on Strategic Thinking
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RESPONSE TO DISCUSSION POST ON STRATEGIC THINKING 2
In business strategy development, it is true what is known is the reason why an enterprise
requires a strategy. This is because business strategy development seeks to use future actions to
influence success in the present. As highlighted in the discussion, to gain competitive advantage,
high profits, and improve customer satisfaction are among reasons for the development of a
business strategy. Tactics are critical in business strategy development because they outline
specifics of how an action can be achieved. That is, tactics used in business strategy influence
whether the end view is as intended or whether the actual objective is achieved. Nickols (2016),
notes that strategy and tactics employed, bridge the gap between the ends and means. This
means, for instance, resources deployed determines the end view of a plan. In business strategy
development, planning and management are vital because they help in determining priorities and
implementing the right resources to achieve the intended objective. I agree a good business
strategy deals with what is known versus unknown. According to Nickols (2016), internal and
external information, such as on employees and the economic environment, is crucial to ensure
the strategy aligns with the business model.
It is true business strategy development requires strategic thinking. The type of leaders in
an organization significantly influences strategic thinking. This is because their basis of
competencies, actions, and behaviors give reasons of why and how organizations behave. This
asserts that psychological and behavioral responses to complex situations and contextual threats
influence decisions made and the management of strategic actions. Coping mechanisms in
strategic thinking, such as being creative, proactive, analytical, and interactive influence
decisions in business (Goldman and Scott, 2016). In other words, the coping mechanisms
determine how a leader can assess the future capabilities of an organization to manage risks and
determine any desirable result related to the business model. Future literacy, as highlighted in
RESPONSE TO DISCUSSION POST ON STRATEGIC THINKING 3
your discussion, is critical in strategic thinking since it focuses on improving anticipatory
systems. The systems are crucial because they help to identify opportunities to exploit in the
future and generate adaptive capabilities to provide solutions to complexities. In practice, future
literacy is necessary in strategic thinking because it focuses on improving sense-making
processes that fit in the changing global business world. In business, future literacy helps to
develop contingency and optimization futures. A contingency future, for instance, can come
from external forces such as the economic environment, and it is critical since it helps businesses
generate adaptive capabilities to react to external forces. In other words, future literacy allows
organizations to design collective intelligence processes that reveal the future.
I agree decision models are critical in businesses because they help to reduce
complexities by suppressing most of it and focus on what is important. The models also help to
distinguish between urgency and importance. Decision making is critical because it determines
tactics employed to achieve intended objectives without exposing more vulnerability to the
business. SWOT analysis is an interesting approach because it focuses on showing the positive
and negative view of a business. Management using this model considers how strengths align
with opportunities, and how weaknesses align with threats. In this case, the management also
gets a chance to examine whether anything can be turned to a prospect. The feedback box model
is complex because it is challenging to identify the biases involved in giving feedback. T the
management should assess opportunities identified and generate ways in which the strengths can
be used to exploit the opportunities to avoid hindrances of the SWOT analysis model. This
increases the likelihood that the business will not take premature actions. For the feedback box
model, organizations should focus on establishing an honest and trustworthy culture that would
psychologically prepare employees to take the feedback positively.
RESPONSE TO DISCUSSION POST ON STRATEGIC THINKING 4
References
Goldman, E., & Scott, A. R. (2016). Competency models for assessing hstrategic
thinking. Journal of Strategy and Management.
Nickols, F. (2016). Strategy, strategic management, strategic planning and strategic
thinking. Management Journal, 1(1), 4-7.
