strategic management, 4e teacher’s resource chapter 1 what
TRANSCRIPT
Strategic Management, 4e Teacher’s Resource Manual
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McGraw-Hill Education.
CHAPTER 1
What Is Strategy?
Teacher’s Resource Manual: Implementation Guide
Learning Objectives
ChapterCase 1: Tesla’s Secret Strategy
1.1 What Strategy Is: Gaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage (LO 1-1, LO 1-2)
CONNECT® INTEGRATION
Whiteboard Animation: Role of Strategy in a Firm's Quest for Competitive Advantage
CONNECT® INTEGRATION
Case Analysis: What Strategy Is: Gaining Competitive Advantage at Nvidia
CONNECT® INTEGRATION
Whiteboard Animation: What Is Competitive Advantage?
1.2 Vision, Mission, and Values (LO 1-3, LO 1-4, LO 1-5)
CONNECT® INTEGRATION
Video Case: Mission Statements and Competitive Advantage
CONNECT® INTEGRATION
Whiteboard Animation: The Strategic Decision Process
1.3 The AFI Strategy Framework (LO 1-6)
1.4 Implications for Strategic Leaders
End of Chapter: Discussion Questions
CONNECT® INTEGRATION
HP Running Case: Module 1
myStrategy
CHAPTER CONTENTS
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Teacher’s Resource Manual: Implementation Guide
This improved Teacher’s Resource Manual (TRM), formerly the Instructor’s Manual (IM), supports delivery of your
chosen curriculum and pedagogy. This manual contains more than just guidance on how to cover concepts discussed in the
fourth edition of Strategic Management; it also provides tips and best practices for how to utilize the full product suite (from
the textbook to SmartBook® to Connect
®). In addition, this manual includes a variety of supplemental teaching resources to
enhance your ability to create an engaging learning experience for your students. Regardless of whether you teach in face-to-
face traditional classrooms, blended (flipped) classrooms, online environments, or hybrid formats, you’ll find everything you
need in this improved resource.
The TRM follows the order of the textbook outline for each chapter and is divided into sections for each learning objective.
Each section identifies the relevant PowerPoint slides from both the Lecture slides and the Supplemental Lecture slides (more
on this below). This eases your preparation time for class as you can adjust slides as needed to ensure your students stay
actively engaged throughout each session.
WHAT INSTRUCTOR RESOURCES ARE AVAILABLE?
Within each section of the TRM you will find an assortment of examples, exercises, Connect® Integration assignments,
updates on the latest research, Strategy Smart Video discussions, and end-of-chapter discussion questions and exercises from
which you can choose to enhance your students’ learning and engagement. Where the activities are related to program-level
learning objectives established by AACSB 2015 Standard 9, the learning objective has been identified for you.
Within the Instructor Resources Tab, located in the Connect® Library, the following Instructor Resources can be found:
Teacher’s Resource Manual
PowerPoints (Accessible)
Test Bank
Create™ Case Support
MiniCase Support
Strategy Term Project
Video Resources
Capsim’s Capstone Simulation
1) This Teacher’s Resource Manual is posted by chapter.
2) Two sets of ADA-accessible PowerPoints are available with each chapter:
a. Lecture slides cover chapter concepts and exhibits.
b. Supplemental Lecture slides cover:
i. ChapterCases
ii. Strategy Highlights
iii. Implications for Strategic Leaders
iv. End-of-chapter myStrategy and Small Group Exercises
v. Take-Away Concepts
vi. Key Terms
vii. Strategy Smart Video selections (not part of the book, but an additional resource found here)
3) Test Bank questions are posted by chapter. You will find a variety of question types within the test bank such as
Matching, Ranking, Multiple Choice, Select-All-That-Apply, True/False, Short Answer, and Essays to test student
mastery across Bloom’s Taxonomy (i.e. Understand, Apply, and Analyze). Due to the evolving needs around
generating high-quality print test experiences, McGraw-Hill Education provides a free copy of the industry-leading
test generation software TestGen® to users (more details can be found within the Instructor Resources tab under
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“Test Bank”). Furthermore, due to its limitations to function with the latest browsers and operating systems,
McGraw-Hill Education has discontinued EZ-Test Online. Some of the robust new features present in TestGen®,
include:
Cross-platform software compatibility with Windows and Mac
Multiple LMS export formats, including Blackboard, Moodle, Desire2Learn, and Sakai
Highly customizable formatting and editing option
4) Create™ Case Support (all cases are available in Create™ and selected ones in HBS)
a. A case matrix that identifies the industry sector covered by each case, as well as the primary and secondary
chapter alignments
b. One-page case abstract for quick overview of each case
c. Case Teaching Notes for instructor use only
d. Case Financials in Excel files for the exhibit data in the most popular cases
e. Case Strategic Financial Analysis template
f. Instructions on How to Download SEC Financial Data into Excel Spreadsheets
5) MiniCase Support (all MiniCases are located in Part Four of the book)
a. MiniCase Matrix that identifies chapter alignment
b. MiniCase Teaching Notes comprising suggested answers to the MiniCases discussion questions. In some
instance, they also provide specific additional article and video resources to accompany each MiniCase.
6) Strategy Term Project
a. Modules for students on how to conduct a strategic management analysis of a company of their choosing;
there is one module per chapter so that students can build upon their analysis and tie each section of their
analysis to specific chapter concepts.
b. Running Case Teaching Notes that cover the strategy term project found in Connect®. HP is used as the
example firm to demonstrate how pieces of the term project align with each chapter.
7) Video Resources
a. The Video Grid and Guide provides links to supplemental video resources to accompany both the
MiniCases and full-length Create™ cases.
b. The Video Library provides links to all the assignable videos in Connect®.
8) A link to Capsim’s Capstone Simulation is provided; this simulation allows students to apply their knowledge of
key strategy concepts.
How can SmartBook® enhance my students’ performance?
The LearnSmart®
-powered SmartBook® is assignable through Connect
®, McGraw-Hill’s online assignment and assessment
system. One of the first fully adaptive and individualized study tools designed for students, it creates for them a personalized
learning experience, giving them the opportunity to practice and challenge their understanding of core strategy concepts. The
reporting tools within SmartBook® show where students are struggling to understand specific concepts.
Typically, SmartBook® is assigned by module (chapter), and instructors can set which learning objectives to cover as well as
the number of probes the student will see for each assignment. Instructors also set the number of points a SmartBook®
module is worth in the course. Usually, applying a minimal number of points for completion of each module is enough to
encourage students to read the chapter. Many instructors assign these modules to be completed before the class or online
session.
SmartBook® provides several diagnostic tools for instructors to gauge which concepts their students struggle to understand.
Below is the set of adaptive assignment reports available in SmartBook®:
Progress Overview: View student progress broken down by module
Student Details: View student progress details plus completion level breakdown for each module
Module Details: View information on how your class performed on each section of their assigned modules
Practice Quiz: This gives you a quick overview of the quizzes results for your students
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Missed Questions
Metacognitive Skills
By selecting “Module Details” the instructor finds the results for the students in the class overall. These details reveal where
in the chapters students might be struggling. The module gives the chapter section, average time spent, average questions per
student correct/total, and the percentage of correctness (number of assigned items). Information about the most challenging
sections for students can help instructors refine the focus of the next classroom or online session.
For more detailed analysis, SmartBook® captures students’ confidence in their competency using the “Metacognitive Skills”
report. Below (a recreation of the Metacognitive Skills report), we find the second student is confident and mostly correct
(91% in the correct & aware column) while the first student “doesn’t know what she doesn’t know” (39% in the far-right
column).
STUDENT CORRECT
and
AWARE
CORRECT and
UNAWARE
INCORRECT
and AWARE
INCORRECT
and UNAWARE
Student 1 61% 0% 0% 39%
Student 2 91% 0% 3% 5%
Student 3 81% 0% 0% 19%
Student 4 83% 0% 0% 17%
Student 5 76% 0% 3% 21%
Student 6 66% 0% 9% 25%
Student 7 77% 0% 3% 12%
Student 8 91% 0% 2% 7%
Student 9 93% 0% 2% 5%
Student 10 70% 0% 6% 25%
Application Exercises, Quizzes, and Test Bank
What resources are available at the book level?
Connect® offers a wealth of content for both students and instructors. Application Exercises require students to apply key
concepts to close the knowing and doing gap, while providing instant feedback for the student and progress tracking for the
instructor. Before getting into chapter-level assignments, let’s look at the book-level assignments available.
Four exercises are available for instructors to assign beyond the chapter materials. These are 1) MiniCase Case Analyses, 2)
Case Strategic Financial Analyses (SFAs), 3) Financial Ratio Reviews, and 4) Case Exercises.
1) To encourage analytical thinking, each MiniCase from Part Four of the book is also an assignable application
exercise (MiniCase Case Analysis). Each MiniCase is followed by four to five multiple-choice questions that
assess students’ understanding of the key issues presented in the MiniCase.
2) The Case SFA provides assignable key ratio comparisons for the Create™-only full-length cases available with the
textbook. These require the student to analyze the case financial statements and calculate answers to several ratios in
the spreadsheet. The Case SFAs engage students’ financial analysis skills—skills many professors have identified as
requiring more practice among their students.
3) Financial Ratio Reviews give students the opportunity to further hone their financial analysis skills; review
exercises cover each type of financial ratio (activity, leverage, liquidity, market and profitability).
4) Case Exercises, which are new to this edition of Strategic Management, focus on the key symptoms and influences
of a problem a firm might be facing, followed by a series of questions that help students understand how the firm
eventually achieves a solution to that problem (or asks students to suggest a solution). Case Exercises for this edition
accompany the most popular full-length cases: Amazon, Apple, BestBuy, Facebook, McDonald’s, and Tesla.
What resources are available for each chapter and how should I integrate them in my course?
Consider assigning one or two Application Exercises per chapter. They are built around chapter learning objectives, so the
instructor can choose based on his/her focus for each specific chapter. Several types of application exercises are available in
each chapter. The newest addition is the Whiteboard Animation series, comprising four- to five-minute videos on key
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concepts or concepts that tend to challenge students the most. Each animation is accompanied by three to four multiple-
choice questions to check student attention and comprehension. Comprehensive Case Analyses and Video Cases each
feature firms and industries different than those discussed in the textbook. Finally, Click-and-Drag exercises help students
actively demonstrate their understanding of the associated learning objectives. Application Exercises can be assigned as
preparatory exercises due before class (this is especially good for flipped classrooms), or after class as concept
comprehension checks. Applications Exercises will generally be assigned as homework or practice as part of the overall class
grade. A general rule of thumb would be to make application exercises worth 5 to 10 points each since these require time and
thought.
To find the Applications in Connect®, go to “Add Assignment” and then select “Question Bank.” Application Exercises are
organized by chapter. Instructors have the option to select for one attempt only, but they may want to give students unlimited
or multiple attempts on the first few assignments to give students a chance to learn and navigate the system. (As the course
progresses, instructors may want to tighten up the time on task and reduce the number of attempts to complete each exercise).
Chapter quizzes and full chapter test banks are available for assignment, and like the Application Exercises, are organized
by chapter. The value applied to each question should be relatively low because numerous questions are usually assigned for
each chapter. As such, make these questions worth 1 or 2 points each. The feedback given to students is time-flexible.
Selecting feedback to be displayed after the assignment due date helps to keep students from giving the correct answers to
other students while the questions are still available. For this reason, it is suggested that no feedback to quizzes and test bank
exams be made available until after the assignment is due.
When should I assign these digital components?
To fully utilize the power of the digital components, instructors will often assign the SmartBook® reading and adaptive
learning probes before class meets. Application Exercises can be completed either before or after class; if they are completed
before class, they can sometimes serve as good springboards for class discussions. The chapter quiz makes a good check on
comprehension of the material and may work best if assigned after each class period. The test bank serves as a good resource
for building mid-term or final exams.
More detailed information on SmartBook® and Connect
® is available through several resources at McGraw-Hill. A good
starting point is your local Learning Technology Representative, who can be found here:
http://www.mheducation.com/highered/platforms/connect/features-educators.html
Course Preparation
Helpful Suggestions Regarding Assignment Policies: Connect® gives instructors a wide array of flexibility in making
assignments and creating grading policies. Instructors may choose to:
assign as many assignments as appropriate given the level and time commitment expected for the class,
determine point values for each question/application that works within the total course percentages,
make available multiple attempts per assignment with options of accepting the highest score or averaging all the
attempts together (several attempts are particularly good for homework assignments),
deduct points for late assignment submissions (percentage deduction per hour/day/week/etc.) or create hard deadlines
thus accepting no late submissions,
show feedback on application/questions immediately upon submission or at the time the assignment is due for the whole
class, create new assignments or questions from scratch, or edited versions from a variety of provided resources.
Throughout the TRM for each chapter, we will integrate materials from the Lecture PowerPoint slides, Supplemental
Lecture slides, Connect® Application Exercises, end-of-chapter activities, and MiniCases. This integration of resources will
allow for a cohesive presentation of the relevant resources at your disposal, helping you to convey these topics effectively
and efficiently to your students.
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CHAPTER 1
Learning Objectives LO 1-1 Explain the role of strategy in a firm’s quest for competitive advantage.
LO 1-2 Define competitive advantage, sustainable competitive advantage, competitive disadvantage, and competitive parity.
LO 1-3 Describe the roles of vision, mission, and values in a firm’s strategy.
LO 1-4 Evaluate the strategic implications of product-oriented and customer-oriented vision statements.
LO 1-5 Justify why anchoring a firm in ethical core values is essential for long-term success.
LO 1-6 Explain the AFI strategy framework.
What enables some firms to gain and then sustain their competitive advantage over time? Why do once-great firms fail? How
can a firm’s managers influence performance? Strategic management is the integrative management field that combines
analysis, formulation, and implementation in the quest for competitive advantage. Many students will relate to strategy
through sports analogies. You may want to start the course by discussing the contrast between a powerful sports dynasty and
its weaker competitors. In the United States, compare the Yankees to the Cubs. Why does U-Conn appear in the NCAA
Men’s and Women’s Basketball Final Four so frequently? In other countries, you might compare Man U or Real Madrid to
your local football club or discuss the ability of Mercedes to overwhelm the traditional strength of Ferrari in Formula 1. How
have these teams built and implemented strategies? What successes have they seen? What resources do they have that their
weaker rivals lack?
A chapter opening case on Tesla and two strategy highlights are included in the chapter for tangible applications of the
theoretical frameworks discussed.
ChapterCase 1 Tesla’s Secret Strategy The opening ChapterCase discusses the story of the founding of Tesla. CEO Elon Musk wrote a public blog in 2006 that
basically laid out the plans for the first decade of the firm. He seems to be doing quite well with his ‘secret plan’.
INSTRUCTOR SUPPLEMENT SLIDES 3-5
DISCUSSION TOPICS
In February 2017 Tesla Motors became just Tesla. After the Solar City purchase was approved in November of 2016, the
firm is repositioning itself as the “world’s first vertically integrated sustainable energy company.” Tesla now has solar panels
and soon will have solar roof tiles for generating electricity. Then they are making batteries for storing energy. Finally, they
produce cars, SUVs and have announced plans to semi-tracker trailer truck to consume the electricity. (See “Elon Musk’s
Tesla Drops ‘Motors’ From Name,” The Wall Street Journal, February 1, 2017.)
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CONSIDER THIS DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
INSTRUCTOR SUPPLEMENT SLIDE 6
1. Do you agree with the assessment that Elon Musk and Tesla successfully fulfilled their first master plan
published in 2006? Why or why not? Buttress your arguments.
Given the uncertainty of the electric vehicle industry especially in 2006 most would agree Tesla has done an amazing job of
meeting their plans. Ultimately though they need to scale up the model 3 cars to really complete the plan. Thus the argument
against their successful execution is most tangible in “step 3” largely due to delays in the Model X SUV. Their version of
“don’t tell anyone” can be seen in the little to no sales and advertisement budgets for the firm.
2. As of today, does Tesla have a good strategy? Why or why not? How do you know?
The chapter covers this question in some detail. The firm seems set up with a compelling vision from diagnosis and also a
guiding policy. The biggest question is the execution of their coherent actions in scaling up both the battery factory and the
auto assembly lines in a cost effective manner with the required high quality of products.
3. Describe the rationale behind Tesla’s new master plan. How does this new strategy help Tesla fulfill its
vision? “Master Plan, Part Deux” in its entirety is on Tesla’s blog: https://www.tesla.com/blog/master-plan-
part-deux.
After a decade in electric vehicles, Tesla was ready to move to its next stage of the master plan as an integrated sustainable
energy company. The acquisition of Solar City and commercialization of solar roof panels drives the clean energy generation
which is stored in the “powerwall” and other types of batteries while the vehicles become exemplars of uses of the energy
(including semi-trucks as announced in the fall of 2017).
4. Apply the three-step process for crafting a good strategy outlined in the chapter (diagnose the competitive
challenge, derive a guiding policy, and implement a set of coherent actions) to each element of the new master
plan. On which steps of the new master plan has Tesla made the most progress? Explain. Also, which
recommendations would you have for Elon Musk? Support your arguments with examples and observations.
Tesla is putting out a master plan for the long term and in concert with Mr. Musk’s views on the need for sustainable clean
energy sources, they have diagnosed this area as not only a business opportunity (which some question as viable) but a larger
need for society. To accomplish this challenge, they have again laid out a guiding policy with coherent steps for the firm to
follow. Students may argue that the self-driving capability and making money from your own car is beyond the integrated
energy company vision. Though Tesla inspires many people, especially the millennial and generation Z segments,
profitability is still elusive and inconsistent. This is especially a concern as the aspirations of the master plan require large
investments in new areas to be successful.
STRATEGY SMART VIDEO
INSTRUCTOR SUPPLEMENT SLIDE 30
This slide links to a two-minute interview with a Tesla customer who speaks about his Tesla car and home battery storage.
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1.1 What Strategy Is: Gaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage
LO 1-1 Explain the role of strategy in a f i rm’s quest for competit ive advantage.
LECTURE SLIDES 4–9
DISCUSSION TOPICS Strategy is a set of goal-directed actions a firm intends to take in its quest to gain and sustain competitive advantage relative
to competitors. A good strategy consists of three elements: A diagnosis of the competitive challenge, a guiding policy to
address the competitive challenge, and a set of coherent actions to implement the firm’s guiding policy. The strategic
management process, therefore, is a never-ending cycle of analysis, formulation, implementation, and feedback. Strategy is
neither grandiose statements, a failure to face a competitive challenge, nor operational effectiveness. Different plans and
activities may be called a “strategy,” but like operational effectiveness, they are not part of our definition for this textbook.
Pricing strategies, Six Sigma, and other programs are more likely to be tools for improvement and not lead to a competitive
advantage.
AACSB 2015 Standard 9 Integrating knowledge across fields
INTEGRATION
Whiteboard Animation: Role of Strategy in a Firm's Quest for
Competitive Advantage
This animated video covers strategy, which is inherently competitive, is a juxtaposition of competitive challenges and the
resources that can be marshaled by the firm. This activity is important because as a manager, you must be able to articulate
the role of strategy in a firm’s quest for competitive advantage. The blending of military and business strategy is discussed.
Difficulty: Medium
Blooms: Apply
AACSB: Analytics
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INTEGRATION
Case Analysis: What Strategy Is: Gaining Competitive Advantage at
Nvidia
This case analysis provides the students an opportunity to think through the three elements of a good strategy with a
complementary application from the textbook. The case also helps students see the value in learning from failures. The case
here ties closely to the materials in the beginning sections of Chapter 1. Students will read the case and then answer the four
questions following it.
Follow-Up Activity: The instructor can expand on the concepts in this case analysis by comparing some of the business
decisions made by Nvidia and Apple. Many students may not be familiar with Nvidia as a firm, but they may find some of
their favorite gaming devices are powered by Nvidia products. We find students sometimes lacking in business-to-business
experiences and firms such as Nvidia, which are not retail oriented, can enhance their conceptual application and give
students thought-provoking business examples.
Difficulty: Medium
Blooms: Evaluate
AACSB: Analytic
STRATEGY SMART VIDEO
INSTRUCTOR SUPPLEMENT SLIDE 31
This slide links to a two-minute video by Michael Porter who wrote one of the most widely read HBR articles of all time,
“What is Strategy?”
END OF CHAPTER SMALL GROUP EXERCISE 1
INSTRUCTOR SUPPLEMENT SLIDE 19
1. The chapter applies the three elements of a good strategy to Tesla for insights into the company’s possible
competitive advantage. As a group, choose a different firm that is well known to the students. Assign the
competitive challenges and company guiding policies and search the internet for information about the firm’s
actions. As a group discuss key actions the firm has taken and decide if they seem to be coherent. Does the
firm demonstrate measures of a competitive advantage? If yes, does it look to be sustainable?
Students should choose a public company they know pretty well and have access to the internet to look up information about
the firm to be able to give a reasonable answer to this question. The group will want to look up the key success factors for the
firm from either the website or a recent annual report. Have the students move through each of the three steps in the good
strategy methodology to reach a conclusion about how the firm is positioned. They should be on the lookout for some of the
bad strategy elements such as “grandiose statements” while they are researching the firm.
STRATEGY SMART VIDEO
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INSTRUCTOR SUPPLEMENT SLIDE 32
This slide links to an eight-minute interview with renowned investor Warren Buffet. The first two-minutes speak to his view
of competitive advantage.
LO 1-2 Define compet it ive advantage, susta inable competit ive advantage, competit ive disadvantage, and com petit ive parity.
LECTURE SLIDES 10-17
Competitive advantage is always relative, not absolute. Explain the differences among competitive disadvantage, competitive
parity, temporary competitive advantage, and sustainable competitive advantage. Competitive advantage has to come from
performing different activities or performing the same activities differently than rivals are doing.
If you chose to start the course with a sports analogy for competition and your group of students have a high level of
engagement with that topic, you might want to reintroduce it at this point in your lecture with a sports-related example. Long
an industry leader, ask students to consider what new strategies ESPN could pursue to combat the industry trend of customers
trying to cut cable bills that might be more effective than firing talent. (See “ESPN Tightens Its Belt as Pressure on It
Mounts,” The Wall Street Journal, July 10, 2015.) This example tends to resonate with students because their age group is in
the forefront of the trend to replace cable TV with streaming options, such as Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime.
INTEGRATION
Whiteboard Animation: What Is Competitive Advantage?
This animated video uses a track and field race analogy to address the key concepts of competitive advantage, and it is
important because competition is at the heart of business.
Difficulty: Medium
Blooms: Apply
AACSB: Analytics
DISCUSSION TOPIC
For more advanced classes McKinsey Quarterly, September 2015 offers a video interview, “Capturing Southeast Asia’s
Financial System Opportunity.” After showing the video in class, invite students to brainstorm ideas on how a firm might
gain and sustain a competitive advantage in this arena.
If you are teaching a capstone course that meets broad program-level learning objectives, such as critical reasoning skills and
decision-making skills, as well as discipline-specific strategy learning objectives, the Wall Street Journal article, “GE Set to
Exit Retail Lending” (August 30, 2013), offers material for one such exercise. You can begin exploring the concept of
competitive advantage by contrasting shareholder value creation under Jack Welch and destruction under Jeff Immelt and
then discuss the role that GE Capital played in both of these trends. What changed in the external environment to cause the
crown jewels to become a liability? Then challenge the students to use critical reasoning skills to (a) identify specific
information in the article that is relevant to making that determination and (b) evaluate the validity of that information. From
that point you could move into a discussion of decision-making skills. What information would you want to know in order to
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determine whether Immelt is making the right choice for GE Capital? What other alternative solutions might the company
consider?
AACSB 2015 Standard 9 Analytical thinking
STRATEGY SMART VIDEO
INSTRUCTOR SUPPLEMENT SLIDE 33
This slide links to a two-minute video by Michael Porter on critical aspects of good management including the importance of
having the right goals for the organization.
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1.2 Vision, Mission, and Values
LO1-3 Descr ibe the roles of vis ion, mission, and values in a f i rm’s strategy.
LECTURE SLIDES 18-22
Building a great company has some similarities to building a great house. Using this analogy to start the chapter should
resonate for many students. It is a helpful way to introduce the idea of vision and yet still tie it to something tangible that
must be implemented (building that great new home).
EXAMPLES
Stanford University’s Leadership in Focus center offers great materials for the classroom. Although the emphasis is on
leadership and organizational behavior, several of the cases are well suited to a strategy course. One option that fits in well in
this section is a video case of Roger Deromedi, Kraft CEO, describing the process of developing a vision for the firm.
(URL is https://www.leadershipinfocus.net/presentations/212/play/.) It includes suggested discussion questions.
Many years ago, Intel recognized that their mission of focusing on memory chips was made obsolete by industry evolution
and they shifted to microprocessor chips for large computers, servers, desktops, and later laptops (see Chapter 3, Learning
Objective 3-5 for an opportunity to revisit this example). Now a rapid consumer shift to mobile devices is making adherence
to that mission both less profitable and riskier. Both Intel and its rival AMD are experiencing profit downturns. AMD seems
to be taking strategic actions to engineer a turnaround during the market shift while retaining the same mission and vision
(see “AMD Cuts 5% of Workforce,” The Wall Street Journal, October 1, 2015 and “AMD Reports a Loss of 26% on
Revenue Decline,” The Wall Street Journal, October 15, 2015). Intel’s CEO, Brian Krzanich, in contrast, appears to be
changing the firm’s mission and strategic vision to focus on the “Internet of Things” (see “Intel CEO Sccelerates Shift
from PCs,” The Wall Street Journal, June 2, 2015).
DISCUSSION TOPICS Currently, Chinese companies such as Baidu, BYD, and Lenovo aspire to world leadership. These companies set their
ambitious goals when they were only a fraction of the size of the companies they were chasing. Indeed, they were so small
that initially the market leaders did not even recognize them as potential competitors; many had never competed outside their
domestic markets. Yet all made global leadership their mission, with goals so ambitious they exceeded the firms’ existing
resources and capabilities by a large margin. Ask students to identify what challenges these firms needed to overcome and
how they might measure success.
INTEGRATION
Video Case: The Power of a Miss ion: Chris t ine Benninger ,
President Humane Society of Si l icon Val ley
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This video case analysis provides students an opportunity to consider the value of a strong vision and mission in attracting
talented staff and rebuilding an organization. This video is less than five minutes long and has four embedded questions
contained in it.
Video Case Tips: We suggest setting the “attempts” policy to “revise the previous attempt” for video cases. This enables
students to watch parts of the video and edit their answers without needing to watch the entire video again for each attempt at
the questions. Note the video stops at the questions and the student must enter an answer for it to proceed.
Follow-Up Activity: The instructor can expand on the concepts in this video case by discussing how this nonprofit changed
the products and services it provided in order to survive and thus serve its customers (the pet adopting families) better in the
long-run. This may also be a starting point for a discussion of the contrasts between impactful vision statements at nonprofits
such as Teach for America and the Humane Society versus the for-profit firms’ vision statements shown in the textbook.
Difficulty: Medium
Blooms: Apply
AACSB: Analytic
STRATEGY SMART VIDEO
INSTRUCTOR SUPPLEMENT SLIDE 34
This slide links to a less than two-minute video of Steve Jobs and a bit about his vision of the world.
Strategy Highlight 1.1 INSTRUCTOR SUPPLEMENT SLIDES 8-9: TEACH FOR AMERICA: HOW WENDY KOPP INSPIRES FUTURE
LEADERS
Education is a subject most students will readily relate to. An example of an organization with an inspiring vision is Teach
for America. While some question the long-term effectiveness of Ivy League students teaching in blighted urban areas or
impoverished rural areas for two years, there is no doubt that the organization is quite successful in terms of its ability to
recruit a large pool of applicants each year and to generate passion. One of the interesting notes at the website is that the
program has over 20,000 alumni and 67 percent of them are still in the educational field (and half of those are teachers in the
classroom). Inspiring visions and missions (such as TFA’s) provide intrinsic motivations for employees and customers alike.
END OF CHAPTER SMALL GROUP EXERCISE 2
INSTRUCTOR SUPPLEMENT SLIDE 20
2. Strategy Highlight 1.1 discusses the importance of the inspiring vision developed at Teach for America. In
your group search the internet for other nonprofit organizations (Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, etc.).
Which of them has vision or mission statements that are appealing to donors, employees, and clients? Do
these statements seem relevant in today’s environment or are they outdated? What improvements can you
create for these organizational statements?
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If students are not familiar with nonprofit organizations you may want to offer Red Cross, The Humane Society (relevant to a
Connect® chapter exercise) or Habit for Humanity as examples of national organizations. Ask the students to consider if the
mission statement speaks to them or seems more like something their parents or grandparents might connect with.
INTEGRATION
Whiteboard Animation: The Strategic Decision Process
This animated video covers reviews the roles of vision, mission, and values in the strategic management and decision
processes. Climbing Mount Everest is a key example discussed as an application of mission, vision and values.
Difficulty: Medium
Blooms: Apply
AACSB: Analytics
LO1-4 Evaluate the strategic impl icat ions of product -oriented and customer-oriented vis ion statements.
LECTURE SLIDES 23-26
Although a product-centric view can potentially limit a company’s strategic options, it can also help a company to refocus.
Shell Canada provides an example of how dealing with the question, “What are we about?” led to a refocusing of the
company and as a consequence, superior performance. Although the majority owner was Royal Dutch Shell, Shell Canada
was more or less independent; its shares were traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. In the 1980s, Shell Canada was a
widely diversified business with interests not only in oil and gas exploration and distribution, but also in activities ranging
from chemicals to forestry. Although it had performance comparable to the industry average, Shell Canada’s executives
began to focus on the firm’s mission during this time. After some soul searching, the company’s managers realized that Shell
Canada was at its heart a low-cost producer of oil and gas. With this new clarity of mission, Shell Canada began to sell off its
peripheral businesses to refocus on oil and gas. In 2007, Royal Dutch Shell bought, at a cost of $8.7 billion, the remaining 22
percent of shares that it didn’t already own. By refocusing on oil and gas, Shell Canada was able to apply its core competency
to increase the value created for customers, and to do this at a low cost. Its mission statement helped Shell Canada focus on
the activities that yielded the greatest returns.
STRATEGY SMART VIDEO
INSTRUCTOR SUPPLEMENT SLIDE 35
This slide links to a less than three-minute video of several well-known brands and their respective vision statements.
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END OF CHAPTER ETHICAL/SOCIAL ISSUES 2
2. The list below shows a sample of various vision/mission statements. Match the company with its
corresponding statement. Also identify whether the statements are principally customer-oriented or product-
oriented.
Below is the answer key for the chapter matching questions.
Vision/Mission Statement Type of
Statement
Company
To be our customers’ favorite place and way to
eat and drink.
Customer McDonald’s
To supply the consumer and our customers
with the finest, high-quality products.
Customer Dole Foods
To help women feel great about themselves
and their potential.
Customer Spanx
To provide a global trading platform where
practically anyone can trade practically
anything.
Customer eBay
To operate the best omni-channel specialty
retail business in America.
Product Barnes & Noble’s
To be financially successful through great
people consistently delivering outstanding
food, drinks, and service in an inviting
atmosphere.
Product Darden Restaurants
To be America’s best run, most profitable
automotive retailer.
Product AutoNation
Bringing the best to everyone we touch and
being the best in everything we do.
Customer Estee Lauder
To develop the social infrastructure to give
people the power to build a global community
that works for all of us.
Customer Facebook
To give everyone the power to create and share
ideas and information instantly, without
barriers.
Customer Twitter
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To be the best worldwide provider of higher-
value staffing services and the center for
quality employment opportunities.
Product Manpower
To sell food in a fast, friendly environment
that appeals to price conscious, health-minded
consumers.
Product KFC
To build the future infrastructure of commerce. Product Alibaba
LO1-5 Just i fy why anchoring a f i rm in ethical core values is imperative for long -term success.
LECTURE SLIDE 28
STRATEGY SMART VIDEO
INSTRUCTOR SUPPLEMENT SLIDE 37
This slide links to a two-minute video of the cultural values of Nordstrom’s, a firm perennially on the “best places to work”
lists in the United States.
DISCUSSION TOPICS
What responsibility do lower-level executives at Enron bear for not reporting questionable practices by the firms’ leadership?
Why do you think only one employee initially came forward to report the irregularities and help with the investigation?
Lower-level executives have an ethical responsibility to report questionable practices, beginning by questioning the authority,
and moving outside the company if necessary. We don’t know how many employees really knew about the fraud underway at
Enron versus how many “just heard rumors.” Still with over 20,000 employees at Enron, and another 30,000 at Arthur
Anderson, it is clear some people knew and did nothing about it. Whistle-blowing is a difficult choice and there are many
factors to consider, but the fact that so few came forward says that the actions were in alignment with the values and culture
of the firm actually practiced, even if it was at odds with their stated values.
AACSB 2015 Standard 9 Ethical understanding and reasoning
Strategy Highlight 1.2 INSTRUCTOR SUPPLEMENT SLIDES 10-11: MERCK: RECONFIRMING ITS CORE VALUES
Merck illustrates how a firm’s values define both what it should do and what it should not do. This strategy highlight offers
the opportunity to illustrate that a firm’s strategy is—and should be—constrained by its core values. These values guide a
firm on strategies on which it should embark and strategies that it should avoid or abandon. It also does a nice job of
illustrating that strategic planning involves many decisions that are legal but may not conform to the firm’s ethical values.
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END OF CHAPTER ETHICAL/SOCIAL ISSUES 1
1. In the discussion about Merck (Strategy Highlight 1.2) it is clear the firm has followed a socially responsible
path by donating more than 1 billion drug treatments to remedy river blindness in remote African
communities. Yet Merck must also meet shareholder responsibilities and make profits on drugs in use in
more affluent societies. How should a responsible firm make these trade-offs? What steps can strategic
leaders take to guide organizations on these challenging issues?
The connection that we want students to make is to link strategy development back to the direction provided by the firm’s
vision, mission, and values. The firm’s values should constrain the firm’s actions to the way that the firm wants to do
business. The vision and mission should offer directional guidance of what to do AND what not to do. More detailed
guidelines should also be offered to managers at various levels throughout the company to provide clear frames of reference
on overall strategic goals to provide a context for decision making. Leaders also need to create a firm culture that supports the
values. Selection and retention of employees needs to reinforce these cultural values.
This is an excellent topic for an in-depth class exercise on ethical considerations in strategy. If your course requires an
assessment on ethics and social responsibility, then you could require the students to write a position paper recommending a
strategy position for Merck on pricing of critical drugs in impoverished regions, that addresses both patient needs and firm
profit objectives. Such an assignment could be used either in an online course or a classroom setting.
AACSB 2015 Standard 9 Ethical understanding and reasoning
EXAMPLES
You might want to use an example to show that firms with lax ethical values hurt more than their shareholders. Using a giant
Ponzi scheme, Bernie Madoff, with the help of several employees in his investment securities firm, defrauded high-profile
institutional and individual investors such as the bank HSBC, Banco Santander, Human Rights First, the International
Olympic Committee, film producer and CEO of DreamWorks Animation Jeffrey Katzenberg, actor Kevin Bacon, and Nobel
Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel. Madoff’s fraud totaled an estimated $65 billion. He was sentenced to 150 years
imprisonment and fines of more than $170 billion. (“Q&A on Madoff Case,” The Wall Street Journal, March 12, 2009.)
Businesses also have an ability to influence the ethical decisions of other organizations. The recent FIFA scandal offers a
great example of this. Corporate sponsors of football (soccer) had not taken action during years of rumors of FIFA
corruption, but in 2015 that changed. Coca-Cola, Emirates, Sony, and other firms have used their sponsorship dollars to make
a statement about ethics and integrity. (See “FIFA Corruptions Scandal Pressures Soccer Governing Body’s Sponsors,” The
Wall Street Journal, May 31, 2015.)
A Stanford University video case addresses making ethical decisions. Michael Marks, former Chairman and CEO of
Flextronics discusses such a decision in “Right, Wrong, or Just Business?”
1.3 Explain the AFI strategy framework. LECTURE SLIDES 29-35
The Analyze, Formulate and Implement framework is the organizing principle of this book. It seeks to capture the
interdependent relationships needed for organizations to generate competitive advantage. The framework can help managers
formulate and implement strategies that will lead to superior performance.
EXAMPLES
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You might consider using discussion of a popular movie that illustrates strategy, such as Master and Commander or
Braveheart. What were the keys to the hero’s success? These types of examples will enable you to bring out the importance
of careful analysis, a well-formulated strategy, and effective implementation. Each also offers illustrations of effective and
ineffective strategic leadership.
1.4 Implications for Strategic Leaders INSTRUCTOR SUPPLEMENT SLIDES 13-16
DISCUSSION TOPIC A nice 14-minute video to illustrate the implications for strategists is this one by James Goth, Partner and Managing Director
of BCG, Competitive Advantage. He discusses the meaning of competitive advantage and strategy.
AACSB 2015 Standard 9 Thinking creatively and Application of knowledge
RELATED MINICASE Instructors may want to consider assigning and discussing the following MiniCase that covers topics found in this chapter.
All MiniCases have assignable McGraw-Hill Connect® case questions available.
Minicase 1: Michael Phelps: The Role of Strategy in Olympics and Business
END OF CHAPTER DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. The text discusses strategic trade-offs that are different between Walmart and Nordstrom even though they
are in the same industry. Think of another industry that you know fairly well and select two firms there that
also have made very different choices for these trade-offs. Describe some of the differences between these
firms. What type of trade-off decisions have these firms made?
Ideally this question would be assigned in advance and the students would be encouraged to consider profits in deciding
which firm has a competitive advantage. Some examples that could provide rich dialogue are Coca Cola versus Pepsi in the
soft drink industry (especially attractive if you are using a Cola Wars case in your course), Barnes & Noble versus Amazon in
the textbook industry, or McDonalds versus Wendy’s in quick service restaurants. To take a more international perspective,
consider Uber’s competition in China with Didi Kualdi (see “Inside Uber’s Fight with Its Chinese Nemesis, Didi
Kualdi.” The Wall Street Journal, September 3, 2015). Students will have a natural tendency to fall into the trap of basing
their assessment of competitive advantage on the consumer preferences of a sample size of one (themselves). You can use
this discussion to emphasize strategic management as a firm-level discipline in which all methods of measuring competitive
advantage depend, at least in part, on firm profitability.
2. What characteristics does an effective mission statement have?
A mission statement describes what a company does and why it does it. A clear and compelling mission statement can assist
the company in reaching for stretch goals. The mission statement in most organizations should be customer-oriented.
Customer-oriented defines the mission in terms of solutions for customer needs. An example would be Disney’s (“Make
people happy”). Product-oriented defines the business in terms of goods or services provided. Examples here would be CSX
(“the safest, most progressive North American railroad”) and Intel’s mission from 2000 (“the preeminent building-block
supplier to the Internet economy”). Students will see the basic differences in customer and product orientations fairly quickly.
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However, they don’t always see the difference between a customer-oriented mission and listening to the customer. We use
the Henry Ford “horse and buggy” example, but sometimes students want something more contemporary. An additional
example we’ve used is Steve Jobs at Apple. Until the innovation of MP3 players (and especially the iPod), customers never
knew they needed our entire music collection to carry around with them in their pockets!
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3. The “job to do” approach discussed with the Clayton Christensen milk-shake example can be useful in a
variety of settings. Even when we are the customers ourselves we don’t always look for better solutions
because we get into routines and habits. Think about a situation you sometimes find frustrating in your own
life or one you hear others complaining about frequently. Instead of focusing on the annoyance, can you take
a step back and look for the real job that needed doing when the frustration occurred? What other options
can be developed to “do the job” that may lead to less irritation in these situations?
Many students will bring work experience to the classroom and this can present some opportunities for discussion about
frustrations but really anyone can take this perspective. The founder of Kinko’s got tired of standing in line to make copies
while he was in college, so he found a way to rent some copy machines and opened a small storefront that went nationwide
before selling to FedEx. The founders of Google just wanted to make a search engine that would be useful on the burgeoning
internet. Airbnb was started because the founders needed to pay the rent and had some air mattresses they decided to rent out
on a web-site to strangers coming to town for a convention.
INTEGRATION
HP Running Case: Module 1 While offering each student the opportunity to explore and analyze the company of his/her choice can add interest to the
exercise, there are many advantages for an instructor when the entire class works on the same firm. Connect® allows you to
do this with a running case for a single firm that encompasses every chapter in the textbook and tracks the Strategy Term
Project. Inside Connect® each new module of the Strategy Term Project is available in the chapter activities. Hewlett Packard
is used as an exemplar running case. If your term project is a team activity, these modules may be used to give the teams an
idea of the type of information and analysis needed for their own firm by running through the HP examples. Each module can
be individually modified and assigned per the instructor’s desires.
If you choose a term project for your course, you may want to consider inviting a local company representative to your
classroom during the first week to speak to the students about the firm’s strategies and values.
Strategy Term Project: Initial Firm Selection & Review
TERM PROJECT MODULE 1 The goal of this course-long project is to provide a tangible application of many of the concepts discussed in the text. By the
end of the project, students will not only have practice in using key strategic management components and processes to
increase understanding of the material, but also will be able to conduct a complete strategic management analysis of any
company.
This first task is to identify a firm to study for this course-long project. In the text, we suggest two methods for choosing a
firm. The easiest and most consistent method will be to select a medium- or large-sized public company to study. The
secondary approach of selecting a local firm can provide challenges regarding the appropriate collection of data. Even if a
student works at the firm, there are quite often proprietary limits on the data (especially financial and competitive data) that
these firms will allow to be used for such a project. Be sure the student checks with the local firm on data availability.
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Of course, as the instructor you may choose to assign firms or provide a list of acceptable firms for the student to select from.
As you are kicking off this project, now is a good time to discuss appropriate data sources with your students. There is a lot
of information available on the Internet. Unfortunately, a lot of it is nonsense, or is at least heavily flawed or biased.
Encourage your students to stay away from websites such as “I hate Company X” and to focus on reputable news and market
outlets for the bulk of their information. They should use a variety of sources, because even highly esteemed sources like The
Wall Street Journal and The New York Times can be biased in choosing their reporting topics and tone.
Once the firm is selected, it’s time for the students to start gathering information on the history of the firm, its current top
management team, and the primary business model for the firm (How does the firm make most of its money?). The goal of
this first assignment is basic familiarization with the firm and a check to be sure data sources are forthcoming and reputable.
myStrategy INSTRUCTOR SUPPLEMENT SLIDE 18: HOW MUCH ARE YOUR VALUES WORTH TO YOU?
Here, we encourage the student to take what he/she has learned about competitive advantage and apply it to his/her personal
career. Encourage students to spend a few minutes looking at themselves to discover their own competitive advantages.
AACSB 2015 Standard 9 Reflective thinking (able to understand oneself in the context of society)
1. Identify your personal values. How do you expect these values to affect your work life or your career choice?
These questions are meant to be personal but we offer a few thoughts on them. Values should play some part, but it is not likely to be the most important influence. If your only goal is to become head of a large company, market growth and expansion may become a high priority. However, success can be found in many places, and it is usually more important to find a company with good leadership (firm effects) than to worry solely about market growth (industry effects).
2. How much less salary would (did) you accept to find employment with a company that is aligned with your values?
Studies have shown that once workers get above a certain “pay the bills” space financially, intrinsic rewards often become more important than money. We have found a wide variance of answers when we have run this exercise in our classes.
3. How much are you willing to “pay for pay” if your dream job is in management consulting or investment banking?
Encourage students to consider work/family life balance and recognize the implications of long hours and extensive travel
that usually accompany high-paying jobs.
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MiniCase 1 Michael Phelps: The Role of Strategy in Olympics and Business
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Olympians generally do not turn into global phenomena. One reason is that they only are highlighted
every four years; e.g., not too many people follow competitive swimming or downhill skiing (think
Lindsey Vonn) outside the Olympics. How did Michael Phelps turn into a “global brand”?
Michael Phelps’ (MP) performance in the pool led to an unprecedented eight Olympic gold medals and
seven new world records at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Meanwhile, Carlisle, Phelps’ manager, had been building up MP’s exposure on the global market
gradually, focusing particularly on Asia (preparatory to the Beijing games) and the virtual world. For
example, MP’s Facebook page, which he posted on and maintained himself, had 7.6 million “phans” (now
more than 9 million). He also became a favorite presence on Twitter and YouTube. The combination of
performance and marketing turned him into a global brand.
Phelps continued his record-breaking achievements with six more medals at the 2012 London Olympics.
He added six more medals at the Rio de Janeiro games in 2016, cementing his position as one of the
greatest athletes of all time, ensuring that his brand would not fade for lack of performance.
2. What role did strategy play in Phelps achieving success in and out of the pool? What general lessons
can be learned?
Phelps and his team set a goal of making him a global brand. He began with a valuable asset, his rather
unique physique—a long thin torso, which reduces drag; an arm span of 6 feet 7 inches (204 cm), which is
disproportionate to his 6-foot-4-inch (193 cm) height; relatively short legs for a person of his height; and
his size-14 feet that work like flippers due to hypermobile ankles. This asset served as the basis for a
strategy. He trained under his coach’s direction, so that he could maximize his performance in the Olympic
games. Meanwhile, his manager developed and implemented a marketing plan, focused on social media,
positioning MP as a clean-cut, healthy living, super-athlete. The first phase of this strategy was
implemented successfully when MP won a record-breaking haul of gold medals. The marketing plan then
had credibility and a global brand was established.
This is a straightforward example of a successful strategy. Begin with a valuable asset and use it as the
cornerstone of a strategy to achieve a well-defined goal. Then ensure that the strategy is being
implemented as designed.
3. Which approach to the strategy process did Michael Phelps, his coach, and manager use? Why was
this approach successful?
Phelps, his coach and his manager appear to have used the top-down strategic management process. The
three first established a single goal: for MP to win a gold medal in each of his events during the 2008
Beijing Olympics. They formulated a strategy to reach this goal and then implemented it. There is no
evidence that they planned for different scenarios, or that they anticipated the possibility of new elements of
the strategy emerging (planned emergence.) The approach was successful because while ambitious, the
goal was feasible, given MP’s remarkable physical talents. The strategy was well crafted and in the end,
executed as planned. The record number of medals achieved and a marketing plan that helped build MP
into a global brand proved the success of the strategy.
4. Phelps was embroiled in a number of controversies outside the pool. What impact did these
shortcomings have on his brand value? What do these incidents tell you about maintaining and
increasing brand value over time?
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The incidents tarnished Phelps’ reputation as an athlete who followed a healthy lifestyle. It could
potentially have had a major negative impact on his sponsors. One of them, Kellogg’s, dropped him when
the images of him using a bong came to light. Recreational drug use was inconsistent with their image as a
family brand. However, the strength of Phelps’ brand proved remarkably resilient, as his other sponsors,
such as Subway, Louis Vuitton, and Visa (to name a few) stayed with him despite two subsequent DUI
incidents. MP’s image as an overall “nice guy” appears to give him a Teflon coating.
(It should be noted here that if MP’s positive image had not been as strong as it was to begin with, the
fallout from these incidents could have been more severe. Other star athletes, such as Tiger Woods (marital
infidelity), Lance Armstrong (performance-enhancing drugs), and Michael Vick (dogfighting), saw many, if
not all, of their lucrative sponsorships melt away when their “scandals” became public.)
After he announced his retirement following the Rio Olympics, MP added another facet to his image. He is
now a proud family man, with a photogenic wife and son, who feature in his social media postings. And,
yes, “niceness” is still a big part of his image.
5. What does Michael Phelps need to do if he wants to play a similar transformative role in the
marketing and sponsoring of swimming as Michael Jordan achieved in basketball?
Michael Jordan partnered with Nike in 1985 to endorse Air Jordan basketball shoes. This was a natural fit:
basketball shoes endorsed by one of the greatest basketball players. By 1988, the Jumpman logo had
replaced the Nike swoosh on Air Jordans. The Jumpman logo now adorns a variety of footwear and
athletic clothing. It remains one of the most popular brands of basketball shoe, even as it has branched into
other sports, such as football. Jordan earns $110 million a year from the Jumpman brand.
Phelps has partnered with Aqua Sphere to launch his own line of swimwear. This is consistent with
branding something close to his professional accomplishments. Winning six gold medals at the Rio
Olympics, while wearing his MP design swimwear created instant credibility for the brand. However, the
market for swimwear is not as big as the market for shoes and established brands such as Speedo, Arena,
and TYR are not likely to give up their market shares without a fight. So emulating the scale of Jordan’s
success will be challenging.
Additional resources:
Baker, Liana. 2015. “Phelps Challenges Former Sponsor Speedo with New Brand.” Reuters, December 22, 2015.
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-swimming-phelps-sponsor/phelps-challenges-former-sponsor-speedo-with-new-
brand-idUSKBN0U52EA20151223.
Phelps, Robert. 2014. “Will Bad Boy Michael Phelps Lose His Lucrative Brand Sponsors?” Adweek, October 6,
2014. http://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/will-bad-boy-michael-phelps-lose-his-lucrative-brand-sponsors-
160591/.
Badenhausen, Kurt. 2017. “Michael Jordan Leads the NBA’s Biggest Shoe Deals at $110 Million this Year.”
Forbes, June 9, 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kurtbadenhausen/2017/06/09/the-nbas-biggest-shoe-
deals/#244643d21520.
Case Overview
The case is written from the perspectives of Larry Page, CEO of Alphabet and Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google. The case focuses on opportunities and challenges faced by Alphabet’s largest business unit, Google. The case discusses Google’s history, its business model, and its role in Alphabet as it diversi-fies into other businesses.
Google was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin in 1998. The founders met as doctoral students at Stanford University, and started to create a method to index and rank pages across the web, dubbed PageRank. Page and Brin transformed these algorithms into a full-fledged search engine. After explo-sive growth of the engine, Google was able to secure venture capital funding from legendary firms KPCB and Sequoia Capital. Google’s growth was accelerated when it licensed its search technology to Yahoo in 2000, allowing it to break into Yahoo’s 180 million user base. In 2001, Googled hired Eric Schmidt as CEO of the company, a seasoned executive that would help the company navigate its growth. With Schmidt at the helm, Google made its initial public offering in 2004 for eight percent of the company. Google became a behemoth in search through its partnerships with AOL and Yahoo, as well as its own organic growth. The use of the search engine drove advertising revenue to the company. Throughout the next decade, Google began to roll out new products to expand its reach of users, creating an entire ecosystem across the web. The acquisitions of YouTube and Android provided gateways into growing segments of video and mobile respectively. Google was notorious for investing in large, riskier ventures as well, known as “moonshots.” To provide more transparency to investors, Page and Brin announced that it would restructure the company as Alphabet. This allowed Google to operate as its own company, and clearly separate from other long-term “bets.”
Google has traditionally focused on consumer facing products. As the company moves towards competing in hardware-based markets such as smartphones and home services, it is strategically rationalizing its product portfolio to align with product cycles. At the core of Google’s consumer products is search, which captured two trillion queries in 2016. Android, Google’s open source smart-phone operating system, has led the way for Google to capture 85 percent of the global mobile oper-ating system market. Google has expanded its search capabilities with other consumer products such as Chrome, Maps, and Gmail. YouTube continues to drive strong user growth through the explosion of video content. It originally purchased YouTube for $1.4 billion, and it has grown to generate over $4 billion in revenue for Google.
Alphabet’s Google
T E AC H I N G N OT E
MHE-FTR-055
1259927628
REvISEd: SEPTEMBER 27, 2017
Professor Frank T. Rothaermel prepared this case from public sources. The author gratefully acknowledges the contributrions of david R. King and Christopher Zahrt on an earlier version, and Austin Guenther for research assistance. This case is developed for the purpose of class discus-sion. This case is not intended to be used for any kind of endorsement, source of data, or depiction of efficient or inefficient management. All opinions expressed, and all errors and omissions, are entirely the author’s. © Rothaermel, 2017.
2
Teaching Note — Alphabet’s Google
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Advertising represents Google’s largest revenue stream, stemming originally from search, but now coming in many forms in varying products. Adwords and AdSence were used to directly monetize the search platform. Adwords auctions off “keywords” of a search, while AdSense formulated keywords from a website, and then matched it with Google’s keyword inventory. Google also acquired double Click to enter the display ad business, which brought in $2.5 billion annually by 2015. AdMob, another key acquisition, allowed for Google to take hold in the mobile advertising space through various apps.
Competition in Google’s advertising space has intensified, mostly by the way of Facebook. Facebook used its Pages, Instagram, and Messenger services to advertise to its two billion monthly active users in 2017. Facebook has also stressed the value of its advertising service linked to its social media data, which saw an average price per ad increase by 140 percent. Other players have attempted to take the dominant share of online advertising; however, they have been mostly unsuccessful. In 2017, verizon acquired Yahoo to enter the online advertising market, but with only six percent share remaining.
Many challenges lie ahead for Google in terms of advertising. Facebook has been successful in its mobile strategy and is emerging as the dominant player in mobile. Google faces regulatory challenges in the European Union, as high online advertising share mixes with privacy concerns. Lastly, Google needs to find better ways to sift through bad content that alienates their top tier advertising partners.
As Alphabet continues to implement an M-form structure to administer unrelated diversification, the adjacent business units will have a significant impact on Google. Most notably, the Waymo sub-sidiary has the potential to enter a multibillion-dollar market. The uncertainty of this venture along with Google’s core competencies present new opportunities and challenges to the firm. There is also the question of Alphabet managing this new structure while securing future growth and profitability. It needs to continue to innovate, even as it tries to retain the top talent that can create and commer-cialize new products. The road ahead comes with challenges in its core business in advertising, as well as the new corporate structure and accompanying moonshots of Alphabet.
Key Concepts
• BusinessModel
• CompetitiveStrategy
• PlatformStrategy
• InnovationandTechnologyStrategy
• CorporateStrategy
• UnrelatedDiversification
• ProfitPools
• OrganizationalStructure
Teaching Note —Alphabet’s Google
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Suggested Discussion Questions
1. What is Google’s business model? How is it making money?
2. Who are Google’s main competitors? What and who should Google worry about? What should Sundar Pichai do about these challenges? Provide recommendations, be specific.
3. How is Google using platform strategy? What are some strengths and some weaknesses of this approach?
4. What type of diversification strategy is Alphabet pursuing? What organizational structure is Alphabet using? What is the rationale behind this structure and diversification strategy?
Suggested Answers
1. What is Google’s business model? How is it making money?
Who – The main stakeholders for Google are the end-users of Google’s consumer products and the advertisers. The users take advantage of Google’s wide product and service offering, mostly for free. The large network of users and data is attractive for advertisers to spend their ad dollars. Advertisers are especially attracted to Google for its ability to match ads with users in a fine-grained and targeted fashion, based on individual data collected for each user.
What – Google’s free services and simple user experience creates an entire ecosystem for its users. Google’s products are used throughout daily life in the form of search, mobile, maps, and other activi-ties. Google’s services are “sticky” once a user is locked into its ecosystem, e.g., Gmail, YouTube, Search, Maps, and Android.
How – The product portfolio continues to grow in terms of consumer products. Google uses its core capabilities in search infrastructure to enhance its Android platform, create an “assistant” through Google Home, and develop visual search through Google Photos.
Why – As the number of interactions that Google makes with its users grows, the stronger the network effect of its platform growth. The data generated from users turns into insights that can be sold to advertisers to target customers in very specific ways.
See Exhibit TN-1 for the Why, What, Who, and How of Business Models Framework.
Google makes money by creating opportunities for advertisers to reach an audience through a growing ecosystem. As the breadth of Google’s products and services grow, so does the data needed to generate individual profiles and insights for its customers.
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Teaching Note — Alphabet’s Google
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2. Who are Google’s main competitors? What and who should Google worry about? What should Sundar Pichai do about these challenges? Provide recommendations, be specific.
Google’s main competitors are Facebook, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon. Google should worry about competitors that are taking market share, or that have the potential to take market share of its advertising business. Specifically, Google should worry about Facebook. Over the last few years, Google and Facebook have captured basically all the new digital ad spend. New entrants like Snap are creating ripples, but the dominant players continue to provide products attractive for advertis-ing spend. Facebook, however, has used its four main products (Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp) to “own the mobile screen.” As users move more exclusively to the mobile environment, Facebook has been able to take a larger share of the screen time and interactions with users. This has translated to greater earnings and share of advertising dollars by Facebook. Facebook is continuing to excel in mobile, creating a big challenge for Google, see Exhibit TN-2, “Google Ad Revenue vs Competitors, 2012–2016.”
Sundar Pichai should invest in leveraging the entire user ecosystem to create more value for adver-tisers. Facebook has done a great job in moving into mobile swiftly to take advantage of customer habits. Google has the internal and acquisition capabilities to extend beyond the smartphone, and develop a larger ecosystem to interact with users. New products and investments such as the “Google Assistant” in Google Home and its Nest infrastructure are starting to show this may help in imple-menting this strategy. Improving share of its mobile devices itself, which embed several services also helps in creating a larger ecosystem. Other smaller services such as Photos and Google Flights may be able to all come together to bring data about a customer that can be attractive for advertisers, beyond social media.
The “trillion dollars” killer app for Alphabet could potentially be Waymo. If Alphabet’s self-driving unit succeeds in developing and commercializing an operating system for self-driving cars, it could gain a significant market share because it is independent from individual car makers. The model is Android and mobile devices. If Waymo can repeat this success in the autonomous vehicle industry, Google is to reap not only more but as much more unique data about each individual, allowing for much more fine-grained service offerings and ad targeting.
3. How is Google using platform strategy? What are some strengths and some weaknesses of this approach?
Google is using platform strategy to drive users to its ecosystem, which enhances the value of the overall platform for earlier users, and most importantly, for Google’s advertisers. Specific plat-forms include Android, Google drive, Waze, and YouTube. Together, these platforms form a greater ecosystem.
Using the framework shown in Exhibit TN-3, the platform can be broken down further:
Owner – Google creates the platform for users, developers, and advertisers to interact. It often uses a free or open source platform to draw in users with low switching costs.
Teaching Note —Alphabet’s Google
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Providers – Hardware OEMs such as Samsung and LG act as providers in the platform. These hard-ware partners allow Google to focus on the platform software itself, not necessarily the accompanying hardware. This tactic, however, is changing as Google invests in HTC and other hardware components such as Nest.
Producers – App developers and content creators serve as the producers in the platform. Having a robust marketplace of apps is essential for Google to attract users to its Android platform. Also, YouTube’s success is based on the centralized source of user created content, which has generated “YouTube stars” with millions of subscribers.
Consumers – The user base of Android and other Google products creates the entire ecosystem for Google. Having friends, family, and co-workers on the same platform enhances the value of Google’s products. People can easily message, share photos, share videos, and collaborate via Google’s portfolio.
Strengths – Google continues to grow its platform base by the development of new products. It has expanded from just search, then moved on to Maps, YouTube, docs, and other services.
Weaknesses – The platform has not been able to grow into the social media space. Google has failed with Google+ and other social media ventures. Users spend valuable time on social media, and currently Google has not been able to add that data into its platform to increase its value.
4. What type of diversification strategy is Alphabet pursuing? What organizational structure is Alphabet using? What is the rationale behind this structure and diversification strategy?
In 2017, Alphabet was the second most valuable technology company globally (with some $650 bil-lion in market cap), just behind Apple, but ahead of Microsoft, Amazon, and Facebook (in that order). Alphabet pursues unrelated diversification, and administers its conglomerate through the M-form structure (see Exhibit TN-4).
To manage its high degree of unrelated diversification more effectively, Google put in place a multi-divisional structure overseen by Alphabet, a corporate holding company. Alphabet’s 10 business units start with Google’s core businesses (search, ads, apps, YouTube, Android, Chrome, and Google maps) in a single unit joined by Google X (artificial intelligence, high-altitude balloons providing global inter-net connectivity), Waymo (self-driving cars), Nest (smart homes), Access & Energy (broadband fiber services), verily (life sciences, smart contact lenses), Calico (longevity research), Side Walk Labs (urban innovation), Google ventures (venture capital investments in early phase startups), and Google Capital (venture capital investments in later-stage startups, similar to corporate venture capital investments). This sweeping restructuring allows the sprawling conglomerate to separate its highly profitable search and advertising business from its “moon shots,” such as providing wireless Internet connectivity via high-altitude balloons or developing contact lenses that double as a computer monitor and provide real-time information to the wearer.
6
Teaching Note — Alphabet’s Google
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Google continues to dominate the revenue streams for Alphabet—accounting for more than 90 percent of total revenues (see Exhibit 1 in case). Google is a standalone strategic business unit within Alphabet and has its own profit and loss responsibility. Google is run by CEO Sundar Pichai. Although Google started as an online search and advertising company, it now offers software applications (Google docs, word processing, spreadsheet, e-mail, interactive calendar, and presentation software) hosted on the cloud (Google drive), and operating systems (Chrome OS for the web and Android for mobile applications), among many other online products and services.
The push towards unrelated diversification will be key for Alphabet as it moves to highly com-petitive industries, such as autonomous driving with Waymo. Investors will be able to see the direct investment into these businesses, allowing for Alphabet to enter markets that require large invest-ments, and therefore create significant value for the firm. direct investment into autonomous driving technology will help Waymo to create a leadership position in this space. As Alphabet moves forward, its leaders will need to gain new competencies in managing the shift from a focused technology com-pany to a diverse conglomerate.
Teaching Tip: At this juncture, a good follow-up question is to discuss sources of value creation and costs for Alphabet with its M-form structure. The table shown in Exhibit TN-5 is helpful in categorizing student answers and in guiding the discussion
Recent Updates
In the first half of 2017, Android held 67 percent market share in the U.S., while Apple’s iOS held 31 percent. Globally, during the same time period, Android’s lead over Apple’s iOS was even wider: Android held 85 percent for smartphone operating systems, dwarfing Apple’s 15 percent.1[i]
In the fall of 2017, Google announced that it would acquire HTC’s, a Taiwanese smartphone maker, engineering group that developed the Google Pixel phone for $1.1 billion.2[i],3[ii] With this, Google is making a commitment to handset manufacturing, unlike in the Motorola deal which was more moti-vated by intellectual property considerations. Integrating HTC’s smartphone unit within Google will allow engineers to more tightly integrate hardware and software. This in turn will allow Google to dif-ferentiate its high-end Pixel phone more from the competition, especially Apple’s new release iPhone X and Samsung’s Galaxy 8 line of phone, including the Note 8.
Additional Resources
1. Articles
• VanAlstyne,M.W.,G.G.Parker,andS.P.Choudary,“Pipelines,Platforms,andtheNewRulesofStrategy,” Harvard Business Review, April 2016.
• R.AmitandC.Zott,“CreatingValuethroughBusinessModelInnovation,”MIT Sloan Management Review, 53, no. 3 (Spring 2012): 41–49.
Teaching Note —Alphabet’s Google
7Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction, distribution, or posting online without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
• J.Nicas,D.Strumpf,andD.Mattioli, “Google JumpsBack IntoHardwareWith$1.1BillionHTCdeal,” Wall Street Journal, September 20, 2017, http://on.wsj.com/2yGFXx5 .
• D. Gallagher and J.Wong, “What GoogleWantsWith HTC’s Smartphone Business,”Wall Street Journal, September 21, 2017, http://on.wsj.com/2huxdWP.
2. Videos
• “It’sHere.MeetYourGoogleAssistant.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_BeK48-Bzc (0:30).
• “GoogleYearinSearch2016”Ashortvideoofthingsthathappenedin2014summarizedfromwhat people searched. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIviy7L_lo8 (2:00).“Nest’s Tony Fadell,” A video of Nest’s Founder Tony Fadell discussing How its Thermostat is different http://fortune.com/2015/01/15/glass-to-exit-google-x-report-to-nests-tony-fadell/ (2:38).
• “Where’sGoogleGoingNext?”TEDinterviewwithLarryPage.http://www.ted.com/talks/larry_page_where_s_google_going_next?language=en (23:30)
• “InspiringGoogleStory—LarryPage.”LarryPagediscussingriskandfailureindecisiontofoundGoogle with Sergey Brin versus completing Ph.d. at Stanford. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_eiMKp4QW8 (6:53).
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Teaching Note — Alphabet’s Google
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction, distribution, or posting online without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
ExHibiT TN-1 The Why, What, Who, and How of Business Models Framework
Source: Adapted from Amit, R. and C. Zott, “Creating value through business model innovation,” MIT Sloan Management Review, vol. 53, no. 3, 2012, 41-49.
What activities need to beperformed to create and
deliver the offeringsto customers?
Why does the businessmodel create value?
(revenue + cost models)
What?
Why?
How are the offerings to thecustomers created?(linking of activities)
How?Who?Who are the main
stakeholders performingthe activities?
Teaching Note —Alphabet’s Google
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ExHibiT TN-2 Google Ad Revenue vs Competitors, 2012–2016
Source: depiction of data from “Google privacy-policy change faces new scrutiny in EU,” Wall Street Journal, accessedJanuary24, 2017.
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
36
35
34
33
32
31
30
29
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Google Facebook Microsoft Google Market Share
Ad R
even
ue in
$Bill
ions
Goog
le M
arke
t Sha
re %
10
Teaching Note — Alphabet’s Google
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction, distribution, or posting online without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
ExHibiT TN-3 The Players in a Platform Ecosystem
Source: Adapted from Marshall W. van Alstyne, Geoffrey G. Parker, and Sangeet Paul Choudary, “Pipelines, Platforms, and the New Rules of Strategy,” Harvard Business Review, April 2016.
PLATFORM
CONSUMERSPRODUCERSValue and dataexchange and
feedback
Controller of platform IPand arbiter of who mayparticipate and in what ways
Interfaces for theplatform
Creators of theplatform’s offerings
Buyers or users ofthe offerings
PROVIDERS
OWNER
Teaching Note —Alphabet’s Google
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ExHibiT TN-4 Alphabet’s Multidivisional Structure (M-form) with Its Strategic Business Units, Including Google’s Businesses
Source: Rothaermel, F.T. (2018), Strategic Management, 4th edition. Burr Ridge, IL: McGraw-Hill.
ALPHABET
GOOGLE X
WAYMO
NEXT
ACCESS & ENERGY
VERILY
CALICO
SIDE WALKLABS
GOOGLEVENTURES
GOOGLECAPITAL
Search Ads Apps YouTube Android Chrome Google Maps
Artificial intelligence High-altitude balloons providingglobal internet connectivity
Venture capital investmentsin later-stage startups
Corporate venturecapital (CVC) investments
Life sciences Smart contact lenses
Self-driving cars
Smart homes
Longevity research
Urban innovation
Venture capital investments in early phase startups
Broadband fiber services
12
Teaching Note — Alphabet’s Google
Copyright © 2017 McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. No reproduction, distribution, or posting online without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
ExHibiT TN-5 vertical Integration and diversification: Sources of value Creation and Costs
Source: Rothaermel, F.T. (2018), Strategic Management, 4th edition. Burr Ridge, IL: McGraw-Hill.
Corporate Strategy Sources of Value Creation (V) Sources of Costs (C)
Vertical Integration • Canlowercosts• Canimprovequality• Canfacilitateschedulingandplanning---------------------------------------------------------------------• Facilitatinginvestmentsinspecialized
assets• Securingcriticalsuppliesand
distributionchannels
• Canincreasecosts• Canreducequality• Canreduceflexibility---------------------------------------------------------------------• Increasingpotentialforlegal
repercussions
RelatedDiversification • Economiesofscope• Economiesofscale• Financialeconomies
• Restructuring• Internalcapitalmarkets
• Coordinationcosts• Influencecosts
UnrelatedDiversification • Financialeconomies• Restructuring• Internalcapitalmarkets
• Influencecosts
Teaching Note —Alphabet’s Google
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Endnotes
1 IdC, Smartphone OS Market Share, 2017 Q1 https://www.idc.com/promo/smartphone-market-share/os
2 J.Nicas,D.Strumpf,andD.Mattioli,“GoogleJumpsBackIntoHardwareWith$1.1BillionHTCDeal,”Wall Street Journal, last modified September 20, 2017, http://on.wsj.com/2yGFXx5.
3 ]D.GallagherandJ.Wong,“WhatGoogleWantsWithHTC’sSmartphoneBusiness,”Wall Street Journal, last modified September 21, 2017, https://www.wsj.com/articles/what-google-wants-with-htcs-smartphone-business-1505983282.