STRATEGIC

CHOICE
BY Deo Rwangoga(2014)
0701 520966/0783 520966
email: deorwangoga@gmail.com

INTRODUCTION &
THEORY
Strategic Choice Theory: describes the role that

leaders or leading groups play in influencing an

organization through making choices in a dynamic
political process. Previous to this theory, a common view
was that organizations were thought to be designed along
operational requirements based on the external
environment.
Strategic choice theory provided an alternative that

emphasized the agency of individuals and groups within

organizations to make choices, sometimes serving their
own ends, that dynamically influenced the development

STRATEGIC ANALYSIS
sometimes called situational analysis, can be seen
as a strategic check-up. Managers take a good look at
the environment in which they operate and their
organisation itself.
The starting point is purpose, but analysis is a
continual, integrated process where each element
cannot be checked without awareness of the others.
Strategic direction, environment and the resources of
the organisation are tightly interrelated.

INTRODUCTION
&THEORY
Strategic choice
it assumes organizations can adapt to environmental changes by
restructure; this approach assumes that managers have the ability to
intervene and successfully influence the direction of organisation.
Strategic choice and evaluation looks at the main bases of strategic
choice and the directions and methods of strategy development. These
can be built around market opportunities, product developments,
competences and various combinations of these. Methods range from
internal development through to a range of alliances.
Evaluation: is concerned with the key criteria of suitability, feasibility
and acceptability.

WHAT IS STRATEGIC CHOICE

Strategic Choices Defined: Every company has a certain

amount of resources available to it -- among them financial

resources, human resources, productive capacity and
distribution channels.
Strategic choices are the specific steps a company

intends to take to deploy these resources. Your strategic

choices could include determining what products and services
to sell, where to sell them, how to sell them and what target
markets to sell them to.
A strategic choice could be acquiring a competitor if the

objective is to gain market share. Another strategic choice

might be to focus on selling at trade shows rather than using
advertising to reach potential customers.

ULTIMATE STRATEGIC CHOICE

Right at the beginning of the process there is a need to

agree and state, or reaffirm, the fundamental purpose of

the organization. This is often set down in some founding
charter of some kind. It should include a clear definition of
who are the intended beneficiaries of the organization, and
explain unambiguously the kind of benefit they are entitled
to expect from the organization.
To guide the management of the organization in pursuing

this purpose, they and the governors of the enterprise will

need some measure of performance. These selections of
intended beneficiaries, nature of benefit, and indicator of
delivering benefit to the beneficiaries, each represent a
most significant choice.
The governing body and top management of the

THE PROCESS OF STRATEGIC CHOICE

In terms of decision processes within this set of activities

there are three key components of the strategic planning
process which generate the space in which sound strategic
choice may be made. They areThe strategic intent or objective set to improve the long

term performance of the organization

The strategic issues distilled from the analysis of key

factors relevant to the overall situation of the

organization in its environment, and
The strategic options generated by the planning team.
The strategic choice space is in the area of overlap

among these three components, as depicted in this

diagram. The shaded background suggests the

STRATEGIC CHOICE

INTERPRETATIONS

Consideration of the other overlaps between pairs of components may

stimulate discussion and possible other thoughts to clarify what are the really
important elements in any decision about strategy.
Between intent and issue analysis there may be no feasible options apparent.

Before giving up it may be worth looking to see if the alignment

between factors raised in the analysis which seem relevant to
objectives have been misread, or are alternative forms of issues
already aligned in the central strategic choice space. Between intent

and options it may be possible to identify early on that some options are
just not feasible.
There will of course be options thrown up that seem feasible, and to fit

the issues raised to some extent, and yet do not align well with the
objectives. They may be overly risky, or not align with the code of
corporate conduct of the organization

WHAT TO NOTE ABOUT

In the Strategic Choice
STRATEGIC
CHOICE
Approach, planning is seen as
a continuous process of adjustment, and involving a
fair amount of reflection on the nature of the decision
making process itself.

It is a process of a process of reflecting on and

clarifying the strategic choices available at any given

time, and building commitment to moving forward
with a small number of feasible solutions in the form
of commitment packages. The use of the term
"strategic" refers more to the way in which
decisions are developed and communicated for
commitment to action rather than being

Strategic Management Process

FORMULATE A COMPANY VISION

FORMULATE THE COMPANY MISSION/ GOALS OR OBJECTIVES
ANALYSE THE COMPANYS INTERNAL(S&W) & EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT(O&T)
STRATEGIC GAP
IDENTIFY OPTIONAL STRATEGIES TO CLOSE THE STRATEGIC GAP
CHOICE OF OPTIONS
PLAN TACTICS
IMPLEMENT TACTICS
EVALUATE /REVIEW RESULTS FOR FUTURE IMPROVEMENT

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After a situational analysis is completed, it is time to

formulate a strategy.
You need to formulate or develop many strategies from
which to choose one and that is the strategic choice.
Dynamic as they require continual review and

refinement
Need to adjust the strategy to internal and external

forces
To address the identified gaps and opportunities either

to attain and or maintain.

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MAKING STRATEGIC CHOICE.

This involves determining the companys strengths to decide which
strategies can be implemented based on our resources, being
feasible and whether it is of priority.
Strategies can be operational, competitive or corporate, depending on

which part of the organization must implement them e.g.

If the objective can be to; Enhance performance procurement
process, deliveries to customers, growth objective, retrenchment e.t.c
What strategies can you craft to address these gaps?
And based on that which one do you choice ?

MAKING STRATEGIC CHOICE

There is need to really understand the generic strategies as they
help us to craft an appropriate strategy to address the gap
/opportunity
Porter identified three generic strategies namely;
Cost leadership(overall low cost provider)
Differentiation strategy; customers perceive products /services to

be better / different/ or unique

Focus strategy; organization produces products tailored to meet

a particular market segment

STRATEGIC CHOICE CYCLE.

HOW THE CYCLE WORKS

stakeholder expectations before formulating goals

and objectives. These goals lead to making strategic

choices.
Following the choices the dominant coalition makes,

the organization enacts on them with a strategic

action e.g. reaching the goal of higher
innovativeness by developing new products and
entering new markets. Their level of efficiency then
determines the organizations performance in the
market and can be used as valuable feedback and
source of information for the dominant coalition,
thereby, closing the cycle of strategic choice.

WHAT GUIDES STRATEGIC

CHOICE
Strategy :
is a written document, usually called a strategic plan.
Strategic creation is a process, which delivers the strategic
plan, all the rest is the strategy implementation.
So choices of what to do should be guided by that.
The company which has a strategic plan, has a strategy,
otherwise it doesnt have one. The company is successfully

following the strategy if delivers on planed KPI values.

WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN MAKING A CHOICE

Consider available resources and how best to utilize
them, they may include:
Physical resources such as the number of machines,

buildings or the production capacity of the organisation.

The nature of these resources, such as the age, condition,
capacity and location of each resource, will determine the
usefulness of such resources.
Financial resources such as capital, cash, debtors and

creditors, and suppliers of money (shareholders, bankers,

etc.).
Human resources including the number and mix (e.g.

demographic profile) of people in an organisation. The

intangible resource of their skills and knowledge is also

WHAT TO CONSIDER WHEN MAKING A CHOICE

Intellectual capital is an important aspect of the intangible resources of an

organisation. This includes patents, brands, business systems and customer

databases. There should be no doubt that these intangible resources have a
value, since when businesses are sold part of the value is goodwill.
In a knowledge-based economy intellectual capital is likely to be a major

asset of many organizations. Such resources are certainly important; but

what an organisation does how it employs and deploys its resources
matters at least as much as what resources it has. There would be no point in
having state of the art equipment or valuable knowledge or a valuable brand
if they were not used effectively.
The efficiency and effectiveness of physical or financial resources, or the

people in an organisation should never be left out when making any

decisions.
Competences are the activities and processes through which an

organisation deploys its resources effectively on, depends on not just their
existence but how they are managed.

WHEN ASSESSING STRATEGIES TO CHOICE FROM WHICH

CRITERIA.

Three types of evaluation criteria can be used:

1 .Suitability a broad assessment of whether the
strategy addresses the circumstances in which the
organisation is operating, for example the extent to which
new strategies would fit with the future trends and
changes in the environment.
2. Acceptability the expected performance outcomes
(such as the return or risk) if the strategy were
implemented and the extent to which these would be in
line with the expectations of stakeholders.
3. Feasibility whether the strategy could be made to
work in practice. This means an emphasis on more

FACTORS SHAPING THE CHOICE OF STRATEGY

1.Societal, Political, Regulatory, and Citizenship

Considerations. All organizations operate within the
broader community of society. What an enterprise can and
cannot do strategy wise is always constrained by what is
legal, by what complies with government policies and
regulatory requirements, by what is considered ethical, and
by what is in accord with societal expectations and the
standards of good community citizenship.

FACTORS SHAPING THE CHOICE OF STRATEGY

2.Competitive Conditions and Overall Industry
Attractiveness.
An industry's competitive conditions and overall
attractiveness are big strategy-determining factors. A
company's strategy has to be tailored to the nature and mix of
competitive factors in play : price, product quality,
performance features, service, warranties, and so on.
When competitive conditions intensify significantly, a
company must respond with strategic actions to
protect its position.

FACTORS SHAPING THE CHOICE OF

STRATEGY
3.The Company's Market Opportunities and External
Threats .The particular business opportunities open to a
company and the threatening external developments that
it faces are key influences on strategy. Both point to the
need for strategic action. A company's strategy needs to
be deliberately aimed at capturing its best growth
opportunities, especially the ones that hold the most
promise for building sustainable competitive advantage
and enhancing profitability. Likewise, strategy should
provide a defense against external threats to the
company's well-being and future performance.

FACTORS SHAPING THE CHOICE OF

STRATEGY
4.Company Resource Strengths, Competencies,
and Competitive Capabilities
One of the most pivotal strategy-shaping internal
considerations is whether a company has or can
acquire the resources, competencies, and capabilities
needed to execute a strategy proficiently. These are
the factors that can enable an enterprise to capitalize
on a particular opportunity, give the firm a competitive
edge in the marketplace, and become a cornerstone of
the enterprise's strategy

CONCLUSION
Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2008) argue that: strategic

choice is the core of strategic management. It is concerned with

decisions about an organization's future and the way in which it
needs to respond to the many pressures and influences identified
through strategic analysis.
An issue for many organizations and managers is that they are

unable or unwilling to consider the variety of strategic options open

to them. They tend to be bound by the existing paradigm and resist
change.
The strategic tools and techniques explored here are more

concerned with enabling managers to be able to question and

challenge than with formalized procedures of planning.