..Special thank..

Thank Miss Ummi!!! Doakan saya dapat buat yang terbaik untuk subject ni mase final.. sorry for last minute work and also sorry for did not participate well in your class..(^^,)

And again thank you..

Scenario Planning Approach to Strategic Management of Small Travel Business in Malaysia

Abstract:

Scenario planning, an alternative strategic management tool, has given a new meaning and dimension to the way strategy should be thought, discussed and implemented in organizations. This paper introduces scenario planning in the way the turbulent world should be better managed by looking for possible futures and not predicting the only future. No matter how rational strategic planners are, the complexity of the business environment would still leave the planners guessing of their planned and predicted future. This study undertaken using scenario planning technique by looking at the future of the small travel business in Malaysia. The three plausible scenarios discovered were 'stormy weather', 'blizzards' and 'occasional shower'. The study recommended that strategic options available for the businesses were 'differentiation', 'new services', 'diversification and mergers/acquisition'. These options are applicable for all scenarios.

Keywords: Scenario planning, strategic management, entrepreneurship, small travel industry, management imperfection, evolutionist, revolutionist

INTRODUCTION

In recent times, change has become an ultimate issue for organizational survival. To keep abreast with the latest in products, designs and innovations of competitors and incorporating a copycat strategy is not the recipe for long-term success. Only organizations that have the ability to scan the environment effectively with a shared mental model, leading to innovation within can see success and profit potential in the long run. This is the field of strategic management and scenario planning, an alternative tool to strategic management, ensures long-term sustainable survival of an organization. Many strategic planners have found scenario planning as crucial part of strategic management for envisioning the future by producing plausible multiple futures (scenarios) (Van der Heijden, 1996).

A failure to envision seeing the micro and macro environment of an organization has by and large been the root cause for ineffective strategic planning. The three main reasons that have been identified to blind the organizations are:

Operational ineffectiveness: Operational ineffectiveness is one of the causes for low profitability in organizations. Companies that are able to get more out of their inputs, by way of eliminating waste, employing advanced technology, and motivating employees, stand to have higher profitability than competitors because they are able to reduce operating costs. However, not all efficiency models and theories need to be employed and organizations have a choice on their preference. For example, 'zero-defect' can be introduced as a Total Quality Management principle because it leads to efficiency and overall lower expenditure in costs, but then again it is one that a company can live without.

It must be emphasized that although operational ineffectiveness is one of the contributors for failures in organizational processes, it does not, however, drive a company out of competition, at least in the short term. There is a false assumption in organizations that operational activities are a part of strategy. It is certainly an essential element in organizations but however, its ineffectiveness is not the root cause for organizational failures.

Business Successes: Strategic management rethink is more in need for successful companies than those who are struggling. Successful companies are in danger of suffering from strategic failure in times of rapid change (Wack, 1985). Because of their success story they will be locked into strong assumptions and therefore their procedures and policies will be hard to change. In other words, change is not in the agenda. For an instance, IBM, the dominant in the mainframe computer market, failed to envision the growing market for personal computers (Kay, 2001). However, the fact remained that they were the best in mainframe computing. …

just copy and paste..more information ----> http://www.questia.com/library/journal/1P3-1940617901/scenario-planning-approach-to-strategic-management

..Last lecture class..

BUILDING AN ORGANIZATION CAPABLE OF GOOD STRATEGY EXECUTION: PEOPLE, CAPABILITIES, AND STRUCTURE

For chapter 10 these ten basic tasks of the strategy execution process are important because this can perform a good organization. In my opinion, for this strategy training program is important because with the training programs the managers can know about their employee’s capabilities and this can make the manager easy to manage their organization structures.

MANAGING INTERNAL OPERATIONS: ACTIONS THAT PROMOTE GOOD STRATEGY EXECUTION

Chapter 11, the last chapter for strategic management subject… related to learning objective, there are five things that I must understand after finish studying this chapter. Therefore there are five ways to managing for continuous improvement that are based on benchmarking, best practices, total quality management (TQM), six sigma quality programs, and process reengineering. Six sigma programs utilize statistical methods to improve quality by reducing defects and variability in business processes and six sigma principle is all work are process and all process have variability and create data that explain variability.

..Ethics, corporate social responsibility, environmental sustainability and strategy..

For this topic, there is no lecture but Miss Ummi asked us to participate in forum. The question given is “discuss how a corporate culture can assist in executing strategies in an organization. If you are one of the top managers, what kind of values that you would like to in calculate in your organization? Why it does so?”

Meaning corporate culture from Wikipedia is the behavior of humans who are part of an organization and the meanings that the people attach to their actions. Culture includes the organization values, visions, norms, working language, systems, symbols, beliefs and habits. It is also the pattern of such collective behaviors and assumptions that are taught to new organizational members as a way of perceiving, and even thinking and feeling. Organizational culture affects the way people and groups interact with each other, with clients, and with stakeholders.

So, how it’s can assist in executing the strategies in an organization by using their norms. As mention in meaning the worker may comfortable to do their work by doing something that relate with their cultures and this also can leads them to make the company success. If I as the top managers, of cost I want to in calculate some of the values that related with Islamic value. It is because can give the worker reminder to honest and trustworthy when doing their work. (^^,)

CORPORATE STRATEGY: DIVERSIFICATION AND THE MULTIBUSINESS COMPANY

Diversification is companies that have many businesses. During the lecture Miss Ummi have advice us if we want to open a business it’s better to start with small business and we also must have our target market. Therefore, with this we can get success and expand our business.

So, back to these topics. Before we attend to lecture class my class has attended tutorial class and we have discussed about UMW case study. Seriously I did not understand what the case study all about. It is long case study and I just know that this UMW Holding have four core business which are automotive assembly and distribution, automotive components OEM and REM, heavy component and last oil and gas drilling services. So, for the question that have given by Miss Ummi related with this case study only half I can answer. After having a discussion in the class I understand what the case study all about. Then, during lecture class I got prepared for this topic. There also synergy term in this topic that means 1+1=3. From core concept, creating added value for shareholders via diversification requires building a multibusiness company where the whole is greater than the sum of its part. This means that diversifying into a new business must offer potential for the company’s existing business and the new business to perform operating as independent and stand alone business. That’s all for this topic.. (^^,)

..Oshima restaurant..

This restaurant was owned by a strong lady Puan Hasnidar Hanim. Why I said she was a strong lady is because she never gives up. Before opening the restaurant Pn Hanim have been studied in engineering course that are not related with business. But life as an engineer is did not give enough time for her to spend more with family and her child. She wants her children get enough love from her and at last she and her husband have made decision to open a Japanese Food restaurant. With the lacking knowledge about business is not an easy thing for her when she open the restaurant. It is because, she spend more capital at beginning she open the restaurant. She also opened the restaurant with many branch without thinking the acceptance of our Malaysian people about Japanese food. Besides that, she also must to compete with others Japanese restaurant like Sushi King and she also have problem to get halal raw material for her restaurant. But, she did not take all the problems as a weaknesses and she takes it as a challenge to become a successful person in business. From that she learned one by one how to make a good strategy. Hopefully Puan Hasnidar can be successful business woman on 100% halal Japanese food. (^^,)

women with the black scarf is Puan Hasnidar...

STRATEGIES FOR COMPETING IN INTERNATIONAL MARKETS

In this chapter I have learn strategies if some company want to market their product or service into international market. The picture above is the reasons why the companies want to get compete into international markets. This chapter also I have learned about the Porter’s Diamond of national competitive advantage like in the picture below: 

Other than that, in tutorial class Miss Ummi has giving us one case study about piping hot dog. It is an ongoing process for entrepreneurs as we are always seeking ways to improve in the industry. “I have the joy of watching others grow successfully through my franchise programme” [Tengku Rozidar Tengku Zainal Abidi]. The hot dog company named as Nineteen O One Sdn. Bhd. is a franchise company. ‘‘We want to penetrate the Middle Eastern market and other markets with Muslim population for our halal food. We aim to be a global halal brand,’’ this is one of what have the owner of the company said. For this case study the owner have mention that everyone likes hot dog and if they want to expend their business they must to enter international markets. Before that also Madam Rozidar which is the owner of the companies have studies about international market and makes the decision to enter the markets. All in all, we must to have knowledge and goods strategies to compete in international market. (^^,)