Section A: Choice and Understanding of Theory and History
Entrepreneurial, cognitive learning and environmental and power are the three main theoretical schools of strategic management, which have gained massive popularity over the recent past. Entrepreneurial school of strategic management is considered the most appropriate of the three. The primary principle of this school, as Lynch (2015, p. 48) notes is that “the environment is not a stable factor and it can be influenced and manipulated.” Instead of allowing the environmental forces to influence the strategy that a firm takes, a manager will come up with unique ways of managing the emerging forces. It creates room for the manager to come up with effective management strategies that go beyond the normal environmental practices.
It challenges the idea of working within the set principles to achieve specific goals. A leader should be creative when it comes to addressing environmental forces. Creativity requires going beyond standard practices and developing unique plans that enhance the ability to achieve success.
The understanding of this school has developed over time because of extensive research in this field. Initially, the concept of entrepreneurship created the idea of developing new products or a firm. However, it is understood that entrepreneurship is a broad term that goes beyond the creation of a new company or a product. The term describes creativity and the ability to try new things despite the fear of failure.
Many managers are often comfortable following specific terms of management because of the fear of the unknown (Kornberger 2013). They study the environment and allow its forces to define strategies that a firm should take. However, the entrepreneurial school of thought emphasises the need to embrace creativity. A good manager should challenge existing systems and structures. He or she should determine how a firm could circumvent negative environmental forces instead of conforming to them. This school was chosen over the other two because of its emphasis on creativity. In the current competitive business environment, firms need to be creative to achieve the desired level of success. This school can help promote such levels of creativity.
The knowledge regarding the history of strategic management has developed based on this school. It is believed that the word strategy refers to a plan on how to conduct a given activity. When presented with a given activity such as selling products to a given segment of the market, one must come up with a plan (strategy) that defines how each activity will be carried out to achieve the desired goals. A good strategy will make it possible to realise the set goals.
Such plans must identify individuals who will take specific activities, the time within which such activity should be completed, resources and support that should be provided and how the outcome will be measured against specific objectives.
Entrepreneurial school of strategic management introduces the concept of creativity in this field of management. Following standard practices is critical, especially for junior employees who lack experience and need guidance to understand what needs to be done. However, a firm should create a space within which workers can try new skills that can make their work easier based on the emerging environmental factors such as technology. Instead of waiting for other firms to develop new trends of operating in the industry, the firm should strive to be one of the pacesetters.
Section B: Application of Strategy to Current and Future Situations
The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation plays a critical role in defining relations between this country and other regional and international partners. According to Lynch (2015, p. 67), the mission of the ministry is to “promote the strategic political and economic interests of the UAE through effective diplomacy to support security, stability and sustainable development, and deliver excellence in services and care for citizens abroad.”
Although I have been working in this ministry at a non-management level, the primary goal is to rise to a leadership position within the next two years. The ministry seeks to promote stability in the region through partnerships and co-existence. As Carter (2013) observes, in the current globalised society, countries must learn to co-exist. It is not possible to ignore the needs of other countries, although sometimes such needs may be in conflict with national goals. Finding a compromise is important in ensuring that there is a mutually beneficial relationship between this country and the international community.
Entrepreneurial school of strategic management is relevant in managing some of the complex issues emerging in the international community. Mantere (2013) argues that one of the main challenges that departments of foreign affairs around the world have to deal with is a conflict of interest. For instance, Russia has a close diplomatic relationship with the United Arab Emirates and Iran.
However, the UAE considers Iran as a hostile state that should not receive any assistance from a powerful nation such as Russia. Convincing Russia to sever its relation with Iran may not be easy. On the one hand, the UAE is not comfortable with the close relationship between a friendly, powerful nation and a hostile neighbouring country (Thomas, Wilson & Leeds 2013). On the other hand, it cannot afford to sever its relations with Russia because of the mutual benefits. Such challenges in foreign relations may present new challenges. It may require the country to reconsider its relations with the hostile state or to find a way of maintaining good relations with Russia despite the poor relations with Iran.
It will be possible to develop new strategies that will be beneficial to the country by applying this theory. As Carter and McKinlay (2013) note, foreign affairs involve finding ways of championing interests of the country in the international community. One of the main interests of the UAE is to manage the influence of Iran within the region. One way of achieving that goal is to ensure that this hostile state does not maintain a close relationship with the world’s superpowers.
The fact that there is a poor relationship between Iran and the United States is an advantage to the UAE. However, unique strategies will be needed to ensure that Russia does not support Iran’s ambitions of spreading its military influence in the region. Carter and McKinlay (2013) argue that taking advantage of strategic resources and other benefits can help a country to convince other states to act in a given manner.
In this case, the ministry of foreign affairs can find an advantage it has over Russia and use it as a bargaining tool to convince its leadership to avoid supporting Iran. The goal is to ensure that the country succeeds in overcoming the regional security threat posed by the hostile states. The limitation of this choice is that creativity when dealing with other states may be limited by various factors. Other states would want to know how they would benefit from such relationships.
Section C: Understanding of Governance, Ethics or CSR
In this section, the focus is to determine the governance implications of the entrepreneurial school of strategic management. According to Thomas, Wilson and Leeds (2013), for a long time, the concept of creativity as proposed in the entrepreneurial school of strategic management has been considered appropriate only in the business world. The idea of manipulating environmental forces to the advantage of a firm at the expense of the rival companies has been popular in various industries. However, Carter and McKinlay (2013) argue that such levels of creativity can also be used in governance.
The United States has one of the most influential foreign relations policies that it is using for its own benefit and at the expense of hostile nations. Cuba, Iran and North Korea are some of the countries that have suffered from regular economic sanctions by the United States because of their foreign policies (Carter & McKinlay 2013). The United States has managed to exert its control over the United Nations, and whenever it wants to sanction another country, it uses various UN organs to ensure that other nations support it. These three countries have suffered reduced economic growth because of such actions. Such level of creativity has enabled it to punish even some of the nations perceived to be powerful, such as Russia.
In governance, the entrepreneurial school of strategic management is proving to be a tool that a nation cannot afford to ignore. In this context, countries are using what they have to get what they need. The United Arab Emirates has rich oil reserves. Thomas, Wilson and Leeds (2013) argue that oil remains one of the most important commodities in the international market. Given the fact that the UAE is one of the leading producers of this commodity, it can use it to influence other countries to act in a given desirable way.
The United States, China, Japan and India are the leading importers of oil. The four nations are also very influential because of their powerful economies. As a major exporter of oil, the UAE has a bargaining chip over these powerful economies. Working closely with other friendly states that also export oil, such as Saudi Arabia, it can promote its interest on a global scale through the help of these leading importers of oil. The idea is to develop creative ways of intertwining its goals with that of the world’s most powerful nations.
The choice of the strategy has a major implication on the strategic decisions that have to be made by this government unit. It is evident that for every decision made by this government unit, one of the questions that have to be answered is how to convince other countries to support it. There is a need to convince them that they will also benefit from the decisions made. The state must be willing to compromise on an issue to get what it needs from other countries.
However, Martin (2014) warns that the compromise should not have an adverse effect on the country. Some scholars have critiqued this approach, especially its appropriateness, when dealing with issues of governance. They believe that this theoretical approach is limited in terms of how creative government officers can be when engaging other states. However, it is believed that creativity is important in governance. Just as a company would strive to achieve a competitive edge over its rivals, a country’s goal would be to achieve its goals even if it is against the interest of other hostile nations.
Section D: Personal Development
I am an administrator currently working with the government of the United Arab Emirates. I would want to advance my career to be in the management position. I am keen on finding a senior management role in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. Working in the international affairs department will enable me to put my skills and experience gained into practice.
Thomas, Wilson and Leeds (2013) argue that it is advisable to have a clear plan on personal development, starting from the current role to possible future responsibilities in top management positions. In future, I want to play a critical role in defining foreign relations between this country and other regional and international countries. I hope to negotiate the best deals for the country in the international arena. As the United Arab Emirates struggles to diversify its economy beyond the sale of oil and gas, I intend to play a major role in such efforts.
I understand the fact that the rhetoric of the strategy may have implications on its application in the field of governance. The strategy emphasises the need for a leader to be creative and capable of manipulating environmental forces to achieve desired goals. However, that may not be the best approach in international relations. As Carter (2013) observes, when a country is dealing with a friendly state, the goal should always be to find ways of achieving mutual benefits.
Every economic or political agreement that the country makes with its strategic partner, it should be evident that all the parties involved will benefit. It means that top managers in this ministry should go beyond finding solutions to this country’s problems. It may be necessary to determine how other countries will also benefit from a given political or economic agreement. The rhetoric of the strategy is that an entity should benefit at the expense of others who may be having competing interests. It takes the approach of winner takes all. This notion of strategy as a practice may not work well in foreign relation, where the idea of creating a mutually beneficial strategy is paramount.
The new role will require advanced skills in foreign relations and leadership. I intend to develop my own knowledge and skills in these areas. Knowledge in foreign relations will enable me to understand how to negotiate with other representatives of foreign nations for the benefit of my country. I will know how to identify the weaknesses of the negotiating partners and how to exploit it. I will also learn how to deal with the weaknesses of my country while at the same time taking full advantage of the strengths and opportunities. Leadership skills will enable me to work with junior officers in finding solutions to issues that the country faces.
According to Thomas, Wilson and Leeds (2013) note, a good leader should learn how to incorporate ideas of junior employees. I will learn to create an environment where employees can be creative when dealing with various issues within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. They will be allowed to develop new ways of dealing with the challenges they face at work.
Reference List
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Martin, R 2014, ‘The big lie of strategic planning’, Harvard Business Review, vol. 92, no. 1, pp. 78–84.
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