Discussion

Module 01-02, Online Discussion HBR: The Chief Strategy Officer

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THE CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER.pdf

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Module 01-02, Online Discussion HBR: The Chief Strategy Officer

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This is a TurnItIn proctored INDIVIDUAL Learning Assignment and is worth 100 points

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INITIAL Posting Due Date:

Sunday, August 30, 2020 at 11:55 PM

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2nd and 3rd Postings – Discussion Due Date:

Sunday,  September 06, 2020 at 11:55 PM

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In the past, students that have excelled in this Learning Assignment have done:

Best Practices – Learning Assignments

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Dear International Strategic Management Executives:

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Please read the following Harvard Business Review Article:

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The Chief Strategy Officer

by R. Timothy S. Breene, Paul F. Nunes, and Walter E. Shill

October 2007

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Please, answer for your INITIAL posting and discuss the following questions:

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1. Detailed – Comprehensive Summary for THIS article.

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How to Write a Summary of an Article

https://owlcation.com/academia/How-to-Write-a-Summary (Links to an external site.)

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2. Which are the three most CRITICAL ISSUES of THIS article? Please explain why? and analyze, and discuss in great detail …

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3. Which are the three most relevant LESSONS LEARNED of THIS article? Please explain why? and analyze, and discuss in great detail …

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4. Which are the three most important BEST PRACTICES of THIS article? Please explain why? and analyze, and discuss in great detail …

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5. How can you relate THIS article with the TOPICS COVERED in class? Please explain, analyze, and discuss in great detail …

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6. Do you see any alignment of the concepts described in THIS article with the class concepts reviewed in class? Which are those alignments and misalignments? Why? Please explain, analyze, and discuss in great detail …

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I expect high caliber reviews with top analyses and interesting insights for THIS article !!

If you have any questions, please let me know.

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Jose Rocha

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Learning Assignment Guidelines

Please read our class syllabus section:

                                9. Course Delivery – Learning Assignments Guidelines – 9.4 On-Line Discussions

to double make sure what do we have to do in these discussions.

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Grading Requisites

In order for me to grade these discussions, you have to have your INITIAL posting plus

TWO additional SOLID and well supported postings to other people’s postings and/or discussions.

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Please do NOT attach any files for this OnLine Discussion.

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Discussions and Posting submitted as Document ATTACHMENTS WILL NOT be GRADED. 

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Grading Rubric

This learning assignment will be graded according to the following grading rubrics :

2. Grading Rubric for On-Line Forums and Discussions.pdf

and

APA Style Rubric.pdf

located at our Canvas Learning Management System section:

Course Content: 2. Class Learning Assignments Guidelines, Grading Rubrics, and Peer Evaluation Forms

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Some Learning Tips for this Learning Assignment

Please take a moment to read and get familiarized with the following learning concepts:

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How to Write a Summary of an Article

https://owlcation.com/academia/How-to-Write-a-Summary (Links to an external site.)

.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGWO1ldEhtQ (Links to an external site.)

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How to Write a Summary

How to Write a Summary.pdf

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLdvEFtUuMM (Links to an external site.)

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Lessons Learned vs Best Practices

Tips for Turning Lessons Learned into Best Practices:

https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/tips-for-turning-lessons-learned-into-best-practices.php (Links to an external site.)

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Using APA Style and Tips in Writing

You can find several readings and support material for your writing learning assignments and APA Style use at our Canvas Learning Management System section:

Course Content: 1.2 Using APA Style and Tips in Writing

Post by  Valle, Eiler Manuel

 

The Chief Strategy Officer

Executive summary.

The Chief Strategy Officer is an article written by R. Timothy S. Breene, Paul F. Nunes, and Walter E. Shill. The article is mainly about the functions of the Chief Strategy Officer, it starts by talking about Brian Scrheiber, an executive of AIG that serves as the CSO, and how his functions have changed during the tenure of two different CEO’s. The article explains how CEO’s are formally handing the reins of strategy and execution to individuals that could carry out those roles. Companies are adding the CSO role to their management team to keep up with changes in the business landscape, complex organizational structures, rapid globalization, new regulations and the pressure to innovate. The article explains that these executives are not pure strategist nor specialist but rather seasoned executives with strategy orientation who have led major initiatives and have experienced many operating roles before taking on the position. A qualified CSO should be deeply trusted by the CEO as they must have a strong bond between them; CSO must be master of multitasking as CSO at times are responsible of ten major business functions and activities as diverse and demanding as M&A; CSO are jack of all trades having a vast experience in areas like technology, management, marketing and operations; CSO must be a star player with a resume that shows business results; CSO must be doer, not just a thinker they must split their time between strategy development and execution; CSO must be the guardian of horizon two, they must be able to refocus the organization attention; CSO must be an influencer, not a dictator, they influence others by their deep industry knowledge, connection and ability to communicate effectively; CSO must be comfortable with ambiguity as CSO actions typically won’t pay off for years; CSO must be objective the CSO doesn’t let emotion or the strength of other’s personalities cloud his or her vision.

The CSO must engender commitment to clear strategic plans by resolving the strategy not only for themselves but for every business unit and functions to ensure employees understand the plan and how their work connects to corporate goals. Another important function CSO must drive immediate change and must drive decision making that sustain organizational change as strategy that could be clear one day may change the next, and alignment may break if its not continued reinforced.

Another important section of the article is what it takes; the articles explain there is no simple recipe for success in the role of CSO but there are essential ingredients. Those includes minding the time horizon splitting time across the three strategies mean extending and defending the core business in the short term, building emerging business in the medium term, and creating viable options for the long term. The article explains most CSO focus on the second horizon and work to present a seamless picture of all the horizons. Another important ingredient is to balance the strategy formulation and execution and even though some CSO emphasize on execution research shows they split their time evenly between strategy formulation and execution. The third ingredient is to exert influence appropriately as the CSO must be adept at exerting their influence on other executives who might be skeptical, this skill is critical for achieving their goals. The fourth ingredient is to develop IT and HR smarts having deep knowledge in these functional areas are central to execution; technology is critical to virtually every aspect of strategy for instance creating new products and services developing new business models and improving processes.

The last section of the article is “Do You Really Need a CSO?” the strategy management challenge has become more and more complicated in every industry; increased volatility, rapid globalization, the rise of new technologies, industry converge, and changes in workforce have all contributed to an environment in which top down planning needs to be balanced with quick and agile execution, and that is why more companies have found it necessary to hire CSO. The hiring of CSO is not just a reaction to today’s complex time but there are clear benefits to companies in the short, medium and long term. CSO could speed up the decision making by being the go to person on all strategy matters. They add value by building world class strategy development and execution capabilities within the company, in the long term the role of top strategy can become an effective succession-planning tool. The article also explains that while the potential benefit are clear bringing a CSO has its challenges as CEO must do relationship management to get the top team to buy into restructuring of the organizational chart, and recruiters confirm that searching for the right candidate takes longer than normal but despite the challenges more companies are exploring and adding the CSO option.

Critical Issues 

The most three critical issue of the article are resume on three section “Dont Call Them Strategist”, “When a Plan Comes Together” and “What it Takes”.

The first main critical issue is that CSO must be able to work with and influence people across the entire organization and beyond, and that is the heart of the job. These individuals are rarely abandoned by top executives who recognize their worth, and are very close to their CEO’s making this one of the most important traits a CSO possesses.

The second major critical issue is that CSO must engender commitment to clear strategic plans, must drive immediate change, and must drive decision making that sustain organizational change.

The third major critical issue is that CSO must keep their attention on the second horizon and work to present a seamless picture of all the horizons. CSO must balance strategy formulation and execution, exert influence appropriately, and develop IT and HR skills.

Lesson Learned 

The first lesson learned is the skill for a qualified CSO those include to be trusted by the CEO, master of multitasking, to be the jack of all trades, star player, a doer not just a thinker, the guardian of horizon two, an influencer not a dictator, comfortable with ambiguity and objective.

are tasks with three critical issues that together form the very definition of strategy execution. Those tasks are commitment to clear strategic plans, must drive immediate change, and must drive decision making that sustain organizational change.

The second lesson learned is that CSO must ensure that the members of the leadership team agree to strategy decisions, those decisions must not be watered down or ignored as they are translated through the organization. The CSO must have the ability to test whether the decisions being made are aligned with the strategy and are creating the desired results.

The need for CSO has risen out of the strategy management challenge that has become more complicated in virtually every industry due to the increased volatility, rapid globalization, the rise of new technologies, industry convergence, and changes in the workforce.

Best Practices 

The article explains that CSOs keep their eyes trained on horizon two and work to present a seamless picture of all horizons. The research shows that CSO spend an estimated 39% of their time on horizon two, 36% in horizon three and 25 % in horizon one. The CSO attention to this period underlines the unique perspective the position brings to the organization. Figuring out between what implicit decisions have been made that need to be explicit, or what decisions that have not been made are needed to stay on track and reach the goal.

Most executives split their time almost evenly between strategy formulation and execution, yet their statements reveal tilt towards execution. Driving change and enforcing the consistent application of decision may require shrinking strategic planning to a small internal team and leveraging expertise of outside consultants.

Many strategy chiefs are creating departments specifically for this purpose, hiring people with strong strategy-related skills and competencies like business development, competitive analysis, and M&A expertise. CSOs also ensure that the capabilities they help to develop are implemented by managers and integrated throughout the organization.

Relationship to Topics Covered in Class 

The article relates to the topic covered in the first chapter of the textbook, chapter 1 addresses some of the challenges for executives who are faced with opposing goals. The CSO is faced with innovation paradox, and tension between existing products and new ones in other word decision to change or stability, the paradox globalization, and decision between global connectedness and local needs, and the paradox between maximizing shareholder return or creating benefits for a wide range of stakeholders. These are some of the decisions that the CSO has to strategize for. The article speaks that virtually “every industry over the past decade has increased volatility, rapid globalization and changes in the workforce”. This has contributed to an environment in which planning needs to be balanced with quick and agile execution.

Chapter 1 also talks about strategic management, the competitive advantage and operational effectiveness of developing the proper strategy and assuring the proper resources are in place for the strategy implementation.

Alignment to the Topics Covered in Class 

The article is aligned with the topic covered in the first chapter, the article talks about what is necessary for the CSO to be successful, the skills required to be a qualified CSO, the need for organizations to add such executives to their team in order to compete in the current business landscape. The section of the article what it takes and the minding of the time horizon aligns with the key attributes of strategic management which directs the organization toward overall goals and objectives, includes multiple stakeholder in decision making, needs to incorporate short-term and long-term perspectives, and recognizes trade-offs between efficiency and effectiveness. This last one aligns with the article part about a balance between strategy formulation and execution, as some executives split their time in both but emphasize more in execution. Overall the article is very insightful as of what is expected of the CSO and the needs for the CSO in the competitive market of today.

Reference

R. Timothy S. Breene, Paul F. Nunes, and Walter E. Shill (2007) The Chief Strategy Officer. Retrieved from: https://hbr.org/2007/10/the-chief-strategy-officer (Links to an external site.)

Dess, Gregory (2019) Strategic Management: Text and Cases, 9th Edition McGraw-Hill

Post by  Escalante, Suyin

 

1. Detailed – Comprehensive Summary for THIS article

-While CEO’s are nominally and ultimately responsible for strategy in an organization, today’s CEO’s do not have sufficient time to devote to strategies. Hence, the need for CEO’s to have an executive at hand prompted the creation of a new top role in an organization’s management, which is the chief strategy officer. Essentially, a chief strategy officer can share the load of a CEO and ensuring a good process in the creation and execution of strategy effectively and successfully. Also, chief strategy officers are crucial in the changing business landscape characterized by rapid globalization, complex organizational structures, and new regulations (Timothy, Breene, Nunes, & Shill, 2007).

1. Which are the three most CRITICAL ISSUES of THIS article? Please explain why? and analyze, and discuss in great detail.

-Three issues in this article include clear strategies, driving change, and driving sustainable decisions. Even though CEO and top leaders create strategies in an organization and set the course, they may be opaque, an aspect that creates confusion and resistance; to avoid such outcomes, chief strategy officer must clarify such strategies to all units of operations in an organization. The second issue involves driving change immediately in a company. To achieve this, the chief strategy officer analyzes the factors inhibiting growth or change and come up with aggressive strategies that will help accomplish such changes efficiently. Finally, with time, strategies become fuzzy and watered down over time (Timothy, Breene, Nunes, & Shill, 2007). It is, therefore, the role of a chief strategy officer to make sure that decisions made by top management are at all times aligned with the strategy and are bringing about the desired outcomes.

1. Which are the three most relevant LESSONS LEARNED of THIS article? Please explain why? and analyze, and discuss in great detail.

-The most relevant lessons are the defining characteristics of a chief strategy officer; how they help companies execute strategies, and diverse roles in the work environment. In essence, a chief strategy officer must be objective, an influencer, a star player, a jack of all trades, a doer, and comfortable with ambiguity among others. In the same regard, chief strategy officers share the tasks of a CEO in efforts to ensure that they are on top of everything in an organization through rapid and effective decision making (Timothy, Breene, Nunes, & Shill, 2007). Importantly, a chief strategy officer wields authority and has a complex range of skills in a way that they can make sure that every department is working in alignment with the strategies to achieve the vision of an organization.

1. Which are the three most important BEST PRACTICES of THIS article? Please explain why? and analyze, and discuss in great detail

-Three best practices in this article include a commitment to strategic plans in an attempt to realize the vision in an organization; here, it is evident that even the most compelling strategies are useless if they are not implemented. The second practice is explaining to each individual how they fit in an organization in relation to a company’s strategy. Over and above, chief strategy officers ensure that they provide clarity to all stakeholders in a way that helps build the federation necessary to put strategic plans into action (Timothy, Breene, Nunes, & Shill, 2007). Thirdly, there changes in organizational structures and operations, which means that CEOs, COOs, and CFOs are too wrapped up in the day to day dealings, an aspect that prevents them from giving adequate attention to strategy execution in a company, hence the need for a chief strategy officer.

1. How can you relate THIS article with the TOPICS COVERED in class? Please explain, analyze, and discuss in great detail.

-I relate this article with some topics covered in class such as strategic management and the planning process in an organization. Essentially, strategy planning involves setting priorities to help all stakeholders focus their energy and resources on working towards the same goal. Consequently, there is the establishment of agreements, which serve to guide individuals towards the desired outcome through strategy implementation (Timothy, Breene, Nunes, & Shill, 2007). As such, all stakeholders’ activities must align their operations to the vision of the company. From this article, it is evident that a chief strategy officer can wear many hats to ensure the success of strategic planning and implementation.

1. Do you see any alignment of the concepts described in THIS article with the class concepts reviewed in class? Which are those alignments and misalignment’s? Why? Please explain, analyze, and discuss in great detail

-The concepts in this article that align with those in class include the increasing complexity of organizational structures and the roles of CEOs, COOs, and CFOs. Concurrently, this article has provided valuable insights into the role of chief strategy officers in an organization, especially multinational enterprises. However, it is critical to acknowledge that there are misunderstandings as well as a lack of familiarity with what the roles of a chief strategy officer entail in an organization.

References:

Timothy, R., Breene, S., Nunes, P. F., & Shill, W. E. (2007). The chief strategy officer. Harvard

            business review, 85(10), 84-93.