MINTZBERGS 5Ps OF STRATEGY

IN 1987 MINTZBERG MENTIONED ABOUT THE FOLLOWING 5 Ps OF STRATEGY i.e. PLAN, PLOY, PATTERN, POSITION, AND PERSPECTIVE. EACH OF THE 5 Ps IS A DIFFERENT APPRAOCH/VIEW POINT FOR DEVELOPING A ROBUST, PRACTICAL, ACHIEVABLE AND SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS STRATEGY. OFTEN THESE 5 Ps ARE OVERLAPPING AND THEREFORE MORE THAN ONE P IS USED BY THE ORGANIZATIONS.

1. STRATEGY AS A PLAN
PLANNING IS THE MOST ESSENTIAL PART OF STRATEGY FORMULATION. EFFECTIVE PLANNING DEPENDS ON ANALYTICAL SKILLS OF THE PLANNERS NECESSARY FOR DOING SWOT AND BRAINSTORMING EXERCISES DEEP INTROSPECTION, THINK ABOUT NOVEL AND FRESH WAYS OF PROBLEM SOLUTIONS AND THEN IDENTIFY OPPORTUNITIES. IT CALLS FOR PRIORITIZATION OF OBJECTIVES, WORKING OUT FOR RESOURCES QUANTITY AND QUALITY AND DEPLOYMENT OF THE IDENTIFIED RESOURCES FOR OPTIMAL RESULTS WITHIN THE PRESCRIBED TIMEFRAME. PLAN STRATEGY NEEDS TO BE DEVELOPED IN ADVANCE AND WITH A DEFINITE PURPOSE.

 PLANNING ALONE IS NOT SUFFICIENT. OTHER 4 Ps HAVE TO COME INTO PLAY.

2. STRATEGY AS PLOY

GETTING THE BETTER OF COMPETITORS, BY PLOTTING TO DISRUPT, DISSUADE, DISCOURAGE, OR OTHERWISE INFLUENCE THEM, CAN BE A PART OF THE STRATEGY. HERE THE STRATEGY CAN BE A PLOY AS WELL AS A PLAN.
TECHNIQUES LIKE FUTURE WHEEL, IMPACT ANALYSIS, AND SCENARIO ANALYSIS CAN HELP IN EXPLORING THE FUTURE BUSINESS SCENARIO IN WHICH COMPETITION WILL TAKE PLACE. MAP OUT HOW THE COMPETITIVE GAME IS LIKELY TO UNFOLD IN THE TIME TO COME AND SET YOURSELF TO WIN. PLOY STRATEGY IS A MEANS OF OUTSMARTING THE COM PETITORS

3. STRATEGY AS PATTERN
STRATEGIC PLAN AND PLOY ARE THE DELIBERATE EXERCISES, BUT SOMETIME STRATEGY EMERGES FROM THE PAST ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, PRACTICES AND PATTERNS. SEE THE PATTERN IN THE TEAM AND THE ORGANIZATION. WHETHER THESE PATTERNS HAVE BECOME AN IMPLICIT PART OF THE STRATEGY AND HOW THEY AFFECT THE STRATEGIC PLANNING APPROACH?

 TOOLS LIKE USP ANALYSIS AND CORE COMPETENCY ANALYSIS HELP IN ANALYSING THIS PATTERN OF STRATEGY FORMULATION. AN ANALYSIS OF THE RESOURCES AND ASSETS WILL ALSO HELP IN STRATEGY FORMULATION. PATTERN WHAT WAS SUCCESSFUL IN THE PAST CAN LEAD TO SUCCESS IN FUTURE.

4. STRATEGY AS POSITION
HOW ONE DECIDES TO POSITION HIMSELF IN THE MARKET? UNDERSTAND AND BOLDLY PROJECT YOUR ORGANIZATIONS BIGGER PICTURE IN RELATION TO THE EXTERNAL/MARKET COMPETITIVE FORCES. THIS WILL HELP IN: A. EXPLORING THE FIT BETWEEN THE ORGANIZATION(STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES) AND THE BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT; AND B. DEVELOPING A SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE.

 TOOLS LIKE PORTERS FIVE FORCES, USP ANALYSIS, CORE COMPETENCY ANALYSIS WILL HELP IN ANALYZING THE MARKET AND CRAFTING A SUCCESSFUL STRATEGY TO IDENTIFY - ARE WE DOING WELL TO UNCOVER OPPORTUNITIES.
POSITION HOW THE ORGANIZATION RELATES TO ITS COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT AND WHAT IT CAN DO TO MAKE ITS PRODUCTS UNIQUE IN THE MARKET PLACE.

5. STRATEGY AS PERSPECTIVE
CHOICE OF STRATEGY OFTEN HEAVILY DEPENDS ON THE CULTURE OF THE ORGANIZATION. PATTERN OF THINKING WILL SHAPE AN ORGANIZATIONALS PERSPECTIVE.

ORGANIZATION WITH RISH TAKING AND INNOVATIVE BACKGROUND WILL ENCOURAGE INNOVATION TO SHAPE ITS STRATEGY. TRADITIONAL ORGANIZATION WILL PREFER TO SERVE AS INTERMEDIATERIES BETWEEN SUCH ORGANIZATIONS.

 TOOLS LIKE CULTURAL WEB CULTURAL MODELS AND CONGRUENCE MODELS WILL PROVIDE AN INSIGHT INTO THE ORGANIZATIONALS PERSPECTIVE.
PERSPECTIVE SUBSTANTIAL INFLUENCE THAT ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND COLLECTIVE THINKING CAN HAVE ON STRATEGIC DECISION MAKING. 5Ps WILL BE PARTICULARLY HELPFUL: 1. WHEN ANALYSIS OF THE COLLECTED INFORMATION IS DONE FOR STRATEGY DEVELOPMENT; 2. WHEN INITIAL IDEAS ARE TESTED ON THE PARAMETERS ON REALISTIC, PRACTICAL AND ROBUST. 3. TO GIVE SHAPE TO THE STRATEGY FINALLY DEVELOPED.

TECHNIQUES OF IMPROVING DECISION MAKING

Devils advocacy: One member becomes devil advocate and brings out all the reasons that might make the proposal unacceptable Dialectic Inquiry: This technique requires generation of a plan and a counter plan. A debate between both takes place and then strategic managers take a decision

Mc Kinseys 7-S Framework

This framework is based on the proposal that effective organizational change is best understood in terms of the complex relationship between strategy, structure, systems, style, skill, staff and shared values (superordinate goals); the seven S The framework upholds the view point that there are multiple factors, which influence an organizations ability to change

Meaning of 7 S
1. SHARED VALUE/ SUPER ORDINATE GOALS :The interconnecting centre of Mc Kinseys model is shared values. What does the organization stand for and what are its central beliefs and attitudes? 2. STRATEGY: It represents the plan for allocation of a firms scarce resources, overtime to reach identified goals 3. STRUCTURE: Structure means the way in which the organizational units relate to each other 4. SYSTEMS: Systems pertain procedures, processes and routines that categorize how the work should be done; financial systems, recruiting, promotion and performance appraisal systems & information systems

Meaning of 7 S
1. SHARED VALUE/ SUPER ORDINATE GOALS :The interconnecting centre of Mc Kinseys model is shared values. What does the organization stand for and what are its central beliefs and attitudes? 2. STRATEGY: It represents the plan for allocation of a firms scarce resources, overtime to reach identified goals 3. STRUCTURE: Structure means the way in which the organizational units relate to each other 4. SYSTEMS: Systems pertain procedures, processes and routines that categorize how the work should be done; financial systems, recruiting, promotion and performance appraisal systems & information systems

5. STAFF: No. of and types of personnel with in the organization

6. STYLE: Cultural style of the organization and how key managers behave in achieving the organizational goals

7. SKILLS: This represents the distinctive capabilities of personnel or of the organization as a whole

IMPORTANCE OF MC KINSEYS FRAMEWORK

It underlines the criticality of action plans in the seven areas reflecting an organizational capability of bringing about a shift in strategy The Mc Kinseys model also provides a convenient means of checking whether an organization has the necessary conditions for implementing the strategy This model provides the basis on which the causes of shortfall may be diagnosed and remedial measures can be adopted Organizational capabilities may be evaluated along 7 factors