Synthesis
Key Take-aways from this assignment:
Competitive Advantage is a rather broad topic but one that is a cornerstone of business strategy. I took the opportunity to read sections of Porter's original book. Now that I will have more time, I may read more or all of it. I liked the idea that competitive advantage could be scaled up to the corporate level and down to the level of a small family business. When I selected the subject I was approaching it from a marketing perspective. I enjoyed learning about other ways to apply competitive advantage principals on the corporate level and in such areas as operations and engineering.
Relevant Topics:
I thought some of the most relevant topics included industry attractiveness. I enjoy having an established process and worksheets to easily and more objectively evaluate the situation. Similarly I found the Ansoff matrix useful because of its ability to distill a great deal of information about a product into a useful form that helps in decision making. I also enjoyed learning more about the concepts of core competencies and dynamic capabilities. The use of case studies to illustrate these concepts was the highlight of each class.
Development as a Manager:
One of the most interesting results of taking this course has been the change in the way I perceive organizational behavior. I am much more aware of how existing business processes could be improved if some thought and planning are brought into the situation. I recently served on a task group that was trying to develop new ways to increase the value of the organization to members. This task force produced a paper outlining its suggestions that was presented to the senior leadership team. As a result several follow up groups have been formed to implement some of the recommendations. Since it is public knowledge that I was on the task group I have been receiving some feedback and questions from other staff members. I think the material learned in this course has helped me in answering their questions and expanding on what the task group was charged to do.
I've been working on incorporating more of what I have learned from all of my MBA courses into my work. While working on developing a presentation for our members, I kept bringing the group back to focusing on making the presentation relevant. In addition, I have been reevaluating daily processes to ensure that they are helping the organization achieve its goals.
Competitive Advantage is a rather broad topic but one that is a cornerstone of business strategy. I took the opportunity to read sections of Porter's original book. Now that I will have more time, I may read more or all of it. I liked the idea that competitive advantage could be scaled up to the corporate level and down to the level of a small family business. When I selected the subject I was approaching it from a marketing perspective. I enjoyed learning about other ways to apply competitive advantage principals on the corporate level and in such areas as operations and engineering.
Relevant Topics:
I thought some of the most relevant topics included industry attractiveness. I enjoy having an established process and worksheets to easily and more objectively evaluate the situation. Similarly I found the Ansoff matrix useful because of its ability to distill a great deal of information about a product into a useful form that helps in decision making. I also enjoyed learning more about the concepts of core competencies and dynamic capabilities. The use of case studies to illustrate these concepts was the highlight of each class.
Development as a Manager:
One of the most interesting results of taking this course has been the change in the way I perceive organizational behavior. I am much more aware of how existing business processes could be improved if some thought and planning are brought into the situation. I recently served on a task group that was trying to develop new ways to increase the value of the organization to members. This task force produced a paper outlining its suggestions that was presented to the senior leadership team. As a result several follow up groups have been formed to implement some of the recommendations. Since it is public knowledge that I was on the task group I have been receiving some feedback and questions from other staff members. I think the material learned in this course has helped me in answering their questions and expanding on what the task group was charged to do.
I've been working on incorporating more of what I have learned from all of my MBA courses into my work. While working on developing a presentation for our members, I kept bringing the group back to focusing on making the presentation relevant. In addition, I have been reevaluating daily processes to ensure that they are helping the organization achieve its goals.