Inter-Organisational Strategic Direction

This document discusses the relationship between different partners in the development of policy and its impact on inter-organizational strategies. It also evaluates the contribution of economic, political, and social factors to the development of inter-organizational policy and strategy. Additionally, it assesses the role of domestic, national, and multi-national interests in the translation of policy into inter-organizational strategy. The document further identifies and evaluates the policy position of different partners involved in the development and implementation of inter-organizational strategy. It also evaluates tensions and conflicts of interest in the roles of different partners and proposes innovative solutions to enhance relationships and outcomes. Finally, it develops models that support inter-organizational working and respect the integrity of partner organizations and their political, moral, social, and economic stance and differences.

- 8004V1Inter-Organisational Strategic Direction
AC 1.1 Review and assess the relationship between different partners in the development of
policy and its impact on inter-organizational strategies.
In the corporate sector, relationship and partnership between firm and policy makes helps
stakeholders address jointly those problems that require various ways of developing and
evaluating strategies as well as tactics. Partnership refers to joining of one more team or
individual for same purposes.
AC 1.2 Evaluate the contribution of economic, political and social factors to the
development of inters organizational policy and strategy.
It is crucial to have inter- organizational strategy so that goals and objectives are achieved
in proper manner. Business environment are also important for effective development. Various
factors are involved such as political, economic, and social.
Political factors include rules and regulations, labor law etc. and slow down the growth as
well as development of firm. For example- Government of Ghana have a battle with rice
importers which affect the FMCG sector.
Economic factor involves inflation and deflation rate, legal laws etc. This is divided into
two parts which can have deep impact on inter-organizational strategy. It is necessary to be
focused towards such factors so that strategies are being used in effective manner.
Social factors comprises of age, gender, ethics and culture etc. They also have deeper
impact on strategy as changes are frequent and which also affects the strategy and tactics of
business.
AC 1.3 Assess and evaluate the role of domestic, national, and multi-national interests in
the translation of policy into inter-organizational strategy.
The dynamics of international business created a great need for the evolution of
Multinational corporation. The multinational corporation is a company engaged in producing and
selling goods or services in more than one country. It normally consists of a parent company
located in the home country and few or more foreign subsidiaries. Some MNCs have more than
100 foreign subsidiaries scattered around the world. It is the globally coordinated allocation of
resources by a single centralized management that differentiates the multinational enterprise
from other firms engaged in international business
AC 2.1 Identify and evaluate the policy position of different partners involved in the
development and implementation of inter-organisational strategy

It is becoming common place for organizations to strategize for adapting to the environment by
reducing boundaries and increasing collaboration with other organizations. Organizations in
Ghana used to be on their own competing with one another, but the change in the global
environment, uncertainties, interconnections have brought new directions. Companies are joining
forces together to become more effective and to share scarce resources. Recently in Ghana
telecommunication sector, Tigo and Airtel came together in order to make some competitive
edge in the market which was not the case previously?
Head to head competition among independent firms is gradually giving way to networks of
alliances and collaborations that compete for business on a global basis and also have some
bargaining advantage in the presence of unfavorable government policy..
AC 2.2 Evaluate tensions and conflicts of interest in the roles of different partners, and
propose innovative solutions to enhance relationships and outcomes in order to achieve a
coherent output
The chapter 24 of Ghana’s 1992 constitution states ;a public officer shall not put himself in a
position where his personal interest conflicts or is likely to conflict with the performance of the
functions of his office. This is what is referred to in business circles as conflict of interest.
A conflict of interest may arise when an individual in an organization or in this case a partnering
organization has competing professional obligations or personal or financial interests which can
potentially influence the exercise of his or her duties. Private or personal interests include,
among others, family and other relatives, personal friends, the clubs and societies to which an
individual belongs, private business interests, investments and shareholdings, and any person or
organization to which a favor is owed. This may be a good source of tension between the
respective partners.
To manage the tension that might arise as a result of the conflict of interest, the partnering
organization should strive to create a culture of ethics and trust by setting the right tone at the top
management levels. This will send a clear message on how to manage a conflict of interest
within the organizations and also make everyone in the organization aware of this type of
corruption. This will create a safe environment in which employees are not afraid to bring up and
disclose conflicts of interest.
The partners should develop adequate policies to successfully manage conflicts of interest should
it arise. The organization needs to establish clear policies about what constitutes a conflict of
interest and in which cases these need to be disclosed. Policies should, therefore, include the
following:
organization can adopt the different policies within the firm where it can reduce the conflicts
within the organization as well as manage the interest of every person with clear objectives of
organisation.it can adopt the policy of no tolerance within the conflicts which will help company

in managing the performance of the individual as the reduction in conflict will directly to
improve performance.
1. Define who the interested persons are: The interested peoples are employees,
management customers and shareholders of the organization.
2. Detail which types of relationships potentially represent conflicts of interest and thus
need to be disclosed: The Model Policy applies to employees who are in a consensual
personal relationship and both have a professional relationship in the same organization.
3. Describe how your organization defines a potential financial interest: The organization
can easily involve those person who have consensual personal relation involving the
people in the direct hear in relationship that can be explained as a same reporting line we
are one person was supervisor and decision making activity over The Other this will help
company in facilitating the function as well as representing the potential conflict of
interest within the organization where such relationships are exist the model policy
required to the employee to declare their relationship for decreasing the risk of conflict
within the organization.
4. Outline your organization’s procedure for handling, addressing, and recording conflicts
of interest: Here, organization will always preferred the policy of privacy where
organization should ensure that the declaration of the consensual personal relationship
can be made with the confidence to protect the personal and privacy information of those
employees who want to confess this. Hear the relevant person in the organization not
only be engagement of conflict of interest arises and their particular services are required
to manage this.
5. State the duty to disclose actual or potential conflicts of interest.
6. Explain what happens in case of policy violations. : If there is conflict of interest then
with organization different and difficult policies which will also impact on the durability
of the employee within the organization where organization can prefer the termination of
the job.
Make sure that your policy is proportionate to the severity of a potential conflict of interest, and
disseminate the policy to your organization and all relevant parties.
It is important to make it a policy to often organize interactive training explaining what conflicts
of interest are, why they matter, and how employees should react when confronted with a
potential conflict of interest; this will ensure a common understanding of conflicts of interest in
the partnering organizations.
AC 2.3 Develop models which support inter-organisational working and which respect the
integrity of partner organizations and their political, moral, social and economic stance and
differences
Strategy is the long-term direction and scope of an organization: which achieves advantage for
the organization through the appropriate apportioning of resources within a challenging

environment, to ensure organization remains competitive within the market and at the same time
fulfill the expectations of the stakeholders.
Strategic adaptation is the process by which an organization aligns itself to its external
environment (Lawrence & Dyer, 1983). The strategic behavior of organizations is shaped by the
dual influences of the organization’s environment and the organization’s own internal
capabilities (Ansoff, 1987; Hitt, Ireland & Hoskissoh, 2013). Organizations exhibit willful,
adaptive behaviors in using their capabilities responding to environmental demands (Child, 1972;
1997; Oliver, 1991). Thus, environmental determinism and strategic choice are foundational to
understanding and explaining organizational adaptation to change (Hrebniak & Joyce, 1985).
Organizations develop models that support the working of inter-organizational workings keeping
in mind the respect for integrity of the partnering organization. The following steps must be
considered in the development of the required model.
1. Definition of problem
2. Goals of the partnership
Problems are usually considered to be questions, unmet requirement and expectations or sources
of complexity example; is there service delivery system deficits within the environment within
which the partnering organization operates, such as government policies? If there is a change in
political leadership how does it impact on the operations of the organization and what range of
strategies would be available to its board and administrators to accept or offset the pressure?
What level of goodwill does the organization enjoy within its environment?
When the problem dimensions and the power-politics dynamics within the environment have
been identified, it will be necessary to assess its relative power-dependence relationships with the
important power brokers (organizations or groups) to assist in defining the salient concepts of
power and dependence.
Etzioni defined goals as "a desired state of affairs which the organization attempts to realize.
Levine and White referred to goals or objectives as "defining the organization's ideal need for . . .
consumers, labor services and other resources.
Because of scarcity of resources, inter organizational exchanges are mandatory antecedents to
goal attainment.
AC 3.1 Identify and assess the key economic drivers of inter organizational
Policy and strategy.
According to Bradley James Bryant(2017),firms are facing a growing need to be more
competitive .In recent times, organizations are confronted with daunting challenges arising from
increase in technology and the desire of organizations to go international with their business.

This has lead to firms looking to form partnerships and alliances with other organizations both
locally and internationally. This development has given rise to the development of inter
organizational strategy and cross-functional collaborations.
These strategies are driven by some key economic factors within the organizations environment.
The key economic drivers of inter organizational strategy includes:
a. Price
b. Availability of raw materials
c. Regulation
d. Cost of labor
e. Market
Each driver is dependent on all other drivers; they don’t happen in isolation. Drivers act as the
force behind the success of the inter organizational strategy.
Price is a very important factor in the development of inter-organizational strategy; the slight
change in price of product local or international may greatly impact the revenue of the
organization. For example, the price of oil in the international market may have some impact on
strategy. The covid19 outbreak is blamed for the current fall in the oil price in international
market and the expected price decline at the pumps. OPEC countries may decide to cut back on
production; this is an example inters organizational strategy.
Regulation is another key driver of inter-organizational strategy. Government regulations or the
presence of societal norms may affect inter –organizational strategy. For example; the monetary
and fiscal regulations by the central bank, is definitely central in the development strategy within
the Banking sector.
Government regulation on taxation affects how business is done and the type of collaboration
organizations engaged in.
Another key economic factor is Market share controlled by the organizations. Recently, Tigo and
Airtel both communication companies decided to merge in other to be relevant in that segment of
the market.
AC 3.2 Evaluate the impact on existing policy and strategy commitments of the finance and
funding of operational activities arising from new inter organizational strategic and policy
imperatives.
Operational and financing activity have a direct impact on the existing policies and strategies
commitments of the organization as it can see in the tigo and Airtel both the communication
companies are getting the impact of finance and funding of operation activities on their existing
policies and strategies commitments.

Board Company has different policies regarding their employees and evaluation of the accounts
which they have to change because of low funding within the market. Cause of losing interest of
the investor on the company have to change its operational activities and use more cost effective
techniques where it can minimize the cost as it can produce for a longer period of time with
limited finance. This can be clearly seen that it will also force company to form the different
policies and new strategies which will help company in getting and remaining its existence
within the market.
AC 3.3 Propose and assess ways of funding unexpected operational activities which will
need to meet inter - organizational policy and strategic commitments.
Operation activities are the daily activities of a company involved in producing and selling its
product, generating revenues, as well as general administrative and maintenance activities. There
are certain operational activities that are unexpected because they happen as a result of the
exigencies of the situation. For example, the current global pandemic that the world is battling
with-Covid 19 pandemic and its attendance activities that the organization embarks on. This may
give rise to change in the organizations operations leading extra cost to the organization.
Operational activities and cost include the following:
 Buying materials from suppliers and paying for labour.
 Paying to transport the materials to the factory and the finished product from factories to
warehouses
 Arranging transport from warehouses to retail stores and mail-order customers
 Paying employees to work in warehouses and retail stores
 Paying managers to oversee operations
 Paying taxes
 Paying rent on warehouse and retail facilities
However, there are unexpected events that impact the organization’s operational cost and could
not be financed from the organizations cash flows. Such activities are financed from the
organizations emergency fund. An emergency fund is cash your organization saves to be used in
the event unexpected expenses or a steep drop-off in business occurs. This extra cash helps you
to continue operations when the unexpected happen.
An emergency fund gives you immediate access to cash during a critical time. Some typical
emergencies may be a natural or manmade disaster, an economic downturn, an unexpected
change in global market indices, unexpected change in monitory regulations, faulty product
shipments etc. All these because they are unexpected may not have been captured in the cash
flow budget but could have their place in the emergency or exigency fund.

AC 4.1 Review and critique current methods and theories of inter-organisational strategic
planning and implementation
Strategic planning helps determine the direction and scope of an organization over the long
term, matching its resources to its changing environment and, in particular, its markets,
customers and clients, so as to meet stakeholder expectations.“ Johnson and Scholes, 1993.
Inter –organisational strategic planning refers to the steps the organizations within certain sector
of an economy puts in place to determine and safeguard the scope of their operations over a long
term taking into account the resources available, the competition and the regulation framework
within which the organizations operate.
Currently inter-organisational strategies could be divided into three, namely Tactical strategy,
operational Strategy and Contingency Strategy. All of which work within the six strategic
framework of: Vision Statement, Mission Statement, Strategic Time Frame, and Strategic
Objectives.
Strategic planning therefore, aims at ensuring the organization’s/stakeholders within the sector
are all working towards a common goal and their energy, focus and resources are all channeled
towards;
a. Action Planning. ...
b. Tactical Planning. ...
c. Operational Planning. ...
d. Assumption-based Planning (ABP) ...
e. Contingency Planning.
At the inter-organisational level, strategies are commonly organized according to major
functional departments such marketing, finance, production (or operations), Research and
Development (R&D), and Human Resources strategies on one side and The Political framework,
regulatory framework ,the competition and the global business outlook on the other . The
formulation of strategies at this level therefore, also considers the coordination and alignment of
the decision-making process and communication and control systems of all functions or
operations within the various organizations and their general impact on the activities within the
sector. At this level, strategies define the balance between available and needed resources and
capabilities, determining for example the strategic choice of collaboration and expansion. For
very tactical reasons it is important to have more than one strategy in place so they could be a
fallback strategy in the event of an emergency of unexpected contingency or obstacle.
When the decision on which formulated strategic path is made then the implementation stage
begins. According to Hrebiniak and Joyce (2006), suggests that implementation is not only an
important and difficult process but also a complex field of research. Implementation research is
miscellaneous, interdisciplinary and particularly concerned with the integration of management

disciplines. As a practice, it greatly focuses on the performance of organizations. Based on an
extensive analysis of firms exhibiting and sustaining an unusual high-performance and firms able
to achieve such a state in the short run, Joyce (2000) identified four key factors influencing high
performance:
i. Direction: developing a clear strategic direction
ii. Efficiency: establishing a fast and effective organization
iii. Adaptability: developing an adaptive culture
iv. Focus: Shifting from focus on customer and cost reduction to the broad picture
According to the reference above, only the first factor has to do with strategy formulation, all the
other factors are firmly rooted in the implementation of inter-organizational strategy.
It is often impossible to implement the particular strategy in its complex form so managers try to
simplify the strategy to the level of implementable events and tasks. This may in the long run and
often does loses the general intent of the inter-organisational strategy. Many organizations are
howbeit unable to adapt speedily to the changing trends within the inter-organisational functional
space and so delays the general growth of the sector.
With that in mind, top management should look at Research and design that broadly focuses on
strategies for efficient adaptation of all players within the sector.
In Ghana, the phenomenon has given rise to the formation of several chambers to oversee the
activities of organizations within the sectors of the economy.ie the chamber of commerce,
chamber of Telecommunications, chamber of Bulk oil and storage, chamber of mines and
minerals resources etc.
The various stakeholders within the sector may also develop in house strategies which may not
be totally in sync with the inter-organisational strategic goals and objectives.
In implementing policy or strategy, the thought of managers should go beyond the sector to the
totality of the economy vis-avis the contribution of the sector to the growth of the economy.
AC 4.2 Propose original and innovative alternatives to improve inter-organisational
communication coordination, strategic planning and operational implementation, and
evaluate their likely impact

Inter-organizational communication refers to a process of information transmission and/or
reception that occurs between two or more purposeful partners across organizational boundaries.
The communication partners may be individuals, groups of people, or computerized (software)
agents in other words; Inter-organisational communication is the process by which groups of
organizations within an economic sector convey sectors goals and the way to reach them.
Inter-Organizational communication is an integral part of effective management practices
within the organizations: productive and thoughtful dialogue can make or break the
relationships among organizations and weaken their position within a regulatory framework.
Inter-organizational communication is an umbrella term for the study of a variety of strategic
directions and organizing acts. These strategic directions include alliances, collaborations,
networks, coalitions, consortiums, partnerships, joint ventures, and relationships. Organizing acts
typically studied include bridging, contracting, networking, cooperating, referring, collaborating,
outsourcing, coordinating, co‐branding, sharing information, creating new knowledge, and joint
problem solving.
Inter-organizational communication is often faced with the desire to collaborate by sharing
information that will enhance the growth within the sector and the reality of withholding such
information so as to gain and maintain certain competitive advantage.
Another challenge to inter-organisational communication is the technological differences. Many
organizations develop or adopt specialized languages and IT systems that are only unique to the
organizations; this hinders their desire to share information across the organisational structures
To overcome the challenges, it is important to co-develop systems that will foster free flow of
information not only at the top representation levels but also between the public and
organizations about the existence of a relationship between them. Example the takeover of
Barclays Ghana by Absa Bank was communicated to the customers and the general public over a
one year period where the culture and organisational goals of Absa are gradually rolled out. The
communication strategy at this point focuses on the co‐creation of meaning that describes how
the relationships between the Barclay’s group and Absa are socially constructed and understood
by organizational agents their stakeholders.ie customers.
To further enhance inter-organisational communication, the systems co-created could be co-
managed and co-regulated so as to remove or reduce suspicion of double-crossing and
information mismanagement which might have adverse effect on the relationships

AC 5.1 Research and review authoritative, quantitative and qualitative data and sources to
identify relevant political, social, economic, technological and moral trends which will be
likely to affect short, medium and long-term inter-organisational policy and strategy.
After critically researching and reviewing the different quantitative qualitative data sources and
different articles and literature as it is identified that there are number of trend within the political
social economical technological and moral environment which is surrounded by the organization
and also affect the long term and short term policies and strategies of intra organization. Some of
these are mentioned below
Political: there is continuous trend within the political environment that it is continuously
changing where the number of government are forming and bringing the different policies within
the marketplace where the organizations are working. These policies impact on the organisation
internally where organization have to form its own rules and regulation to comply with the
policy formed by the external government.
Social: society is also changing continuously where there are number of trends within the society
which are directly related to the products and services provided by different organizations in the
market. Because of continuous changing trend its organization have also follow at changing
policies where the flexibility can be easily accomplished within the organization with the change
of trend within the society.
Economic: economic conditions are also trending which bring different trends within the
economic condition of a nation.it also impact on the enter organization policies and strategies of
a firm because they are trading within the market and economic changes like downfall in
economy and recession in economic and impact negatively on the firm as well its profitability.
Technological: after reviewing the different journals and articles it is also identified that there are
a number of changes within the technological environment where the business is trading and it
also impact on the internal organization policy and strategy of the organization because change
in technology bring the new techniques and tools for performance of the business which have to
clearly identify the business unit and organization to perform in competitive market and get the
maximum advantage from it
AC 5.2 Use current concepts, theories and methodologies to forecast likely future events which
will affect and be affected by inter-organizational policy and strategy
There are various consideration mythology which can be used for reducing the future affection
and impact on inter organizational policies and strategies. This theory related to the behavior and

transformational theories within the organization which help company in identifying the
behavior of individual and reducing the conflicts of each and every individual where they can
easily impact and work on the task.
Transformational theories also help the organization in reducing the negative impacts of inter
organizational policies and strategies. In this the new and productive methods are adopted by the
organization for reducing the negative impacts as well as reducing the challenges faced by the
managers and leaders of the organization in guiding firm.
AC 5.3 Propose alternative and innovative solutions which challenge received wisdom to
achieve better outcomes from the process of inter-organisational policy and strategy formulation.
There are various way which can be used and act as an innovative solution to the problems and
challenges related to inter organization policy and strategic formulation. There are various ways
like introducing the manager training and development of employees increasing the
infrastructure as well as using the technology as a main feature of organization where the
working can be stimulated without affecting the behavior of the individuals. This is always
depending on the behavior of individual where it can be changed by the use of technology in
training and development regarding that technological innovation within the organization.