Strategic Management - Radic8 Assignment PDF

PROGRAMME NAME:
MODULE TITLE: Strategic Management
STUDENT NUMBER:
MARKING TUTOR: Mr. Martin McAreavey
ASSESSMENT TITLE: Extended Analysis & Report
DATE OF SUBMISSION:
WORD COUNT: 4,508(Introduction – Reflective Assessment)
Designed by: Joseph Benson

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
1. INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................................2
1.1 ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT; RADIC8.....................................................................................................2
1.2 WHY STRATEGY.............................................................................................................................3
1.3 STRATEGY AS PRACTICE.........................................................................................................................4
1.4 CONCEPT OF SAP......................................................................................................................................4
1.5 COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE ...................................................................................................................9
1.6 CHALLENGES IN DEVELOPING AND DEPLOYING STRATEGY..............................................................9
2. CRITICAL EVALUATION OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT TOOLS (STRATEGIC ANALYSIS).............10
2.1 PORTER’S FIVE FORCES (P5F)...............................................................................................................10
2.2 BALANCE SCORECARD...........................................................................................................................13
3. THEORETICAL APPLICATION OF STRATEGIC TOOL TO RADIC8.......................................................18
3.1 RADIC8 COMPANY BACKGROUND......................................................................................................18
3.2 ANALYSING RADIC8; APPLICATION OF P5F (STRATEGIC IMPLEMENTATION) ..............................19
4. RECOMMENDATION FOR RADIC8 (STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT) ...................................................22
5. REFLECTIVE ASSESSMENT.....................................................................................................................23
BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................................................................................25
Figure 1. Conceptual framework for strategy as practice (Benson, 2019).........................................................................................5
Figure 2. Porter’s Five Forces of Competitive Advantage Framework (Porter, 1980).....................................................................11
Figure 3. The balance Scorecard perspectives (kaplan & Norton, 1994)..........................................................................................14
Figure 4. Porter’s Five Forces Analysis; Re-adjusted and applied for Radic8 (Benson, 2019).......................................................20
Table 1. Advantages and Criticisms of SAP............................................................................................................................................8
Table 2. The financial performance, factors, measures, and objectives..........................................................................................15
Table 3. The customer satisfaction factors, measures, and objectives...........................................................................................16
Table 4. The internal business processes factors, measures, and objectives.................................................................................17

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1. INTRODUCTION
Strategy is key in strategic management. The strategic concept is derived from the Greek word
‘strategos’, depicting ‘leadership’ in a military sense, transcending planning and deployment of
resources to attain specific objectives (Kotler, Berger and Bickhoff, 2015). Strategic tools are also
generic names for a method, model, tool, framework, methodology, or an approach uses to
facilitate a strategic work (Stenfors et al., 2007). This report is going to focus mainly on an outline
of organizational context (Radic8), a literature review of a balanced critical evaluation of relevant
strategic management tools, an application of tools into Radic8 for analysis and observations,
relevance of strategy as practice theory in informing organizational strategy, and a key learning
reflective assessment.
1.1 ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT; RADIC8
This section will lay out the organizational context within which this report will be analyzing.
Considering this report, Radic8 will be the contextual organization. Radic8 is an independent air
purification company that is based in the UK. Although independent, it formed a partnership
with INBair in South Korea in 2017, where it launched its first product range. This partnership is
rapidly making them the world’s leading provider of indoor air quality solutions, air purification,
and sterilization technologies (Radic8, June 2019). As a small but growing company, it is evident
that they have used the right analytical tools to analyze their firm’s industry and have capitalized
on their competitive advantage. Further, the effective use of the analytical tools will aid in
resolving complex issues, serve as relevant communication devices, coupled with their analytical

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role (Frost, 2003). Nonetheless, these analytical tools have helped Radic8 transform important
data into suitable forms for decision making and undertakings (Fleisher and Bensoussan, 2003).
1.2 WHY STRATEGY
Strategic analysis is serious business (Whittington, 2003). In academia, strategy is considered
unquestionable and relevant, hence, demanding a substantial focus (Knights and Morgan, 1991;
Cummings, 2003; cited in Clegg et al. 2004). Nonetheless, it is one of the most admired subjects
in relation to MBA degrees where Strategic management is a central core taught subject
(Pettigrew et al 2001; Pfeffer and Fong 2002). Hence, the value of Mr. Martin McAreavey, being
the Strategic Management tutor at the University of Bolton (Benson, 2019).
Strategy as practice (SAP) perspective within strategic management has taken a leaf on the
evaluation of organizational culture (Smircich, 1983); acknowledging that traditional approach on
strategy discipline has treated strategy as a property of organizations and as something they
have. Nonetheless, it has neglected the fact that strategy is also something executives do
(Jarzabkowski, 2004). In the opinion of SAP researchers, there is the need for a holistic
approach as to how consultants and managers interact and act in strategy making sequence
(Whittington. 1996: 732) and have developed observations that focuses more firmly on the
practitioners of strategy.

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1.3 STRATEGY AS PRACTICE
Jarzabkoswki et al. (2007) observed that SAP is an attempt to humanize studies on organizations
and management. Understanding strategy as logic and top-down governed orthodox planning
procedure has commanded almost all concepts of strategic management (Farjoun 2002; March
2006). Established by Whittington (1996), SAP depends on social constructivism as subjectivism
and epistemology as an ontological paradigm. SAP focuses “on how the practitioners of strategy
really act and interact” (Whittington 1996 p. 731). However, SAP has taken a more holistic
approach with the consideration of the wider context of strategic development and
implementation (Jarzabkowski 2004, Whittington 2006).
1.4 CONCEPTS OF SAP
Doing of strategy has been a reference of strategizing by researchers (Jarzabkowski et al., 2007).
SAP is an attempt to humanize analysis on management and organizations (Jarzabkowski et al.,
2007). Whittington (2006) introduced the SAP framework for strategy practices to close the gap
in between micro and macro level perspectives on strategy. There are three main concepts of
SAP namely; practitioner, praxis, and practices (Johnson et al. 2007).
The practitioner engulfs all actors actively involved in the formulation and execution of strategy
(Whittington 2006) and goes beyond the scope of the traditional approach, attributing strategy
to senior management and neglecting the effect of consultants, middle management, and key
functional players on strategy. The concept of praxis is covered by some specific activities that
are related to the formulation and execution of a practitioners’ strategy. In relation to practice,
Bourdieu’s theory of practice (1977) and Gidden’s theory of structuration (1984) as a third SAP,

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are two major social theories that closes the loop between individuals and systems. Practice
specifically denotes the social structure namely traditions, shared routines, rules and norms
(Whittington 2006) continuously designed, transformed and restored in praxis. Although the
three concepts stand discretely, it is relevant to consider their interrelations when studying them
(Jarzabkowski et al.,2007). Figure 1. below depict the three main components of SAP namely;
practice, praxis, and practitioner.
PRAXIS
PRACTITIONERSPRACTICES
Figure 1. Conceptual framework for Strategy as Practice (Benson, 2019)
STRATEGIC FORMULATION
(combining 3 P’S)