7BE002 Strategic Management Assignment

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STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
7BE002
By: Reuben Devapatham
Student ID: 1630221
(Name of the Class) – Professional Development Plan
Tutor: Insert Name of tutor here
University of Wolverhampton
Department of Business Administration
25/03/2018

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary...................................................................................................................................3
1.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................................4
2.0 Critical Reflections..............................................................................................................................6
2.1 Analysis of the result related to my past experience......................................................................11
2.2 Areas for future development........................................................................................................12
3.0 Personal Action Plan..........................................................................................................................15
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................................18
References................................................................................................................................................19
Appendices...............................................................................................................................................22

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Executive Summary
This paper focuses on the development of a professional development plan. To aid in this endeavor,
various measurements have been utilized comprising of select questionnaires to guide in gauging the
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats thereby positioning the student in the best possible
work environment.
My weighted metrics on the questionnaires indicated that I was a top performer in the human resource
mental frame and symbolic frames in the category of the evolution of style and that I was better at
strategy implementation than formulation. The results also showed that I was a seamless team-worker
and that I would be more comfortable working in a stable company than an organic company facing an
uncertain business environment.
Further, the results also showed I was an active networker who would definitely bring to a company,
more business opportunities from existing and past relationships. Moreover, I scored top marks in
technology control and big data where I proofed to be an excellent goal-setter. I scored average in
cultural intelligence and would require to up the ante on adaptability culture. Finally, the metrics
showed that I was very good at innovation and change and had strong political skills necessary to foster
team-spirit in diverse groups but was a bit weak in the decision-making process.
In developing the professional development plan, the student identified the skills possessed to be able
to deliver the desired outcomes. The paper also highlights the skills lacked and how the student will
acquire them. Finally, the plan includes short-term, mid-term and long-term goals and how to achieve
them. Areas for further development were identified and conclusions are drawn therefrom.

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1.0 Introduction
Winston Churchill once observed that “To improve is to change; to perfect is to change
often.”(Emery 2014). Nowhere else is this more evident than in the current competitive business
environment. To remain vibrant, firms have to change with the times and seek staffs who are forward
thinking, culturally seamless, well networked and globally exposed to bring about fresh ideas that can
cultivate a sustainable competitive advantage (Ward 2017).
To be fully prepared to take on challenging business roles, Personal Development Plan (PDP),
is the first stage in an elaborate roadmap that shows my current position, where I need to be, my goals
and objectives, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities out there, the resources at my disposal, the threats
I may experience and eventually the steps to help me achieve the goals (Vanden 2010).
The reflections from the questionnaire provided and attached in the appendix emphasize on the
need for self-evaluation on different parameters that a manager should be conscious about. To gauge
my managerial capability in lieu of the organizational requirements, the questionnaire reveals the
strengths that I can harness to be an effective employee while also exposing the weaknesses that I need
to improve to be better prepared for a challenging work environment (Ward 2017).
In this MBA course, I was exposed to many aspects of a business that is critically important in
keeping the organization afloat and profitable. To begin with, the course reveals the importance of
gauging myself to know where I fit in the organization, strategy design, the operating environment,
organizational culture, lifecycle of the organization, networking, and relationships and most
importantly, the decision-making process (Burton 2015).

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To further expound on this, I have learnt to understand the dynamics and the nature of current day
businesses, and be able to understand the volatility of today’s market and how a little delay in adjusting
towards the shift in the market direction can cause serious consequences to the organization, even to
the point of bankruptcy (Ripton 2016).
Murray (2008), observes that the nature of an organization’s framework, be it Mechanistic or
Organic, and even its structural dimensions, as well as its contingency factors, prove to be very
important in understanding the organization. While delving into this information, I am able to
understand the make-up of the organization as well as its current and future plans, all instrumental
information is ensuring its viability in the future.
From exposure to the course, I am able to deduce that management is the key to an incredibly
successful organization or a failing one. While there are many aspects of an organization that directly
dictates its success or failure, one of the most instrumental reasons for an outstanding organization lies
in its management team (Scivique 2011).
It is important to note that ‘People do not leave jobs, they leave managers’ a very powerful
statement that shows the impact of improper management. Therefore, it is safe to say that managers
play extremely important roles in an organization (Adamovic 2017).
With the advent of incredible organizations such as Google, Apple Inc and other market
disrupting companies, a lot of emphases is placed on the type of managers that they hire, with a lot of
previous research that has been undertaken by these organizations to determine what makes the best
managers (Hasan 2013).

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2.0 Critical Reflections
With regard to the ‘How Do You Fit The Design’ questionnaires, thirteen different areas are
explored. They focus on the different aspects that define a well-rounded manager, the different ways to
measure individual performance and what the measurement depicts the suitability of managers to
different organizational setups. Lastly, the questionnaires highlight the different areas for improvement
and growth (Daft 2015).
To begin with, the first questionnaire looks at the evolution of four different mental styles
across the organizations namely, the human resource frame, the structural frame, political frame, and
lastly, the symbolic frame. I scored a total of 21 points for the human resource frame as my best mental
frame, followed by 17 points for symbolic frame and 11 points in both structural and political frames.
I find that the human resource frame depicts an accurate description of my mental frame as I
have a strong passion and believe that an organization is as strong as its people/employees. Therefore, I
believe proper management and coaching of staff, can give a company clear direction. In the same
breath, this mental frame is mindful of efficiency considers results to be of extreme importance as
claimed by Google during their hiring and promotion processes of managers (Haldorsen 2018).
In strategy, organization design and effectiveness on performance and strengths, the
questionnaire was gauging managerial leverage on challenges and issues. In finality, only two
outcomes were possible, either one emerged as strategic formulator or as a strategic implementer. I
scored 3 points and 5 points for strategic formulator strategic implementer respectively. However since
the difference was only 2 points, I could fit very well into either role which means I can craft strategies
and approaches while ensuring the company goals are achieved efficiently and reliably (Kelly 2015).

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In fundamentals of organizational structure and emphasis on teamwork, the questionnaire was
assessing my ability to work as part of a team. My final score was 3 in this area. There were three
gauges to measure the final score. A score of less than 2 showed one was only capable of an individual
work, on the other hand, scores between three and six showed one was capable of working as
individual or as a team and lastly a score of seven and above showed that one was an endemic team
worker. The score of three illuminates my true picture as I can work efficiently individually or as part
of a team.
On external environment pitting mind and environment, the scale shows that one can either fit
in a stable working environment or the unstable rapidly changing business environment. A score of 5
and above meant one was ideal to work in an unstable environment while that less than 5 meant stable
environment was more suitable. I managed to score 4 points which meant I was comfortable in a stable
environment that is ‘organic’ or predictable with hierarchical roles (Burton 2015).
An important role in an organisation is inter-organizational relationships and personal
networking. In general, organizations, where people have a close-knit relationship both inside and
outside the company, tend to perform better than those where networking is limited. As a measure of
networking skills, a measure of less than 3 is considered a sign of poor networking while that of 7 and
above depicted very strong networking. I scored a seven which showed I have the capacity to form
networks and inter-organizational partnerships that can foster business growth and continuity (Jasper
2013).
Part six of the questionnaire was on designing organizations for the international environment
with a focus on cultural intelligence. Cultural intelligence in this sense meant the managerial ability to
work and deliver in a culturally diverse organization. It has 3 sub-categories that are cognitive,

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emotional and behavioral which pertain to the head, heart, and body respectively. A score of more than
three in each category shows one can work seamlessly in a multicultural environment. I managed to
score 2 points for cognitive CQ, 4 points for emotional CQ and 3 points for behavioral CQ. I therefore,
need to work more on improving my cognitive CQ to fit well in a cultural diverse firm (Burton 2015).
On manufacturing and service technologies, the questionnaire depicts two personalities based
on thinking process. On one hand, there are those who mostly use their right half of the brain which
controls visual and intuition abilities and those that use the left half that manages their cognitive and
analytical abilities. With this regard the questionnaire allures that manufacturing sectors utilize the left
half of brain to analyze, report and measure while service sectors use the right side of the brain to serve
customers where there are no physical products to relate. On this area, I managed to score a 5 for right
brain process and 3 for left brain processes which show I would fit well in the service sector.
The findings indicate that I have the political skills necessary to influence diverse groups to
work together. Marques (2015), observes that it is important for a manager to possess political skills
necessary to settle conflicts at work. This is of critical importance, particularly in organizations where
political patronage is necessary to quell animosity and prevail to people with different backgrounds and
bearing different viewpoints to work together to achieve common organizational goals particularly
when introducing change in the organization (Lindberg 2013).
In retrospect, however, it was baffling that decision making was not my strong forte. My
precedent was that decision making goes hand in hand with innovation and change where I was very
good given that this is an important aspect of today’s business environment (Dawson 2014).