Business Strategy: Comprehensive Article Review and Analysis

This report presents a comprehensive review of seven articles centered on business strategy. The articles delve into various aspects of strategic management, including Murray's exploration of Porter's generic strategies and the contingency approach, Christensen's emphasis on learning by doing in strategy making, and Mehdi, Raza, and Usman's analysis of the impact of organizational culture on strategy. Reichel's article examines strategic management in the hospitality industry, while Ali and Shaw discuss strategic planning in Australian organizations. The review analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of each article, providing insights into strategic implementation, organizational culture, and the importance of adapting to changing business environments. The report highlights the significance of strategic thinking, the alignment of organizational culture with strategy, and the application of strategic management principles in diverse industries. The articles cited cover a wide range of topics relevant to strategic management, including strategic planning, implementation, and the impact of organizational culture.

Running Head: BUSINESS STRATEGY
Business Strategy: Article Review

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Table of Contents
Article 1.........................................................................................................................................................3
Article 2.........................................................................................................................................................4
Article 3.........................................................................................................................................................5
Article 6.........................................................................................................................................................6
Article 7.........................................................................................................................................................7
References......................................................................................................................................................9

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Article 1
Murray, AI 1988, 'A Contingency View of Porter's "Generic Strategies"', Academy of
Management Review, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 390-400. Available from:
10.5465/AMR.1988.4306951.
The article “'A Contingency View of Porter's "Generic Strategies” by Murray seeks to address
the implementation of contingency approach to the generic strategies of Porter. The article
indicates the significance of generic strategies to the business policy researchers as it
differentiates the strategies of high performing companies from the less successful companies in
the similar industry. It states that Porter has suggested different generic strategies, which are used
by the high performing firms, i.e. cost leadership, production differentiation, cost focused etc.
The research problem that is addressed in the paper is whether these strategies can be
implemented simultaneously. The author wants to position the fact that how the Porter’s generic
strategies are connected with the external preconditions, like; customer price sensitivity. As per
the view of Michael Porter, product differentiation and cost leadership can be practiced
simultaneously only under exceptional situations. Apart from this, it is not clear in the article that
how these generic strategies can be executed by the organizations (Murray, 1988). After the
implementation of contingency approach, the author founded that Porter’s strategies are not
exclusive mutually and each and every strategy can be linked with different strategic means. The
organization can use these different strategic means for attaining product differentiation.
By the critical analysis of the article, it can be stated that generic concept is very much
disappointing and confusing as it does not describe how the generic strategies should be
executed. The author has suggested an approach, i.e. contingency approach that can be used to
overcome the weaknesses and issues related to generic concept implementation. This approach
shows that there is no any specific reason that companies should restrict themselves to only one
generic strategy (Ahmedi, Salamzadeh, Daraei, & Akbari, 2012). There are so many studies,
which have evaluated different aspects of generic strategies and their conclusions were different
as they used different approaches for the implementation of the strategies.

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Article 2
CHRISTENSEN, CM 1997, 'MAKING STRATEGY: LEARNING BY DOING', Harvard
Business Review, vol. 75, no. 6, pp. 141-156.
The study “'Making Strategy: Learning by Doing” conducted by Christensen, states that there are
so many reasons, why the companies find it complex to make changes in their strategies. One
major reason is that strategic thinking is not the specific competence of the managers at most of
the firms. When the managers found an effective strategy, they want to implement it, not alter it.
1There are so many organizations, where the management team does not develop the
competence to think strategically. Along with this, they even cannot make the changes in the
strategies, when they become outdated. The author states that most of the organizations are
outsourcing the strategic planning, because they are disappointed with the low productivity and
higher costs of internal strategic planning (Christensen, 1997). For this, they are dependent on
the consulting agencies, which advise them on the strategic implementation.
In addition to this, this article includes a methodology that can be employed by the executives to
develop and execute rational and innovative strategies. They can implement this methodology in
repetitive manner to reevaluate the strategic direction of organization, thus developing both their
competencies in thinking strategically and understanding of how their strategic decision making
link to the market trends and conditions. In this article, the author defines some challenges in the
process of strategy making and guides the readers via three steps by analyzing the case of
manufacturing firm Butterfield Fabrics.
In this context, Mulgan stated that “Learning by making and doing; the virtue of combining very
old and very new ideas". This line given by him describes that managers in an organization can
learn about strategy making by doing as they can combine both old and new innovative ideas and
opinions (Pretorius, & Maritz 2011). Moreover, after considering the article given by Pretorius
and Maritz, it can be concluded that organizations need to use some effective approaches for
strategic making and changing (). Identification of an appropriate and best strategy making
approach will give the managers and executives’ flexibility. They can use the deliberate and
emergent approaches of strategy.

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Article 3
Mehdi, M, Raza, A, Raza, SH, & Usman, B 2017, 'It's What's Inside: Impact Of Culture
On Strategy Making', Annual International Conference on Business Strategy &
Organizational Behaviour (BizStrategy), pp. 40-44. Available from: 10.5176/2251-
1970_BizStrategy17.13.
The chosen article, “'It's what’s Inside: Impact of Culture on Strategy Making”, is given by
Mehndi, Raza and Usman that reflects how the effect of organizational culture on the
organizational success and growth and its performance. This article represents the implications
of cultural positioning for formulating thee strategies and tactics. It shows that corporate culture
has a huge impact on the strategy making and planning. The major objectives of this paper are to
define the organizationally related cultural framework, to analyze the given topic using prior
research on strategy and culture and to evaluate the deficiencies in addressing the chosen topic
and setting the example for the future research and work (Mehdi, Raza, Raza, & Usman, 2017).
According to another author, the strategic management and planning should ensure the novelty
among its competing firms that is only possible, when the organizational culture aligns with its
strategy. It shows how the corporate culture has impact on the strategy making and its
implementation. In addition to this, the author states that corporate culture affects the strategy
making by manipulating the informative meanings and schemes that the strategists assign to the
situations inside and outside the organization. Thus, it is an important process for the growth of
company, but as per Ahmedi, Daraei, Salamzadeh and Akbari, most of the companies fail
because of lack of implementation rather than strategy formulation. From this, it can be
concluded that implementation of the strategies is as crucial as their formulation (Ahmedi,
Salamzadeh, Daraei, & Akbari, 2012).
In the chosen article, the author has explained each and everything clearly, using the diagram and
literature review that includes the opinions of different authors. The quality of writing is very
good and reliable for the readers and it can be used for the future work and research. From this
analysis, it can be assumed that organizations should enhance its corporate culture to improve
strategic formulation and implementation.

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Article 6
Reichel, A 1983, 'Strategic Management: How to Apply it to Firms in the Hospitality
Industry', Service Industries Journal, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 329-343.
The major objective of the article, named as 'Strategic Management: How to Apply it to Firms in
the Hospitality Industry', by Reichel is to examine the significance and contribution of strategic
management to the firms in the hotel and hospitality sector. Same as other industries, this
industry also has strong competitive forces. There are some factors, such as; vulnerability to
recession, quick changes and other environmental challenges, which need a continuous result
oriented process for managing the companies and their external and internal environment via
using experience and knowledge that aimed to the growth, profitability and survival. The
statistics of hospitality industry shows that hospitality industry is approaching its maturity stage.
It is going ahead with the trends towards the immense competition, concentration and
competition in terms of price, quality and market share. To deal with the issues, the organizations
implement different strategic alternatives, like; merger and acquisition (Reichel, 1983). In the
article, there are some examples of different hotels, which have implemented the strategic
management approaches in an effective manner. For example; The Dunfey Hotel Corporation
has implemented the Dunfey management approach that involved each and every management
personnel of the organization. The author suggests a systematic process for the strategic
management and strategy implementation in hospitality industry.
In this context, Bardis stated that organizations in hotel and hospitality sector can use different
strategic frameworks, like; SWOT Analysis and PESTLE analysis. It indicates that first
hospitality organizations should analyze external and internal factors, which may affect the
growth and profitability of company over its competitors. The major problem with the article is
that it does not explain the things clearly (Bardis, 2012). The source is totally reliable and it is
still valid in the current business environment to deal with the external environmental factors.
From this article and other author, it can be concluded that a systematic approach can assist the
industry in managing the firms in today’s competitive business environment.

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Article 7
Ali, M, & Shaw, R 1988, 'Strategic Planning and Strategic Management in Australian
Organisations', Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 6, 1, pp. 105-127.
The article “Strategic Planning and Strategic Management in Australian Organizations” by Ali,
& Shaw seeks to examine different planning and organizational aspects of 48 organizations of
Australia. In this article, a research is conducted on 48 Australian companies that resulted that
some of them are adopting a well-managed and advanced strategic management concept. In this
article, the author stated that emphasis of strategic management is on developing the future of
company rather than responding on the changing trends. In my view, Australian organizations
are implementing the strategic management process effectively, because there are various
companies, which are leading their global industries (Ali, & Shaw, 1988). In their article, Ali, &
Shaw includes different steps, like; strategy formation, implementation and monitoring and
control.
There are some other writers, who have given their views on strategic management and they also
identified same evolutionary and sequential planning procedure by emphasizing on pre-planning
phase. In this context, Kaye stated in his article that Australian organizations are also
implementing the strategic human resource management that connects the management of
human resources to the cultural change and strategic planning in the organizations. From the
analysis, it can be concluded that growing global exposure and enhancing environmental
unpredictability of Australian firms and anywhere in the Asia Pacific area will enhance the
competitive pressure to execute global management system, inclusive of strategic planning and
management (Kaye, 1997).
One of the major limitations of this article is that it has focused on the some of the organizations
in Australia and limited industries. The article is relevant and reliable to implement strategic
planning and management in the real world organizations. In order to engage the more readers,
author has given examples of various manufacturing and non-manufacturing firms in Australia,
which is very relevant and supporting in understanding the approach of strategic management
and planning. Overall, the article is well written and gives an important message for the
Australian organizations.

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References
Ahmedi, S. A., Salamzadeh, Y., Daraei, M., & Akbari, J, 2012, Relationship between
Organizational Culture and Strategy Implementation: Typologies and Dimensions. Global
Business and Management Research: An International Journal, 4(3), 4th ser., 1-14.
Ali, M, & Shaw, R 1988, 'Strategic Planning and Strategic Management in Australian
Organisations', Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 6, 1, pp. 105-127.
Bardis, P. 2012. Strategic Management in a Hotel. Saimaa University of Applied Sciences.
Christensen, Cm 1997, 'Making Strategy: Learning By Doing', Harvard Business Review, vol.
75, no. 6, pp. 141-156.
Kaye, L., 1999, Strategic human resources management in Australia: the human
cost", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 20 Issue: 8, pp.577-587.
Mehdi, M, Raza, A, Raza, SH, & Usman, B 2017, 'It's What's Inside: Impact Of Culture On
Strategy Making', Annual International Conference on Business Strategy & Organizational
Behaviour (BizStrategy), pp. 40-44. Available from: 10.5176/2251-1970_BizStrategy17.13.
Mulgan, G. 2017, Learning by making and doing; the virtue of combining very old and very
new ideas. Retrieved from http://www.wise-qatar.org/learning-doing-uk-geoff-mulgan.
Murray, AI 1988, 'A Contingency View of Porter's "Generic Strategies"', Academy of
Management Review, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 390-400. Available from: 10.5465/AMR.1988.4306951.
Pretorius, M. & Maritz, R., 2011, Strategy making: the approach matters", Journal of
Business Strategy, Vol. 32 Issue: 4, pp.25-31
Reichel, A 1983, 'Strategic Management: How to Apply it to Firms in the Hospitality Industry',
Service Industries Journal, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 329-343.

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