RWBI BIO0226: Strategic Issues and Recommendations for the Board

This report addresses real-world business issues of strategic importance, aimed at informing a company's board of directors. It emphasizes long-term strategic direction, moving beyond immediate operational performance. Key themes explored include entrepreneurship, the SPICE framework, effective decision-making, and social innovation. The report supports its arguments with academic research, focusing on how these issues impact the long-term survival and performance of a company, rather than individual manager practices. Recommendations are provided for the board, including implementing the SPICE framework for strategic planning, incorporating social innovation into strategy development, and aligning decision-making with the company's strategic direction. The report concludes that long-term strategic planning is a prerequisite for organizational success, requiring board involvement for discussion, review, and approval.

Running head: REAL WORLD BUSINESS ISSUES
Real world business issues
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Table of Contents
Entrepreneurship:.......................................................................................................................3
SPICE framework:.....................................................................................................................3
Effective decision-making:........................................................................................................3
Social innovation:.......................................................................................................................3
Recommendation for board of directors:...................................................................................3
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................3

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Entrepreneurship:
Entrepreneurship is regarded as the dynamic process of creating, changing and
visioning that requires the application of passion and energy towards the implementation and
creation of creative solutions and ideas. There has been improvement by scholars within the
domain of strategic management and entrepreneurship by combining the aspects of both the
areas. The focus of strategic management in the competitive scenario is to build the ability of
entrepreneurs to navigate through the challenging environment. It is argued by some authors
that strategic directions and entrepreneurial are often intended to find competitive space and
new market for firms to create wealth. Strategic directions enable firms to find fundamentally
new ways of doing business by developing new business model that will help in disrupting
existing competitive rules of industry and creating new competitive forms of life (Bryman &
Bell, 2015).
The dimensions of strategic management forms the basis to which the firms acts
entrepreneurially in terms of risk taking capacity, innovativeness and pro activity.
Entrepreneurs can increase their knowledge that will assist them in framing strategic actions
and higher quality entrepreneurial. Strategic direction and entrepreneurship are concerned
with the performance of firms and entrepreneurs are able to promote the search of
competitive advantages. Some authors have examined the relationship between marketing
orientation and entrepreneurial activities of firms using the strategic direction. If the
strategies concerning the marketing of organization are framed, then it will lead to firms to
become more marketing oriented. Entrepreneurship is provided with an effective vehicle
suing strategic direction that will help in achieving entrepreneurship within the corporation
(Robson & McCartan, 2016). Therefore, marketing is regarded as home for the process of
entrepreneurship.

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Strategic management and entrepreneurship are inevitably interrelated. However,
strategic management is questionable sometimes in few enterprises as some argue it authors
that in a dynamic business condition, where responsiveness and flexibilities are key
conditions for survival. However, for contemporary management, the promising approach
would be to integrate the strategic and entrepreneurial perspectives as it is regarded a
necessary approach for coping up with the new competitive landscape impact. Organization
faces several marketing issues in relation to organizational pressures and marketing
department problems. The dominant focus in this particular area is the customers it is serving
and customer orientation is regarded as critical success factor. Therefore, entrepreneur should
shape marketing landscape in strategic way for addressing the issues concerned.
SPICE framework:
The SPICE framework is considered as a strategy that helps in supporting the thriving
business development through aspiration and transformation of vision into deliverable plan
that have measurable impacts. A unique framework is designed as a practical and accessible
source that helps in addressing five specific challenges such as consistent performance
management, enabling practical decision-making, enabling talent development, supporting
and resourcing succession planning and supporting and resourcing change management and
culture change. It helps in integration of resources for organizational and individual
development that will help in supporting decision-making through to the effect and impact of
measurement.
Organization facing challenges such as performance management, talent management,
change management, corporate development, operational and strategic decision making
implement the SPICE framework developed through coaching and face-to-face training. The
framework involves five elements of strategy that is pattern, strategy, individual, context and
emergence. Strategically element involves a well-argued plan and a reasoned set of

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intentions. Individual element deals with individual at organizational level concerning
development and performance of people. Patterns element depicts the trend and opportunities
faced by organization that will help in formulation of strategies and identification of trend
and embracing it. Pattern is about the way the world is perceived. Context element of the
framework helps in formulation of purpose and beliefs by the identification of mission and
vision of organization. It is also related to heritage and efforts taken for making improvement
and innovating. Element of emergency is about insight and instinct in action and intuitive
response. Taking action and decision are done in an ongoing context within the framework of
SPICE in the context of their operations. The framework helps in aligning the framework of
maturity process with the system of strategic management by creating an environment where
strategic directions are linked directly to improvement priorities in an organization. In
securing competitive advantage, it is believed that capabilities and organizational
infrastructure are far more decisive. The framework is primarily concerned with the process
of management so that they are well performed and have considerable impact on core
processes performance (Goffee & Scase, 2015).
Effective decision-making:
Focus of strategic direction is on the development and transformation of organization.
The long-term plan of strategic direction is associated with taking organization from its
existing position to a selected future position. The process of strategic direction helps in
establishing long-term direction of organization by development of strategies for achieving
the set specific performance objectives. There are some issues in an organization that demand
strategic response for ensuring that business prosper and survive in changing business
environment. It is required by management of organization to implement strategy by
identification of suitable strategic alternatives. Effective decision-making and successful
strategic planning should be based on clear understanding of types of business that is carried

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out by entrepreneur (Crane & Matten, 2016). The manner in which the business is managed,
structured and financed has important implications for strategic development of organization.
In the rapidly changing market, strategy by organization should be formulated as
strategic decision-making that helps in changing the direction of firm by generating
competitive advantages. Decision making of organizations that are well aligned with the
strategic direction helps in providing long-term benefits. Strategic plans must be articulated
in a manner that allows flexible direction to organization and are capable of adapting to the
changing environment. Value of organization is maximized through the combination of long
and short-term strategies. However, long-term strategies enable firms to deal with rapid
changes at quicker pace. Durable success will be enabled by organization through long-term
actions as they seek to achieve transformational and significant changes (Rosenbaum et al.,
2015). Strategic decision-making can be enlightened if the formulated strategies are long-
term and they are considered durable because it will help in focusing long-term interest of
multiple stakeholder of organization. Such strategic direction is considered a reflection of top
management team and is based on experiences and personal interpretation and experiences of
leaders. They take efforts to list long-term objectives by aligning with the long-term vision of
company. Long-term strategic direction helps in incorporating sustainability into the process
of strategic management (Voorberg et al., 2015). Therefore, framing the strategies that are
based on long-term will help organization to achieve their determined objectives.
Social innovation:
Social innovation enables organization to create social transformation and is referred
to both a process and an outcome of strategic planning of organization intended to serve
community. It is a platform encompassing multiple pathways and process towards innovative
solutions. Organization using social innovation makes use of innovative practices for doing
something differently for achieving social change. The long-term focus of organization to

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develop strategies those are socially oriented can be explained in context of social
entrepreneurship. Social entrepreneurship is a particular path for achieving social innovation
as it helps in achieving efficient, effective and sustainable solution to any particular social
problems faced by organization. Companies operating in any particular segment frame new
organization that helps in responding to social issues by speaking directly to group of
individual in society and providing innovative solution to social issues. Social innovation is
about the new application approaches by bringing powerful tools and refinement of existing
strategies for solving the most pressing challenge of world (Wheelen et al., 2017). It enables
organization to create harness the power of collaboration between government, business
process, social and non-profit organization so that social challenges are addressed in most
effective way.
Strategies concerning social innovation enables organization that are socially driven
by making use of market oriented approaches. In this particular approach, incomes that are
generated by enterprise by taking social efforts are utilized for enhancing, sustaining
programs, and mission of agency. Social innovation can be considered as game changer for
organization if it helps in decreasing cost and increasing revenue. Organization might
collaborate with other socially oriented organizations to improve and define their social
engagement strategies that help in securing greater impact on society and business (Cajaiba,
2014). In order for organization to assess the impact of social innovative activities on
stakeholders, mechanisms and practices are developed by organization that helps in
enhancing social innovation including advocacy model, financial model, prizes and other
tools.
Conclusion and Recommendation for board of directors:
For the long-term success of organization, long term strategic planning and setting
direction is considered as pre requisite factor. Such strategic planning process requires the

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involvement of members of board of directors, as they need to discuss, review and make the
approval of plan. It is recommended to the board of director of organization to implement the
SPICE framework for formulating their long-term strategic plan. This is so because the
framework provides powerful resources that helps in integration of development of
performance management and connect people at different level within organization.
Organization should undertake regular supervision and review of performance of team and
individual and thereby creating connection. Social innovation is a new approach that
integrates the social development strategy with the market-oriented strategy and thereby
increases income and revenue of organization. It is recommended to the board for
incorporating social innovation into the process of strategy development as it fosters a culture
that encourages problem solving, learning and contributions from individual employee.
Effective decision making in organization depends upon the formulated strategy and the
durability of strategy. It is further recommended to align the decision-making at the
management level with the strategic direction of company.

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References list:
Bryman, A., & Bell, E. (2015). Business research methods. Oxford University Press, USA.
Cajaiba-Santana, G. (2014). Social innovation: Moving the field forward. A conceptual
framework. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 82, 42-51.
Crane, A., & Matten, D. (2016). Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
Goffee, R., & Scase, R. (2015). The Real World of the Small Business Owner (Routledge
Revivals). Routledge.
Kaner, S. (2014). Facilitator's guide to participatory decision-making. John Wiley & Sons.
Prendeville, S., O'Connor, F., & Palmer, L. (2014). Material selection for eco-innovation:
SPICE model. Journal of cleaner production, 85, 31-40.
Robson, C., & McCartan, K. (2016). Real world research. John Wiley & Sons.
Rosenbaum-Elliott, R., Percy, L., & Pervan, S. (2015). Strategic brand management. Oxford
University Press, USA.
Tracey, P., & Stott, N. (2017). Social innovation: a window on alternative ways of organizing
and innovating. Innovation, 19(1), 51-60.
Voorberg, W. H., Bekkers, V. J., & Tummers, L. G. (2015). A systematic review of co-
creation and co-production: Embarking on the social innovation journey. Public
Management Review, 17(9), 1333-1357.
Wheelen, T. L., Hunger, J. D., Hoffman, A. N., & Bamford, C. E. (2017). Strategic
management and business policy. pearson.

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