University Business Strategy and Policy Analysis Assignment

This assignment analyzes key aspects of business strategy and policy, focusing on the role of strategic leadership in organizational success. It explores the functions and qualities of strategic leaders, providing examples like Tony Blair and Bill Gates. The assignment also examines the concepts of human capital and social capital, defining them and discussing their contribution to productivity and firm performance. It highlights the interplay between human and social capital, emphasizing their impact on organizational operations and the achievement of competitive advantage. The document references various academic sources to support its analysis and provides a comprehensive overview of the topics covered in the context of business strategy and policy.

Running head: BUSINESS STRATEGY AND POLICY ANALYSIS
BUSINESS STRATEGY AND POLICY ANALYSIS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1BUSINESS STRATEGY AND POLICY ANALYSIS
Answer to Question 2
The proper operations of a business organization is possible with the implementation of
various leadership styles. The strategic leaders are those who aim at weighing the options and
positions that are available in the firms for ensuring their growth in the respective industries. The
strategic leadership styles are considered to be dynamic in nature and also requite high levels of
commitment and involvement in work as well. The strategic leaders are considered to be
excellent in making effective decisions and are also able to see the intricacies that are a part of a
particular situation (Covin & Slevin, 2017). The calculated risks that are taken by the strategic
leaders can prove to be effective for the organizations so that they are able to adapt to the
changes in the marketplace. The leaders can implement the strategies in order to take advantage
of the opportunities that are provided by the changes in the external environment. The skills
gained by individuals are considered to be important for maintaining the leadership position in
the organization (Altman & Tushman, 2017).
The strategic leaders need to manage the workforce of organizations and also deal with
the clients and customers. The communication process within the firms can be maintained
effectively with the support that is provided by the activities performed by the strategic leaders.
The organization needs a driving force for purpose of enhancing the growth levels and operations
in the industry as well (Covin & Slevin, 2017). The driving based personality of leaders can have
an impact on the motivation that is provided to the employees so that organizational objectives
can be achieved in an effective manner. The goals that are set by the organization can be fulfilled
effectively with the help of activities that are performed by the strategic leaders. The new
benchmarks and new goals that are developed by organizations can have an impact on the ways
by which strategic leaders make their decisions (Norzailan, Yusof & Othman, 2016).

2BUSINESS STRATEGY AND POLICY ANALYSIS
The functions of the strategic leaders are as follows,
Setting direction of the organization.
Making strategic decisions.
Management of human capital.
Translating the strategies into actions.
Management of change.
Effective communication that is developed within an organization.
Ensuring the efforts that have been made in right direction.
Development of the strategic competencies.
Framing the plans and policies for effective application of the strategic decisions.
Development and maintenance of the constructive work based culture (Ma &
Seidl, 2018).
The major qualities that are depicted by the strategic leaders include foresightedness,
open-mindedness, risk-taking based abilities, discipline, endurance, self-awareness and self-
control. Strategic leadership is considered to be a tool that helps in proper management of
operational aspect of an organization. The implementation of strategy mainly involves the
changing of organizational structure in order to achieve the objectives and goals. Strategic
leadership can lead to the improvement of productivity and fulfilment of the short term and long
term based objectives as well. The major aim of strategic leadership is mainly based on the ways
by which an organization is able to prepare for the future operations (Kaufman, 2017).
Examples of strategic leaders –

3BUSINESS STRATEGY AND POLICY ANALYSIS
Tony Blair – The Former Labor Party Prime Minister of Britain, Anthony (Tony)
Charles Lynton Blair has gained popularity for his politics and the efforts that
have been made by him with Royal Family. The strategic leader had been able to
change the ways by which party had been elected and he also fought for the
implementation of lower taxes. He had also worked for the purpose of offering
additional levels of power to various governments within the United Kingdom
(Sierra & Banzato, 2016). The vision that had been developed by Tony Blair
stated that “People succeed on the basis of what they give to their country.”
Figure 1 – Tony Blair
Source - (Sierra & Banzato, 2016)
Bill Gates – Bill Gates is also a major strategic leader who also deserves a top
spot in list of leaders and also well deserved. Gates is a Washington state native

4BUSINESS STRATEGY AND POLICY ANALYSIS
and he had made an appointment with maker of the first personal computer along
with his partner Paul Allen by promising a code that would run the computer.
However, the code had not been written when the appointment was already set.
The influence and leadership based qualities of Bill Gates has been able to take
over the world of personal computing. Microsoft had been able to surprise the
consumers in different parts of the world by the products that had been offered to
them by the organization (Ma & Seidl, 2018).
Figure 2 – Bill Gates
Source - (Ma & Seidl, 2018)
Answer to Question 3

5BUSINESS STRATEGY AND POLICY ANALYSIS
Human capital can be defined as stock of the habits personality based attributes and
knowledge that are embodied in ability that is related to performing the labor in order to produce
economic value. Human capital is considered to be unique and it is quite different from the other
types of capital. The capital is mainly required for the companies in order to achieve the goals
and to remain innovative as well. The companies can also invest in the human capital with
proper improvement of the levels of production and quality. Human capital based theory is
linked with the human resource management activities of the organizations and can have an
impact on the organizational operations (Arena & Uhl-Bien, 2016).
Figure 3 – Human capital
Source - (Arena & Uhl-Bien, 2016)
Social capital can be defined as the effective functioning of the social groups through the
interpersonal relationships, the shared sense of the identity, shared norms, shared understanding,

6BUSINESS STRATEGY AND POLICY ANALYSIS
reciprocity, cooperation and trust. Social capital is also considered to be a measure of the value
of the resources that can be both intangible and tangible in nature. The impact of social capital is
quite high on the relationships that are developed with an organization within the large groups.
Social capital is seen as the type of capital that aims at supporting the production of public goods
for common use (Subramony et al., 2018).
Figure 4 – Social capital
Source - (Subramony et al., 2018)
Human capital and social capital is able to contribute to the enhancement of productivity
levels of the firms. The levels of productivity are considered to be an important aspect related to
the operations of business organizations. The organizations are able to gain competitive
advantage over the competitors with the help of effective levels of performance in the industry.
Human capital is mainly considered to be the competence that is acquired by the individuals that
will in turn enhance the productivity of firms. On the other hand, social capital is based on the
contributions made by individuals when they interact with each other and form relationships as

7BUSINESS STRATEGY AND POLICY ANALYSIS
well (Tasheva & Hillman, 2019). The achievement of productivity is not considered to be quite
easy for the organizations that operate in a competitive environment. The two major reasons that
are related to the lack of productivity of the organizations include problematic measurement of
productivity and the cause of productivity is not quite clear. Productivity is mainly considered to
be a function that is based on three major variables that include organization, technology and
variables (Schwarz, 2018).
The individual variables are able to influence performance levels and productivity of the
organizations as well. The variables that have an impact on productivity of levels of the firms
include skilled human capital, adequate coordination, modern systems and equipment and
efficient routine of work as well. However, the impact of human capital and the interdependence
with levels of technology cannot be analyzed in an effective manner. Productivity consists of
different components that include the social component, individual component and the
organizational component as well (Harris, Wright & McMahan, 2019). The relationship between
performance of the firms and human capital have been researched in many past studies. Social
capital is considered to be a major aspect of productivity of the modern organizations and their
operations in the industry as well. Social capital also has a positive impact on the economic and
social actions that have been performed by the individuals. Hierarchy in the organizations can
have an influence on the effective mobilization of the individuals (Schwarz, 2018).
The development of teamwork is however based on the ways by which relationships are
formed by the employees. Social capital of the organizations can have a major influence on the
ways by which productivity levels can be enhanced. The human and social capital of
organizations can interact with each other for the purpose of influencing the performance levels
and revenues of the organization as well (Subramony et al., 2018). The skills that are possessed

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by the individuals in organizations related to their experience and education levels are an
important part of the human capital related aspects. The skilled workers are thereby employed by
the organizations for the purpose of gaining positive outcomes related to the organizational
operations in various industries (Harris, Wright & McMahan, 2019).

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References
Altman, E. J., & Tushman, M. L. (2017). Platforms, open/user innovation, and ecosystems: A
strategic leadership perspective. Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Platforms, 37, 0.
Arena, M. J., & Uhl-Bien, M. (2016). Complexity leadership theory: Shifting from human capital
to social capital. People and Strategy, 39(2), 22.
Covin, J. G., & Slevin, D. P. (2017). The entrepreneurial imperatives of strategic
leadership. Strategic entrepreneurship: Creating a new mindset, 307-327.
Harris, C. M., Wright, P. M., & McMahan, G. C. (2019). The emergence of human capital: Roles
of social capital and coordination that drive unit performance. Human Resource
Management Journal, 29(2), 162-180.
Hsu, B. X., & Chen, Y. M. (2019). Industrial policy, social capital, human capital, and firm-level
competitive advantage. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 15(3),
883-903.
Kaufman, R. (2017). Practical strategic leadership: Aligning human performance development
with organizational contribution. Performance Improvement, 56(2), 16-21.
Ma, S., & Seidl, D. (2018). New CEOs and their collaborators: Divergence and convergence
between the strategic leadership constellation and the top management team. Strategic
Management Journal, 39(3), 606-638.
Norzailan, Z., Yusof, S. M., & Othman, R. (2016). Developing strategic leadership
competencies. Journal of Advanced Management Science Vol, 4(1).

10BUSINESS STRATEGY AND POLICY ANALYSIS
Schwarz, S. M. (2018, July). Effect of psychological capital on growth and entrepreneurs’ use of
human and social capital. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2018, No. 1, p.
17889). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.
Sierra, J. C. V., & Banzato, C. R. (2016). Implications of theory and research on strategic
leadership: A critical review. Revista Ibero Americana de Estratégia, 15(3), 119-131.
Subramony, M., Segers, J., Chadwick, C., & Shyamsunder, A. (2018). Leadership development
practice bundles and organizational performance: The mediating role of human capital
and social capital. Journal of business research, 83, 120-129.
Tasheva, S., & Hillman, A. J. (2019). Integrating Diversity at Different Levels: Multilevel
Human Capital, Social Capital, and Demographic Diversity and Their Implications for
Team Effectiveness. Academy of Management Review, 44(4), 746-765.