Business Simulation Reflective Essay
In the first instance, (MOËT HENNESSY LOUIS VUITTON ’s (LVMH) CEO is considering changing the diversification strategy after returning from a Mini-MBA at UQ Business School. In the second instance, the CEO was not sure about the most appropriate strategy for diversification, and it became essential to select the best synergies between the business units. In as much as unlocking the synergies calls for the fostering of partnerships, the most beneficial synergies must be opened based on the strategic option. Selecting Canva might have been the best option, even though the business unit should be considered.
Leveraging the theory of strategic management and organizational politics is an essential step in justifying the best business unit and divisions that can be successful in pursuing diversification as a strategic recommendation based on the situation (Ceipek et al., 2021). The decision is anchored upon the resource-based theory of strategic management, which portrays that important competitive advantage drivers and sources are majorly drawn from the attributes of the resources and capabilities that are valuable and expensive to copy. Thus, the company can consider adopting the strategic management decision because the company has offers that it can easily control while at the same time generating competitive, sustainable advantage through easy expansion in the market. The best strategic recommendation would be D’acclimation as the company partners and operates its business because it has a similar market location that will become a hub for future development. The business strategy at Starboard Cruise does not match the business strategy and mission, which will affect the sustainability of the brand (Dess et al., 2021). In the meantime, the STARBOARD CRUISE SERVICES do not have the potential to portray enough cooperation with the company, and they cannot be selected for partnership ventures.
Our business was unsuccessful in pursuing the strategy because it was partnering with Cruise Retailers like STARBOARD CRUISE SERVICES. It is evident that the business unit would have allowed for the purchase of alcohol products to a wide range of international passengers and would, in turn, increase brand exposure. However, the business strategy that STARBOARD CRUISE SERVICES uses is different from that of the company, and this implies that its mission would negatively affect the sustainability of the brand (Wenzel et al., 2020). Moreover, Starboard did not show the required level of cooperation, and this means that partnering with such a business unit would be unsuccessful in the long term because the return on investment would be low. The company should leverage a business unit that can have a unique design (Dess et al., 2021). It is evident from the resource-based theory that possessing strategic resources can afford a business company competitive advantages over competitors. Resources that rivals cannot imitate tend to be under legal protections such as trademarks, copyrights, and patents. This implies that selecting a company that has a different business strategy and one whose mission does not promote the brand, like the case of Starboard, can hurt the brand and even exacerbate the loss of the competitive advantage.
The rational model theory explains how we engage differently in networking and persuasion. Engaging differently in influence and networking, we were able to pursue negotiation around the implementation of the strategic recommendation for the second time. In as much as the talks might have been unsuccessful, there are political strategies that can further the strategic ambition of the business unit. From the analysis, it became clear that networking and persuasion helped to know the stakeholders better (Ceipek et al., 2021). We realized that the first step in negotiating would be to become strict about the real stakeholders. We learned that different people have different opinions and would want to interfere because they want to have their voice (Prasad, 2015). This implies that networking would help understand the stakeholders as people having vested interests and those having a financial stake in the negotiation. Networking also helped create a line of divide between those who are affected by the business and those who are not stakeholders but have varied opinions (Dess et al., 2021). We also realized that as business researchers, we had to orchestrate different characters to a conclusion, which made it essential that we do networking and persuasion. Through networking, we were able to align our outcomes with the vision by shooting down bad ideas at the early stages.
In as much as there were successful negotiations, there were political strategies that furthered the business strategic unit’s ambitions. The first strategy was the justification of the position that we had. From the negotiation, we realized that it is not just enough to feel that something is either a good or a bad idea (Ceipek et al., 2021). Persuasive communication is an effective strategy that is an effective way that influences the thoughts and minds of other people. From the rational model, people develop behaviors in predictable ways based on what they believe in or what they value. Beliefs and values are drawn from the knowledge that people gain as they interact with the world. The best example is where a person knows that wearing a seatbelt can save life and values life. Such a person would automatically wear a seatbelt based on the values and beliefs that they hold and would behave rationally to do the same. In our case, we believed that persuading stakeholders who have different opinions about what would be best for the company would involve the understanding of the values and beliefs they hold about the company. The rational decisions that the managers would make would then essentially be anchored upon those values, and we would make our judgments about the best opinion because everyone might have a different view based on the rational model.
The Effective Communication of the key messages around strategy and political theory would aid in the engagement in networking and persuasion. Persuasive communication is the best tool that can influence the minds and behaviors of other people (Dess et al., 2021). The rational form of communication is one of the essential forms of communication that is not only goal-oriented but also allows messages of those interacting to become the means of achieving the end that is responsive to the requirements of the situation at hand (Ceipek et al., 2021). Rational communication also allows those communicating to emphasize the goals and plans of other people. For instance, in our case, we had to take into consideration the opinions of other people, including those who are not even stakeholders or are not affected by the business units.
We also realized that from the rational model, people communicating with each other take up other people’s purposes, working towards a comprehended goal that is common among those participants. It was interesting that this was a joint activity because, as participants in the negotiation, we and the teams of managers became scientists, with the primary goal of interaction being the advancement of scientific theory. We realized that from the rational model of persuasion, speech has the potential of acting as a tool that satisfies the specific felicity conditions for reasonable negotiation for as long as it is performed successfully. Such felicity conditions are implications of the abstract model of expectations and presumptions that are common among the users of language, especially when it comes to the rational form of communication.
From the activity, we had to ensure that the CEO considers Jardin D’acclimation as the partner that we would operate within our business because of the similarity in the market location, and this would be beneficial for our future development (Dess et al., 2021). We were to convince the board that cooperating with the wines and spirits might have a negative reputation for the brand (Ceipek et al., 2021). On the other hand, having to partner with a unit that has a different market orientation would be non-decisional making because the popularity of the LVHM attracts the existing customer groups. Stating such facts required a form of persuasive communication that would be professional to the workplace.
The ability to persuade would then become critical to the business world. Mastering the art of persuasive communication would imply that winning the support of the stakeholders would become critical (Ceipek et al., 2021). This means that credibility would come from expertise relationships in which building trust with the teams was a crucial factor.
References
Dess, G. G., McNamara, G., Eisner, A. B., & Lee, S. H. S. (2021). Strategic management: Creating competitive advantages. McGraw-Hill.
Ceipek, R., Hautz, J., De Massis, A., Matzler, K., & Ardito, L. (2021). Digital transformation through exploratory and exploitative Internet of things innovations: The impact of family management and technological diversification. Journal of Pro.uct Innovation Management, 38(1), 142-165.
Wenzel, M., Stanske, S., & Lieberman, M. B. (2020). Strategic responses to the crisis. Strategic Management Journal, 41(7/18), 3161.
Prasad, K. (2015). Strategic management: Text and cases. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd..
