MG640 Does structure follow strategy Hello all, an age-old question is “Does structure follow strategy or does strategy follow structure?” The new, success
MG640 Does structure follow strategy Hello all, an age-old question is “Does structure follow strategy or does strategy follow structure?” The new, successful firms appear to be on-line driven and not really interested in brick and mortar. Amazon is the obvious example. Does the rapid growth of Amazon and similar firms put pressure on Walmart and Target, etc. to change or can they still survive (can anyone still survive) without creating online revenue streams to go along with their traditional strategy of storefronts? Is Amazon a true “Technology company”? They never really developed or wanted to develop a brick and mortar strategy. Is ecommerce, in all its forms, the Blue Ocean of today (soon to become Red)? Is this truly the future, the destiny of retail and many other industries? These are just examples of threads/directions that you can discuss along with the many others that you all will develop over the time frame this board is open. Take this discussion any direction you wish but do bring out what is happening from a strategic point of view. You can also discuss the downsizing/closing of major chain stores (ex. Sears, JC Penney, Best Buy, Gander Mountain, etc.) and provide support as to why you think this is occurring. Discuss the emerging online piece of strategy for all of these firms as well as for WalMart and Target (ex. Walmart recently purchased JET–why did they do that? Amazon recently purchased Whole Foods–why did they do that?). What are the business models of Walmart and Target–how are they alike and how are they different? Enjoy this topic, so many directions and topics to discuss. Hopefully will be a nice learning experience if everyone participates on a consistent basis during the time frame this board is open. Reminder of Discussion Board Participation and Requirements: There will four discussion boards worth 25 points each (4 x 25 = 100 points). Discussion topics will be established throughout the class and the dates these discussion boards open and close can be found on the course calendar and on the course schedule on Canvas. To earn points, you must participate by stating your comments to the topic and responding to your classmates’ posts. You are required to have a minimum of two original posts and two responses to classmates’ posts per discussion board. This does not guarantee you the full 25 points (it will get you 15 points at the minimum). To earn all 25 points, your posts need to be well-thought out, clearly worded using complete sentences and be value-added to the overall discussion. Do not just do the minimum, go above and beyond and enjoy the interaction with your classmates (in other words, make more than the required number of posts and responses). Make each discussion board a true learning experience for all involved. Treat each of the four discussion boards as if you were in class discussing a topic face-to-face. You need to read all of your classmates’ posts, not just a few. Enjoy the discussion boards and view them as an intellectual conversation and not as something that you have to do in order to earn points. Feel free to do some additional research and share articles, videos, etc with your classmates on each of the discussion board topics. Doing that will earn you additional points toward the 25 maximum per board. Do not wait until the due date to make all of your posts on a discussion board. If you do that, the maximum points you will earn is 10 out of the possible 25.
