PLEASE READ BACKGROUND INFO BELOW.  TURNIT IN IS USED Module 4 - SLP Strategy Implementation and Strategic Controls Simulation In Module 4, you will continue with the CVP analysis you completed in the Module 3 SLP. Scenario Continuation: It is still January 2, 2012. You have just completed your revised SLP3 strategy using CVP analysis, and you are eager to implement your decisions for 2012 through 2014. Using the CVP analysis from SLP3, run the simulation for a final time. Again, be sure to take notes about your analysis and the document the reasoning behind your decisions. Finalize your report showing the strategy you have used. Assignment Overview Using the strategy that you developed in SLP3, run the simulation. Document your results as you did previously. Review and analyze these results, and develop a final strategy. Please turn in a 6- to 8 - page paper, not including cover and reference pages. Keys to the Assignment The key aspects of this assignment that should be covered and taken into account in preparing your paper include: The revised strategy consists of the Prices, R&D Allocation %, and any product discontinuations for the X5, X6, and X7 tablets for each of the four years: 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. You must present a rational justification for this strategy. In other words, you must provide support for your proposed strategy using financial analysis and relevant theories. Use the CVP Calculator and review the PowerPoint that explains CVP and provides some examples. You will need to crunch some numbers (CVP Analysis) to help you determine your prices and R&D allocations. Make sure your proposed changes in strategy are firmly based in this analysis of financial and market data and sound business principles. Your goal is to practice using CVP and get better at it. Present your analysis professionally, making strategic use of tables, charts, and graphs. Time Line Summary: SLP1 2015: Hired on December 15. Turned in first report to CEO Smothers. SLP2 You are returned – via Time Warp – to January 1, 2012. You make decisions for 2012 – 2015. December 31, 2015 – You have revised all four years, and you write up your summary report. SLP3 Apparently, your SLP2 decisions were not “good enough,” as you’ve again been returned to January 1, 2012. It is once again January 1, 2012: You decide to use CVP analysis to develop a revised four-year plan for your strategy. You analyze the results of your first decisions from SLP2, taking notes, and documenting your decision-making process. You use the CVP Calculator to help you develop your strategy. Your notes explaining the logic behind your decisions. SLP4 It is still January 2, 2012. Using your CVP analysis from SLP3, you run the simulation, implementing your revised four-year plan. You keep track of your financial and marketing results year over year. You submit your final 6-8 page report, which includes your Final Total Score. You compare – and report – your results with previous re.

1. PLEASE READ BACKGROUND INFO BELOW. TURNIT IN
IS USED
Module 4 - SLP
Strategy Implementation and Strategic Controls
Simulation
In Module 4, you will continue with the CVP analysis you
completed in the Module 3 SLP.
Scenario Continuation:
It is still January 2, 2012.
You have just completed your revised SLP3 strategy using CVP
analysis, and you are eager to implement your decisions for
2012 through 2014.
Using the CVP analysis from SLP3, run the simulation for a
final time. Again, be sure to take notes about your analysis and
the document the reasoning behind your decisions.
Finalize your report showing the strategy you have used.
Assignment Overview
Using the strategy that you developed in SLP3, run the
simulation. Document your results as you did previously.
Review and analyze these results, and develop a final strategy.
Please turn in a
6- to 8
-
page
paper, not including cover and reference pages.
Keys to the Assignment
The key aspects of this assignment that should be covered and
taken into account in preparing your paper include:
The revised strategy consists of the Prices, R&D Allocation %,
and any product discontinuations for the X5, X6, and X7 tablets
for each of the four years: 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.
You must present a rational justification for this strategy. In
other words, you must provide support for your proposed

2. strategy using financial analysis and relevant theories.
Use the CVP Calculator and review the PowerPoint that
explains CVP and provides some examples.
You will need to
crunch
some numbers (CVP Analysis) to help you determine your
prices and R&D allocations.
Make sure your proposed changes in strategy are firmly based in
this analysis of financial and market data and sound business
principles.
Your goal is to practice using CVP and get better at it.
Present your analysis professionally, making strategic use of
tables, charts, and graphs.
Time Line Summary:
SLP1
2015: Hired on December 15.
Turned in first report to CEO Smothers.
SLP2
You are returned – via Time Warp – to January 1, 2012.
You make decisions for 2012 – 2015.
December 31, 2015 – You have revised all four years, and you
write up your summary report.
SLP3
Apparently, your SLP2 decisions were not “good enough,” as
you’ve again been returned to January 1, 2012.
It is once again
January 1, 2012:
You decide to use CVP analysis to develop a revised four-year
plan for your strategy. You analyze the results of your first
decisions from SLP2, taking notes, and documenting your
decision-making process. You use the CVP Calculator to help
you develop your strategy. Your notes explaining the logic
behind your decisions.
SLP4
It is still January 2, 2012. Using your CVP analysis from SLP3,
you run the simulation, implementing your revised four-year

3. plan. You keep track of your financial and marketing results
year over year.
You submit your final
6-8 page
report, which includes your Final Total Score.
You compare – and report – your results with previous results.
SLP Assignment Expectations
Your paper will be evaluated using the grading rubric.
Tips and Suggestions
Note the following tips and suggestions:
You might find these downloads useful:
Decision Matrix Table
- Download this Word doc with a blank table you can use to
show your proposed strategy decisions.
PowerPoint discussing CVP
- Provides a good overview of Cost Volume Profit analysis, the
various equations that you can use, and how to use it. Some
examples are provided showing how to use the CVP Calculator.
CVP Calculator
- This an Excel-based calculator that you can use to determine
prices, volumes, and profits. Keep in mind that it will tell you
what need, but the market determines what you actually get.
Include a cover page and a reference page, in addition to the
6-8 pages
of analysis described above.
Include appropriate section headings.
Use charts and graphics strategically, but do
not
use these as "space fillers." Include lengthy tables, etc. in an
Appendix instead.
Cite and reference all sources that you use in your work,
including those that you paraphrase. This means include
citations and quotation marks for direct quotes, and citations for
that information which you have "borrowed" or paraphrased
from other sources.
Follow

4. TUI Guidelines
for well-written papers.
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Module 4 - Background
Strategy Implementation and Strategic Controls
Strategy is implemented using organizational design (structure),
people, culture, and control systems. Strategy must successfully
work through these elements in order to produce performance.
No matter how well a strategy is conceived, if an organization's
people cannot implement it, if the culture cannot support it, if
the structure cannot coordinate it, and if the systems cannot
measure and control it—the strategy will fail.
We will start by considering how of each of these components
individually link to strategy. By way of the Case analysis, we
will examine the integration or "fit" between the various
components and strategy.
Structure
Organizational structure refers to the manner in which the lines
of communication of authority are established, the manner in
which work is divided up among organizational members, and
the way that communication and work are coordinated.
Different types of structures support different types of
strategies. The key elements of structure that have the greatest
effect on the success or failure of strategy implementation are
centralization, boundaries, networks, and virtual organization.
Centralization
Centralization refers to the level of concentration of decision
making. In a highly centralized organization, decisions are
made by a relatively small number of people, usually
concentrated at the highest levels of the organization.
Standardization is common in centralized organizations, thus
favoring economies of scale and efficient value chains.
Decentralized organizations are characterized by flexible and

5. autonomous decision-making groups at operational levels in the
organization. Such groups have the ability to rapidly adjust to
changes in the marketplace and are well-suited to strategies that
require innovation. However, because of duplication, economies
of scale are difficult to achieve.
Emerging Structures
Borderless Organizations:
Taking cross-functional teams to a new level, the borderless
organization does not just assemble teams with members from
different organizational levels and functions. Instead, the
borderless organization removes barriers both vertically
(between levels) and horizontally (between functions or
departments). The implications for strategy implementation
include increased information, transparency, and flexibility.
Alliance Networks:
These are collections of suppliers, distributors, customers, and
even competitors who have the ability to bring needed assets to
bear on an urgent problem where there is insufficient time to
develop the needed resources and capacities in-house.
Organized and coordinated online, these networks can be
mobilized and put to work instantaneously.
Virtual Corporations:
An extension of Alliance Networks, the virtual corporation is
an extra-organizational coalition of people and organizations
brought together expressly to work on a specific problem or
project. They can be assembled rapidly and dispersed as soon as
the project is over, representing the ultimate in flexibility and
speed in strategy implementation.
The following reading is an exposition on how various types of
teams can be useful in strategy implementation:
Pryor, M.G., Singleton, L.P., Taneja, S., and Toobs, L.A.
(2009). Teaming as a strategic and tactical tool: An analysis
with recommendations.
International Journal of Management, 26
(2), 320-334. Retrieved on November 6, 2012, from ProQuest.
Review this presentation on

6. Organizational Design
by Professor Anastasia M. Luca, Ph.D. MBA.
Strategic Controls (Systems)
Three organizational systems are essential to controlling
strategy implementation:
Accounting and budgeting systems:
These systems can be complex and not easily adapted. If a new
strategy requires data that is not easily accessible through
existing accounting systems, implementation can be slowed, and
a potentially successful implementation can be jeopardized. If a
new proposed strategy does not fit a familiar pattern, decision
making can be become risky and unpredictable.
Information Systems:
Information technology is playing an ever greater role in
strategy implementation. IT provides point-of-sale information
between retailers and manufacturers, streamlines logistics and
distribution, and controls inventories. IT systems must be
capable of providing the right information in the right format to
the right people at the right time.
Measurement and Reward Systems:
Rewards can be used to shape behavior in the direction of
meeting strategic objectives. Rewards must be connected to
measures of goal attainment (e.g., specific increases in market
share), and proper time horizons (future rewards for future
goals).
Review this presentation on
Strategic Controls
by Professor Anastasia M. Luca, PhD MBA.
People
Strategies that are based on distinctive competencies or unique
capabilities are often dependent on people and their skills to
carry them out. Thus, for successful implementation, sufficient
numbers of people with the right skill sets are essential.
In-house or Import?
Hiring raw talent and growing employees with the needed
qualifications maximizes fit, but it can take years. Retraining

7. existing workers with new skills can be problematic when old
employees resist "learning new tricks." Hiring employees with
needed skills external to the organization is faster, but there is
no guarantee that even they will fit well within the
organization’s culture.
Motivation:
It is not enough to have the right number of people with the
right skills; people must also be motivated to work toward
successful strategy implementation. Much is known about
motivation, and many tools are available; these include tangible
rewards (e.g., bonuses) and intangible rewards such as self-
fulfillment. Perhaps the motivator with the most potential for
eliciting long-term commitment to fulfilling the firm's strategic
goals is that of
empowerment,
which gives employees the discretion and autonomy to use their
initiative.
The following article highlights the importance of having the
right people in place to achieve strategic goals:
Garrow, V. and Hirsh, W. (2008). Talent management: Issues of
focus and fit.
Public Personnel Management, 37
(4), 389-403. Retrieved on August 29, 2014 from ProQuest.
Culture
The fit between an organization’s culture and its strategy is
critical.
If a firm is depending on innovation to achieve differentiation,
but the culture is risk averse or has a tendency to punish
mistakes, the strategy will in all likelihood fail. Culture can
support the strategy when three elements are in alignment:
Shared values
that are aligned with the corporate vision and strategic focus
along with a management style that fosters behavior that will
support the competencies that confer competitive advantage.
Norms
can act as strong controls for strategic implementation. They

8. encourage behavior that is in alignment with shared values.
People can circumvent rules, and they cannot be watched all of
the time, but norms can promote the desired behavior even when
nobody is watching.
Symbols
model for employees what values and norms are important.
Some important symbols include the vision and style of the
founder of the company and folklore or stories that embody
company values, rituals, and routines, and which reinforce the
types of events and behaviors that are most desired and
celebrated.
The following reading ties together the importance of systems,
strategy, structure, and culture. It is highly readable and will
help you see how all of these elements are interdependent and
must align to achieve successful implementation:
Heneman, R. L., Fisher, M. M., and Dixon, K. E. (2001).
Reward and organizational systems alignment: An expert
system.
Compensation & Benefits Review, 33
(6), 18-29. Retrieved on November 6, 2012, from ProQuest.
Optional Reading
Aligning organizational culture with business strategy. (2013,
November).
Towers Watson
. Retrieved on August 29, 2014 from
http://www.towerswatson.com/en-
US/Insights/Newsletters/Global/strategy-at-
work/2013/viewpoints-qa-aligning-organizational-culture-with-
business-strategy
Durden, C. (2012). The linkages between management control
systems and strategy: An organic approach. Proceedings from
The International Conference on Accounting and Finance
. Singapore: Global Science and Technology Forum. Retrieved
on August 29, 2014 from ProQuest.
Klosowski, S. (2012). The application of organizational
restructuring in enterprise strategic management process.

9. Management, 16
(2), 54-62. Retrieved on August 29, 2014 from ProQuest.
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