ms-91 mba assignment july dec 2010 Question 1

1. Who are the Strategists? Explain their role in Corporate Management.

Strategists are individuals or groups who are primarily involved in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of strategy. There are persons outside the organization who are also involved in various aspects of corporate management. In this section, we shall assess their role in corporate management

Board of Directors

The role of the board of directors has come under intense scrutiny in recent times leading to the emergence of the issue of corporate governance. It relates to the functioning of the board of company and the conducting of the business internally and externally.

Chief Executive Officer

The CEO is designated as the managing director, executive director, president or general manager in business organization. As the chief strategist, the CEO plays a major role in strategic decision making with the increase in size. Many companies have adopted the practice of sharing the responsibility of chief executive among two or more persons. In India, Reliance Industries has chairman, vice- chairman and managing directors while L&T has managing director and joint managing directors. ITC Ltd. has a multiple executive system in the form of corporate management committee. Attributes like self management and time management are very important for CEOs.

Entrepreneurs

The entrepreneurs always search for change , respond to it and explicit it as an opportunity. The entrepreneur is a venture capitalist. They play a proactive role in strategic management. As initiators, they provide a sense of direction to all concerned. S. Kumar Sundram as the chairman of the Bank of Madurai Ltd., and after his death in 1986, the new chairman S.V. Shanmugavadivelu provides an excellent example of the role of entrepreneurs as strategists.

SBU level Executives

In corporate management, SBU level strategy formulation and implementation are the primary responsibilities of the SBU level executives. They act as divisional heads. They wield considerable authority within the SBU while maintaining coordination with other SBU heads and corporate level management.

Consultants

They assist the organizations in their corporate management process. Smaller organizations may take the benefit of consultants for improving their corporate governance. A.F. FerguSon, S.B. Billimoria, Mckinsey Company, Anderson Consulting etc. are the notable consultants. Boston Consulting helps in building competitive advantage while KPMG Peat Maruick assist in strategic financial management and feasibility studies.