Strategic Options Assessment and Recommendation

by | Mar 2, 2025 | Essays

 

 

“Strategy means making clear-cut choices about how to compete. You cannot be everything to
everybody, no matter what the size of your business or how deep its pockets.”
– Jack Welch –
Congratulations! In your first executive brief, you generated some great insights about the playing field
and competitors and how your own organization stacks up. Now you will transition from looking back to
looking ahead. You will develop your “How to Win” strategy that will feature your game-winning move!
Your CEO has clarified that you need to think expansively and recommend a move that is transformative
rather than incremental. To help with this, you have decided to consider each of the seven common
winning moves outlined in the Week 6 Lecture Notes and pick one of them as your preferred gamewinning move.
You know that your game-winning move will be a decisive choice for the company. But in choosing this
move (as is the case with any strategic initiative), the company will risk money and resources. If your
move is the right one, you will grow sales and profits and beat your competitors. If your move is the
wrong one, you risk disappointing your investors and letting your competitors gain competitive advantage.
Given the importance of this decision, you will evaluate each of the seven common winning moves and
then do a deep dive into the attractiveness, feasibility and risks of your chosen strategy.
Your CEO is expecting your second executive brief in Week 8 to summarize your analysis of the strategy
you believe offers the most potential and your recommendation for the game-winning move that you will
be presenting in Week 10.
Instructions for Assignment 2
Your objective is to create a game-winning move, not just evaluate other people’s moves. For this
assignment, do NOT recommend a move that is identical or very similar to a real-life move made by your
company. For example, don’t recommend that Tesla/Apple/Google/Uber/etc. invest in self-driving car
technology or recommend that CVS acquire Aetna as those are all in the public domain. Instead,
recommend a move that is novel and innovative for your company.

 

 

Sample solution

Dante Alighieri played a critical role in the literature world through his poem Divine Comedy that was written in the 14th century. The poem contains Inferno, Purgatorio, and Paradiso. The Inferno is a description of the nine circles of torment that are found on the earth. It depicts the realms of the people that have gone against the spiritual values and who, instead, have chosen bestial appetite, violence, or fraud and malice. The nine circles of hell are limbo, lust, gluttony, greed and wrath. Others are heresy, violence, fraud, and treachery. The purpose of this paper is to examine the Dante’s Inferno in the perspective of its portrayal of God’s image and the justification of hell. 

In this epic poem, God is portrayed as a super being guilty of multiple weaknesses including being egotistic, unjust, and hypocritical. Dante, in this poem, depicts God as being more human than divine by challenging God’s omnipotence. Additionally, the manner in which Dante describes Hell is in full contradiction to the morals of God as written in the Bible. When god arranges Hell to flatter Himself, He commits egotism, a sin that is common among human beings (Cheney, 2016). The weakness is depicted in Limbo and on the Gate of Hell where, for instance, God sends those who do not worship Him to Hell. This implies that failure to worship Him is a sin.


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God is also depicted as lacking justice in His actions thus removing the godly image. The injustice is portrayed by the manner in which the sodomites and opportunists are treated. The opportunists are subjected to banner chasing in their lives after death followed by being stung by insects and maggots. They are known to having done neither good nor bad during their lifetimes and, therefore, justice could have demanded that they be granted a neutral punishment having lived a neutral life. The sodomites are also punished unfairly by God when Brunetto Lattini is condemned to hell despite being a good leader (Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). While he commited sodomy, God chooses to ignore all the other good deeds that Brunetto did.

Finally, God is also portrayed as being hypocritical in His actions, a sin that further diminishes His godliness and makes Him more human. A case in point is when God condemns the sin of egotism and goes ahead to commit it repeatedly. Proverbs 29:23 states that “arrogance will bring your downfall, but if you are humble, you will be respected.” When Slattery condemns Dante’s human state as being weak, doubtful, and limited, he is proving God’s hypocrisy because He is also human (Verdicchio, 2015). The actions of God in Hell as portrayed by Dante are inconsistent with the Biblical literature. Both Dante and God are prone to making mistakes, something common among human beings thus making God more human.

To wrap it up, Dante portrays God is more human since He commits the same sins that humans commit: egotism, hypocrisy, and injustice. Hell is justified as being a destination for victims of the mistakes committed by God. The Hell is presented as being a totally different place as compared to what is written about it in the Bible. As a result, reading through the text gives an image of God who is prone to the very mistakes common to humans thus ripping Him off His lofty status of divine and, instead, making Him a mere human. Whether or not Dante did it intentionally is subject to debate but one thing is clear in the poem: the misconstrued notion of God is revealed to future generations.

 

References

Babor, T. F., McGovern, T., & Robaina, K. (2017). Dante’s inferno: Seven deadly sins in scientific publishing and how to avoid them. Addiction Science: A Guide for the Perplexed, 267.

Cheney, L. D. G. (2016). Illustrations for Dante’s Inferno: A Comparative Study of Sandro Botticelli, Giovanni Stradano, and Federico Zuccaro. Cultural and Religious Studies, 4(8), 487.

Verdicchio, M. (2015). Irony and Desire in Dante’s” Inferno” 27. Italica, 285-297.

Executive Brief 2: “How to Win” – Strategic Transformation

Introduction:

Building upon our previous analysis of the competitive landscape, this brief outlines a transformative “How to Win” strategy, adhering to Jack Welch’s principle of clear-cut competitive choices. We will move beyond incremental improvements and propose a novel game-winning move, evaluating its attractiveness, feasibility, and risks.

Selection of a Winning Move:

To ensure a transformative approach, we will explore the seven common winning moves (as outlined in the Week 6 Lecture Notes) and select one that aligns with our organization’s capabilities and market opportunities. (Please note, as I do not have access to your lecture notes, I will provide a general frame work, and examples)

  • Common Winning Moves (Examples):
    • Disruptive Innovation
    • Blue Ocean Strategy
    • Value Chain Reconfiguration
    • Strategic Alliance/Acquisition
    • Customer Intimacy Enhancement
    • Operational Excellence Transformation
    • Market Expansion/Diversification

Executive Brief 2: “How to Win” – Strategic Transformation

Introduction:

Building upon our previous analysis of the competitive landscape, this brief outlines a transformative “How to Win” strategy, adhering to Jack Welch’s principle of clear-cut competitive choices. We will move beyond incremental improvements and propose a novel game-winning move, evaluating its attractiveness, feasibility, and risks.

Selection of a Winning Move:

To ensure a transformative approach, we will explore the seven common winning moves (as outlined in the Week 6 Lecture Notes) and select one that aligns with our organization’s capabilities and market opportunities. (Please note, as I do not have access to your lecture notes, I will provide a general frame work, and examples)

  • Common Winning Moves (Examples):
    • Disruptive Innovation
    • Blue Ocean Strategy
    • Value Chain Reconfiguration
    • Strategic Alliance/Acquisition
    • Customer Intimacy Enhancement
    • Operational Excellence Transformation
    • Market Expansion/Diversification

Game-Winning Move: “Ecosystem Integration”

  • Description:
    • Instead of just focusing on our core product/service, we will create a comprehensive ecosystem that integrates complementary products and services, creating a seamless and indispensable customer experience.
    • For example, if the company is a retail company, create an ecosystem that includes, home services, local event tickets, and a community based social media platform.
    • This move aims to create a “sticky” customer base by providing a holistic solution to their needs.
  • Rationale:
    • This move goes beyond product differentiation and focuses on creating a unique value proposition that is difficult for competitors to replicate.
    • It leverages the power of interconnectedness to enhance customer loyalty and generate new revenue streams.
    • It is not simply adding products, but creating a system where each part enhances the others.

Deep Dive Analysis:

  • Attractiveness:
    • Market Potential: Evaluate the potential size and growth of the target ecosystem.
    • Customer Value: Assess the extent to which the ecosystem addresses unmet customer needs and creates superior value.
    • Competitive Advantage: Determine the degree to which the ecosystem creates a sustainable competitive advantage.
  • Feasibility:
    • Resource Requirements: Analyze the financial, technological, and human resources required to develop and implement the ecosystem.
    • Partnership Opportunities: Identify potential partners who can contribute complementary products or services.
    • Organizational Capabilities: Assess our organization’s ability to develop and manage the ecosystem.
    • Technological Requirements: What new tech will be needed, and how will it be implemented.
  • Risks:
    • Integration Challenges: Address the potential challenges of integrating diverse products and services.
    • Partner Dependence: Evaluate the risks associated with relying on external partners.
    • Market Acceptance: Assess the risk of customer resistance to the ecosystem concept.
    • Technological Risks: What are the risks of the new tech failing, or being hacked.
    • Financial Risks: What are the potential financial losses if the new plan fails.

Recommendation:

  • Based on the analysis, we recommend pursuing the “Ecosystem Integration” strategy.
  • We will provide a detailed roadmap for implementation, including key milestones, resource allocation, and risk mitigation strategies.
  • We will also provide a detailed financial projection of the costs and benefits of the plan.

Conclusion:

This game-winning move represents a bold step towards transforming our organization and securing a leading position in the market. By creating a unique and compelling ecosystem, we will enhance customer loyalty, generate new revenue streams, and create a sustainable competitive advantage.

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