Solution manual
Exploring strategy text and cases
12th edition by Johnson and Whittington
all chapters 1-16
2
© Pearson Education Limited 2020
, TABLE OF CONTENT
Chapter 1 Introducing strategy 23
Part I THE STRATEGIC POSITION 31
Chapter 2 Macro-environment analysis 32
Chapter 3 Industry and sector analysis 41
Chapter 4 Resources and capabilities analysis 56
Chapter 5 Stakeholders and governance 71
Chapter 6 History and culture 80
Part II STRATEGIC CHOICES 92
Chapter 7 Business strategy and models 93
Chapter 8 Corporate strategy 105
Chapter 9 International strategy 125
Chapter Entrepreneurship and innovation 136
10
Chapter Mergers, acquisitions and alliances 145
11 III
Part STRATEGY IN ACTION 156
Chapter Evaluating strategies 157
12
Chapter Strategy development processes 170
13
Chapter Organising and strategy 183
14
Chapter Leadership and strategic change 190
15
Chapter The practice of strategy 198
16
3
© Pearson Education Limited 2020
,1. Introduction
Exploring Strategy represents one of the most comprehensive packages of material and
support for teachers and students of strategy. The following materials and assistance
are now available:
The text with improved design and layout to assist readers – including objectives
for each part of the book and chapter learning outcomes, concept definitions,
chapter summaries, additional reading and much more.
Over seventy illustrations and fifteen Thinking Differently sections, each including
questions to facilitate their use as mini cases or class discussions.
Sixteen end-of-chapter case examples with specific relevance to the content of the
chapter and with questions relating to the major learning issues in the chapter.
End-of-chapter work assignments, which provide further opportunities for
student assessment, additional work or self-assessment.
Thirty case studies (text and cases version only) together with comprehensive
teaching notes (in this manual and on the website). The case collection contains a
rich mixture of material, including long and short cases from many different
sectors and different countries.
A number of „classic cases‟ from past editions (where they are not carried forward
into the twelfth edition but are still useful to tutors and students).
The Strategy Experience simulation gives students hands-on experience of strategic
analysis and decision making. The simulation can be used by individual
students, or as part of a wider classroomexercise.
For students:
Revision aids (flashcards, key concepts and glossary (in six languages))
Multiple-choice questions, work assignments and grade book
Help with case studies (web links, FT articles and advice on analysing cases).
4
© Pearson Education Limited 2020
, Whittington et al., Exploring Strategy, 12e, Instructor’s Manual
For tutors:
This Instructor‟s Manual
PowerPoint slides
Tutors‟ workshops led by the authors are held annually. These are practical
days concerned with how teachers might gain most advantage from the book
and associated materials. They also act as a forum in which to meet other
strategy teachers.
Details on all of these items and extensive tutors‟ debriefs of work assignments,
illustrations, case examples and case studies are included in this manual.
Many of these materials are also relevant to our shorter version, Fundamentals of
Strategy. This shorter version has the advantage of consistent definitions and
frameworks and the same illustrations and end-of-chapter case examples. It should
therefore be very easy for teachers using Exploring Strategy or Fundamentals of Strategy
to switch between these two texts according to the needs of a particular course.
2. Using this manual
This manual is designed for the assistance of teachers of strategy in planning how
to gain maximum advantage from the text Exploring Strategy and the associated
teaching and learning materials. It should provide help with:
planning a teaching approach to suit the type of participants, time available, etc.;
deciding on how to use the text, illustrations, case examples, readings and case
studies in a teaching scheme;
choosing additional material to include in a course;
using the work assignments for the illustrations, case examples and those at
the end of each chapter;
preparing to teach the case studies;
using the Exploring Strategy website.
The next two sections are intended to be of particular use to teachers who are
relatively new to teaching strategy or are designing new courses. Experienced
teachers may wish to pass over Sections 3 and 4.
5
© Pearson Education Limited 2020
, Whittington et al., Exploring Strategy, 12e, Instructor’s Manual
3. Planning your approach
This section provides some general guidance on how the design of a strategy course can
be varied to meet the requirements of the participants and the practicalities of the
situation. The factors listed below will also influence the way in which the text,
readings, work assignments, case examples, case studies and videos can be used to
best advantage.
3.1 Purpose of the course
Strategy courses can be designed to meet many different needs. At one extreme, the
course may mainly be concerned with raising awareness of why organisations need to
change and develop over time and some of the ways in which this occurs. Alternatively, a
course may be designed to improve the skills of participants in the formulation and
implementation of strategy. Between these extremes are other purposes for strategy
courses. For example, improving managers‟ understanding of how their job function fits
the overall strategic development of the organisation, helping to break down the very
narrow operational outlook of many managers or integrating material from other parts of a
business or management course. The following is some guidance on how the use of text
and cases might be adapted to these various purposes.
If awareness is the key purpose, the text can be used to provide a basic framework (say
through a lecture series), devoting as much time as possible to illustrative work. The
illustrations and case examples in the text should prove valuable resources and
teachers try to supplement these with their own topical material (media sources,
company websites, etc.). Where participants have access to live organisations, use of
issues from those organisations should be encouraged (e.g. student research and
presentations). Guest speakers could also prove valuable – particularly, interesting
success stories. The case studies and videos can be used mainly to encourage
discussion and illustrate particular aspects of strategy. Work assignments should be
useful to consolidate some of the key concepts in strategic management.
If skills development is most important, then the purpose of the text should be to help
participants understand concepts and analytical tools which they can apply and
practice. Most of the case examples and case studies lend themselves to an analytical
approach, and participants should be set tasks that require them to produce detailed
and practical solutions. Work assignments for the illustrations and at end of the
chapters should be useful to test skills development and the understanding of key
concepts. With some groups, it may be possible to require participants to develop
their skills on real, company-based issues, through a project. For example, students can
be asked to undertake an analysis of a particular industry or company (which could
be done on the basis of secondary data), to assess the strategic choices available to
an organisation and propose how issues of implementation would be managed.
Many of the advanced level work assignments are specifically designed to test
readers‟ in-depth understanding of issues and/or ability to use them in a project
6
© Pearson Education Limited 2020
, Whittington et al., Exploring Strategy, 12e, Instructor’s Manual
situation.
Where the relationship between strategy and the separate business functions is of
primary importance, group work (preferably with cross-functional teams) could be
very helpful. This could be for work on the case studies, in-company work or
business simulations.
7
© Pearson Education Limited 2020
, Whittington et al., Exploring Strategy, 12e, Instructor’s Manual
3.2 Level of participant
The purpose of a strategy course is likely to differ with the level of participant (see Table
1). For example, this could relate to their age, job function or type of course which they are
studying.
For younger people with little full-time work experience the text should prove
useful in providing a systematic approach and illustrations of strategy in practice.
The illustrations and case examples in the text (and associated work assignments)
should be used to relate theory to practice. Case studies and the video material should
be used in fairly focused ways to consolidate stages in the learning rather than in an
all-embracing way until later in the course. Selected readings should also prove
helpful. The standard level work assignments will be the most appropriate for
this group.
Where participants have some work experience but are nevertheless fairly junior (e.g.
final year sandwich course students and many young manager courses), the same
comments are relevant except that there are more opportunities to encourage
participants to relate to real-life situations through presentations, in-company projects,
etc.
For more experienced managers (e.g. in many part-time or executive MBA programmes
or in- company courses) it should be possible to reduce the formal inputs of
concepts and methods. Many experienced managers will have some knowledge of the
basic concepts and tools already, although their understanding may be quite
unreliable. It is often effective therefore to invite attendees to read the relevant text
before the session, either as a refresher or as an introduction. It is then possible to
devote the majority of time to applied work (the case studies, group projects,
presentations, etc.). For in-house courses, application can be directed at the
organisation‟s own issues; it may be possible to do the same amongst the more
diverse participants in an open executive MBA course. It is also likely that the
content in Chapters 12–16 will warrant more emphasis since they raise critical
issues of processes of strategic management confronting practising managers. It
may also make sense to begin the course by discussing different ways of
understanding strategy and strategic management. The strategy lenses introduced in
the Commentary at the end of Part I provide a basis for this since they reflect on how
strategy might be seen and interpreted in different ways.
Table 1 Using the text and cases with different participants
No work experience Limited work Experienced
experience managers
1. Typical groups Undergraduates Sandwich degree Part-time MBA, in-
students, supervisory company courses
level, full-time MBA
8
© Pearson Education Limited 2020
, Whittington et al., Exploring Strategy, 12e, Instructor’s Manual
2. Sequencing of In chapter sequence In chapter sequence In chapter sequence
material from (possibly highlighting
text of Chapters 12–16
earlier)
3. Relative Main emphasis on More balanced Greater emphasis on
emphasis of Chapters 1–11 emphasis „process issues‟ and
issues Commentaries
9
© Pearson Education Limited 2020
, Whittington et al., Exploring Strategy, 12e, Instructor’s Manual
4. Text to read After class sessions After class sessions Before or after class
sessions
5. Applied work Illustrate issues from Practice analytical As a way of improving
(case studies, the text in a carefully and conceptual practical skills, especially as
etc.) used to focused way understanding applied to their own
organisations
6. Selected key readings Selected key Selected key readings
Addition readings (typically from Harvard
al Business Review or similar)
reading
3.3 Study mode
The mode of study should also influence course design.
For full-time courses, a good level of preparation of case study work should
normally be expected. Such preparation provides an opportunity for smaller
groups to work together on tasks for significant periods of time. A tightly
organised package of student work (the case studies, group work, presentations,
etc.) is, therefore, possible as an important way of consolidating the
concepts/approaches from the text. However, the chance of live in- company
work may be more limited – although projects based largely on secondary data
can be very effective.
In contrast, part-time or executive students should be more in touch with ongoing
management issues but may have less preparation time available and find it more
difficult to meet in groups. It may be, therefore, that some group time needs to
be built into the programme and/or online discussion forums should be set
up. It can also be helpful to provide selected readings linking theory and
practice to part-time students as a basis for group/class discussions or
presentations. Assignments and exercises can be directed at students‟
employing organisations.
Increasingly, online and distance learning elements are being used in business and
management programmes. The structured nature of the text together with the
illustrations, case examples readings, case studies, work assignments and website
material can form the backbone of learning modules. Section 4 below, which
reviews work assignments, provides guidelines on how the issues and materials
in the book can be used to provide a structured learning „path‟ for students.
3.4 Time available
The study hours available will also influence the course design and the use of text and
cases.
For long programmes (50 hours ) it should prove possible to use the text and cases
extensively and to supplement the course with other materials and activities.
10
© Pearson Education Limited 2020
, Whittington et al., Exploring Strategy, 12e, Instructor’s Manual
For shorter programmes, a more selective use of the materials is likely to be
necessary. For example, a course concerned largely with strategy formulation could
confine the use of the text to Chapters 1–11 (or 12) and the associated illustrations,
case examples, readings, case studies,
11
© Pearson Education Limited 2020
Exploring strategy text and cases
12th edition by Johnson and Whittington
all chapters 1-16
2
© Pearson Education Limited 2020
, TABLE OF CONTENT
Chapter 1 Introducing strategy 23
Part I THE STRATEGIC POSITION 31
Chapter 2 Macro-environment analysis 32
Chapter 3 Industry and sector analysis 41
Chapter 4 Resources and capabilities analysis 56
Chapter 5 Stakeholders and governance 71
Chapter 6 History and culture 80
Part II STRATEGIC CHOICES 92
Chapter 7 Business strategy and models 93
Chapter 8 Corporate strategy 105
Chapter 9 International strategy 125
Chapter Entrepreneurship and innovation 136
10
Chapter Mergers, acquisitions and alliances 145
11 III
Part STRATEGY IN ACTION 156
Chapter Evaluating strategies 157
12
Chapter Strategy development processes 170
13
Chapter Organising and strategy 183
14
Chapter Leadership and strategic change 190
15
Chapter The practice of strategy 198
16
3
© Pearson Education Limited 2020
,1. Introduction
Exploring Strategy represents one of the most comprehensive packages of material and
support for teachers and students of strategy. The following materials and assistance
are now available:
The text with improved design and layout to assist readers – including objectives
for each part of the book and chapter learning outcomes, concept definitions,
chapter summaries, additional reading and much more.
Over seventy illustrations and fifteen Thinking Differently sections, each including
questions to facilitate their use as mini cases or class discussions.
Sixteen end-of-chapter case examples with specific relevance to the content of the
chapter and with questions relating to the major learning issues in the chapter.
End-of-chapter work assignments, which provide further opportunities for
student assessment, additional work or self-assessment.
Thirty case studies (text and cases version only) together with comprehensive
teaching notes (in this manual and on the website). The case collection contains a
rich mixture of material, including long and short cases from many different
sectors and different countries.
A number of „classic cases‟ from past editions (where they are not carried forward
into the twelfth edition but are still useful to tutors and students).
The Strategy Experience simulation gives students hands-on experience of strategic
analysis and decision making. The simulation can be used by individual
students, or as part of a wider classroomexercise.
For students:
Revision aids (flashcards, key concepts and glossary (in six languages))
Multiple-choice questions, work assignments and grade book
Help with case studies (web links, FT articles and advice on analysing cases).
4
© Pearson Education Limited 2020
, Whittington et al., Exploring Strategy, 12e, Instructor’s Manual
For tutors:
This Instructor‟s Manual
PowerPoint slides
Tutors‟ workshops led by the authors are held annually. These are practical
days concerned with how teachers might gain most advantage from the book
and associated materials. They also act as a forum in which to meet other
strategy teachers.
Details on all of these items and extensive tutors‟ debriefs of work assignments,
illustrations, case examples and case studies are included in this manual.
Many of these materials are also relevant to our shorter version, Fundamentals of
Strategy. This shorter version has the advantage of consistent definitions and
frameworks and the same illustrations and end-of-chapter case examples. It should
therefore be very easy for teachers using Exploring Strategy or Fundamentals of Strategy
to switch between these two texts according to the needs of a particular course.
2. Using this manual
This manual is designed for the assistance of teachers of strategy in planning how
to gain maximum advantage from the text Exploring Strategy and the associated
teaching and learning materials. It should provide help with:
planning a teaching approach to suit the type of participants, time available, etc.;
deciding on how to use the text, illustrations, case examples, readings and case
studies in a teaching scheme;
choosing additional material to include in a course;
using the work assignments for the illustrations, case examples and those at
the end of each chapter;
preparing to teach the case studies;
using the Exploring Strategy website.
The next two sections are intended to be of particular use to teachers who are
relatively new to teaching strategy or are designing new courses. Experienced
teachers may wish to pass over Sections 3 and 4.
5
© Pearson Education Limited 2020
, Whittington et al., Exploring Strategy, 12e, Instructor’s Manual
3. Planning your approach
This section provides some general guidance on how the design of a strategy course can
be varied to meet the requirements of the participants and the practicalities of the
situation. The factors listed below will also influence the way in which the text,
readings, work assignments, case examples, case studies and videos can be used to
best advantage.
3.1 Purpose of the course
Strategy courses can be designed to meet many different needs. At one extreme, the
course may mainly be concerned with raising awareness of why organisations need to
change and develop over time and some of the ways in which this occurs. Alternatively, a
course may be designed to improve the skills of participants in the formulation and
implementation of strategy. Between these extremes are other purposes for strategy
courses. For example, improving managers‟ understanding of how their job function fits
the overall strategic development of the organisation, helping to break down the very
narrow operational outlook of many managers or integrating material from other parts of a
business or management course. The following is some guidance on how the use of text
and cases might be adapted to these various purposes.
If awareness is the key purpose, the text can be used to provide a basic framework (say
through a lecture series), devoting as much time as possible to illustrative work. The
illustrations and case examples in the text should prove valuable resources and
teachers try to supplement these with their own topical material (media sources,
company websites, etc.). Where participants have access to live organisations, use of
issues from those organisations should be encouraged (e.g. student research and
presentations). Guest speakers could also prove valuable – particularly, interesting
success stories. The case studies and videos can be used mainly to encourage
discussion and illustrate particular aspects of strategy. Work assignments should be
useful to consolidate some of the key concepts in strategic management.
If skills development is most important, then the purpose of the text should be to help
participants understand concepts and analytical tools which they can apply and
practice. Most of the case examples and case studies lend themselves to an analytical
approach, and participants should be set tasks that require them to produce detailed
and practical solutions. Work assignments for the illustrations and at end of the
chapters should be useful to test skills development and the understanding of key
concepts. With some groups, it may be possible to require participants to develop
their skills on real, company-based issues, through a project. For example, students can
be asked to undertake an analysis of a particular industry or company (which could
be done on the basis of secondary data), to assess the strategic choices available to
an organisation and propose how issues of implementation would be managed.
Many of the advanced level work assignments are specifically designed to test
readers‟ in-depth understanding of issues and/or ability to use them in a project
6
© Pearson Education Limited 2020
, Whittington et al., Exploring Strategy, 12e, Instructor’s Manual
situation.
Where the relationship between strategy and the separate business functions is of
primary importance, group work (preferably with cross-functional teams) could be
very helpful. This could be for work on the case studies, in-company work or
business simulations.
7
© Pearson Education Limited 2020
, Whittington et al., Exploring Strategy, 12e, Instructor’s Manual
3.2 Level of participant
The purpose of a strategy course is likely to differ with the level of participant (see Table
1). For example, this could relate to their age, job function or type of course which they are
studying.
For younger people with little full-time work experience the text should prove
useful in providing a systematic approach and illustrations of strategy in practice.
The illustrations and case examples in the text (and associated work assignments)
should be used to relate theory to practice. Case studies and the video material should
be used in fairly focused ways to consolidate stages in the learning rather than in an
all-embracing way until later in the course. Selected readings should also prove
helpful. The standard level work assignments will be the most appropriate for
this group.
Where participants have some work experience but are nevertheless fairly junior (e.g.
final year sandwich course students and many young manager courses), the same
comments are relevant except that there are more opportunities to encourage
participants to relate to real-life situations through presentations, in-company projects,
etc.
For more experienced managers (e.g. in many part-time or executive MBA programmes
or in- company courses) it should be possible to reduce the formal inputs of
concepts and methods. Many experienced managers will have some knowledge of the
basic concepts and tools already, although their understanding may be quite
unreliable. It is often effective therefore to invite attendees to read the relevant text
before the session, either as a refresher or as an introduction. It is then possible to
devote the majority of time to applied work (the case studies, group projects,
presentations, etc.). For in-house courses, application can be directed at the
organisation‟s own issues; it may be possible to do the same amongst the more
diverse participants in an open executive MBA course. It is also likely that the
content in Chapters 12–16 will warrant more emphasis since they raise critical
issues of processes of strategic management confronting practising managers. It
may also make sense to begin the course by discussing different ways of
understanding strategy and strategic management. The strategy lenses introduced in
the Commentary at the end of Part I provide a basis for this since they reflect on how
strategy might be seen and interpreted in different ways.
Table 1 Using the text and cases with different participants
No work experience Limited work Experienced
experience managers
1. Typical groups Undergraduates Sandwich degree Part-time MBA, in-
students, supervisory company courses
level, full-time MBA
8
© Pearson Education Limited 2020
, Whittington et al., Exploring Strategy, 12e, Instructor’s Manual
2. Sequencing of In chapter sequence In chapter sequence In chapter sequence
material from (possibly highlighting
text of Chapters 12–16
earlier)
3. Relative Main emphasis on More balanced Greater emphasis on
emphasis of Chapters 1–11 emphasis „process issues‟ and
issues Commentaries
9
© Pearson Education Limited 2020
, Whittington et al., Exploring Strategy, 12e, Instructor’s Manual
4. Text to read After class sessions After class sessions Before or after class
sessions
5. Applied work Illustrate issues from Practice analytical As a way of improving
(case studies, the text in a carefully and conceptual practical skills, especially as
etc.) used to focused way understanding applied to their own
organisations
6. Selected key readings Selected key Selected key readings
Addition readings (typically from Harvard
al Business Review or similar)
reading
3.3 Study mode
The mode of study should also influence course design.
For full-time courses, a good level of preparation of case study work should
normally be expected. Such preparation provides an opportunity for smaller
groups to work together on tasks for significant periods of time. A tightly
organised package of student work (the case studies, group work, presentations,
etc.) is, therefore, possible as an important way of consolidating the
concepts/approaches from the text. However, the chance of live in- company
work may be more limited – although projects based largely on secondary data
can be very effective.
In contrast, part-time or executive students should be more in touch with ongoing
management issues but may have less preparation time available and find it more
difficult to meet in groups. It may be, therefore, that some group time needs to
be built into the programme and/or online discussion forums should be set
up. It can also be helpful to provide selected readings linking theory and
practice to part-time students as a basis for group/class discussions or
presentations. Assignments and exercises can be directed at students‟
employing organisations.
Increasingly, online and distance learning elements are being used in business and
management programmes. The structured nature of the text together with the
illustrations, case examples readings, case studies, work assignments and website
material can form the backbone of learning modules. Section 4 below, which
reviews work assignments, provides guidelines on how the issues and materials
in the book can be used to provide a structured learning „path‟ for students.
3.4 Time available
The study hours available will also influence the course design and the use of text and
cases.
For long programmes (50 hours ) it should prove possible to use the text and cases
extensively and to supplement the course with other materials and activities.
10
© Pearson Education Limited 2020
, Whittington et al., Exploring Strategy, 12e, Instructor’s Manual
For shorter programmes, a more selective use of the materials is likely to be
necessary. For example, a course concerned largely with strategy formulation could
confine the use of the text to Chapters 1–11 (or 12) and the associated illustrations,
case examples, readings, case studies,
11
© Pearson Education Limited 2020
