伦敦大学

Keeping up with Change: Issues for the Finance Professional

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This MOOC identifies and explores a number of challenges to the finance professional arising from the ever changing business environment. Increasingly, financial decisions must take account of strategic consequences. The first module, Exploring Strategic Position, Choice and Action helps in doing that – setting a strategic context for planning for, monitoring and controlling projects and activities. An on-going set of challenges is found in the evolution of International Reporting Standards. The second module focuses on some recent changes in Standards, identifying the drivers for changes, and examining evolution in controversial areas such as leasing and goodwill. The third and final module, Corporate Governance, examines issues which are causing people to re-assess the nature, purpose and scope of corporate governance, and challenges to making governance function effectively. Key issues here are the move to include a broader range of stakeholders, the perennial challenge of agency theory issues, shareholder activism, changing Board structures, and challenges to internal control to better manage risk. This MOOC will be right for you if you are interested in engaging with some of the challenges facing finance professionals, even if you are not one yourself. If you are thinking about returning to study this will provide a taster of academic endeavours through reading articles, critiquing ideas, and blending theory with reality

From the lesson

Exploring Strategic Position, Choice and Action (Part 2)

Welcome to the second part of the first topic of 'Keeping up with Change: Issues for the Finance Professional'. In this module you will be exploring two further key areas of: Strategic Action and Evaluating Strategic Action. Throughout the module you will have the opportunity to apply all of you learning into context, be that based on your own organisation, or your professional experience in general. This will enabling you to apply the theoretical models we cover in the module to your professional practice.

Exploring Strategic Position, Choice and Action- Introduction to week 21:54

Organisational Culture7:07

Cultural Web8:47

The Functional Structure4:14

The Divisional Structure3:42

The Matrix Structure2:48

The Team Structure3:12

The Network Structure1:06

2 Main Approaches to Strategy3:26

3 Main Areas for Strategic Action4:03

Meet the Instructors

Dr Sarah Warnes
Teaching Fellow
School of Management, UCL
Dr Alan Parkinson
Deputy Director (Education), School of Management
UCL, University of London
Mr Suman Saha
Visiting Academic
UCL School of Management

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The final point to make for this lesson

is to talk about the three main areas for

strategic action that organizations take.

So, the first one concentrates on the internal organization and

we'd label that internal development.

So, it might be that the strategic action we take is inwardly focused,

and we've identified that in order to achieve our strategy,

we need to develop the talent within the business,

the expertise within the business, specialization within the business.

So we're looking inwards, it might be developing more innovative products.

It might be purchasing new technology to make us more efficient.

So, that's obviously a fairly popular action to take,

because we can use the resources that we currently have or

maybe invest in some, but its controlled within the organization,

so its about keeping control within and taking a view internally.

If we look back to some of the theories we've covered, if we look to Ansoft,

what we'd be linking to is that forward and backward integration.

Okay, the horizontal integration and vertical integration,

where we take control of what's going on within the business.

So, the second option or strategic action, and it's very,

very popular, is mergers and acquisitions.

And if you look in the Business Press, you'd find it difficult to find a paper

which is not discussing one merger or another.

So, I've already talked to you about the Kraft Heinz company merger.

I've also mentioned the BT/EE merger.

And they talk about these mergers as mergers of equals, but

actually quite often, one organization has a greater percentage share than the other.

But often mergers and acquisitions can be used interchangeably.

We also had The Curry's PC World merger with Carphone Dixon's.

On the horizon there's the AB Inbev takeover of SABMiller,

which is going to be a huge drinks company if that merger goes ahead.

So the companies that are wishing to merge or

acquire, they may be doing that for growth possibilities,

they may be doing that to expand their expertise based they can actually buy in

expertise they don't currently have, but want to expand in the area.

One of the main reasons for mergers and acquisitions, though, one of the main

outcomes I should say, is this thing about synergies, you know the shareholders will

want to make sure that their synergies and their savings through that merger.

So that's happening more and more.

Interestingly though, the quote is 70% of mergers fail, yet

we still see them happening a lot.

And then the other option,

the strategic action that we can take a joint developments where it literally is,

companies coming together to share resources, increasing their investment

potential and to buy new warehouses or new distribution centers.

And of course, if you're sharing all of that you're also sharing the profits.

But that's another strategic action that organizations can

take to help keep them competitive in the market place.

And one example of that you may know of is the Jaguar Land Rover joint venture.

Strategic actions tend to come under those three areas, so internal development,

merges and acquisitions, and joint development or joint ventures.

So that brings us to the end of this session.

One thing you will be asked to do, is to actually identify the strategic actions

that are going on in your industry.

And your organization, just so that you can situate this knowledge.

And the next thing that we'll be looking at is our final lesson on monitoring and

evaluating our strategic actions.

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