solution

Shana Corp. was a small, new software company. Some of its product development efforts, combined with a few technologically related contracts, had allowed the firm, over several years, to develop a budding expertise. At first, Shana’s skills were not much different from most of its rivals’. But because of the kinds of jobs it had worked on (jobs richer rivals had refused), Shana was acquiring an ability to develop advanced forms-completion software that could run on different computer operating systems.

After a while, Shana’s top managers gradually came to realize that their firm had learned to skillfully and cheaply do jobs that rivals could not do as well or as efficiently. Also, some affinities began to occur among software developers as each began, quite naturally, to specialize according to talent and build on one another’s strengths. Work complementarities grew up as a loosely coupled group became an integrated and effective team. And so, Shana kept getting better in their increasingly focused sphere.

Soon, Shana’s managers began to develop routines, procedures, and incentive policies to further improve team performance. They also started using Shana’s growing body of specialized knowledge to concentrate on clients that required its special abilities. The convergence around certain skills and a target market also focused selection and training programs, project management protocols, and marketing campaigns.

Shana had not set out to master a special capability. Nor did it prospect intentionally for promising market niches. And the company did not at first possess valuable property or knowledge resources that were unavailable to rivals (they too could have tried to develop forms software to bridge operating systems but decided this was not worth the effort). Rather Shana’s managers noticed retrospectively what their firm was becoming especially good at, realized from talking with clients that the talents were rare, tough to match, and worth developing, and pursued clients that would value these talents. The firm, moreover, did not set out to copy the skills of successful rivals. It did not have the wherewithal to accomplish that. Moreover, even if Shana had been able to develop those skills, by the time it did its competitors, most probably, would have moved ahead. Shana’s managers realized that emulation would surrender to rivals’ product and market leadership and force the firm to share a market with many other firms.

Adapted from Miller D. 2003. An asymmetry-based view of advantage: Toward an attainable sustainability Strategic Management Journal, 24:

961-976.

A more complete explanation of this model can be found in Mintzberg & Waters 1985. Of Strategies, Deliberate and Emergent.Strategic Management Journal,6:257-272. I found this reading available in the JSTOR database in the UTA library. It may help you to read that paper before you take this quiz.

As MANA 4322 students, you will be asked to develop knowledge of strategic management theories. You will also be required to apply these theories in specific situations. You will use examples from the cases we study to support your arguments. Thus, the following questions pertain to whether Mintzberg’s theory of the strategic management process (above) applies to Shana Corp.

Question 1

Mintzberg & Waters propose that unforeseen environmental developments may result in emergent (unintended) strategies. What evidence in the casefrom the firm’s environmentsupports this claim?

Group of answer choices

a) Shana’s management did not intentionally prospect for promising market niches

b) Shana’s managers began to develop routines, procedures, and incentive policies to further improve team performance

c) The firm acquired an ability to develop advanced forms-completion software that could run on different computer operating systems.

e) Richer rivals had refused certain jobs (a market niche was neglected)

f) All of the above