1. elaborate upon the five essential choices
which must be addressed in strategy making
and to support such elaboration with detailed
examples of specific strategic initiatives from
leading companies in the world.
2. provide an insightful discourse on the five
primary responsibilities of senior managers in
building a front line-focused organization.
3. explain the reasons why strategy execution
is far more difficult a task than the making of
strategy.
4. make a persuasive presentation on the
logical, step-by-step approach to the
decisions vital to effective strategy execution.
5. discuss the role of the CEO of large and
complex organizations, to identify the very
specific challenges which he/she faces, and
to provide an assessment of the determinants
of CEO effectiveness in the given context of
large and complex organizations.
6. offer a critique of Lafley’s specification of the
four tasks that constitute the essential linkage
between external world of the firm and its
internal organization and to engage in
insightful debate as to whether these tasks
should be the exclusive responsibility of
CEO’s.
7. describe the capabilities that characterize
Level 5 leadership and to evaluate the
assertion that Level 5 leadership is one of the
key preconditions for transforming a good
company into a great one.
8. identify the various management practices
that have been embraced by the Morning Star
Company and which have enable it to
“manage without managers” quite
successfully for more than two decades.
9. offer an insightful opinion whether the
management practices of the Morning Star
Company could be exported successfully to
other companies.
10. analyze the case of W. L. Gore & Associates
and present specific findings on the
management philosophy of the company, the
management practices of the company, the
corporate culture of the company, and the
company’s unusual organizational structure.
11. provide a well-considered opinion whether
there is a causal connection between these
particular aspects of the company (its
management philosophy, its management
practices, its corporate culture, its
organizational structure) and the impressive
success of the company.
12. elaborate upon the six facets of the
institutional logic of great companies which
radically alters leadership and corporate
behaviour (a common purpose, a long-term
view, emotional engagement, community
building, innovation, and self-organization).
