Business Policy Technical Test 2

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1. How would you define “Frozen Preferences” and what is the impact of this concept on strategy formulation, alternative analysis and recommendation? • Managers don’t like to make major strategic changes once decisions have been made (except in the case of overwhelming evidence) as they will look unprepared and ineffective and their creditability is damaged • Frozen preferences o Management has made a decision and over time analysis shows that their decision may not be the best choice o However they feel compelled to maintain their current strategy even if it is not the best course of action. • As management preferences becomes a larger part of the organization (personnel changes, budgets etc), it becomes more and more difficult to change direction. o A tendency to avoid reversing changes even if it was not the best choice o In reality, past expenditures are sunk costs and the organization should use a clean slate to look at new choices, but to the manager, this will come at great personal loss. • This relates to strategy because it is important to understand the effect management has on it. o If a manager will suffer personal embarrassment or a loss by adopting a new (although better) strategy, they are more likely to simply stick with the current course of action. o This can be avoided by assessing and addressing the problems of an organization prior to major investments being made o Implication on strategic choice, as they can act for the betterment or detriment of the organization. o Differences in manager’s preferences are specific to their individual personalities, experiences and situations. Differences in these factors among managers will lead to differences in their strategic preferences, so you must assess the implications of the differences when analyzing alternatives and reconcile them 2. It

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