Strategic Planning MNG301A

Submitted by davisa on 14 April 2008 - 8:23am.

The strategic planning module is presented in both the first and second semesters. The purpose of this module is to introduce students to the challenges faced by top management in ensuring that the organisation survives in a volatile business environment.
Strategic planning is about surviving in a very volatile business environment. The strategic planner has to craft strategies that will enable the organisation to reconcile its resources with the threats and opportunities created by new technological breakthroughs, an increasingly borderless world, virtual businesses, e-commerce, fierce competition, changing work ethics and mobile managers – to mention but a few. In order to survive, strategic planners have to outwit their competitors to realise above-average returns for the organisation. This should be done in a way that satisfies the conflicting claims of different stakeholders – shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, the government and society. Wealth maximisation (that is, maximising the wealth of all stakeholders) has replaced profit maximisation as the ultimate goal.
In order to realise above-average returns for the organisation, the strategic planner should see the organisation as a whole and understand its complexities and how it affects (and is affected by) its volatile environment. This module, MNG301A, is the only part of the course that offers students this understanding. MNG301A initiates students into the study of business problems which are not presupposed financial problems, marketing problems, et cetera. It affords them the opportunity to consider problems which emanate from a wide range of substantive areas in business: students will be given opportunities to analyse the political, economic, social, technological, international and ecological environments. It challenges then to assess the competencies of their competitors and of their own organisations. It integrates and builds on what they have already learned in other modules.
The module deals with the strategic planning process. More specifically, it deals with the
• nature and value of strategic planning
• reason why the organisation exists
• environment in which it has to survive
• strategies for survival
When integrated, these components form a logical process which can be followed to craft a strategy for an organisation that enables it to survive in the turbulent business environment.

Course Information
Optional: Contributing Institution: 
University of South Africa
Course Number/ID: 
MNG301A
Course Length (number of weeks): 
13
Course Delivery Mode: 
Distance
Average Number of Enrolled Students: 
More than 60 students
Course Level: 
College
Course Development & Delivery
Course Contributors: 

Dr Willa Louw - Institute for Curriculum and Learner Development, Unisa -- educational consulting
Ms Thea Venter - Graphic design of the cover page of the study guide
Ms S Cronje - senior lecturer - assistance with formulation of learning outcomes
Prof P Venter - critical reader

Course Development: 

The student profiles were considered in the choice of examples and case studies in the study guide as well as the choice of days and venues for the group discussion classes. . During 2007, a completely new study guide was developed and introduced in January 2008.
The learning outcomes formed the basis of the course development - I divided the topics and study units into a sequence that simulates the strategic planning process. The teaching strategy was to offer the students activities and real examples that they can identify with. Feedback on the activities were comprehensive in the beginning but was reduced as the students progress through the course.Refer to the screenshots included in Powerpoint attachment. In addition to the learning outcomes, I also considered the critical cross field outcomes and attempted to incorporate this into the activities. Each activity has detailed guidelines. One of the critical cross field outcomes is to work with technology and this is where the functionality of myUnisa came in. Students are encouraged to take responsibility for their own studies and one of the activities early in the semester is to register as a myUnisa user.
The study guide is supported by tutorial letters which are available on myUnisa. The tutorial letter gives instruction on how to submit assignments via myUnisa. To ensure active learning in the course, and in the study guide, students are encouraged to reflect on their learning experiences – they must make what they learn part of themselves. This is also done through the Blogger function.
Another part of the course is the discussion classes. I see the students in the major regions once per semester and the discussion class was designed in such a way that the students practically experience what strategic management is. Each discussion class lasts 7 hours and it is very interactive. It is very important that the students realize that strategic management is real and that it is practiced in the real business environment. The discussion class also encourages contact between myself and the students and between themselves through the group activities in theclass.
The Discussion Forum on myUnisa makes provision for joint problem solving and shared learning – students are reminded to participate in specific discussions via the myUnisa schedule and announcements.

Course Delivery: 

This course is delivered as a distance education course. The main source of material is the study guide which is ‘wrapped around’ the prescribed textbook and is available in printed form as well as electronic form. The study guide is divided into topics and study units and each study unit contains the assessment criteria, key concepts, reflection, activities, assessment questions, reflection, feedback on activities and practical examples from the south African business environment. The second part of the study material is the tutorial letters. Students receive the tutorial letters on registration and via the post as it is published. It is also available on myUnisa. Students are required to submit one compulsory assignment. The assignment covers all the chapters and topics and this forces the students to go through all the work earlier in the semester. The offering also includes discussion classes – one per region per semester (Pretoria, Durban, Cape Town and Polokwane). The notes for the discussion class are made available on myUnisa before the commencement of the first discussion class. I enabled three tools on the myUnisa site: schedule, course contact and blogger. Refer to screenshots included in the Powerpoint attachment. The schedule is used to notify and remind students of the due date of the assignment, the dates, times and venues for the discussion classes and to remind them to do their homework in preparation of the discussion class. The course contact option enables students to directly email me and this improves the communication between us and my accessibility. I respond to emails within 1 day, but sometimes within 2 days when I am out of the office. The blogger was introduced to get the students to ‘reflect’ on the discussion classes. I also load the photos from the discussion classes on the blogger for all students to see. The discussion forum option is very effective. I started a discussion on key strategic concepts and kept it open for a week and had 14 replies and 523 views. I use the announcement option to notify students when new tutorial letters are loaded onto myUnisa or if there was an interesting article in the news.

Course Self-Assessment
Communication & Collaboration Self-Assessment: 
Excellent
Communication & Collaboration Evidence: 

Technology options used are the Announcements, Schedule, Discussion Forum and Blogger on the myUnisa site. The course contact option is also activated which allows students to email me directly. The study guide provides for reflective exercises. The discussion forum invites responses and comments from students which encourages group interaction. The announcement function serves as a reminder to all students to complete activities or to participate in discussions.

Learning Material Self-Assessment: 
Excellent
Learning Material Evidence: 

The study guide builds on the students' existing knowledge and constantly relates the course concepts to identifiable examples which they can relate to. Guidance on activities are given with feedback. The learning process is a journey and inclusive terms are used througout, example: let us explore this, or we should remember that.... etc. South African examples and cases are used and the activities caters for the achievement of the critical cross field outcomes. The study guide is supported by tutorial letters as well as discussions on myUnisa.

Learning Outcomes & Assessment Self-Assessment: 
Excellent
Learning Outcomes & Assessment Evidence: 

Students are required to submit 1 compulsory assignment that consists of 40 multiple choice questions of which 20 of these questions are based on a case study to test their application abilities. There are also two self-assessment assignments - I have included a complete model answer to the first self-assessment assignment and guidelines to the second self-assessment assignment - the complete model answer shows them how to answer and the guidelines empowers them to do it themselves.
This is an outcomes-based education module and the study guide is built around learning outcomes and learning outcome standards. Students are constantly required to reflect on their learning experiences.

Course Look & Feel, Web Usability Self-Assessment: 
Excellent
Course Look & Feel, Web Usability Evidence: 

The vast number of South African examples makes the course practical and students can identify with it. Also, it shows them that the concepts are really practiced in business, not just in the prescribed book. Each study unit contains activities and there is also a glossary of terms that the students should compelte as they progress through the module. 58% of the students are registered on myUnisa - they can submit their assignments via myUnisa and participate in the discussion forum. myUnisa also provides access to electronic copies of all study material.
This is the first year that the new study guide is used.

Learner Support Self-Assessment: 
Effective
Learner Support Evidence: 

The discussion forum is very popular for student interaction. The tutorial letter contains guidelines on how to access and use myUnisa. Also, during group discussion classes at the main regions, I have a 20 minute session to illustrate the functions on myUnisa. One of their responsibilities as students, as outlined in the study guide, is to register as a myUnisa user. The course contact option enables the students to email me directly and I respond iwhtin 2 days to all emails.

Teaching Innovation
Teaching Innovation: 

myUnisa enabled me to involve the students and to let them feel part of a bigger group which is a great contributor to student motivation and involvement. It can be very lonely when one studies in a distance education environment. Where students respond on the Discussion Forums, only their initials and surname is visible. I then take time to trace their personal records on the Unisa system to address them by their first names in my responses. Also, there are so many requests from fellow students to form study groups which is an indication that they do not want to be on their own anymore and that they need support from peers. The discussion forum opens up communication among students when they are not physically together. Also, as part of my teaching strategy during discussion classes, I try to memorise as many of their names as possible and can then address specific questions or comments to them personally. This encourages cohesiveness in the group discussion classes. I reward good answers/responses from students at the group discussion classes with chocolates. It is amazing how easily one can get a whole group’s attention with a chocolate as a prize!The announcements function is a great help to send an email message to all the students on myUnisa at the same time – I can mark it as high priority and they receive the notification within minutes after sending it. This enables me to respond to the whole group when I see that a number of the students had similar questions or complaints. This results in prompt feedback. The fact that all the study material is available on myUnisa is great – there was a delay in the printing of the study material and I could refer students to the myUnisa site to download it. I take photos of the students who attend the discussion class and post this on myUnisa on the Blogger. I hope that more students will visit the Blogger out of curiosity to see if their photo was posted on the site. For the majority of my students, English is not their first language. According to the student profile information, apart from English, isiZulu, Northern Sotho and Afrikaans are the most common first languages. As such, I arranged for the key terms in the course to be translated into these three languages in an attempt to facilitate better understanding. This is available in a tutorial letter as well as on myUnisa. Refer to screenshot entitled: “Materials 4”.

AttachmentSize
MNG301A TWSIA screenshots.ppt3.39 MB
Discussion class feedback 5.pdf231.15 KB
Discussion class feedback 3.pdf310.37 KB
Discussion class feedback 2.pdf290.92 KB
Discussion class feedback 1.pdf218.17 KB