Educational Leadership Strategy and Collaboration †MyAssignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about the Educational Leadership for Strategy and Collaboration. Answer: Introduction Everyday activities require some form of organization or pre-planned duties to be accomplished. The success of investment depends on well-calculated strategies. In a business set up, supervisors and managers cannot risk acting out of impulse since this may endanger the business(Adner, 2012). When all factors are held constant, the decisions made are to ensure set objectives are achieved. This does not rule out the possibility of an eventuality occurring thereby prompting the management to develop different strategies. It is necessary to understand planning processes, which include deliberate strategy, incremental strategy, and emergent strategy since they are used to secure the objectives of an institution. The deliberate strategy is a formal strategic planning process. It is rational since it evaluates strategic choices, alternatives and current position analysis. It involves other planning techniques like SWOT analysis(Betts, 2014, p. 45). The deliberate strategy is, therefore, the blueprint that formal businesses have to clearly show how they would achieve their objectives. The incremental strategy involves making small changes gradually over time to an already existing strategy. It is aimed at keeping the entity afloat and takes care of the small organizational and environmental changes the organization is operating in. Emergent strategy is an urgent plan used in response to unforeseen situation demanding an immediate action(Steiner, 2014). Organizations may develop new strategies to respond to unexpected opportunities. These strategies may not have been captured in the initial formal plan. A strategy is a model of organized activities especially in an organization that has been planned to achieve some given objectives. Some strategies could be short term or long term. Strategic plans for companies could be covering ten or more years in the future (Steiner, 2015). Some scholars have defined strategy as a pattern of activities adapted to organizations' operations, scope and resources that seek to achieve given objectives (Dransfield Needham, 2014, p. 77) Johnson and Scholes have brought in another view of strategy development as they have broadened it in three different ways. In their approach, they have employed the use of the term strategy lenses to describe strategy development. In their words, strategy is viewed as an experience, a design and ideas (Whittington, et al., 2013, p. 88) The experiences received in the past are taken as the guide for the future plans since the past failures and successes will influence the future strategies. Organizations decisions will be determined by their past experiences of the senior management. In this lens, precedence set will influence the future decisions (Freedman, 2013). Analysis of the current environment of operation has little influence over decisions made. This strategy relies heavily on assumptions in coming up with strategies. It is run by the senior management who stick to the culture of the entity. Strategy as design This approach views strategy development as a design. It asserts that strategy development is a logical process. The opportunities and constraints of an entity are carefully determined through analytical and evaluative techniques e.g. the SWOT analysis. After considering the forces that influence the organization, a strategic plan is established (Jackson, 2014, p. 56) This perspective considers strategy as a carefully thought out plan, a result of logical and analytical planning. The strategy is therefore planned at the senior managerial level then trickle down to the lower hierarchical levels, after which it is implemented. Viewed in its totality, it is similar to the deliberate planning process. This lens, suggests that strategies should be established after evaluating the available resources, the environment of operation visa viz the objectives of the entity. This design is spearheaded by the top management in the organization. This lens views strategy development as innovation and a result of the diversity of ideas. This approach emphasizes the need for promoting diversity in organizations. This will largely lead to a generation of new and diverse ideas. This view is fundamental since the people involved in the day to day running of the organization will have an opportunity to table their ideas(Ngeleza, 2012). This arrests the view that new ideas are not often generated by the senior management. Since people who carry out their jobs every day meet challenges in their line of duty, the dynamism in the environment is best understood by them. They are of help in coming up with original ideas that shall help deal with their immediate responsibilities. This approach relies on radical new ideas that come from people who bear responsibility in the organization. They all compete for the support of the management, this makes individuals come up with well thought out ideas that will win the confidence of the managerial staff who will finally see it implemented(Steiner, 2015). Strategy as a discourse This lens views strategy in terms of communication. The language is seen as a resource used by executives to shape strategic analysis to their personal views. It enables managers to develop and sustain the power that establishes their legitimacy. In this, they gain influence. Kind of planning has its own shortcomings. According to Steiner, (2015), this design is inaccurate as top-level management are not in touch with the daily developments. The general landscape of business and the environment of operation is dynamic. Whereas it may serve as to caution against losses based on managers past experiences, there are chances that changes which occur often in the business environment may have slipped their attention. Sticking to this strategy may disastrous. Developments that require the drastic change in strategies may remain unaddressed since the organization is not flexible to accommodate new strategies. This model, therefore, makes the management to be rigid and very conservative. The decisions are made with little reference to evaluating the current business environment and analyzing the company's, resources. Strategy as experience is embedded with the risk of failing to act and adjust according to environmental changes since strategies are based on past experiences. In view of strategy as ideas, everyone in the organization has an opportunity to air his ideas, in the event that managers have their favorite colleagues; the organization may easily be swayed in a given school of thought. This can disadvantage the organization especially if the same has come from one who is not professionally trained in the given field of concern. Supremacy battles can be waged between employees as everyone would be lobbying for their favorite theory to win the managerial confidence. This will affect the unity of the organization (Dransfield, 2012) Some ideas that emerge from the propagators may not have the adequate scholarly back up as some may be limited to a company's operation. This makes it difficult for an authoritative scientific analysis. It may result in trial and error of ideas. Strategy as a design is a rigid strategy to well-structured hierarchical organizations. In entities where the senior managers do not give instructions to employees, this design will not achieve the set objectives, given that the executive develops and follow it to its implementation. Conclusion Organizations are dynamic entities. Studies show that companies that plan are more successful than those that dont plan. In relation to the three lenses of strategy development, for the management to realize the set objectives, a clear-cut model has to be established. The pattern of activities adapted to organizations resources and operations is necessary. Strategies focus the organizations to look ahead as it provides direction. It is evident that no single strategy will guarantee success. It is prudent for organizations to blend the three strategic lenses in developing plans. Strategy as a design, when well thought out and implemented should form the backbone of our strategies as we use the other models to blend and come up with a super strategy. References Adner, R., 2012. The Wide Lenses: A New Strategy for Innovation. New York: Penguin. Betts, R. K., 2014. Lenses and Landmarks. Princeton: Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University. Dransfield, R., 2012. Corporate Strategy. Chicago: Heinemann. Dransfield, R. Needham, D., 2014. Business Studies. Fourth ed. New York: Penguin. Freedman, L., 2013. Strategy: A History. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. Jackson, D., 2014. Essential to strategic management. UK: Palgrave Macmillan. Ngeleza, B., 2012. A Critique Of Prescriptive Views In Strategic Management. Research Gate, IV(10), pp. 1-2. Steiner, G. A., 2014. Strategic Planning. New York: Simon and Schuster. Steiner, G. A., 2015. Essentials of Strategic Planning. New York: Simon and Schuster. Whittington, R., Johnson, G. Kevan, S., 2013. Educational Leadership: Context, Strategy, and Collaboration. New York: CRC Press.