Executing Strategy: Organizational Alignment for Performance conceptualizes organizations as sociotechnical systems and organizational alignment as a process involving the external context with the internal interplay between tasks, people, structure, and administrative systems (performance appraisal and rewards, responsibility centers, organizational culture). It describes how culture suffuses the process of organizational alignment. An organizational design framework and an analytic model are presented. The chapter describes different strategic orientations and business models. Porter’s competitive strategy framework and three generic strategies of cost leadership, differentiation, and focus are described. Galbraith’s Rise of the Customer Dimension compares product-centric and customer-centric companies. Hax and Wilde’s Delta Model expands Porter’s framework by more explicitly considering the ways in which companies compete in a dynamic, networked economy.

There is a parable about an entrepreneur who invents an amazing machine. Wheat, soybeans, lumber, and oil are fed into one end of the contraption. As if by magic, smartphones, coffee, and tea, and all manner of clothing and apparel come out the other end. The inventor is praised as a genius – until further investigation reveals that the wheat and the other inputs were being secretly shipped to other countries in exchange for the electronics and apparel that later emerged. When this news is made public, the inventor is denounced as an unpatriotic fraud who is destroying jobs.

The chapter examines the evidence on strategic choice. People often do not perform more than two to three steps of iterated deletion of dominated strategies. In simple one-shot games, such as the prisoner’s dilemma game, or in sequential games of full information, such as the centipede game, conformity with the predictions of the standard model is poor. People play mixed strategies, but often not a mixed strategy Nash equilibrium (MSE). Coordination failures are widespread, but many other factors, such as history dependence, aid in better coordination.

We consider models in behavioral game theory that better explain the evidence and their applications. The quantal response equilibrium (QRE) relaxes the assumption of best response, but the beliefs of players about others are accurate. Level-k models and the related cognitive hierarchy model (CH) are cognitively less challenging and assume that players play best responses, but their beliefs are not in equilibrium. We also consider models of cursed equilibrium that apply under imperfect information. Finally, we distinguish between private rationality and social rationality in the form of Kantian equilibrium and a correlated equilibrium.

In a 2008 interview on ‘Meet the Press’ on US television, then President-elect Barack Obama, while discussing his intention to implement a stimulus plan to get the economy moving, qualified that ‘things are going to get worse before they get better.’ Things did indeed get worse. By the last quarter of 2008, the US economy was shrinking at an annual rate of 8%, as it sank into its deepest and longest recession since the Great Depression. In Figure 4.1, the blue line shows the drastic decline in the growth rate. Household consumption was trending downward at a rate of nearly 5% per year, business investment in factories and equipment was falling at a rate of 21% per year, and new-home construction was plummeting by a disastrous annual rate of 33%. Clearly, if something could be done, it should be, and swiftly.

Organisations range from single owner-operators to huge global conglomerates. How an organisation is structured is influenced by how it is owned and what the organisation is aiming to achieve. Large global organisations with thousands of employees must work differently to a self-employed local electrician. Differences will be found in organisational design, such as how the organisation allocates tasks or meets goals. These differences help to identify an organisation’s structure and recognising this structure can help determine the communication channels most appropriate for that organisation. Organisational culture is also affected by organisational structure and design, and it can influence employee behaviour.

This chapter first defines an organisation by type and then describe the elements common to all organisations, including the level of formality, specialisation of tasks, chain of command, span of control and centralisation of decision-making. Every organisation is different; while the basic structural elements are similar, the combination of these elements results in unique organisations.

This chapter explores objectives for communication, emotional intelligence, and strategies to improve our communication in a professional context.

We communicate for a variety of reasons including to be social, to express ourselves, to share information, to persuade and to entertain. Communicating in a professional context largely relates to communication that occurs on behalf of an organisation or for a professional outcome. Effective professional communication helps you form connections and builds relationships with colleagues, stakeholders and customers, and can have a positive impact on productivity.

This chapter looks at aspects of professional communication, including emotional intelligence, and intra- and interpersonal communication, and describes how they influence communication competence in professional communication. We review a variety of communication styles and how they might affect influence and impression management. Finally, we discuss differentiating thought processes to enable professional communication aimed at achieving the best outcome in a given situation.

The internet is a global communication tool that is used to create and share vast amounts of information. The internet and all its associated technology are so ubiquitous that we cannot imagine a world without it. Such a force driving social change has not been seen since the invention of the printing press and the advent of global literacy.

Digital connectivity has become integral to our personal and professional lives. It has evolved into a fundamental necessity, shaping how we communicate, collaborate and engage in various aspects of our personal and work environments. It is continually evolving rapidly; our current machines, platforms, programs and applications will soon be superseded. As a business professional, you must keep learning new skills, adapt and constantly move forward to stay abreast of technological change.

This chapter explores online and digital spaces for organisational communication and outlines strategies business professional should consider when engaging with online audiences. It offers best-practice advice for creating and managing personal branding for a digital environment.

In business, meetings often occupy a great deal of time. When run well, they can be productive and improve interpersonal relationships. When run poorly, they can seriously damage productivity and morale. Meetings are not useful if attendees feel they have wasted valuable time in their incredibly busy workday.

This chapter explores planning and running successful meetings. It considers the rationale for holding meetings and classifies several meeting types and their level of formality. The discussion then identifies the key roles in planning, preparing, running and recording meetings to ensure productivity and the delivery of outcomes. After the purpose, types, roles and documents of meetings have been outlined, the chapter examines the factors necessary for effective meetings.

Being able to communicate persuasively is a key skill you need to master to be an effective professional communicator. Many messages we create or receive have some persuasive element – we regularly communicate with the intention of getting others (and sometimes ourselves) to act in a certain way, or change or reinforce behaviours, attitudes and beliefs. Effective persuasion centres on your relationship with your audience, and their willingness to be persuaded. While those in leadership positions can sometimes use their authority to make people act, most business professionals will need to create motives for people to act or believe in their reasoning.

Effective persuasion can have a dramatic influence on the success, effectiveness, and achievement of objectives for organisations.

In this chapter we explore theories and strategies for professional persuasion. You will use your knowledge of your primary and secondary audiences as a means of engaging in successful communication understand where the audience fits in the persuasive communication process, and how the audience’s motivations and knowledge can help shape messages so they are acted on as intended.

In this chapter, we outline examples of two common forms of business writing in a contemporary business context: informative writing and persuasive writing. While there are many forms of informative writing (such as media articles, descriptive essays, manuals and reports), the chapter focuses on one important business genre, reports. Similarly, while there are many forms of persuasive writing (such as advertising, proposals, letters of application and professional tenders), we’ve selected proposals (a specific report format) as an example of persuasive writing. Finally, in the Extend your understanding section, we briefly explore eight key writing strategies and techniques that will enable you to write with more confidence and effectiveness. Of course, many of these can be used outside the business context in your personal life to craft better messages to achieve your goals.

Increased globalisation and the resulting ever-increasing diversity in society and workplaces lead us to one of the most interesting and challenging topics in business: intercultural communication. More people than ever are moving around the world to access jobs, try new lifestyles and explore different life opportunities. The possibility of finding yourself in an unfamiliar cultural context is highly likely. You may have already had the opportunity to meet and work with people from other cultures. Skills in managing intercultural relationships and predicting and managing intercultural issues are indispensable for a business professional. Business trips abroad, the internationalisation of industries, and globalisation are integral to the operation of many organisations.

This chapter is an introduction to foundational communication theories, concepts and models, examining both historical and contemporary approaches to understanding communication in society, mass media, and organisations. Have a look at any job advertisement and its selection criteria; effective communication skills are almost always mentioned. Strong communication skills are recognised as an asset in business. It is how we share information, seek assistance and delegate tasks. Conversely, poor communication can result in misunderstandings or the failed transmission of vital messages.

This chapter describes the communication process through fundamental communication theories and models. The discussion will define key terms and provide information about the relationship between the various elements of a communication event. This will give you the ability to predict what may happen in a communication event and increase the effectiveness of your communication. We address the basic assumptions we make when communicating and examine the various elements of the communication process in closer detail.

A study conducted in the United States found that people fear speaking in public to an unknown audience more than spiders, heights, going to the doctor, and thunder and lightning. If you are among the many people that become anxious at the thought of having to speak in front of others, you are not alone. However, public speaking and delivering oral presentations are skills that can be developed, refined and mastered.

This chapter explores the basic and advanced skills needed to deliver an effective oral presentation. We present various techniques you can use to improve your oral presentation skills to deliver successful academic and professional presentations, including ways of overcoming the ‘butterflies’ associated with public speaking.