Reference no: EM132814054

Respond to this Discussion 1

Eisenhardt & Sull (2001), shows the importance of using these rules and approaches to adapt to skill sets and or unique situations. When the organization is faced with circumstance, the performance varies in the areas of profitability, long-term dominance, and growth. This strategic keying in on the specific market spurs various aspects of how to keep the organization organized without the use of lengthy manuals. In turbulent markets, there are specific rules that benefit managers when determining opportunities. Using how-to, boundary, priority, timing, and exit rules helps the managers see the bigger picture and determine appropriate approaches within entering, leaving, and setting priorities within a market.

When looking at companies that could have implemented a simple rule, it is noticed that there are several that closed their doors due to inability to adapt and implement. Recently, department stores and restaurants have suffered tremendously due to their mistakes. We recently went through an electronic medical record conversion (EMR) in which the system and company lacked the experience to implement the simple rules outlined in the article. What is shocking is that this company was satisfied with status quo and in the end, failed to examine any of the how-to's, boundaries, priorities, timings, and exits.

• How-To
o When examining the how-to's, the EMR company did not have the technical experience to keep up with changing regulations. Questions asked about the software and troubleshooting were never fixed and, in the end, the company was faced with a large lawsuit from healthcare organizations and disbarred from programs per CMS.
• Boundary rules
o While this organization acquired individuals for other lines of services, there was a small percentage of these employees who added value to their customers on the technical side.
• Priority rules
o As the company was tanking, they lacked the capacity in the necessary areas that would enable optimal growth.
• Timing rules
o Products were out of date, poorly developed, and were not consistently tested. This caused several serious issues with reporting, cross functionality, and interoperability.
• Exit rules
o Projects never seemed to end. The company seemed to allow products to stay on the market too long with no alternative solutions.
Ultimately, this company did not know when and how to change. This inability to change caused several hundred employees and customers to leave and go to other companies. When viewing my company, it is noticed that these rules are important as we start to develop new products as well as test new markets. The necessary expertise will be critical when trying to gain a competitive advantage. The necessary expertise and simple rules could aid in a crisis, depending on experience. These rules help the managers keep that organization and navigate the issues appropriately.

Respond to this Discussion 2
According to Eisenhardt & Sull (2001), strategies should be made up of simple rules even in chaotic industries.

The article summarizes the Simple Rules and outlines each type of rule. What is the importance of following each of these rules and how will each impact the strategic direction of a company? Your company?

Respond to this Discussion 3
The purpose of the simple rules is to evaluate opportunities within the market. The first simple rule is the how-to-rules, how the strategy will be executed (Eisenhardt & Sull, 2001). Execution has been a recurring theme within this course. The execution might be the most important step within the business strategy implementation process. Execution is important as a first step because forward-thinking tells a firm to see the end from the beginning. Without visualizing execution, the firm cannot take the first step toward its strategic goals because it will not know how those goals will materialize. The boundary rules are understanding how far the firm is willing to go (Eisenhardt & Sull, 2001). Dr. Garza mentioned the importance of vocalizing in our vision statement what we will not be. For those long-standing firms, setting boundaries is important for a strong foundation rooted in the unique set of principles a business has. Getting further into the process, prioritization becomes important to determine which opportunities are more pertinent than others. Timing rules are apart of taking advantage of time-sensitive opportunities that present themselves in the market (Eisenhardt & Sull, 2001). Failure to do so may result in a firm not reaching its strategic goal(s). On the other hand, timing rules may refer to waiting on the right opportunity to present itself in a changing market. The final simple rule is the exit rule when to exit opportunities (Eisenhardt & Sull, 2001). This is self-explanatory, firms must evaluate when an opportunity is not in the best interest of their strategic goals. Additionally, the firm must determine the best way to exit this opportunity.

Blockbuster is a company that comes to mind and its failure to capitalize on the opportunity to be a part of streaming. Timing is a very important part of the business and because they did not transition their business to streaming they are a thing of the past. The life cycle of a business is very short, and the aforementioned rigidity caused Blockbuster to ultimately fail in the market. The simple rules can work in crisis situations because they simplify the business process for a company. In times of crisis, the best thing to do is to go back to the basics and the meat and potatoes consist of a clear, concise evaluation of the companies goals.

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