From Strategy to Implementation… Continuity and Change

Context, culture and the role of the finance function in strategic decisions. A comparative analysis of Britain, Germany, the U.S.A. and Japan

Introduction The operational success of many independent oil producers has led to rapid growth. Many smaller firms, while remaining good "oil finders," have difficulty maintaining control and direction during this rapid expansion. The recent weakness in petroleum prices and demand has emphasized the fragile financial prices and demand has emphasized the fragile financial position of many independent producers. Recognizing position of many independent producers. Recognizing the need for planning and financial controls can prevent serious financial problems from developing. prevent serious financial problems from developing. The independent petroleum industry represents a unique financial situation that influences appropriate planning activities. It is capital intensive with planning activities. It is capital intensive with most independent operators working in a capital rationing environment (more acceptable investment opportunities than available capital). At the same time the special financing approaches used by the industry may provide financial leverage while actually reducing the risk of the operator. The operating characteristics are also unique, resulting in high operating leverage. As with all high operating leverage situations, petroleum production has relatively high fixed costs compared production has relatively high fixed costs compared to variable costs, creating high profit margins on incremental production. Earnings and cash flow will be sensitive to both volume and price changes. However, there is also the factor of exploration success which can result in even greater changes in production volume and therefore earnings. A relatively small change in exploration success, either in number or quality of discoveries, would have a substantial effect on the smaller producer. Manufacturing and other traditional industries do not have this unique characteristic. Management "style" also plays a role in designing an appropriate planning operation. Frequently firms have grown from a "one man operation." Delegating authority and establishing more ridgid management guidelines is not always an easy transition. Any formal planning activity must be consistent with their approach to managing the firm. SCOPE OF THE PLANNING FUNCTION The planning function of the independent producer will have a much narrower scope than that of the major oil company. It should concentrate on operational planning rather than strategic planning and should planning rather than strategic planning and should not place great emphasis on creating original forecasts. The objectives of the planning function for the independent should be to increase profitability, prevent financial problems, and reduce the effort prevent financial problems, and reduce the effort needed by top management for operational management duties. There should be unified objectives of the planning-financial control procedures to avoid planning-financial control procedures to avoid unnecessary restrictions while maintaining sufficient control. Maintaining management flexibility under the planning procedures is important for the independent producer. Strategic and operational planning decisions will not have a distinct boundary. Most aspects of strategic planning will be closely related to operational decisions. The dynamics of the industry in recent years has led to changing strategies. However, the strategic decisions may have been passive rather than intentional changes in the firms' passive rather than intentional changes in the firms' operation. Care must be taken that new unplanned and possibly undesirable strategies are not imposed through a series of operational decisions. Pure strategic decisions are made infrequently, therefore analysis of these strategies should not consume a major share of the resources devoted to planning within the independent firm. Strategic decision areas would include geographic area of operation, financing sources, mix of exploration/ development/workover ventures, mix of oil versus gas exploration or production, degree of participation in ventures, diversification within the industry and selling existing production. Although these all have substantial strategic implications, the decision frequently results from operational analysis of investment opportunities rather than an intentional strategic decision. p. 231

Waging War on Climate Change: Mapping Energy Policies to Their Strategic, Tactical, and Operational Levels

A variety of post-exercise recovery strategies are used by team sport athletes. However, little research has investigated the use of recovery strategies by team sport athletes across a range of competition levels. Furthermore, equivocal evidence exists to support the use of one recovery strategy over another. The aim of this thesis was therefore to investigate recovery usage by team sport athletes across a range of competition levels in various sports, and the effects of differing recovery strategies after single and multiple bouts of simulated team sport match-play exercise. A systematic review of the literature revealed CWI, CWT and ACT produced mostly equivocal effects in comparison to CONT for performance and perceptual recovery. Cold water immersion and CWT also improved performance and perceptual recovery in a number of instances, CWI also decreased performance in a small number of instances. No differences were indicated between ACT and CONT for performance recovery and mostly for perceptual recovery, with a small number of decreases after ACT in comparison to CONT for perceptual recovery. Current evidence was therefore not conclusive on the effectiveness of these recovery strategies. Three original studies are subsequently presented in this thesis that aim to address the current unclear evidence on recovery strategies. The aim of the first study (Chapter 3) was to identify via survey which recovery strategies are currently used by Australian male and female team sport athletes of varying competition levels. Three hundred and thirty-one athletes were surveyed across fourteen team sports and five levels of competition; 57% of whom reported utilising one or more recovery strategies. All international athletes reported using massage for recovery. Athletes of all other competition levels utilised stretching (STR) the most (98% national, 79% state, 87% regional and 77% local athletes). Water immersion strategies were most often used by national and international athletes. Stretching was self-rated the most effective recovery strategy (4.4/5; where 5 = very effective) with active, land-based (ALB) considered the least effective by its users (3.6/5). Laziness and time constraints were the main self-reported reasons provided by those who did not undertake a specific recovery strategy. Water immersion strategies were considered effective or ineffective largely due to psychological reasons. In contrast STR and ALB were considered to be effective or ineffective mainly due to physical reasons. Results from Chapter 3 indicate that the perceptions of athletes on recovery strategy effectiveness did not always align with scientific evidence. The availability of particular recovery strategies may also affect recovery strategy selection. It is recommended that athletes and coaching staff are provided with up-to-date information on the effects of different recovery strategies to ensure informed decisions are made regarding recovery strategy selection. The aim of the second study (Chapter 4), a randomised controlled trial (RCT; N = 34), was to compare the effectiveness of CWI, CWT, ACT, a combination of cold water immersion and active recovery (COMB) and a control (CONT) condition after a single bout of simulated team-game circuit exercise (55 min). Performance and perceptual recovery indices were assessed over a 48 hr time period. Results suggest that CWI and COMB produced detrimental jump power performance at 1 hr compared to CONT and ACT, and thus should not be selected for short term recovery. It is likely that 1 hr was not sufficient time for muscles to rewarm after CWI and COMB resulting in decreased jump performance at this time. Findings also suggest CWT should be elected for short-term perceptual recovery after a team sport game. The heat component of CWT may have contributed to feelings of relaxation and accordingly enhanced perceptions of recovery. No between recovery differences were found at 24 and 48 hr post the simulated team-game circuit exercise. The aim of the third study (Chapter 5; N = 14) was to examine the use of CWI, CWT, ACT, COMB and CONT recovery across repeated small-sided games simulating acute tournament match-play (three 15 min efforts, 3 hr apart, with recovery after bouts 1 and 2) upon performance, perceptual and physiological indices of recovery over an 8 hr time period. Results indicated that CWT was superior to ACT for performance, and COMB was superior to ACT and CONT for perceptual recovery during the simulated tournament day. The ACT recovery was detrimental to performance and perceptual recovery and thus a similar ACT recovery protocol should not be elected for use in a team sport multiple-game tournament day. The mechanisms most likely associated with the beneficial CWT findings compared to ACT include a combination of the negative effects of ACT such as no rest and increased energy consumption and the positive effects of CWT such as the alternation between vasoconstriction and vasodilation. During a COMB recovery the actions of hydrostatic pressure and leg movement may assist with blood flow and enhanced perceptions of recovery. The ACT recovery is most likely detrimental during a tournament day due to the extra metres covered, adding to the experienced soreness and fatigue. The results of the RCTs question the high anecdotal use of CWI by national and international athletes as reported in the survey, with CWI found to have no positive effect upon performance or perception after a single bout of a simulated team sport or during a simulated tournament day. In conclusion, the current research has highlighted the need for athlete and coach education on the effects of recovery strategies, noting the limitations associated with the inconclusive nature of evidence regarding the use of specific recovery strategies. Contrast water therapy is recommended to be used for short term perceptual recovery after a single team sport event. A COMB recovery should be elected for superior perceptual recovery over a team sport tournament day. The research presented in this thesis has significantly contributed to post-exercise recovery research by providing an overview of recovery strategy use by Australian-based team sport athletes and by providing evidence-based recommendations from trials that compare the effectiveness of various recovery strategies used by team sport athletes. These findings provide athletes and coaches with up-to-date information to assist with informed decision making about their recovery choices in particular sports and contexts. Recommendations for future research have also been identified, including investigation into whether performance or perceptual recovery is more important and whether individualised recovery is required for optimum team performance.

Entered in 2014, due to the people for the government planning-policy planning ＂Free Economic Pilot Zones＂ can't understand the depth of the ground, causing the community have a strong voice of doubt, leading to ＂The Special Act for Free Economic Pilot Zones＂ is located in the legislature smoothly through. Because of ＂Free Economic Pilot zones＂ policy for the future trend of how to meet the economic restructuring of regional integration has a key position, the strategic policy decisions will directly affect the success or failure of China's future economic transformation. The so-called ＂successful strategy can restore failed tactics, tactical success but irreversible strategic failure＂, SEZ development strategy is to be at the ＂offshore pattern＂ or ＂onshore＂ among the chosen. After ＂Free economic Pilot Zones ＂ policy planning our SWOT analysis will help policy makers to clarify the right of the SAR's economic development strategy, taking into consideration the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and further through the TOWS matrix, list matching strategy, combined ＂advantages and opportunities strategy＂ (SO strategies); improve opportunities for disadvantaged master policy (WO strategies); advantage to avoid the threat of strategy (ST strategies); to avoid the threat of strategies to improve the weak (WT strategies). Nature can analyze the ＂Free economic Pilot zones,＂ the vision of policy planning strategy, resource sharing strategy, marketing strategy and transformation strategy, the conclusion that what is going to take, ＂Regional Integration eating pie 'offshore pattern, or to choose＂ the Taiwan's economic pie bigger, ＂onshore pattern＂. SWOT analysis can help in this article in accordance with ＂the use of the advantages to make up for weaknesses, seize opportunities and avoid threats＂ principle steps to develop a clear pilot of the free economic zonedevelopment strategy. Through TOWS matrix, and then list the strategies paired analysis framework consisting of this nature can be used as the fundamental basis for the analysis of free economic demonstration zone policy planning. Conclusions of this study are: if the ＂free economy demonstration, DC＂ Our policy is to respect the strategic planning mechanism field, then everything comes naturally, ＂Regional Integration eating pie＂ to take the choice is ＂offshore pattern＂ If the policy of strategic planning is ＂followers,＂ Well, since it is a follower, in fact, our country did not have much choice but to exclude the domestic market barriers as possible, try to ＂expand the pie＂, choose to take ＂onshore pattern＂.

Many strategic decisions in business are made in a context which the decision makers perceive as uncertain, complex and opaque. A method, based on Rhyne's field anomaly relaxation technique, is described of generating a network of states which characterise the environment or context in which strategic decisions are to be made. These states represent possible future conditions for the business, and knowledge of them allows improved strategic understanding and decision making to be achieved. This paper describes the method, using a representative real-life application to illustrate the process.

Urban Air Mobility (UAM) systems offer a three-dimensional transportation alternative by using low-altitude airspace, with the potential to reduce travel times and improve access to mobility in regions underserved by current transportation systems. To support efficient design and operation of UAM systems, we develop an integrated optimization framework in response to three interrelated challenges: (i) land use, aeronautical feasibility, community acceptance and other factors that restrict the number of potential locations for vertiports, (ii) bidirectional demand–supply interaction that needs to be considered, as the level of service influences demand for UAM and operators adjust the level of service in response to demand, and (iii) strong interactions between strategic decisions on the distribution of ground infrastructure, tactical decisions on eVTOL fleet size and operational decisions on dispatching and repositioning. Analyzing the decisions in isolation can lead to poor estimates of the overall system performance. The framework consists of (1) a knock-off criteria analysis model for the identification of a realistic set of candidate locations for vertiports, (2) integer programming models in which strategic, tactical and operational decision levels are modeled, and (3) pre-processing techniques to generate near-optimal solutions for real-world instances. By applying the framework in a large-scale real-world setting in the Île-de-France region, we demonstrate complex interactions between strategic, tactical, and operational decision levels and customer demand, revealing various trade-offs between operator profit and traveler generalized travel costs. • Provide realistic candidate vertiports in the Île-de-France region using knock-off criteria screening. • Integrate vertiport location selection with eVTOL fleet sizing and operations and demand interaction. • Identify non-linear trade-offs between operator profit and user generalized travel costs. • Conclusions on the economic viability of UAM operations. • Identification of UAM network structures with distinct vertiport roles.

This chapter provides an overview of mergers and acquisitions as strategic decisions that enable corporate renewal. After identifying their distinctive features vis-a-vis other strategic resource allocation decisions, the sources of value creation are analyzed and the concept of value creation is distinguished across the capital markets school, the strategic school, the organization behavior school, and the process perspective. The chapter further examines the notion of value in mergers and acquisitions by including the concepts of value appropriation and value destruction. The analysis then moves to establishing a linkage between acquisitions and a firm’s corporate strategy. Finally, the chapter covers the role of experience and learning in mergers and acquisitions as a pervasive force driving both decision-making and integration aspects.

Network Structure and Strategic Investments: An Experimental Analysis

Background: The research on boards' strategic involvement has increased dramatically in the last few decades due to the need for improving boards' strategic effectiveness as a mechanism for improving organizational performance. The corporate scandals highlighted even more that boards' strategic decisions have sizable consequences for organizational survival, and long-term implications for organizational development. Purpose: The main research questions in this study are: 1. Which are the main elements of the concept of boards' strategic involvement?; 2. Which models constitute the core of the concept and how we can classify them?; 3. How has the discourse on boards' strategic role changed over time? Our purpose is to provide comprehensive answers to these questions and draft the future research agenda in this area. Study design/methodology/approach: Having in mind that boards' strategic involvement is a multi-disciplinary area, we first conducted an integrative literature review, to detect the competing groups of models, and afterwards we conducted a semi-structured literature review in order to identify the most important topics in this area and to draft the future research agenda. Findings/conclusions: This paper contributes to research by identifying the models of boards' strategic involvement, classifying them in three competing groups of models that represent the foundation in this research area, by identifying the most investigated topics in the past five years and finally, by drafting the future research agenda. Our conclusion is that the research in this multidisciplinary area is navigating around these three groups of models and that the most explored topics around which the future research is going to be conducted are boards' involvement in the area of strategic human resource management and decisions regarding organizations' sustainability. Limitations/future research: The study's main limitations are related to the fact that the identified models on boards' strategic involvement have been developed, mostly by authors from the USA and UK, where the one-tier board system is used. In future research, the authors should focus on proposing new framework(s)/model(s) and supporting its insights with empirical evidence.

Soviet military debates reveal the logic from which their military doctrine and strategy develop. That logic, based on the defense of Soviet territory and the acquisition of sufficient military power to deny military victory to any coalition of enemies, has not changed radically over time. The continuity in Soviet military doctrine and objectives should not, however, result in the failure to recognize the dynamic nature of Soviet military thought and military strategy. That dynamism in the European theater is the subject of this chapter which examines the evolution of deterrence-Soviet style. Its major thesis is that from Stalin to Gorbachev the political leadership has, through its military doctrine, tasked the armed forces to plan and develop military forces and strategies to deter nuclear war against Soviet territory. Military strategy has evolved with dramatic and often sudden shifts in response to American threats, Soviet capabilities, and changes in political leadership. This thesis is not new to Soviet specialists.1 The emphasis here is on Soviet potential for flexibility in war and how its evolution differs from NATO concepts of flexible response.

Institutions play a vital role in allocating entrepreneurial talent in society. Specifically, the payoffs to different kinds of innovation influence the allocation of entrepreneurial talent between productive, unproductive, and destructive behavior. I apply this insight to the case of the military classics of China’s Warring States period, 475–221 BCE. The Warring States witnessed political centralization and incessant conflict that helped inspire numerous economic and social innovations. Among these are the appearance of many texts pertaining to governance and public policy, particularly writings on military strategy. Excellence in strategy and planning were highly rewarded during this period, and competing states even developed an interstate market for military talent. However, success in commerce was often not only frowned upon, but harshly punished. This tendency was reinforced by the rise of Legalist policies, which often recommended suppressing the merchant class relative to agricultural production and militarism. These institutional conditions limited the amount of ‘productive’ market entrepreneurship in the period, which was often instead channeled into ‘unproductive’ entrepreneurship, especially the areas of military organization and strategy.

This study analyzes the utilization of Ho Chi Minh's ideas on people's war and all-people's national defense in the development of Vietnam's National Defense Strategy and Military Strategy in the present day. The study highlights the significant theoretical and practical importance of Ho Chi Minh's ideology, which is a useful resource for the Party, people, and military forces in protecting the socialist Vietnamese country. The paper emphasizes the necessity of acquiring a thorough comprehension of Ho Chi Minh's ideologies, their fundamental principles, and the significance of innovatively implementing them in the formulation of defense and military strategies, in accordance with the Party's directives, policies, and the unique conditions of the nation. Furthermore, it emphasizes the imperative of safeguarding and enhancing Ho Chi Minh's revolutionary philosophy during the formulation of these policies. The research highlights the vital significance of Ho Chi Minh's ideas in tackling important matters concerning national defense, military matters, and the readiness for possible wars or armed conflicts, while maintaining alignment with Vietnam's talents and resources. The primary objective of the study is to provide a meaningful contribution to the preservation and progress of Ho Chi Minh's intellectual legacy in the pursuit of establishing a robust national defense and military strategy for Vietnam.

Business and model-driven development of BDI multi-agent systems

The rational behavior model (RBM) is a tri-level, multiparadigm software architecture for robotic vehicles, such as autonomous underwater vehicles. Among the RBM's strategic, tactical, and execution levels, the tactical level performs a role to bridge the strategic and execution levels. That is, it provides behaviors to the strategic level and controls the execution level based on the commands (behavior activations) from the strategic level. To meet these requirements while maintaining non-interrupted vehicle operation, the tactical level has to be able to handle the concurrently operating behaviors. This paper describes a concurrent, object-oriented implementation for the tactical level of the NPS autonomous underwater vehicle with use of the Ada task construct. This paper also presents evaluation scenarios and results obtained from the NPS AUV high fidelity dynamic simulator.