organization member capabilities

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Definition

The activities of strategic management require capable individuals. The activities serve both to produce the competitive advantage for the business as well as develop the skills in the members of the organization. It is a virtuous cycle of the strategic management process - the more disciplined the approach to the activities of the process, the greater the skill of the members, and the more effective the organization at producing a competitive advantage.

Categories of capabilities --
The strategic management discipline capabilities are grouped into three levels - those required to lead and manage, those required to innovate, and those required for business design --

  • leadership and management -- think of Collins' (2001) Level 5 Leadership that builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical combination of personal humility plus professional will. In this category are the basics -
    • leading with courage,
    • managing with discipline and rigor,
    • proactively developing insight and intuition,
    • learning,
    • development,
    • transforming the business organization,
    • recognizing existing and new patterns,
    • thinking in diverse ways - e.g. analytically, systematically, holistically, and strategically.
    • See leadership and management.

  • innovation -- applying creativity and invention in the business --
    • developing and applying creativity,
    • integrating entrepreneurial behavior into the organization,
    • developing stronger and new capabilities,
    • innovation of management processes, the business concept, offerings, throughput processes, and technology.
    • See innovation.

  • business design -- incorporating elements into the business design that reduce the workload on the management processes and make the organization more adaptable and responsive. These elements include -
    • a guiding purpose to energize and inspire organization members,
    • principles to guide behavior,
    • enabling responsiveness in dynamic environments,
    • modularity for ease of configuring new business solutions, and
    • adaptability built into the organization, unleashing the self-organizing forces of complex systems.
    • See business design.