Business and Marketing Planning - Planned and Emergent Approaches, Ga Literature review

Essays on Business and Marketing Planning - Planned and Emergent Approaches, Game theory, Scenario Planning, Effectiveness of Planned and Emergent Approach Literature review The paper â€Å"Business and Marketing Planning   - Planned and Emergent Approaches, Game theory, Scenario Planning, Effectiveness of Planned and Emergent Approach† is a  worthy example of a literature review on marketing. As time has led to globalization, a lot of things are changing dramatically and organizations have adopted strategies that are more flexible to achieve competitive advantage. Johnson, Scholes, and Whittington (2005) define the strategy as organizational direction and scope over the long-term that achieves an advantage in a changing environment by configuring its resources with the main aim of fulfilling the expectations of stakeholders. According to De Wit and Meyer (2004), strategy-making involves sense-making, envisioning, reflecting, experimenting, learning and changing the organization which cannot be neatly programmed or organized. The question on which strategies to use in the achievement of competitive advantage is very common. Some argue that a p lanned approach to strategies will ensure that the organization will have a direction and as a result, act rationally. Others argue that an emergent approach to strategies will ensure the development of new strategies over time in order to adapt reactively to unfolding circumstances. This shows the usefulness of both planning and emergency approaches. Given the importance of both methods, game theory and scenario planning are essential in finding the balance between the two approaches in order to ensure their effectiveness.Planned and Emergent approachesA planned approach to strategy is said to be deliberate and carefully planned. It involves a periodic and formalized process of establishing organizational goals and objectives for the establishment the future allocation of organizational resources. The basic principle behind this approach is that the organization will achieve an effective allocation of resources for the correct purposes and at the right areas in order to be more res ponsive to the needs of the stakeholders. This approach is relevant to many organizations in the formulation of their strategies (Hax, Majluf, 2006). The emergent strategy involves a set of actions, consistent over time, or a realized pattern that was not intended expressly during the original planning of strategy. Such strategy develops when there is an adoption of a series of actions within an organization that turns into a consistent behavioural pattern with time, irrespective of specific intentions. This approach is an implication that the organization is learning what is working practically (Mintzberg, 1994).Game theoryAs described by Brandenburger (1995), game theory is an emergent approach to strategy. It regarded as an experimental and a response mechanism that is very crucial when addressing unpredictability in the market. We are considering a situation where we are focusing on market players and the existing potential while analyzing key players instead of eliminating the m. As a mathematical tool, game theory is used in anticipation of possible scenarios as well as developing appropriate strategies that will deal with them. As Copeland (2007) states, the principle behind the game theory is that if any player makes a decision in a game, there is a change in the nature of the playing field everyone. This implies the applicability of this model in business and marketing planning. It assists in modeling, analyzing as well as understanding the behaviour of various self-interested parties that come together when making their decisions. According to Pinkasovitch (2009), the approach is also applicable where multiple parties are involved in decision making. For instance, it is more applicable where parties are striving to maximize their payoffs while making choice on their strategies, and the final payoff of each party is dependent on the profile of strategies that all agents have chosen. In such a case, it will improve the strategic making of a decision by providing valuable insights to all interactions of the parties (Myerson, 1997). However, this approach is not applicable in all situations and it requires integration with other models that are more focused and individually prescribed. Although a close focus on the external environment is important, formulating a strategy with the sole purpose of analyzing market players can bar the organization in addressing real issues that affect internal performance (Hax, Majluf, 1996). In addition, given that most organizations are already struggling to adhere to strategies that they have formulated, adopting another strategy that deals with the analysis of other parties will not be positive. This is also another way hindering business and marketing planning process.