The passion of Strategy
Today we thoroughly enjoyed the lecture in Managing Strategy & Strategic change. I share a brief narration of what went in this session.
The case study revolved around what and how of an acquisition of Rowntree by Nestle. So far, we hadn't had three sessions in a row in either of the first two terms and I was a bit worried on whether I would be able to sustain my concentration in the subject. Believe me - I was in for a sweet surprise.
Having done our share of reading the night before, most of us were engaging in the class discussion. And when the fast moving Dr Richard Schoenberg takes the session, your eyes will continue to roll around the class - catching him speaking as well as the slideshow on screen.
I guess there is something about the subject of Strategy - everyone gets hooked onto it. Partly because it is a much touted word around in every corporate but more because it brings together ones understanding of all functions and aspects about business. And as the course title suggested, it was an extension of the strategy that we had studied in term 2. Here we were focusing on strategy and the change involved around strategic implementation.
All through the session that lasted well over three hours, with two quick stretch breaks, it was as if a movie was rolling in front of my eyes. I could feel that I see the board members of Nestle talking about how to negotiate with Rowntree, the predator player who was also gunning for the target and the heated yet controlled discussion over the table, the officials walking away to another room for internal consultation ……..
Then we were informed about how the real incident happened and the subsequent developments for all players involved. It was truly an engrossing session. The end of the session was an anti climax. Out came bag from under the table of Dr Schoenberg and he said, "Well, how can a session where one talks of Nestle and Rowntree be complete without Kitkat!" And there were dozens of Kitkat chocolates for all of us. The applause for Dr Schoenberg was thunderous and we kept on clapping while nibbling at those chocolates. What a session it was!!
The case study revolved around what and how of an acquisition of Rowntree by Nestle. So far, we hadn't had three sessions in a row in either of the first two terms and I was a bit worried on whether I would be able to sustain my concentration in the subject. Believe me - I was in for a sweet surprise.
Having done our share of reading the night before, most of us were engaging in the class discussion. And when the fast moving Dr Richard Schoenberg takes the session, your eyes will continue to roll around the class - catching him speaking as well as the slideshow on screen.
I guess there is something about the subject of Strategy - everyone gets hooked onto it. Partly because it is a much touted word around in every corporate but more because it brings together ones understanding of all functions and aspects about business. And as the course title suggested, it was an extension of the strategy that we had studied in term 2. Here we were focusing on strategy and the change involved around strategic implementation.
All through the session that lasted well over three hours, with two quick stretch breaks, it was as if a movie was rolling in front of my eyes. I could feel that I see the board members of Nestle talking about how to negotiate with Rowntree, the predator player who was also gunning for the target and the heated yet controlled discussion over the table, the officials walking away to another room for internal consultation ……..
Then we were informed about how the real incident happened and the subsequent developments for all players involved. It was truly an engrossing session. The end of the session was an anti climax. Out came bag from under the table of Dr Schoenberg and he said, "Well, how can a session where one talks of Nestle and Rowntree be complete without Kitkat!" And there were dozens of Kitkat chocolates for all of us. The applause for Dr Schoenberg was thunderous and we kept on clapping while nibbling at those chocolates. What a session it was!!
posted by Sandeep Gupta at
9:02 pm
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