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Scenario planning is management approach to deal with uncertainty in the business environment. The intention of the approach is to allow management of organisations to better understand and manage their environment. There are many examples of scenario planning in the practitioner literature that suggest that the approach works in practice. There is however little empirical evidence to support or explore the validity of such claims. The origin of this thesis was an exploratory study to understand the impact of interventions using scenario planning in the context of small and medium sized enterprises. In conducting empirical research, the researcher can reflect on what has become a 'learning journey', which identifies the cognitive processes managers employ to manage change arising from such interventions. The research identifies managerial recipes and transitional objects allowing volitional strategic change to occur. That is, the existing managerial understanding based on past experience and success acts as a bridge from the existing world to a new world, without which change cannot be rationalised and management would be incapacitated. I have called this the 'upframed recipe', expressing its elements of lasting validity, the transitional object.

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To date there has been no identified academic research of Hoshin Kanri in the West and the purpose of this thesis is to clarify the Hoshin Kanri process within the context of Western practice highlighting issues and identifying potential areas for future research. A review of the literature suggests that Hoshin Kanri links an organisation's strategy with its operations on a day to day basis, the thesis therefore discusses Hoshin Kanri within the theory of strategic management contributing to knowledge and understanding not only of Hoshin Kanri but of strategic management. The methodology adopted was an in depth single case study design utilising a tracer approach thus extending knowledge of a research method upon which other researchers can draw. The case study of Nissan Yamato Engineering Ltd. explores the Hoshin Kanri process within a Japanese owned company operating within a Western context held to be an exemplar of practice. A conceptual model of Hoshin Kanri is proposed, and the research suggests that emphasis in the West upon issues of culture and empowerment has obscured the need for organisational arrangements which integrate strategic concerns with day to day management at an operational level.

M.Comm. / Vision and mission are often incorrectly seen as synonyms. In this study the vision and mission are defined separately. A vision is defined as a dream of an ultimate goal of the organisation in the future. This must be a clear and specific image or word picture that requires imagination. The vision must become ideology and summarise the core values of the organisation. A mission is defined as the type of business that the organisation is carrying out. It says why the organisation has a right to exist and the immediate goal of the organisation. A vision and a mission have definite advantages for the organisation. Some of the advantages are an ultimate and an immediate goal to strive for. A vision helps employees to decide if its actions are correct or incorrect. A mission gives employees responsibility and the employees' performance can be measured against it. There are certain requirements a vision and a mission have to meet. The joined requirements are it must inspire, motivate and energise the employees. Secondly, management with the input of the employees must formulate it. Thirdly, the vision and the mission must be shared with all the employees to ensure goal concurrency. Fourthly, the vision and mission must be positive. Lastly, it must encourage employees to think long term. Vision specific requirements are it must be a leap in the future, specific and understandable to all the employees, unique and original, timeless, something worth the organisation's while, make sense in the market and create a environment of risk taking and experimentation. Mission specific requirements are it must describe the type of business clearly, must be in line with the external environment, state the right to exist, help with the allocation of resources, lead by the vision of the organisation and persuade employees emotionally to achieve the mission. The mission should include a ten to thirty year goal against which employees performance can be measured...

O objetivo deste trabalho foi obter informações sobre a correlação qualitativa entre o sucesso econômico e a consistência estratégica das panificadoras de pequeno e médio porte de diferentes modelos de loja. O estudo da estratégia nas pequenas empresas é fundamental para o entendimento das ações que levam esse tipo de empresas ao sucesso, devido à suas especificidades em relação às grandes empresas; cuja literatura é ainda relativamente escassa. Por outro lado o setor de panificação é de grande relevância e para a economia nacional e vem apresentando boas taxas de crescimento anual e uma transição para a agregação de maior qualidade nas suas operações. Para a concepção do objetivo desta pesquisa a metodologia adotada foi a realização de um estudo multicascos, de caráter qualitativo, em dez panificadoras da cidade de São José do Rio Preto/SP. Este estudo compreendeu entrevistas com os proprietários das empresas, sendo que desse total três eram de médio porte e sete de pequeno porte. Os resultados obtidos apontaram que quanto mais aderentes forem as ações estratégicas tomadas pelas empresas às dimensões estratégicas de seu grupo estratégico, melhores serão os resultados apresentados. Além disso, o estudo trouxe uma contribuição ao oferecer um conjunto de dimensões estratégicas mais específico para cada um dos grupos estratégicos encontrados no segmento de panificação brasileiro. Espera-se com esse trabalho um maior entendimento sobre a estratégia em pequenas e médias empresas, e de forma mais específica, uma contribuição para o estudo e o ensino de estratégias para este setor. / The aim of this study was to obtain qualitative information about the correlation between economic success and consistency of strategic bakeries small and midsize different store models. The study of strategy in small businesses is crucial to understanding the actions that lead to this kind of business success, due to their specificity toward large companies, whose literature is still relatively scarce. Moreover the bakery sector is of great importance and for the national economy and is showing good growth rates and an annual aggregate transition to higher quality in their operations. For the design of the objective of the research methodology adopted was to conduct a study multihulls, qualitative, in ten bakeries in the city of São José do Rio Preto/SP. This study included interviews with business owners, and of this total three were midsize and seven small. The results showed that the more members are strategic actions taken by companies to strategic dimensions of its strategic group, the better the results. Moreover, the study has brought a contribution by providing a set of more specific strategic dimensions for each strategic groups found in Brazilian segment baking. It is expected that work with a greater understanding of the strategy in small and medium enterprises, and more specifically, a contribution to the study and teaching strategies for this sector.

This study explores the managerial perception regarding the influence of CSR on corporate branding in the Indian agribusiness context. This thesis relies on CSR theories and brand management models and follows a qualitative case methodology. The study contributes to existing knowledge by focusing on the motives of Indian agribusiness firms to get involved in CSR practices and the means through which such practices influences branding. The study focuses on three key elements of corporate branding of Indian agribusiness - corporate image and reputation, corporate culture and corporate communication. The research draws on thematic analysis of 28 responses from semi-structured interviews of practicing managers in branding, marketing and CSR domains of four large agribusiness firms in India. The results reveal that though CSR practices does not influence corporate branding strategy of agribusiness firms significantly, firms do have implicit motive of branding while pursuing CSR. Firms primarily do CSR for operational reasons such as for removing the operational and legal hurdles for smooth functioning of the manufacturing plant and business which is an explicit motive of CSR. The other explicit motives are ‘community development’ and ‘philanthropy’. The study indicates that agribusiness firms use CSR practices to gain support of the local community for smooth operation of their business or at the time of crisis. The results illustrate that, CSR positively influences corporate image and reputation and thereby objectively influences corporate branding of Indian agribusiness firms. Other aspects of the study divulge that CSR has limited influence on advertising and communication programs because advertising of CSR is not common in India due to cultural and cost issues. However, promotion and internal communication of CSR initiatives are adequately done within the organisations. Moreover, the study also elucidates that firms possessing a corporate culture which gives importance to environmental sustainabilityare more likely to adopt CSR in their future brand strategy than firms which possess a corporate culture that is largely driven by market forces and competition.