The text discusses strategic trade-offs that are different between Walmart and Nordstrom even though they are in the same industry. Think of another industry that you know fairly well and select two firms there that also have made very different choices for these trade-offs. Describe some of the differences between these firms. What type of trade-off decisions have these firms made?
The chapter discusses several strategic leadership issues at Facebook. Several other firms are also noted in the chapter with some positive and some negative leadership results. Choose a firm mentioned in the chapter and discuss current controversial issues it faces. How should strategic leaders address the major issues you identified? In what situations is top-down planning likely to be superior to bottom-up emergent strategy development?
