The board finds itself in a commercial war zone, so the role of the board and the War Committee in this article is parallel!Whether it is a large enterprise group or a board of directors of large State-owned enterprises (and government departments), they have set the direction for the organization and decided on the strategy to bring them to victory.An effective board of directors (once the strategic direction has been set) must be carefully considered: why, and then have a clear understanding of how they will do it!Corporate Strategy!It must be clear to the board whether a business should follow a strategy of stability, growth, austerity or turnaround.For example, in very large countries and global enterprises, the essence of these strategies is countless times.Strategies related to corporate strategy.If businesses remain stable in the existing market, they will choose to follow "no"During this period, change the strategy by weighing future growth and their current profits.They may have bought some companies, or they have started a whole new one.Now it will take time for them to consolidate the whole business and to carry out the business in an orderly manner (streamline the company policy and build the structure, system and corporate culture behind the policy ).While tidying up their houses, people will focus on how the internal and external environment changes ("Is there a strong new competitor that has entered my core market "?).If an enterprise chooses a growth strategy in line with market opportunities and aims to increase sales, increase profits and expand market share, vertical and horizontal integration is considered;And diversity.Diversity is indeed a variety of choices!Two growth sub-Strategy, mergers and acquisitions are very goodIf not global dominance.As many cases have shown, businesses typically reach a phase of decline in their life cycle, taking into account redundancy strategies.The tightening strategy may require divestment, exclusive strategy and liquidation.If they want to bring new life to the troubled enterprises, they will turn to the strategy of turning the situation around.This is the traditional enterprise strategy method used by many large enterprises!While this is a real, tested approach, one can ask, what else can be added to let people know how important corporate strategy is to business success.Can the modern business council learn from centuries of war?Lessons can be learned from the Roman Empire, the Greek empire, the British imperialism and the Napoleon war.Other wars took place in Russia and China today.War is different from Civil War, African Colonial War, Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, Middle East warEastern Europe and other regions.Behind every war of these empires, you will find military strategy.The Great War of the twenty centuryStill fresh in the memory of many historiansIt was World War I and World War II.The two wars created a platform for the planning and execution of the subsequent modern conventional wars (Korean, Vietnamese and Iraqi wars, to name a few.Therefore, this article mainly draws lessons from these two World War enterprises.The key lesson isWhen setting up a scene for an article --There must be an effective war committee for every war.Behind the War Committee is a "war Marshal" (CEO of the heyday), his commander (executive), the division commander (general manager, etc );And brave soldiers (human capital ).World War I, as an example!Many post-The recruits of the First World War became professional soldiers and found jobs in support capabilities such as intelligence, communications and logistics.Others choose to graduate from the military academy and become commanders inside and outside the battlefield.Many people retired later.Others are too old to go to another war, but they are still very interested in military issues.These ex-combatants (at the time of the outbreak of the second world war) have the experience of the First World War and strategic insight related to the situation of the war.By allowing selected experiences and insights to serve in the war council, they are well utilized.Their mission is to provide a grand strategy to win the expected wars and battles.In addition to experienced soldiers, a typical Committee portfolio will include political and legal experts, economists, scientists, and experts in other specialized fields (war-related ).Perhaps for the sake of argument, experts pick out in the "war --Propaganda played a vital role.g."Corporate Communications" today ").Signal (digital) communications specialists must ensure that messages reach the battlefield quickly and accurately in order to be able to plan and guide the battlefield!Every member of the Council must give expert advice on how to deal with war!They have to submit a war strategy to the commander, and they want to remember that unless the commander has a good chance of winning, they will not put their country, themselves and their soldiers in danger.Commander in charge of mobilizing soldiers (serving in Army, Air Force, Navy and also supporting Division (medical and logistic for example) interested in hearing the views of the war council on the whole long termThe goal and purpose of the war!When commanders want to know what their mission is on the battlefield.Are they defending the territory from the enemy?Attack the enemy?Stop the enemy?Or, expand in a country (learn from Roman, Greek, Persian and British empires by military means )?Each possibility requires a war strategy, which includes battle scenarios as battlefield conditions change ("changes in the business environment.None of the wars succeeded only in one battle and all of them used the same strategy.World War II was ignited by the NazisGermany is trying to take over much of Europe (expanding by military means ).Hitler first attacked Poland and then took an offensive strategy until he was forced to defend Germany a few years later.Hitler's attack prompted the superpower Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union to attack him.Britain sometimes has to defend at the same time.g.Rocket attacks on London), the same is true of the Soviet Union.g.Battle of Stalingrad ).Away from the war in Europe-Mainly attacking the enemy (allied with Britain and the Soviet Union ).Once the commanders are convinced that they have made the core strategy clear, it is likely that they will make the first attack.If they are persuaded or uncertain, this will be in the war council's action planning room, and it is possible that the key strategy and objectives of the expected war may be a method that is doomed to failure when tested on the battlefield.First, military targets.Where will the war take place (the mainland and the state) and why does the War Council think that the war and battle that comes with it will end with victory (competitive advantage.Once they know the military objectives, the commander will ask the war commission if their soldiers (human capital) are sufficient in quantity and capacity.No soldiers (or commanders) can start a war without the necessary training (trained human capital) and the correct numbers!Is there a need for support from commanders and soldiers to make the battle successful?In addition to playing a strong leadership role at all levels (Headquarters and zoning), the Defense Forces also require weapons, intelligence, communications and logistical support.As true commanders, they will ask the War Council further about many issues related to war efforts.The war council must prepare in advance to explain some key factors.What are the expected benefits of the envisaged war, when to start, at what stage, or what should be rewarded?Commanders set themselves milestones and time frames for achieving their goals on the battlefield.If the big strategy is unrealistic in terms of timing and expectations for results, the commanders will disagree!Given the political, economic, social and technical terrain of the battlefield, what are the relevant rules of engagement?Is War in line with national and international war legislation and war ethics (for lack of better words )?Every war has its loot (victory and profit) and responsibility ("corporate governance ").What values will drive war and fighting?g.Geneva Convention )?Is Victory at all costs?Atom-When diplomacy finally failed, a bomb attack on Japan was the last resort.The human-It is their right if the enemy is caught or injured.Non-civil rightsenemy have?Will there be room and respect for the human suffering that people inevitably suffer in war?In the business world, weapons and equipmentproduction-Doing business in a war-torn country, the company is facing this dilemma!Will compensation work once victory is sealed?In many cases, large exploration companies have destroyed the environment for finding minerals!It can be seen that the task of the War Committee is very arduous!If they plan and propose a war strategy that commanders know is destined to fail on the battlefield, they will not be able to get the level of commitment they need.Commanders or soldiers have never won the war, they think there is no purpose for the war, and the war may be extended with little benefit and many costs (both economic and human ).In business, there is no difference between modern boards.If they are a collective of experts who do not have a different board of education, skills and experience, life will be given to things that are not feasible.The board will propose a corporate strategy that is doomed to failure.Even worse, if the collective is driven by political thoughtDriven by nepotism, the company's strategy is destined to lead executives (commanders) into a business war --The result will be the area of loss rather than profit.Regardless of the executive's ability, regardless of the enthusiasm of human capital.The support feature will not be able to increase the value they should add and eventually become a cost!There is often a nepotism of the board of directors among State-owned enterprises.Then, political considerations cover up the pursuit of efficiency!If Marshall ("ceo") is not actually a member of the board, he/she will not be able to add value to the company's strategic decisions.To make matters worse, it is dominated by other board members who use the wrong agenda.While board members may (or in fact must) have been educated, experienced, competent, and expert in different relevant areas of the business, they will find themselves having more questions than answers in the first place.Manufacturing, retail, services, and now the new giants of the "knowledge economy" have different strategic needs.They are different in the market.zones).Business strategy planning ("battlefield strategy") has different needs.Different functional strategies ("War Support ").The board of directors of the investment company has a particularly difficult task.They usually have to invest capital on behalf of capital owners in all these industries.Do they only appoint financial experts?No, it's good to have experts from different industries and departments present.One question learned from the lessons of war is: "Is there something like strategic responsibility at the board level ?"?Isn't this the responsibility of the CEO and executive (commander) and general manager ("zone commander") to decide how they want to do business?The answer is simple, no!If board members are different from that, then they need to ask themselves, "so why are we here ?"?Scholars and experts have different arguments about the board-level corporate strategy from the "Leave strategy for executives and business general managers.Some believe that strategic planning tasks are best left to business executives.Yes, if the umbrella enterprise strategy is in place and with full confidence it will guide the business and functional strategy in the right direction!In addition to the president (and the prime minister), the War Council must also explain to the whole country why the war failed, why the war did not anticipate the loss of human life, and in many cases, the country went bankrupt after the war.In this era, the corporate governance of large enterprises is no different.The board must explain to investors why their money is invested improperly or poorly managed, or openly exposed to corruption.This is not much different in state-owned enterprises.Inevitably, tax funds enter these enterprises through government subsidies, loans and guarantees.Taxpayers should, like investors, ask the same questions to the boards of these businesses.The government is also a major shareholder!The board is responsible for policy-driven corporate governance.Overall, various corporate policies constitute an overall corporate governance framework that drives business and functional strategies.This leads to the question: Can corporate governance be separated from corporate strategy?Rational thinking will tell us that a company's strategy is to make all the key and necessary business decisions ("win the war, we have to do this ").These business decisions are incorporated into the company policy ("win the war, this is what we have to do ").Corporate governance and ethics ensure persistence ("win the war, how we will control it )!The control will follow the business value ("War has it boundary ").The board's responsibility is somehow aligned with what happens on a daily basis at the business and operational levels.However, the board is the custodian.If not the watchdogWhat will happen to the enterprise as a whole.Once the board policy is finalized, it becomes the Gospel of the enterprise.In a diversified enterprise group, it is extremely difficult to obtain a binding corporate culture.Is it possible for the board to define core corporate values and ensure that it goes deep into the heart of commanders and soldiers through organizational and corporate communication?During the war, there was frequent publicityThe task of the office is to ensure this.In modern commercial communications, experts can advise on how to do so, but need recognition at the board level.It is essential to have a comprehensive strategy to penetrate the top management and then delegate them to the business layer (E.G.g.MD of subsidiaries and so-forth).So what should be considered as a general guideline when serving on the board to ensure that your appointment is added value?The impact of the board of directors on the Enterprise boils down to accurate strategic planning and accurate event deployment schedule (\ 'both world wars have adopted accurate planning, however, the battle took a lot of time and resources.The board of directors must have an understanding of where the enterprise is located;And, providing a vision of where it should go, more or less it will arrive.The board should present "new" strategic thinking and talent based on this vision!Many board members may be successful in running the business.However, the transformation from business strategy to business strategy requires a new upper limit of thinking.Perhaps another country's growth strategy could be used as an example.The board should be able to think strategically about which country (your own or foreign) should be targeted, what the target is, and why it is worth it, in order to achieve this goal, the most appropriate enterprise strategy, the industry of the relevant countries, the competitive advantage of the national industry, the core competitive power of other countries and possible corporate ideological conflicts.The board should be aware of and acknowledge the reality of the company's pressure!A new direction may cost the company.The board must empathize with what is outside the corporate strategy of commanders and soldiers (executives and human capital.A commission should be able to stand in the position of the commander, who will mobilize his soldier department and ask himself: "I have made the key corporate decision, and now, if I am in a war, can I do the work myself?zone\'?The board should form an alliance with commanders to support the company strategy, which may be different from the previous one!Usually, executives are so involved in the process of running the business (according to the agreement signed last time --Outside of the company's strategy, they may become numb to new ideas or behaviors!As a basis for the alliance with executives, the board should be able to stand on the ground of the soldiers and understand in the business War decided, in terms of corporate pressure, what impact this will have on human capital.The soldiers suffered extreme attacks.Traumatic stress caused by warIn a business war, a new market needs to penetrate, with deadlines and profit targets no different from chasing enemies in uncertain terrain.The board of directors should have strong corporate communication skills in the committee.Without doing so, the corporate strategy will remain a document and will not be a boon to the business.Building a corporate brand in a foreign country that is expanding will be an additional challenge.In war, powerful commanders and soldiers are identified by their uniforms and flags, just like their ability to wage war!Can the importance of corporate strategy be underestimated?The board may, and perhaps some do underestimate the importance of this, but in businesses that lack direction and policy to guide business decision-making and conduct, any guess will happen, at all other levels of the enterprise.The board is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the vision and objectives of the business do not fail.Owners and investors will not support this.The divestment will be the result, the board may be declared redundant, and human capital will sink with the ship if no compass leads to a war zone!May there be another lesson to learn?What can void the board?In many private businesses, you may find that people are close to each other.Look at state-owned enterprises and see the impact of political nepotism.In South Africa, for example, several experts can serve on the board of state-owned companies.Based on their business experience, education and skills, they will have the opportunity to be appointed.Many of the candidates worthy of consideration will come from the old political order to stop the appointment.Recently, since the current directors were appointed primarily on the basis of the political spectrum, the question of whether the candidates were appropriate was of concern.The outcome of this board political nepotism reflects what investors struggle with: inefficiency and corruption!State-owned enterprises may have effective boards in the future.SA has a large selection of old guards and new security candidates coming up with the option of business, science, education, technology and investment!The privatization debate is rather intense on the South African national agenda.Investors will be looking at what the existing boards look like and what they should look like to make state-owned enterprises an attractive investment proposal!End of article.
