CFAF-P14

CFAF-P14
MBA 2014-16: Term-III

CROSS-FUNCTIONAL ANALYSIS OF FIRMS

Indranil Chakrabarti
Sheila R. Chakrabarti

OVERVIEW & OBJECTIVES
This short course draws upon several intellectual strands. At one level it seeks to integrate the different functional areas of management, drawing and inter-linking inputs from them, as appropriate for a given problem/decision context; hence the name: ‘cross-functional’; not to be confused with ‘cross-functional teams’, the latter being an organisational tool useful in certain specific situations. The emphasis here, instead, is on strategic decision-making, which requires one to think across all the relevant functional areas.

Besides inputs from the management profession, important ideas come from complexity science, cybernetics, and economics. Where they all intersect is, of course, the firm. A central objective of the course is to facilitate a keener appreciation of firms. The firm, even from a static view, is increasingly seen as among the most complex of entities. The actual firm is of course rarely static; it is ever morphing, ever evolving. Yet to be effective, irrespective of one’s specialisation, a management professional would need to make sense of such complex dynamics, to try and anticipate them, and to guide and direct the same towards meaningful outcomes. The course seeks to contribute to this need.

Thus at another level the course is about effective decision-making within, and on behalf, of firms. This would involve a more holistic examination of the particular firm, especially, the evolving logic for its performance and design, and the non-linear relationship between design and strategy.

PEDAGOGY
The main pedagogical tool would be case analysis. The chosen case(s) would be probed for as comprehensive and deep an examination as possible. During the process of the analysis, the suitability of various conceptual and analytical tools would be explored. This would require of each participant a very high level of familiarity with case facts, and considerable prior processing of the case; only then might one be able to adequately join in classroom discussion and debates, which are often intense.

EVALUATION
The course is not a graded one. There is a pre-course assignment, details about which would be available in the ‘Forum’ of the course’s page on the AIS.

TEXT
There is no single comprehensive text for the course. The following, taken together, would be representative:

Arthur, Brian (2014) Complexity & the Economy Oxford University Press
Beinhocker, Eric (2006) The Origin of Wealth: Evolution, Complexity, and the Radical Remaking of Economics Harvard Business School Press
Drucker, Peter (1998) On the Profession of Management Harvard Business School Press
Ellet, William (2007) The Case Study Handbook Harvard Business Review Press
Perrow, Charles (1986) Complex Organizations: A Criticial Essay McGraw-Hill Publishers
Williamson, Oliver (1996) Mechanisms of Governance Oxford University Press

For further culture, comprehensive books on individual firms are recommended. A wide reading of business press, especially ones where actual firms are taken up for in-depth examination, would be useful. “Briefings” on individual firms in The Economist, www.economist.com, are noted for their cross-functional analysis with a strategic thrust. Especially useful would be the drill of working one’s own way through the same data, towards exploring for alternative interpretations and conjectures. You may initially hone your skills with only a few chosen firms, preferably those in which you already have a special interest because of your sectoral and/or functional specialisation.

It’s not that I’m so smart; it’s just that I stay with problems longer.
Albert Einstein

Effective executives do not make a great many decisions. They concentrate on what is important. They try to make the few important decisions on the highest level of conceptual understanding. ... They are therefore not overly impressed by speed in decision making; they consider virtuosity in manipulating a great many variables a symptom of sloppy thinking. They want to know what the decision is all about and what the underlying realities are which the decision has to satisfy. They want impact rather than technique. ...
Decision making is only one of the tasks of an executive ... But to make the important decision is the specific executive task. Only an executive makes such decisions ... Indeed to be expected (by virtue of position or knowledge) to make decisions that have significant and positive impact on the entire organization, its performance, and its results characterizes an effective executive.
Peter Drucker

Created By: Alora Kar on 01/28/2015 at 11:51 AM
Category: MBA-I T-3 Doctype: Document

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