Staying on course
Strategic control, adaptation and case studies.
- Level
- Bitesize
- Learning time
- 1 hour 15 minutes
- Where
- Strategic Management
- Price
- £39
When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Read the full terms
Certificate of Completion
Overview and Outcomes.
Overview
Strategic control is about closing the loop, not catching people out. Drawing on Robert Simons' work on control systems, this module distinguishes post-action control, which checks targets after the fact, from steering control, which tests whether the assumptions behind a strategy still hold. Nokia shows how accurate numbers can sit on failing beliefs, and three practical habits show how to build steering control in. This capstone brings no new theory. It tests the whole strategic management cycle against three documented cases: Microsoft under Satya Nadella, where a corporate pivot, portfolio shift and cascade worked together; a council's 2023 Section 114 notice, where problems were measured and reported but never escalated; and Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan, where a mission shaped the portfolio and survived a costly test.
What you'll develop
In this Bitesize, you will develop the ability to:
- Distinguish steering control from post-action control and explain why post-action control alone feels reassuring.
- Plan three steering control habits: naming assumptions, revisiting them on a fixed cadence, and giving a reviewer real authority.
- Explain how steering control closes the strategic management cycle by feeding failed assumptions back into scanning and formulation.
- Identify which strategic management frameworks were at work in each of the three cases and explain how they interacted.
- Assess why accurate post-action reporting failed to prevent the Section 114 notice, using steering control and levels of strategy.
The Modules.
1 hour 15 minutes of learning.
- 07Strategic Control and Continuous AdaptationStrategic control is about closing the loop, not catching people out. Drawing on Robert Simons' work on control systems, this module distinguishes post-action control, which checks targets after the fact, from steering control, which tests whether the assumptions behind a strategy still hold. Nokia shows how accurate numbers can sit on failing beliefs, and three practical habits show how to build steering control in.37 min
- 08Applied Case Studies and CapstoneThis capstone brings no new theory. It tests the whole strategic management cycle against three documented cases: Microsoft under Satya Nadella, where a corporate pivot, portfolio shift and cascade worked together; a council's 2023 Section 114 notice, where problems were measured and reported but never escalated; and Unilever's Sustainable Living Plan, where a mission shaped the portfolio and survived a costly test.39 min
Keep going.
Part of the Strategic Management topic, also sold whole as Strategy that works.
Go deeper, and pay only the difference
- You are hereBitesize, 1 hour 15 minutes, £39
- Next stepFocus, From strategy to delivery, 2 hours 30 minutes, £69. Already own the Bitesize? You pay £30.
- The whole topicExplore, Strategy that works, 5 hours, £129. Already own the Bitesize? You pay £90.
When you step up to a higher level, what you paid in the last 12 months for lower-level courses inside the bigger course comes off its price, in proportion to how much of each is inside it, whichever topic it's from. Courses at the same or a lower level don't give credit against each other. A Focus course or above always costs at least £15. Prices per person. Read the full terms