40334457

Master of Business Administration

Leadership Practice (LPU)

Leading Strategic Decision-Making

HRM11120

Project A
Individual Coursework

AUTHOR:

40334457
Word Count
2489
(Homepage not included)

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Table of Contents 2

1.0 Abbreviations & Terms 3

2.0 Introduction 4

3.0 Discussion 5

3.1 Purpose 5

3.2 Strategy 6

3.3 Behaviour Standards 6

3.4 Values 7

3.5 A sense of Mission 7

4.0 Conclusion 8

5.0 Twitter Inc. Strategy 9

5.1 Twitter Inc. Strategic Decision 10

6.0 References 11

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1.0 Abbreviations & Terms

Inc. Incorporated

ROI Return on Investment

BBC British Broadcasting Corporation

CNN Cable News Network

R&D Research & Development

CSR Corporate Social Responsibility

IPO Initial Public Offering

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2.0 INTRODUCTION

At the heart of an organisation is its strategy mission, a sense of being and the core
reason why the organisation is in business. The purpose of an organisation is the
compass that points an organisation to where it aspired to go in the future and preserve
what is needed at present. The direction of an organisation’s strategy is the expression
of its underlying values, and these values are incorporated in a vision statement
(Varadarajan, 2010). The mission of an organisation is tantamount to its growth and
continuing existence. When this mission statement is understood and shared, it
inspires behaviours and guides direction to objectivity and decision making; hence
members of an organisation are motivated to work towards common goals. The vision
of an organisation could be divided into two parts, one is the company’s principles,
which is the bedrock of its values and core purpose. The other is the imagined and
envisaged future. The mission of an organisation is significant when it stimulates a
company’s intended accomplishment for the future which accentuates its strategy. The
Ashridge mission model encompasses the tenets for achieving or realising a sense of
mission in an organisation. This model reveals specific conditions that must be
ensured for an organisation to understand a sense of purpose. This report intends to
analyse the Twitter case study drawing on the elements presented on the Ashridge
mission model to explore if Twitter Inc. achieved a sense of mission based on its
company reports.

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3.0 DISCUSSION

The Ashridge model stresses strong commitment to goals and company values by any
organisation with a sense of mission; this idealises the connection of a firm with its
members (shareholders and stakeholders) which distinctively peculiarised it from
competitors regarding its modus operandi and business principles. The understanding
of mission is of utmost importance which broadly can be described as both a strategy
for running day-to-day business and as ethics that governs attitudes around the
business circle. Organisation’s mission defines the target market such as what the
company is about and who they are out to serve and what it must sell. The purpose
becomes a strategic tool through which the business rationale is both pursued and
achieved. The Ashridge Model identified four organisational objectives for a sense of
mission which is; purpose, values, behaviour standards and strategy (Campbell &
Yeung, 1991). The successful integrating of these four components to form some
reinforced connections that involve stakeholders and engage employees -undoubtedly
is the road to a strong sense of mission (Campbell & Young, 1991).

3.1 Purpose

Most companies understand the significance of building to last, they know the contrast
between evanescence and permanence, between the genuineness of an
organisation’s vision and what is subject to change. The purpose therefore is the ability
to manage continuity and be guided to preserve the core of an organisation. The
question is, should an organisation change what it represents, what are the underlying
factors that drive members to go above and beyond and why do stakeholders feel
indebted to an organisation? It is all a function of purpose which the primary reason
for the firm’s existence is. However, the Ashridge Model identified categories of use
as either shareholder directed; a single-mindedness that creates wealth for the
shareholders, stakeholders targeted or existing as a social enterprise and at the same
time enhancing organisational growth. Twitter Incorporation aims “to give everyone
the power to create and share ideas and information instantly without barriers. Our
business and revenue will always follow that mission in ways that improve – and do
not detract from – a free and global conversation”. It is evidenced in this mission
statement that Twitter appears in the second and third category as the company aims

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to serve as a social enterprise by fostering real-time information sharing on the global

scale.

3.2 Strategy

There is a tremendous amount of change taking place in the technology world,

competitions are now being measured in a matter of months and not in years. In this
massive amount of change, organisations require strategic agility and core key
business capability to move quickly as well as easily. There are usually ground shift in
demand such as consumer and industry demand, so companies need unique
resources as a competitive advantage, instead of responding to change it becomes
the creator and inventor of change. Innovating all aspects of the value chain.
Organisations that must achieve their original purpose in the face of competition must
outline concrete plans and well-thought-out systems to facilitates the actualisation of
such mission (Wood, 2010). Twitter Inc. intended to have a mass audience of one
billion users and gross top -over all internet companies globally. The Twitter strategy,
therefore, was targeted towards market innovation of its services and products to
which the company was eagerly employing and retaining creative, innovative and
skilled members of staff over the years. As a global communication network, Twitter
Inc. has expanded across borders and shores to claim desired markets amidst high
competition in the internet business. In 2014 and 2015, Twitter Inc. invested $212.7
million in R&D, and this is expedient if Twitter must be the master of the game.
Amongst Twitter’s core competencies over other social media platforms is the
freedom, Twitter users had to share information in real time all over the world. Although
Twitter needed to decide on some fundamental core values with unique pictures on
how to achieve them and at the same time get a level of freedom from investors calling
the shots.

3.3 Behaviour Standards

A direction is vital if people must carry out certain responsibility and job descriptions.
The purpose of an organisation must be made flesh and simple enough for employees
to interpret and run with. Twitter has a Directory of Open Source Projects, members
of staff find meaning in work as they contribute, they become motivated, creative and
feel they are a part of something tangible, this fostered innovation in Twitter and place
the company in the light of achieving its mission (Mark & Parker, 2011). Twitter Inc.

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understood promoting intrinsic motivation in workers, and the company offered

employees compensations in stock which made employees perceived themselves as
stakeholders in Twitter and fully geared to work towards its success as they must share
the company’s losses as well. These actionable steps are enhancers to shared space
and an active community force in Twitter Inc.

3.4 Values

There are relation and interrelation with the four components to understanding mission
proposed by the Ashridge Strategic Management Centre. Values are what makes a
company’s behaviour standards meaningful. Through values, the principles (purpose)
that are core to the organisation are translated into strategic tools to guide business
practices. Twitter’s core essential to growth and continuous improvement is rooted in
its ability to build unwavering trust with customers, protect consumers right which is
focal to accomplishing its mission. As it is expected of every company, Twitter Inc.
religiously adhere to financial disclosure, the tenets of Security and Exchange
Commission. To stay ahead of the competition and gain market speed, Twitter Inc. is
relentlessly investing and building a culture of workplace innovation, imbibing all the
characteristics that make the active team such as diversity, inclusion and maintaining
the various features of the organisation.

3.5 Sense of Mission

I mentioned before that the interrelations of the four cardinal points proposed by the
Ashridge Strategic Management Centre are what makes a strong sense of mission.
The question usually would be how secure is the connection between the purpose and
strategy, how do the values of Twitter Inc. dictate or conform with their behaviour
standards? What manner of influence is the external environment having on the
internal processes of Twitter Inc.? There are as much reinforcement and cumulative
working of the company’s strategy and purpose such as being customer focused and
technologically driven to enhance real-time communication globally-a focal point of
Twitter’s Inc. purpose.

The policies that guided Twitter Inc. are founded on trust and fair trade to command
passionate dedication to the corporate organisation. The place of transformational
leadership in Twitter cannot be undermined, strategic direction in Twitter Inc. gave the
organisation a sense of being by painting a vivid and compelling picture of their

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preferred future for Twitter. This leadership went beyond organising and controlling to
motivating, stimulating and creating an enabling environment for innovation and
change creation. Although Twitter Inc. experienced its founders leave at its early age,
the leadership was nonetheless strategic, internal processes maintained and whole
operations and management running in full gears. The effectiveness of its strategy in
administration birthed the “Twitter Beta”, Twitter anticipated change and implemented
decisions that enabled it not just to compete but dictate and stay ahead of the
competition. Twitter Inc. managed income potential and enhanced and sustained
efficiency, standards and performance to optimum.

4.0 CONCLUSION

The argument so far revealed a deep connection of the signs of a sense of mission
(purpose, values, behaviour standards and strategy) from which it can be deduced
that Twitter manifested a definite mission. Twitter Inc. expansion across countries and
cultures would bring to focus differences in cultures and integration in the many places
and location it operated in. Cultures are frameworks that shape a countries perspective
and individuals pattern of behaviour, their value system and general beliefs (Hofstede,
1980). These cultural values shape employee’s perceptions of an organisational core
purpose and values. This evidence, therefore, suggests beyond doubt that Twitter
achieved a strong sense of mission as there might be a conflict between
employees/host country values in respect to Twitter Inc. values as well. Another critical
point is employees’ commitment and emotional disposition to Twitter’s values. There
is no evidence, in this case, to prove either way whether there was a conflict of values
or disparity of employees’ values to that of the organisation.

In conclusion, there is no evidence in the report to tell if Twitter Inc. operated as a

social enterprise. The overall sustainability of an organisation must be built around a
Corporate Social Responsibility “CSR”, playing a crucial part in the society from which
it operates. Twitter Inc. achieved a robust economic purpose but did not incorporate
CSR according to its company reports.

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5.0 TWITTER’S INC. STRATEGY

Success, performance and organisations sustainability is depended upon the type of

procedure chosen to pursue its purpose and organisational processes best, and this
entails the giving of values to customers and achieving economic and market growth.
Market position, segmentation and targeting are built into a strategy to foster
organisation’s long-term values. Firms would have to choose which of these strategies
is best suited to achieve their overall purpose and how they would survive when faced
by external threats, unavailability of resources, human capabilities and most especially
surviving market competition.

Twitter Inc. strategy can be analysed based on an intended and emergent approach
which determines if their plan was intended or emergent or both. While the Intended
strategy is systematically and intentionally designed in advance with a purpose by
organisational leadership, emergent strategy, therefore, are those unexpected
outcomes in the operations of strategy and integrated into an organisations framework.

5.1 Twitter Inc. Strategic Decision

Twitter Inc. strategy is both intended and emergent.

At inception, Twitter Inc. strategy was intended according to the channelling of its
purpose and vision in actualising and establishing the business. Twitter Inc. top
management set out the strategic intent, company objectives and mission throughout
the organisation. Some of the following development from these strategies includes;
innovation and creativity in products and services, growing a large customer base,
acquisition of other companies, R&D, Investment in technology, trading as a publicly
quoted company and spreading its tentacles internationally. The transitioning of
Twitter Inc. initial public offering (IPO) to a publicly trading company from a private one
is intended through a systematic, corporate and financial planning process.

Twitter Inc. in pursuant to new products, services and innovative based solutions are
emergent strategies arising from changes in the technological world. This strategy
development, therefore, led to investment in R&D, new technology and process
innovation which helped Twitter Inc. maintain market relevance. According to the

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company reports, Twitter Inc. acquired other business entities, these acquisitions of
start-ups were necessary on the one hand to eliminate competition and on the other
hand as a speed strategy to positioning, boost its growth, enhance development and
maintain market relevance. These strategies are emergent resulting from a need to
diversify appropriately and be rightly positioned amid competition. Amid user
consumption, Twitter Inc. grew internationally, an approach to increase user base
stated in the company reports.

Twitter also established a media partnership with likes of Cable News Network “CNN”
and British Broadcasting Corporation “BBC” specifically for content distribution and for
advertisers to market their services. Because it is technology-based, this platform also
served as a programming interface for the use of its data for software development.
This decision is strategic as it increased customer base, giving value for time and
money, catalysed Twitter Inc. earnings and fortified the company’s core purpose.

Twitter Inc. used a mixed of intended and emergent strategies. However, the most
dominant is the emergent strategy. This is so considering the Business dynamics of
innovation needs and benchmarks on spending based on revenue, the apparent
industry Competition which makes it necessary for innovation, the urgency of Time
to complete current projects, the Influence from shareholders to gain returns on
investments “ROI” and the risk of Impact weighted on organisation in changing or
discontinuing a strategic choice. The critical decisions and processes established by
Twitter Inc. is a firm foundation on which the company can thrive. It is apparent that
there is a strong focus on creativity, innovative services and product development
which can help gain a more significant market share and remain active in real time.

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6.0 References

Campbell, A., & Yeung, S. (1991). Creating a sense of mission. Long range
planning, 24(4), 10-20.

Hofstede, G., (1980). Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in

Work-Related Values. Beverly Hills, Sage.

Mark, K., & Parker, S. (2011). Twitter (in Ireland, R.D., Hoskisson, R.E., & Hitt,
M.A. (2013).). The Management of Strategies; 10th International Edition, United States:
Cengage Learning

Twitter (2013) Annual Report 2013. Twitter, Inc.

https://investor.twitterinc.com/annuals-proxies.cfm Accessed: (24/04/2018)

Twitter (2014) Annual Report 2014. Twitter, Inc.

https://investor.twitterinc.com/annuals-proxies.cfm Accessed: (24/04/2018)

Twitter (2016) Annual Report 2016. Twitter, Inc.

https://investor.twitterinc.com/annuals-proxies.cfm Accessed: (24/04/2018)

Varadarajan, R. (2010). Strategic marketing and marketing strategy: domain,

definition, fundamental issues and foundational premises. Journal of the Academy of
Marketing Science, 38(2), 119-140

Wood Burk, M. (2010). Essential guide to marketing planning (2nd edition).

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