The Strategy and Strategic Management Plans for the Mawalla Group

The Strategy and Strategic
Management Plans for the
Mawalla Group
By:
Irene Ngowi (LL.B, MBA), 2009.

Table of Contents
Contents
1.0 Introduction: .....................................................................................................................4
1.1 Background of the Mawalla Group: .................................................................................5
2.0 Strategy, Strategic Plan and Strategic Management defined: .......................................6
2.1 The importance of Strategic Planning and Management: ..............................................9
3.0 How the Mawalla Group initiates, formulates and implements its Strategic Plans: . 11
3.1 How a Strategic Plan is initialed and agreed upon by the Mawalla Group: ............... 11
3.2 The Strategy Formulation or Production Process: ........................................................ 13
3.3 Clarification of Organization Mandates: ........................................................................ 18
3.4 The Vision and Mission of the Mawalla Group: ............................................................. 21
3.5 Factors considered in Strategic Planning and Management by the Mawalla Group: . 23
3.5.1 Assessment of the Environment: ................................................................................ 23
3.5.2 Focusing on the Mawalla Group Objectives: .............................................................. 27
3.5.3 Resource Audit: ............................................................................................................ 31
3.5.4 Analysis of Cost and Profit: ......................................................................................... 31
3.5.5 Benchmarking: ............................................................................................................. 31
3.5.6 Value Chain Analysis: .................................................................................................. 32
3.5.7 Focusing on core competencies: ................................................................................. 32
3.5.8 Application of the Shareholder value analysis: ......................................................... 34
3.5.9 Assessing Parenting Advantage: ................................................................................ 34
3.5.10 Portfolio Analysis:...................................................................................................... 35
3.6 How the Mawalla Group analyzes its environment: ..................................................... 36
3.7 Implementing the Strategic Plan: ................................................................................. 39
3.8 Monitoring and Reviewing the Strategic Plans of the Mawalla Group: ...................... 40
4.0 The type of Strategic Planning applied by the Mawalla Group: ................................... 41
5.0 Conclusions: .................................................................................................................... 42
6.0 Recommendations: .......................................................................................................... 44
7.0 References: ...................................................................................................................... 46
8.0 Appendices: ..................................................................................................................... 47
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‘Tomorrow always arrives. It is always different, and then even the
mightiest company is in trouble if it has not worked on the future’
- Drucker P.F
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1.0 Introduction:
In an effort to write the Strategy, Strategic and Management Plans of the
Mawalla Group, research has been conducted applying the questionnaire and
interview data collection methodologies to obtain the said information. The
following shall be addressed in this document vis a vis the Mawalla Group:
1.1 How the Mawalla Group strategy is formulated;
1.2 How the Strategic Plans are initialed and agreed upon by the
Mawalla Group;
1.3 The objectives of the Mawalla Group;
1.4 What the organizational mandates for the Mawalla Group are;
1.5 What the vision and the mission of the Mawalla Group is;
1.6 How the Mawalla Group assesses its environment in crafting
its Strategic Plans;
1.7 How the Strategic Plans for the Mawalla Group are produced;
1.8 How the Strategic Plans for the Mawalla Group are
implemented;
1.9 How the Strategic Plans of the Mawalla Group are reviewed.
This document shall establish of the type of Strategy, the Strategic and
Management Plans in place for the Mawalla Group and shall present evidence
for the same. Towards the end of this document, a critic of the Strategic
Management process shall be made, and recommendation(s) as to ways to
improve the same shall be provided.
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1.1 Background of the Mawalla Group:
The Mawalla Group encompasses the group of companies that appears in
Figure 1 as part the appendices of this document, basically comprising of
Mawalla Advocates, Mawalla Trust Limited, Mawalla Corporate Centre (which
comprises of Mawalla Corporate Services Limited, Mawalla Financial Services
Limited, and Mawalla Holdings Limited). The core business of the Mawalla
Group is Law Practice, which is operated through Mawalla Advocates, under
the leadership of Mr. Nyaga Mawalla (hereinafter referred to as ‘Mr.
Mawalla’).
It was in 1998 that Mr. Mawalla began to form the Strategy Map of the
Mawalla Group as appearing under Figure 1 of this document; however, it
was not until 2002 when the Strategy was set to motion. Mr. Mawalla left
Kibo Chambers (a law office in Moshi belonging to his father and mentor –
Advocate Juma R.S. Mawalla) to move to Arusha, whereupon he established
his own Law Firm called Mawalla Advocates (hereinafter cited as ‘the
Firm’), then located at Moivaro, in the outskirts of Arusha.
Mr. Mawalla, who is not only a brilliant man, but also an astute business
man, strategically settled in Arusha, to build a prominent and dynamic Firm
following his predecessor. Mr. Mawalla, after a thorough assessment of the
market needs of the people of Arusha, strategically made the decision of
focusing on corporate governance, wildlife law, real estate, wealth
structuring and management. He further assembled a team of young
motivated lawyers, offering specialized skills in the disciplines of corporate
law, wildlife law, real estate law, trust law and land law 1 .
As the Firm’s business grew, its supporting infrastructure needed to expand,
hence in 2006 the Firm moved to a more permanent location, a private
1 Mawalla Corporate Brochure; 2009; Page 9
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estate in Arusha’s Burka suburb, now called the Mawalla Heritage Park.
Mawalla Heritage Park houses the Mawalla Law Offices (including Mawalla
Advocates and Mawalla Trust Limited), the Mawalla Corporate Centre
(including the Mawalla Corporate Services Limited, Mawalla Financial
Services Limited and Mawalla Holdings Limited) as well as a private
restaurant and eight stand alone residential units 2 .
This infrastructure has been strategically developed to serve an elite
clientele who seek services in Real Estate Law, Trust and Management Law,
Corporate Law and Asset Management.
2.0 Strategy, Strategic Plan and Strategic Management defined:
Strategy in simple English has been defined as a plan that is intended to
achieve a particular purpose 3 . Strategy is a goal directed business decision
and action in which capabilities and resources are matched with the
opportunities and threats in its environment 4 .
The term strategic planning is thought to have originated from the term
‘Corporate Planning,’ which had almost taken over by the end of the
1960’s, partly because it was linked to both the long and short term plans,
which enabled the management to set strategies that would take the
organization to a different and predetermined future 5 . Although operational
planning and strategic planning are intertwined, it is the latter that is the
driver, and short term plans and systems are driven by the longer term
perspectives, and it was because of this that ‘strategic planning’ took over
2
Mawalla Corporate Brochure; 2009; Page 10
3 th
Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary; 6 Edition; Oxford University Press;2000
4
Research and Discussions, 2009
5
Hussey,D; Strategic Management for theory to implementation; 4th edition; Butterworth Heinemann; 1998; Pg 7.
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from ‘corporate planning’ 6 . Strategic planning places more concentration into
strategy in relation to the business environment, markets and competitors,
the most common process is based on the preparation of corporate wide
plans, with submissions from the various business units being discussed
with top management of the organization 7 . Strategic Planning focuses on
Strategy Formulation and not Strategy Implementation. It involves the
identification of alternatives, the collection of information, evaluation and
selection of alternatives and finally the strategic decisions themselves 8 . A
strategic plan consists of an organization’s mission and vision statements;
the organizations near and long term performance targets; the
organization’s strategy. 9
In Strategic Management, Strategic Planning is still important, but it is only
a component. Strategic Management includes internal elements of the
organization such as style, structure and climate. It also includes
implementation, control and consideration of the ‘soft’ elements of the
environment. It is about the management of the total organization, in order
to create the future. Strategic Management has three main elements:
1. Strategic analysis – in which the strategist(s) seeks to understand
the strategic position of the organization;
2. Strategic choice stage – in which the strategist(s) formulates of
possible courses of action, their evaluation, and the choice between
them;
3. Strategic implementation – in the strategist(s) plans how the choice
of strategy can be put into effect.
6 Hussey,D; Strategic Management for theory to implementation; 4th edition; Butterworth Heinemann; Pg 10
7 Ibid; Pg 11
8 Ibid; Pg 297-8
9 Research and Discussions, 2009
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The development of the concept of strategic management became thick in
the 1980’s and a good example of the key main stream thinker was Michael
Porter 10 . According to Porter, there are three generic strategies available to
all organizations: cost leadership, differentiation and focus. He argued
further that the frequent shifts in strategy would leave a company mediocre
at everything 11 . Quinn 12 argued that strategy should evolve on internal
decisions and external events that flow together to create new, widely
shared consensus for action among key members of the top management
team. Hamel and Prahadal 13 later on emphasized on the internal
capabilities of the firm, through the choosing and development of core
competencies, which enable the firm to gain competitive success. They
emphasize on strategic intent and core competencies. Kay 14 also contributed
by building on competency and value chain concepts. He sees strategic
success as deriving from distinctive capability that an organization can use in
selected markets to achieve a sustainable position, and give customers
added value. Kay believes that firms that are successful in innovation are
often able to do so because of the strengths they have developed in their
architecture, which enable them to generate a continuous flow of
innovations, or move more rapidly than others to get an innovation to the
market 15 .
With the turn of the millennium, came new contingency approaches to
Strategic Management, which were advocated by thinkers such as Igor
Ansoff, who focused on the external circumstances which organizations
operated, and hence came up with the five turbulence theory, with each of
10 Hussey,D; Op cit; Pg 13
11 Porter, M.E; Competitive Strategy; Free Press New York; 1980.
12 Quinn, J.B; Strategies for Change: Logical Incrementalism: Irwin, Homewood, IL. 1980
13 Hemel, G. and Prahadal, C. K; Competing for the future; Harvard Business school Press, Boston 1996
14 Kay, J.; Foundations of Corporate Success: How Business Strategies Add Value; Oxford University Press, Oxford,
1993.
15 Hussey ,D.; Op cit: Pg 17
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which was associated with an optimal way of strategic management 16 .
D’Aveni 17 proposes a different strategic approach for firms which operate in
conditions of hypercompetition, which is the condition of ever higher levels
of uncertainty, turbulence, diversity of competitors and hostility. He argues
that Strategic Management is no longer about creating long term
competitive advantage, which is un-stainable, but is about continually
changing the patterns of markets, seeking temporary advantages and
maintaining the momentum of change.
Conclusively, the above review suggests that there are five areas of critical
importance in successful Strategic Management, of which none should be
neglected 18 . These are:
1. The Capabilities of Decision Leaders;
2. Analysis;
3. Creative Strategic thinking;
4. Strategic Decision Process; and
5. Implementation.
2.1 The importance of Strategic Planning and Management:
The justification for Strategic Management is that, it is believed that through
it, the organization can have a successful future. Logical considerations lead
to an expectation that planning procedures will bring more profits than they
cost 19 . Planning can be carried well or it can be done badly; however,
whatever the method used, it is evident that since the 1970’s research has
16 Hussey, D.; Opt cit; Pg 20
17 D’Aveni, R.; Hyper-competition: Managing the Dynamics Of Strategic Maneuvering; Free Press, New York, 1994.
18 Hussey, D.; Op cit; Pg 22
19 Hussey, D.; Op cit; Pg 27
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shown that strategic planning has become established in most organizations
of any size. It is argued that strategic planning may:
1. Help to produce clear objectives and logical evaluation of the plans;
2. Lead to the assessment of strengths and weakness, which may in turn
lead to immediate profit improvement opportunities;
3. Coordinate ability of strategic planning may bring an immediate
improvement in communication;
4. Be a factor which leads to organizational change;
5. Lead to results which can often be quantified and frequently
impressive;
6. In the long run lead to sustained growth and profitability;
7. Lead to clarity of purpose of the organization;
8. Lead to better identification of additional opportunities and better
coordination;
9. Lead to better decision making 20 .
Strategic Management is in large part about setting corporate strategy in
relation to the opportunities and threats of the market place and the
business environment. 21 So there is every reason as to why organizations
should commit to strategic management, however, there are four areas of
weakness which have been observed to contribute to poor strategic
performance. These are:
1. Failure to analyze the situation before strategic decisions are made;
2. Failure to implement strategic decisions, including failure to think
through the implications of a new strategy;
3. Problems with the process of planning itself;
20 Research and Discussions, 2009
21 Hussey, D.; Op cit; Pg 38
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4. Incomplete understanding of many of the concepts by those claiming
to apply them.
Having briefly looked at the historical development of strategic planning and
management and its importance, let us now address the root of the matter.
3.0 How the Mawalla Group initiates, formulates and implements
its Strategic Plans:
3.1 How a Strategic Planning process is initialed and agreed upon
by the Mawalla Group:
According to Mr. Mawalla, the Mawalla Group has opted to use the Chief
Architect Approach (whereby there is only one major player, being Mr.
Mawalla) as a Strategic Planning initiation and formulation process as
discussed below for the simple reason that the core business of the Mawalla
Group is Law Practice. The Strategic Plans for the Group are initialed in the
following manner:
3.1.1 Mr. Mawalla presents a Strategic Plan as an idea to the five main
Associates at a meeting of the Associates of Mawalla Advocates.
There are instances in which anyone of the five main Associates
may initial a Strategic Plan, and a meeting is held to discuss the
same. However, such situations are rare.
3.1.2 The Strategic Plan is then processed by deliberation, assessing
the legal, financial, and sometimes ethical outcome for the
implementation of the strategy.
3.1.3 The implementation process and the evaluation process of the
Strategic Plan are agreed upon.
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3.1.4 Once the Strategic Plan has been introduced at the first meeting,
Mr. Mawalla then packages the Strategic Plan (by polishing the
idea(s) in consultation with relevant persons and organizations in
Tanzania and abroad and also by reviewing the internal process
of how the Strategic Plan shall be implemented to completion).
3.1.5 Mr. Mawalla thereafter calls another meeting in which the
Strategic Plan is once again deliberated, appraised and or
criticized (if need be).
3.1.6 Once the Strategic Plan is understood and the Strategic
implementation process is agreed upon, the implementation
process is set to motion by the Heads of Departments and the
various staff beneath them 22 .
The advantages and disadvantages of the said Strategic Plan initiation and
formulation process are as follows:
A. Advantages of this Strategic Plan initiation and formulation
process:
1) This approach ensures that there are no variations in the Business
Strategy, i.e. the Blue Ocean Strategy as discussed on page 41 of this
document by the Group and or dissimilar interpretations in the
application of the law at Mawalla Advocates; hence creating a united
Mawalla Way. This is reflected in the systems that are developed to
ensure that the Mawalla Group is run uniformly and the clients are
served accordingly.
2) This approach also ensures that there is one point of control and that
the same rests with the Mr. Mawalla.
22 Interview with Mr. Mawalla; 30 th of June 2009; Completed Questionnaire attached as an appendix herewith.
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3) This approach ensures that Strategy and Strategic Plans are
implemented as it is presented; not withstanding the normal and
necessary adjustments that are made on parts of the Strategic Plan.
B. Disadvantages of this Strategic Plan initiation and formulation
process:
1) The down fall of this Strategic Plan initiation and formulation process is
that, the people involved in the implementation of the Strategic Plan
need to be made to understand fully the Business Strategy of the
Mawalla Group, the Strategic Plan itself, envision the results and
pursue whole heartedly the objectives of the Mawalla Group. This
sometimes tends to be a difficult task, and Mr. Mawalla may need to
massively educate the implementers and sometimes the implementers
of the Strategic Plan may not understand or agree and hence fail to
implement the Strategic Plan accordingly.
2) This Strategic Plan initiation and formulation process sometimes leads
the implementers to believe that they are merely implementing the
ideas of one visionary.
3) When Mr. Mawalla is not available to make a final decision, the
implementers may be stranded and left without a Strategic leader.
3.2 The Strategy Formulation Process:
Strategy formulation involves doing a situation analysis internally and
externally at the micro and macro environmental levels. Concurrent with this
assessment the objectives are set. It also involves the crafting of the vision
statement, the mission statement, the role of the organization in the society,
the overall corporate objectives (financial and strategic), the business unit
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objectives (financial and strategic) and the tactical objectives. These
objectives should suggest a Strategic Plan and the plan should provide the
details as to how to achieve the objectives. This is sometimes referred to as
determining where you are now, determining where you want to go,
and then determining how you want to get there 23 .
A good Company Strategy should consist of the following:
1. Reaction and response to the external and internal environments;
2. Actions to alter geographic coverage;
3. Actions to merge with or acquire another company;
4. Actions to form strategic alliances or partnerships;
5. Actions to capitalize on new opportunities and defend against threats;
6. Approaches to defining how the company manages key functional
areas;
7. Actions to strengthen company resource base and competitive
capabilities;
8. Actions to diversify revenue base and enter altogether new industries
of businesses;
9. Actions and initiatives to outcompete rivals.
Following an interview with the CEO of the Mawalla Group 24 , these are the
findings regarding the short, long strategic and management plans / targets
of the Mawalla Group:
A. The short term Strategic Plans for Mawalla Group consists of:
1) Creating a product line to sell under the Mawalla Brand. This
product line will comprise of services that are offered under
23 Research and Discussions, 2009
24 Interview with Mr. Mawalla; 30 th of June 2009; Completed Questionnaire attached as an appendix herewith.
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Mawalla & Advocates; Mawalla Financial Services; Mawalla
Corporate Services and Mawalla Real Estate Services.
2) Creating systems that will enable the use of the product line and
ensure that the products under the brand reach the desired target
groups – i.e. individuals and corporations (public and private). The
following systems have been created already:
2.1 The corporate data profile – a system to be utilized by
Mawalla Corporate Services Limited;
2.2 The property data profile – a system to be utilized by
Mawalla Advocates under the Real Estate Services
Department;
2.3 The financial data profile – system to be utilized by
Mawalla Financial Services Limited.
3) Roll out the three systems to individuals and corporations (public
and private) within the country for use. This is will involve a
marketing strategy as the target group above cited will be at liberty
to buy (at a nominal value) and use the systems. However, the said
end users will not be at liberty to alter or change the systems
without the authorization of Mawalla. Thus, Mawalla shall reserve all
rights of the systems under the brand Mawalla.
B) The Long term Strategic and Management Plans for the core
business of the Mawalla Group (operating under Mawalla
Advocates) is wealth creation and management, which will be
done through the provision of the following services:
1) The Provision of Real Estate Services by implementing real estate
legislation; planning and zoning; advising on real estate finance;
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eal estate investment, real estate investment trusts, real estate
litigation, real estate private equity, real estate securitization and
real estate tax.
2) The Provision of Trust and Management services by establishing and
managing trusts, advising on asset protection schemes, preparing
wills and administering deceased persons’ estates, acting as
attorneys, providing independent trustees and corporate trustee
services, setting up charitable trusts and companies and providing
custodial or nominee management services.
3) The Provision of corporate services by building, managing and
maintaining groups of companies on behalf of other corporations;
performing complex mergers and acquisitions; overseeing private
equity and private equity funds and advising on all aspects of
corporate management and governance.
4) The Provisions of Asset Management services by advising on asset
management and investment, including outsourcing of the same to
expert consultants in Tanzania and abroad.
5) The creation and management an Institute of Chartered Secretaries
(ICS) in Tanzania and the training of young lawyers on how to
become chartered secretaries for companies in East Africa.
6) The formation of a partnership with Rooth Wessels Motla Conradie
(Pretoria – Brooklyn, a law firm in the Republic of South Africa) and
or any other Law Firm anywhere else in the world, and another
partnership with the University of Free State in the Republic of
South Africa and or any other University anywhere else in the world
and work towards developing new product lines for use in both
jurisdictions.
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7) The management of the Mawalla Group in Partnership with the five
main Associates of Mawalla Advocates, legal procedures are
underway to make Lemmy Bartholomew a Partner in the Firm by
means of a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP).
8) The entering into a Public Private Partnership (PPP) with the
Business Registrations & Licensing Agency (BRELA) to provide
corporate services to all 26 regions of Tanzania by opening an office
in all regional capitals of Tanzania, starting with four (4) in the next
five (5) years.
9) The entering into a Public Private Partnership (PPP) with the
Tanzania Investment Center (TIC), as well as work with
programmes such as Mpango wa Kurasimisha Rasilimali na Biashara
za Wanyonge Tanzania ( MKURABITA) (the programe for the legal
and economic empowerment of the poor in Tanzania); and
MKUKUTA (National Strategy for growth and Reduction of Poverty in
Tanzania), in order to assist in poverty reduction by making access
easier to business formalization in Tanzania by rolling out corporate
services in all the regions of Tanzania.
10) The provision of tax and financial advise through Mawalla Financial
Services Limited to public and private corporations, hence assist the
Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) to collect taxes in their capacity
as tax consultants.
11) The provision of legal corporate securities services through Mawalla
Corporate Services Limited to Major Banks throughout the
Northern Region of Tanzania.
12) The setting up of a Research and Development (R&D) Department
within Mawalla Advocates that shall provide legal opinions on
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various legal issues to individuals and corporations (private and
public) on diverse legal issues.
The Mawalla Group Strategy is periodically developed, for a term of five
years each. The following are the Strategic Periods under which the Mawalla
Group has been operating; these shall be elaborated on page 24-27:
• Phase One Strategy: From 1998 – 2003 – During this Period, the
Mawalla Strategy was focused on the development of infrastructure,
assessment of its competitors and the opportunities available.
• Phase Two Strategy: From 2003 -2008 – During this Period the
Mawalla Strategy was focused on the development of internal systems,
creation of product lines, branding and marketing.
• Phase Three Strategy: From 2008 – 2013 – During this Period, the
Mawalla Strategy is focused on perfecting the legal skills of the
lawyers, assessing its resources, consolidating its businesses, directing
its focus on its capabilities, strengths and pursuing its current
Strategic Plans and Strategic Management module.
3.3 Clarification of Organization Mandates:
The mandates of the Mawalla Group lay with the various officials of the
Companies under the Group as follows, beginning from the top:
A. Mr. Mawalla (the Sole Proprietor of Mawalla Advocates):
1) He is the ultimate boss, who makes all of the Strategic decisions.
His decisions are final;
2) He decides on the Business Strategy of the Mawalla Group,
initiates the Strategic Plans, sees through the implementation of
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the Strategic Plans and evaluates the outcome of the Strategic
Plans;
3) He provides the Strategic Vision, the Objectives and the Values
(Honor Code) for the Mawalla Group;
4) He selects the clients, the projects, marks the time frames and
the financial investment to be injected into each project;
5) He decides on the Strategic Plans and Strategic Management;
6) He decides on the operations of the Departments under Mawalla
Advocates and the budget and profit allocation to each
Department;
7) He is the pioneer developer of the various product lines and the
data base systems, he is also the sole owner of the copyrights to
the systems developed under the Mawalla Brand;
8) He is the backbone and think tank of the entire Mawalla Group.
B. Senior Associates:
These include the five (5) main Associates of Mawalla Advocates:
1) These are responsible to their individual Departments and have
the mandate to decide matters within their Departments,
provided the same are in line with the Strategic Plans and
management of the entire Mawalla Group;
2) Each Senior Associate or Head of Department is mandated to
operate an account set up for the specific Department and is
responsible for the supervision of the tasks carried out by the
junior staff working within the Departments;
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3) Senior Associates or Head of Departments are required to hold
meetings with their assistants to direct, clarify and guide them
on the implementation of the Group’s Strategic Plans;
4) Senior Associates are also responsible to ensure that clients’
work done under their Departments is timely completed and
delivered;
5) These Heads of Departments are also Advocates. In this
capacity, they are directly responsible to clients of Mawalla
Advocates and or Mawalla Corporate Services Limited.
C. Junior Associates:
These include legal officers, legal interns and trainees who work with
Mawalla Advocates periodically. Their mandates are as follows:
1) To research and present findings on various legal matters as
they shall be directed by Senior Associates;
2) To implement the products developed under the Group of
Companies;
3) To put to test the systems that are created and criticize the
same where need be;
4) To assist the Senior Associates in all matters as shall be directed
by them.
D. Non Legal Staff:
These include an entire Department of accountants working with the
Mawalla Financial Services Limited, Consultants and the Support Staff;
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1) The Accountants are responsible for the management of the
accounts of the entire Mawalla Group;
2) Accountants are also mandated to produce their own product line
(under the Mawalla Brand) to sell to the clients of Mawalla
Advocates and Mawalla Corporate Services Limited;
3) The Consultants are hired on a need basis and are mandated to
use the Mawalla Group infrastructure to carry out their tasks in
line with the Strategic Plans of the Mawalla Group;
4) The Support Staff include the Office Administrators, the Drivers,
the Cleaners and the Gardeners, Security and the Maintenance
and Repair personnel, who are responsible for the various tasks
that are allocated to them accordingly by the Sole Proprietor, the
Heads of Departments, the Accountants and Consultants.
3.4 Vision and Mission of the Mawalla Group:
The Strategic Vision of an organization is a roadmap of an organization’s
future. It provides specifics about the technology and customer focus, the
geographic and product markets to be pursued, the capabilities it plans to
develop and the kind of organization management it is trying to create 25 .
The Strategic Vision and the Mission Statement of the Mawalla Group
constitutes of the following:
A. Mawalla Group Strategic Vision:
1) To craft and timely deliver solutions that are in accordance with the
most advanced technological systems which, are also legally based,
but with a powerful business – friendly orientation in real estate
25 Research and Discussions, 2009
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services, trust management services, corporate services and asset
management services.
2) To create the blue ocean strategy focusing on capturing new demand,
breaking the value cost trade off, creating an uncontested market
space, making competition irrelevant, and aligning the whole system
of the Mawalla Group’s activities with its strategic choice of
differentiation and low cost.
3) To create and brand corporate, property and financial data profile
systems that will be made available to all corporations (public and
private) in East Africa at a nominal price and to roll out or duplicate
the Mawalla Corporate and Financial Services in Tanzania within a five
year time frame.
4) To form partnerships with public institutions, other law firms in
Tanzania and abroad, as well as to partner with a University(ies) in
order to obtain better or more qualified human resource and train its
legal associates under Mawalla Advocates.
B. Mawalla Group Mission Statement:
An ideal mission statement is typically focused on the present business
scope. It describes the following:
26 Research and Discussions, 2009
1. An organization’s present capabilities;
2. Customer focus;
3. Activities of the organization; and
4. Business makeup of the organization 26 .
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The Mawalla Group Mission Statement reads as follows:
‘To manage the wealth of those who have it and to unlock value for those
who don’t, thereby improving the plight of all.’
The Mawalla Group slogan reads as follows:
“Taking care of Business”.
Additionally, the Mawalla Group Motto reads as follows:
“Heritage.Growth.Protection”
3.5 Factors considered in Strategic Planning and Management by
the Mawalla Group:
3.5.1 Assessment of the Environment:
In crafting its strategic plans, the Mawalla Group assesses its environment
by focusing on the following:
1. The external circumstances such as assessing its competitors, the
industry, the threats, and the opportunities;
2. The internal circumstances by assessing its resources, capabilities,
competitiveness, strengths, and weakness;
3. The strategic intent by forming and pursuing relentlessly its objectives
(as shall be discussed on pages 27-29 of this document) and or
concentrating on its competitive advantage in achieving those
objectives and thereby aligning its strategic choice(s) with the need to
change its Strategic Plans to suit the management and implementation
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process as shall be discussed briefly in the various strategic phases
below.
From the very beginning (in 1998) Mr. Mawalla focused on the external
environment of the Mawalla Group by assessing its competitors, the
requirements in the legal industry, the threats and the opportunities that
were available in Arusha and in Tanzania as a whole. He also had to create a
Strategy Map in this regard and decide on what strategic choices to make in
order to implement the plan. Mr. Mawalla has since inception of the Mawalla
Group employed the strategy of making five year plans, which are adjusted
during implementation when and where the need arises. Thus, this Strategy
choice has worked to create three Strategic Planning phases so far, being:
Phase I from 1998 -2003; Phase II from 2003 -2008; and Phase III from
2008 – 2013 as shall be discussed albeit briefly below.
Phase I of the Strategic Planning from 1998 -2003:
From 1998 to 2001 Mr. Mawalla interned at Kibo Chambers under the
Mentorship of Advocate J.S. Mawalla. In 2002 Mr. Mawalla moved the office
base from Kibo Chambers in Moshi to Mawalla Advocates in Moivaro -
Arusha. Being new in town and speculating on what products to offer the
Arusha market; Mr. Mawalla was forced to look at the already existing law
firms some being: Maro & Co. Advocates; Ngalo & Co. Advocates; Ojare
Advocates and Mwale & Co. Advocates.
Mr. Mawalla was aiming at creating new products, yet legally acceptable
within the industry. Much research was conducted by him to identify the
threats and the opportunities that were available. Two factors massively
favoured Mr. Mawalla during this time, firstly - the name “Mawalla” which he
shares with his Father, Advocate Juma R.S. Mawalla (who was renowned for
his acute legal skills in the Northern Region of Tanzania since 1961) and
Page 24 of 47

secondly, the unsaturated market for not just any lawyer, but a good
corporate, trust, real estate and wildlife law lawyer in Arusha.
During this time, the opportunities which were available were as follows:
1) That there were very few corporate, trust, real estate and wildlife law
lawyers in Arusha; a service that Mr. Mawalla was developing to sell to
the market;
2) That there was an elite group of clientele (locals and foreigners) who
massively required the corporate, trust, real estate and wildlife law
services.
3) That the trust and investment laws were under developed; services in
these legal areas were and still are greatly demanded for by investors.
It was thus in this phase that Mr. Mawalla created the required office
infrastructure at Moivaro, and also acquired massive tracts of land at various
parts of Arusha for both commercial and residential purposes. He created a
niche for the Firm in the market by assessing the needs of the customers
and tailoring legal products according to the customers’ needs and finally
creating the environment that would serve the customers in the most
efficient way.
Phase II of the Strategic Planning from 2003 - 2008:
Following the successful completion of the Phase I Strategic Planning - i.e.
laying the foundation and creating a product line and identifying customers
for the said products, Mr. Mawalla began Phase II Strategic Planning, which
was implemented through 2003 -2008. In this phase, Mr. Mawalla again
focused not only on assessing the environment externally as above
discussed, but he also assessed the environment internally by assessing
Page 25 of 47

Mawalla Group resources, capabilities, competitiveness, strength and
weaknesses, which have been discussed under Figure 3 of this report.
During this Phase, Mr. Mawalla built another office (which later became the
main office) in the outskirts of Arusha, an office which would accommodate
the needs of the Group’s clients, and the entire Mawalla Group structure as
appearing under Figure 1 of this document. The office is located within an
Estate, containing both offices and residential units, which are used by some
of the Senior Associates. Mr. Mawalla also focused on internal environmental
assessment of the Mawalla Group by developing its resources, capabilities,
competitiveness, and strengths. He has always focused on eliminating the
weaknesses of the said group, which is an on going venture.
It is also at this time that Mr. Mawalla built up the human resource of the
Mawalla Group i.e. a team of lawyers who would work with him. He ventured
to look for young and fresh graduates from Universities to come and train
under him. He also marketed massively the services of the Mawalla Group to
an elite group of clientele who continue to pay appropriately for the same as
per the Advocates' Remuneration and Taxation of Costs Rules made under
the Advocates Act [Cap 341 of the R.E 2002] of the laws of the United
Republic of Tanzania. Mr. Mawalla managed to build the cash reserves for
the Mawalla Group by saving massively, cutting off on non essential
expenditures and having an efficient tax structure.
Mr. Mawalla saw an opportunity to venture into unchartered territories
thereby minimizing competition with the local lawyers and branding the
product line he created “Mawalla”, hence creating a product line and
services that are uniquely “Mawalla”, and offered in the Mawalla Way. He
invested massively in best IT technology and consultants who would help
create the administrative systems for the group, thereby enabling efficient
turn around time for the delivery of the products under the brand name.
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Phase III Strategic Planning from 2008 – 2013:
In Phase III, Mr. Mawalla is focusing on internal analysis of the Mawalla
Group as discussed above, and assessing the strategic intent by forming and
pursuing relentlessly the Mawalla Group objectives and or concentrating on
its competitive advantage and energies in achieving those objectives, herein
appearing on Figure 1 of this document. The Mawalla Group shall in this last
phase focus on Research and Development (R&D) as well as the provision of
opinions on various legal issues and provide these services to various private
and public corporation in line with the Strategic Plans for the Mawalla Group
as mentioned on page 14-17 of this document.
3.5.2 Focusing on the Mawalla Group Objectives:
The objectives of an organization are an organization’s performance targets,
the results and the outcomes it wants to achieve. They function as
yardsticks for tracking an organization’s performance and progress. The
purpose of objectives is that they represent the managerial commitment to
achieve specific performance targets within a specified time frame. They are
also a call for results that connect directly to the company’s strategic vision
and core values. As a general rule, objectives are supposed to be
measurable or quantifiable; they should contain a deadline for achievement
and they should also spell out how much of what performance and by when
should be achieved. 27 Objectives may be financial (focusing on revenue) or
strategic (focusing on ambitions, competitive actions, commitment to
winning, etc).
27 Research and Discussions, 2009
Page 27 of 47

The Strategic Objectives of the Mawalla group are as follows:
1. To go (within the next five years) into the 26 regions of Tanzania in a
Public Private Partnership (PPP) with:
a. The Business Registration & Licensing Agency (BRELA), to assist
in maximizing the communication gap between BRELA and the
potential users of the BRELA services, thereby increase the
number of users, establishing new businesses and seeking
protection of creative corporate works.
b. The Tanzania National Land Use Plan Commission (NUPLC) to
help create sustainable land use management systems and avoid
land degradation, misuse and abusive use in order to maintain
and enhance the land quality in Tanzania and to promote
prudent and sustainable land use, to conserve land natural
resources in order to alleviate poverty and eradicate
environmental problems afflicting the population.
c. The Tanzania Investment Center (TIC) and assist in portraying
Tanzania as Africa’s Premier Investment destination and
enhancing an environment conducive for business and
entrepreneurship growth.
d. Programmes such as MKUKUTA (National Strategy for growth
and Reduction of Poverty in Tanzania), and MKURABITA (the
programme for the legal and economic empowerment of the
poor in Tanzania) towards poverty reduction; improvement of
quality of life and social well being and governance and
accountability.
Page 28 of 47

2. To train young Tanzanian lawyers on how to become chartered
secretaries for companies in East Africa through the Institute of
Chartered Secretaries (ICS).
3. To provide tax consulting services to Tanzanians and thereby work
with the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) to assist the Government
in collecting taxes efficiently and promoting voluntary tax compliance
and thereby assist TRA meet its Third Corporate Plan.
4. To provide legal corporate securities services through Mawalla
Corporate Services Limited to Major Banks throughout the Northern
Region of Tanzania.
5. To provide legal opinions on various legal issues to individuals and
corporations (public and private) on diverse legal issues.
The Objectives of the Mawalla Group of companies are pursued in line with
the following honor code (values):
1. To be forthright from the first: this entails accuracy in the
identification of clients that the Mawalla Group can assist in the least
time possible.
2. To be efficient with energy: this entails the achievement of optimal
results for chosen clients in the safest, quickest and most economical
way.
3. To be realist: this entails to bear elements of legal and financial
literacy (the ability to create and manage wealth) in such a way that
the clients’ investment and business ideals are protected with
diligence, care and excellence, without unnecessary complexity or
gratuitous recourse to protracted and costly litigation.
Page 29 of 47

4. Leave no stone unturned; this entails to be tenacious – whether in
support of a client, in defence of the Courts or in the promotion of
fairness, impartiality and integrity.
5. Be an example; this entails the embodiment of high standards of
reasoning, courtesy, independency and confidentiality.
6. Be no body’s darling; this entails to stand alone for as long as it
takes, risking popularity and favour, in a quest to do what must be
done and say what must be said.
Therefore in Phase III, Mr. Mawalla will not only be looking to implement its
Strategic Plans as cited on page 14-17 of this document by assessing the
internal environment of the Group, but also he will also focus on the
strategic intent of the Group and delink vertical integration with parts of the
Group that are weak by focusing on the strategic objectives and vision of the
Mawalla Group.
It is the personal objective of Mr. Mawalla that with the end of Phase III, the
Mawalla Group will sustain without him and the story of the Group will no
longer be about him, but about the Mawalla Group. It is evident that the
core values (honor code), the common vision, the mission statement, the
mandates, the strategy and the product line of the Group has been
established and the roll out plan for the services offered by the Group is
underway for Dar es Salaam, Iringa, Babati, Mbeya and Mwanza, by way of
a Public and Private Partnership with the Business Registrations Licensing
Agency (BRELA).
Page 30 of 47

3.5.3 Resource Audit:
Resource Audit is being used in the Phase III Strategic Planning i.e. 2008 -
2013, in which there will be a roll out plan for the services and products that
have been created in Phase I and Phase II. The Mawalla Group is richer,
looking at protecting its assets and growing solidly. It is also looking at
consolidating and protecting the product line and new sources.
3.5.4 Analysis of Cost and Profit:
Analysis of Cost and Profit were used in Phase I Strategic Planning from
1998 – 2003, when the Mawalla Group was smaller and looking at creating
new products and profits.
3.5.5 Benchmarking:
Benchmarking has always been a factor considered in all the three phases of
strategic planning by the Mawalla Group, hence the branding. The Mawalla
Group has always compared itself with the best in class geographically and
qualitatively. However, following the successful implementation of Phase I
and Phase II of Strategic Planning, the Mawalla Group has massively
reduced competitors in Arusha. The current competitors of Mawalla
Advocates are IMMA Advocates, REX Attorneys, Mkono & Company
Advocates, Ringo Tenga Law Associates and M.A Ismail & Co. Advocates, all
of whom are based in Dar es Salaam. However, Mawalla still manages to
thrive in this competitive atmosphere by providing services that are not only
unique compared to those provided by its competitors, but also at a cheaper
Page 31 of 47

cost, without compromising the end product. Over and above this, the brand
name “Mawalla” is now widely known and the current shift in the
philosophy of the law firm i.e. into Research and Development (R&D) and
the provision legal opinions on various legal issues shall be an added
advantage.
3.5.6 Value Chain Analysis:
Both indications of the value chain analysis as indicated by primary activities
and support activities have been used in the strategy formulation process,
but at different phases in the development of the Mawalla Group. For
example, in Phase I and II of Strategic Planning, the value chain analysis
was indicated by the focus on the support activities such as infrastructure,
technology and strategic management; while in Phase III the value chain
analysis will be indicated by the focus on the primary activities such as skills,
core competence, management marketing, price, customer satisfaction and
human resource management.
3.5.7 Focusing on core competencies:
Mindset Personality Collective knowledge of the organization
Interpersonal skills Staff Skills Embodied as core competencies product
Services
Task Skills Professional Knowledge
Figure 4. (Adopted from Mahen Tampoe February 6, 1996)
Page 32 of 47

The Mawalla Group (especially Mawalla Advocates) often hires fresh
university graduates and trains them massively to instill in them the Mawalla
Way. Focus on the core competencies of the Mawalla Group began in the
Phase II and it intends to continue this throughout Phase III of the Strategic
Plan. It is under Phase III that Mr. Mawalla has formulated a Strategic Plan
of creating the Institute of Chartered Secretaries (ICS) via a Public Private
Partnership with the Business Registrations and Licensing Agency (BRELA) in
Tanzania. This partnership shall serve to create an elite group of lawyers
who are trained to manage corporate entities in accordance with the laws of
the country. Strategically, Mawalla Advocates stands to be a benefactor of
this partnership as it shall obtain highly trained Secretaries who shall run
Mawalla Corporate Services Limited in the most efficient manner.
It is also anticipated that with the introduction of Research and Development
(R&D) and the provision of legal opinions on various legal issues at Mawalla
Advocates, Lawyers shall be benefit from the professional knowledge and
task skills. It is a known factor that Mawalla Advocates hires interpersonal
skill as opposed to personal skills – hence the training. It is for this reason
that with the start of Phase III, Mr. Mawalla has decided to launch induction
manuals, which shall serve to train new lawyers on the mindset, the
personality and interpersonal skills that the lawyers working with the
Mawalla Group shall be required to have. The induction manuals shall guide
all young lawyers on financial literacy, the spiritual principles, and the basic
concepts of the legal practice. These induction manuals are expected to be
launched later this year.
With the aid of the training and the induction manuals, it is hoped that staff
skills shall be developed to sustainably ensure that the core competencies of
the Mawalla Group are applied best to serve the Group’s clients.
Page 33 of 47

3.5.8 Application of the Shareholder value analysis:
Corporate
Objective
Valuation
Components
Value
Drivers
Management
Decisions
Duration of
Value growth
Cash from
Operations
Figure 5. (Adopted from Rappaport (1986)
Like any other profit making business, the shareholder value analysis is of
massive importance in determining shareholder returns from the businesses
of the Mawalla Group. As a matter of principle, Mr. Mawalla has gone as far
as to document the importance of this matter in the induction manuals –
under financial literacy for lawyers.
Creating Shareholder
Value
Discount
Rate
Sales Growth Op.
Profit Margin
3.5.9 Assessing Parenting Advantage:
In formulating its Strategic Plans, Mawalla Advocates, which is the core
business of the group, assesses the parenting advantage of the Group.
Mawalla Advocates is the parent of the Mawalla Group.
1) The stand alone influence of the group is Mawalla Advocates.
This is the core business of the Group.
Debt
Fixed & Working
Capital Investments
Shareholder Return
Dividends Capital Growth
Cost of
Capital
Operating Investment Financing
Page 34 of 47

2) The linkage influence of the group as depicted under Figure 2
above is very high. This is because the other companies have
been created to serve the core business of the group – Mawalla
Advocates.
3) The central function of the group is Wealth Management and the
provision of Corporate and Financial Services under Mawalla
Advocates, Mawalla Corporate Centre (including Mawalla
Corporate Services Limited and Mawalla Financial Services
Limited) and Mawalla Trust Limited.
4) The internal structure of the group is what is currently being
addressed in Phase III; however, it is highly linked to the
Mawalla Brand.
3.5.10 Portfolio Analysis:
Market share rate
Market growth rate
High
Low
High Low
Figure 6. (Adopted from the Boston Consulting Group – in wide use)
This portfolio analysis is also used in the Strategic Planning for the Mawalla
Group of companies. The following are the results 28 :
1) Among the Mawalla Group, the companies that have high market
share rate and high market growth ( the Star Companies) are Mawalla
28 Interview with Mr. Mawalla; 30 th of June 2009; Questionnaire attached as an appendix herewith.
Page 35 of 47

Advocates and Mawalla Trust Limited, because these are the core
businesses of the Group and they are personally managed by the Mr.
Mawalla;
2) Among the Mawalla Group, the company that has high market share
and low market growth rate (the Cow Company) is Mawalla Corporate
Services Limited, because this company manages the corporate
clientele of Mawalla Advocate. These clients are however billed
annually and some of the fees for the services offered by the company
are statutorily provided for, hence the need for the company to comply
with the said statutory fee structures. Moreover, the management
team of this relatively new company has yet to learn to implement
better business strategies to ensure that the systems (such as the
corporate data profile) which are in place, work towards a high market
growth rate.
3) Among the Mawalla Group, the company that has the low market
share and low market growth rate (the Dog Company) is Mawalla
Financial Services Limited, because this company is relatively new and
the human resource set up is still incomplete. The present
management team of this company has yet to train and or select
better officials to carry out more than just works for the clients of
Mawalla Advocates, hence improve its business strategies and ensure
that it meets the set Mawalla Group objectives.
3.6 How the Mawalla Group analyzes its environment:
Having the legal business as the core business of the Mawalla Group, an
analysis of the Group’s environment is sometimes carried out in the
following manner:
Page 36 of 47

The a) SWOT analysis: See Figure 3 below:
The Strengths:
1. The Brand name ‘Mawalla’.
2. The product range it offers, being: Real Estate
Services, Trust and Management Services,
Corporate Services, and Asset Management
Services.
3. The energetic, youthful and knowledgeable
human resource of the Mawalla Group who are
being trained to attend in the most efficient way
to the clients and ensure maximum client
satisfaction.
4. The IT technology and the administrative
systems that are in place to serve the group and
the customers.
5. The strategic choice and management of the
Mawalla group as spearheaded by Mr. Mawalla.
6. The strategic location of the Mawalla Group,
being in Burka – the outskirts of the town, which
is an added advantage for the real estate
business in which the Group is involved.
7. The leadership of Mr. Mawalla, who is not only a
visionary, but also a great teacher and business
man.
The Opportunities:
1. The offer of new products which are highly in
demand such as mergers and acquisitions,
derivative rights application under Corporate Law
Land Law and Wildlife Law, Tourism Law and
Trust Law.
2. The changing laws. With the change in
legislation such as the Companies Act, the
Income Tax Act, the Land Act, the Unit Titles Act,
and the general change in the business law is the
country creates massive opportunities for
Mawalla Advocates.
3. Tanzania is still very much unexploited, hence
opportunities in land development and financing
are the focus of Mawalla Advocates, and hence
the opportunities are plenty.
The Weaknesses:
1. Being a sole proprietorship business, the
strategic plan, the management and financial
decisions are made by Mr. Mawalla. This being
the case, his absence from the office for any
amount of time could mean that no serious
decisions are made.
2. Skill transfer: It goes without saying that
skilled labour is the one of the biggest problems
in Africa. It is against this background that Mr.
Mawalla has tried massively to train his own
team of lawyers. Where training has not been
applicable, consultants with skill have been
hired from as far as South Africa and India to
cater for the demands, which is expensive and
unsustainable.
3. The lack IT expertise is a problem that which
hinders the proper application of the office
administration systems, thereby limiting the
maximum turn around time.
4. The group lacks proper and faithful accountants
and financial advisors as well as copyrighters.
5. The group faces an English language problem.
Most employees do not have the level of
English required to communicate effectively
with the clients.
6. Bad political background of Ujamaa/socialism.
The Group is pro capitalism, but most of those
who work with the Group have a socialist
mentality.
The Threats:
1. Corruption; this is one of the threats to the
business as the legal system is somehow
susceptible to corruption.
Page 37 of 47

) PEST analysis:
Politically, Economically & Socially With the development of law, the
core business of the Group is
affected politically, socially and
economically. For example, the
coming into force of the Political
Parties Act, [Cap 258 of the
Revised Laws of 2002] of the
Laws of the United Republic of
Tanzania, the Banking and
Financial Institutions Act, [Cap
342 of the Revised Laws of
2002] of the Laws of the United
Republic of Tanzania, and the
Gender policies have all positively
affected the core business of the
Mawalla Group in one way or
another.
Technologically - The core business of the Group is affected as
business transactions are done via advanced IT technology, i.e. via
electronic mails. It is thus easier for fraud and breach of confidentially
to occur and piracy is also easier with all the new technology. There is
thus, a need for the law in this area to be improved.
Page 38 of 47

3.7 Implementing the Strategic Plan:
In reference to the Group Structure appearing under Figure 1 above; however, the
simpler structure of the strategy implementation process is as appearing on Figure
2 below;
Figure 2.
Key:
Solid Line – means reporting to
Broken Line – means associated with
Mawalla Trust Limited
Mawalla Corporate Services Mawalla Advocates
Mawalla Financial Services
Senior Associate Senior Associate Senior Associate Senior Associate Senior Associate
Trust & Tax
Consultancy
Services
Department
Real Estate
Services
Department
Research
Development
& Opinion
Department
Wealth
Management
Services
Department
Specialized
Litigation
Services
Department
Page 39 of 47

From Figure 2 above, the Firm (Mawalla Advocates) is run by the five main
Associates (also known as Senior Associates) who report to Mr. Mawalla and
likewise receive instructions from him. The five Associates are also the heads
of the Departments as above indicated, and they are responsible for the
implementation of specific strategies under each department. Mawalla
Advocates, being the core business of the Mawalla Group, is headed by Mr.
Mawalla. Legally, Mawalla Advocates is a Sole Proprietorship Business
belonging to Mr. Mawalla trading as Mawalla Advocates. In an endeavor to
make easy the strategy implementation process, each Department has a
defined mandates, and time frame within which to complete the tasks, and a
budget within which to operate.
The two main companies, being Mawalla Corporate Services Limited,
Mawalla Financial Services Limited are run by Directors, under the umbrella
of Mawalla Trust Limited. The Strategic Plans of the Mawalla Group are
implemented under the Brand name Mawalla through the two main
companies.
Mawalla Trust Limited is a trust company. It operates through the three
companies being, Mawalla Advocates, Mawalla Corporate Services Limited
and Mawalla Financial Services Limited. Mawalla Trust Limited also has
development rights for specific projects which are carried out directly under
the trust company as depicted under Figure 1 of this document.
3.8 Monitoring and Reviewing the Strategic Plans of the Mawalla
Group:
Strategic Management by the Mawalla Group is monitored by making
adjustments that are normal and necessary on parts of the Strategic Plans.
Page 40 of 47

This is because the Mawalla Group’s core business is Law Practice, hence the
need to create Strategic Plans and strategically manage the Mawalla Group
by creating products and changing the product in accordance with the law.
The need to make adjustments that are normal and necessary as part of the
strategic management is important so as to enable the creation of new
products under the brand name ‘Mawalla’.
It is not easy to monitor strategic planning by evaluation performance of
lawyers due to the difference in the types of transactions carried by the
various Departments and or by reviewing the surrounding environment due
to the changes that are brought about by the change of law.
4.0 The type of strategic planning applied by the Mawalla
Group:
In Phase I the Mawalla Group employed the Red Ocean Strategy, however,
in Phase II and III the Mawalla Group is employing the Blue Ocean
Strategy 29 . It has created a range of services, hence an uncontested market
space, making the competition irrelevant. It has captured new demand and
broke the value cost trade off. It has also aligned the whole system of the
Firm’s activities with its strategic choice of differentiation and low cost.
29 Chan Kim and Renee Moubougne (Harvard Business School Press, Boston; 2005).
Page 41 of 47

5.0 Conclusions:
The Mawalla Group certainly has an impressive strategic planning and
management process, closely related to D’Aveni’s 30 theory of
hypercompetition as aforementioned; basically in the hands of one man –
Mr. Mawalla, the Sole Proprietor of the core business of the Mawalla Group.
One important element in the whole strategic management process is the
development of a vision for the organization either by top management or
by one person. The vision is the view which goes beyond the life span of the
corporate plans, which identifies the future, nature and philosophy of the
organization. The quality of the vision is tied in directly to the quality of the
leadership, and of course, a good system of planning cannot compensate for
lack of leadership. It is thus obvious that the success of any organization is
at least much related to the quality of leadership as it is to the formation of
a superior strategy. Success comes from adopting one’s leadership style to
various situations. Therefore the successful implementation of a strategic
plan (strategic management) is dependant on the EASIER approach, which
stands for Envisioning, Activating, Supporting, Installing, Ensuring, and
Recognizing as expounded below:
Envisioning: the process of developing a coherent view of the future in
order to form an overarching objective for the organization. It blends the
leader’s view of external opportunities with the way internal competencies
and recourses relate to these opportunities.
Activating: this is the task of ensuring that others in the organization
understand, support and eventually share the vision.
30 D’Aveni, R: Op cit.
Page 42 of 47

Supporting: this is about motivating and inspiring people to achieve more
than they otherwise might have believed possible by providing the necessary
moral and practical help to enable this to happen.
Installing: this is the process of developing detailed plans to enable the
strategy to be implemented and controlled.
Ensuring: the plans, structures for implementation and policies may be
formulated and on paper and the organization may have covered everything.
However this is not enough, consideration must be given to monitoring and
controlling processes that ensure actions are correctly undertaken and
results are as expected.
Recognizing: this is giving recognition to those involved in the process.
Recognition may be positive or negative and should be used to reinforce the
change and to ensure that obstacles to progress are removed.
Conclusively, it is the personal leadership that drives the organizational
context, which is represented by the components of strategy, culture and
structure or systems. Mr. Mawalla has single handily managed to craft the
Strategic Plans and the Strategic Management process of the Mawalla Group.
It is his vision and leadership (that is characterized by confidence building,
motivation, trust, outer focus, performance orientation, political astuteness,
persistence, determination, quick wits, creativity, self motivation and
convincing skills) that have sailed the ship.
Although there are some basic disadvantages with the Sole Proprietorship
structure that Mr. Mawalla has set up, it may not be easy to find a person(s)
with his vision and leadership skills to manage the Mawalla Group as well as
he has done over the years. Perhaps what would help is the partnership with
the five main Associates and massive leadership education to be made
available to the five Associates to ensure that this strategic management
Page 43 of 47

process outlives its maker and the Firm always has creative strategic
thinkers who can make strategic decisions collectively, implement them and
review them accordingly.
6.0 Recommendations:
It is my recommendation that in crafting of the Strategic Plans for the
Mawalla Group, the following principles are followed in order to make better
the existing strategies:
1. Given that the most important single factor impacting on the
performance of a business unit is quality relative to competitors, and
that superior quality often brought premium prices, and in addition
could lead to market growth and the expansion of market share,
strategy therefore requires constant action, if the company is to stay
in the lead.
2. There is a link between the market share and the profitability.
Companies with the highest market shares such as Mawalla Advocates
and Mawalla Trust Limited tend to have better profitability. High
market share at any cost, however, is not necessarily a good strategy.
3. High investment intensity acts as drag on profits. Profitability tends to
be highest where the amount of investment is lowest. However, this
does not mean that an organization should avoid reinvestment to gain
competitive advantage, as this could result into total failure.
4. Much of the conventional wisdom about ‘dogs’ and ‘cows’ is not borne
out by evidence.
5. Vertical integration is a profitable strategy in some cases, but not in
others. It decreases profitability in business with a low relative market
Page 44 of 47

share. Therefore, avoid vertical integration if you have a low market
share.
6. Most of the strategic factors that boost return on investment will soon
boost long term value. 31
Furthermore, as the Firm is now embarking on Research and Development
(R&D) and the provision of legal opinions on various legal issues in Phase III
of its Strategic Management process; strategic planning should provide the
framework for the Research and Development (R&D), by:
1. Specifying the products or business areas which is to be directed;
2. Setting priorities for research and development projects;
3. Assigning targets for the Research and Development (R&D);
4. Setting the cost framework in terms of both revenue and capital
requirements.
Finally, one may add that in the formulation of its Strategic Plans, the
Mawalla Group should consider the following:
1. The role of the Group to the Society;
2. The overall corporate objectives of the Group which should be clearly
be defined financially and or strategically;
3. The strategic and business unit objectives of the Group should be
defined both financially and or strategically;
4. The tactical objectives of the group may need to be re-defined.
5. Gender policies should also be defined and included in the overall
strategies of the company to make the organization more gender
sensitive.
31 Hussey,D; Op Cit; Pg 378
Page 45 of 47

7.0 References:
1. David Hussey; Strategic Management for theory to implementation;
4 th edition; Butterworth Heinemann; 1998
2. D’Aveni, R.; Hyper-competition: Managing the Dynamics of Strategic
Maneuvering; Free Press, New York, 1994.
3. Mawalla Corporate Brochure; 2009.
4. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary; 6 th Edition; Oxford University
Press; 2000.
5. Porter, M.E; Competitive Strategy; Free Press New York; 1980.
6. Quinn, J.B; Strategies for Change: Logical Incrementalism: Irwin,
Homewood, IL. 1980
7. Hemel, G. and Prahadal, C. K; Competing for the future; Harvard
Business school Press, Boston 1996
8. Kay, J.; Foundations of Corporate Success: How Business Strategies Add
Value; Oxford University Press, Oxford,
1. Mawalla Advocates; http://www.mawalla.co.tz
2. Research and Discussions.
Page 46 of 47

8.0 Appendices:
1. Figure 1 depicting the Mawalla Group Structure;
2. The Mawalla Brochure; 2009
3. Competed Questionnaire by Mr. Mawalla.
Page 47 of 47

Figure 1
Mawalla Group Structure
2009

The mawalla way
heriTage - growTh - proTecTion
2

With our roots firmly anchored in tradition,
our branches reach towards the sun.

Two trees planted together cannot avoid
brushing against each other.

No.1
‘nekewalawala’
…sharing his knowledge
and wealth with many

In every tree, a monkey. Under every rock, a spider.
Indeed, making your way in Africa is all
about choosing The Right Guide.
Distinguished, pioneering and proudly indigenous, Mawalla Advocates
is rooted on the fertile and gentle slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro in the
United Republic of Tanzania.
The name Mawalla is derived from the Chagga word ‘nekewalawala’,
and means ‘those who come from the one who shares his knowledge
and wealth with many’.
The name was first bestowed on a left-handed warrior from Rombo (a principality on the western side
of Kilimanjaro) known as Sawaya, grandfather to Juma Reginald Sawaya Mawalla and great grandfather
to Nyaga Paul Mawalla, both of whom have bravely and tirelessly crafted the legacy of the firm to this day.
It is a legacy based on three unshakeable pillars.
One, a unique distillation of several generations of invaluable experience gained navigating the intricacies
of Tanzania’s three legal systems.
Two, our mission to use this unique ability to manage the wealth of those who have, and to unlock value
for those who don’t, creating wealth and improving the plight of all.
The third pillar is the Mawalla Way, the honour code according to which we approach this task, comprising
the rich values passed from one generation to the next.
And so we help shape the future of this great land, just as the hands of those who came before us helped
shape the past.
Introduction
3

No.2
With our roots firmly
anchored in tradition,
our branches reach
towards the sun.

Giant silk cotton trees grow
out of very tiny seeds.
In Africa, the tradition of paying tribute to one’s ancestors serves an
end in itself; it’s an assurance of continued prosperity and good fortune
for those who follow. But this story also tells of a proud legacy of power,
influence and wealth creation.
In 1850, Sawaya – the aforementioned left-handed warrior – was found
to be conspiring to overthrow the Chief of the Kilimanjaro principality
of Rombo. Fearing for his life, he gathered his wives, children and cattle
and fled east, to where the trading town of Moshi now stands.
Once at a safe distance – and while seeking rights to traverse Marangu Land – he met Chief Marealle the
First. The Chief immediately recognised in Sawaya a shrewd negotiator, and invited him to settle on his lands.
As the family prospered, so their reputation as kingmakers and skilled negotiators grew. After the demise of
Sawaya, his firstborn – also Sawaya Mawalla – became an elder of the tribe, a trusted advisor to Chief Marealle
and husband to one of his daughters. Not a decision was taken nor a dispute entered into without the wily
Sawaya Mawalla at the chief’s side.
Chapter 1
From diplomatic relations with visiting Arab and European traders, to the orchestration of regional wars
in Moshi and Kirua, Sawaya Mawalla – a wealthy and influential landowner holding sway over some 100 square
kilometres of family land – was always in the thick of things.
When his son, Juma Reginald Sawaya Mawalla, was born in 1934, travel and a superior education were
deemed necessary to continue this tradition of excellence.
5

No.3
Juma R. S. Mawalla
- Founder of Mawalla Advocates -

And so – after attending Old Moshi Secondary School and Tabora Upper Secondary School, and receiving the
highest honour for bravery in the Boy Scouts from the Queen of England – Juma R. S. Mawalla left for India.
Under the watchful eye of Mrs. Indira Ghandi (later Prime Minister of India), he received a degree
in Economics. Then to the University of London where he obtained a Degree of Bachelor of Laws. Back in
Tanzania (then still named Tanganyika), he became one of the first Tanganyikans ever to be made a Barrister.
In 1960, while Julius Nyerere was still fighting for independence, Juma R S Mawalla decided to start his own
law firm. Kibo Chambers was duly registered and a Certificate of Admission granted by Her Majesty’s High
Court of Tanganyika. Advocate Juma R S Mawalla soon became a feared lawyer, a respected negotiator, and his
firm the most prestigious in the country.
A full life and a distinguished career included a long tenure as a director of East African Airways,
representation on the East African University Council in Nairobi, establishment of the country’s first
Legal Aid Clinic, membership of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in 1982 (comprising just
40 members from around the world), membership of The Pan African Union of Lawyers, The African Bar
Association and the prestigious World Peace through Law Centre.
It was at about this time that his son Nyaga Paul Mawalla was born. He first attended Arusha International
School, and then IIboru Special Secondary School, settling for nothing less than academic excellence.
Torn between entering the priesthood and enrolling for a degree in Mechanical Engineering at Harvard,
Yale or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Nyaga P Mawalla opted instead for a Law Degree at the
University of Dar Es Salaam, which he completed with honours in 1998, leaving behind guides to the study
of law still used in that university to this day. Naturally, it wasn’t long before Nyaga P Mawalla became the
youngest advocate in Tanzania.
Under the guidance of Juma R S Mawalla, Nyaga P Mawalla gained deep experience in all areas of the
law and business.
In 2003, while looking for a new location for the renamed – and fast-growing – Mawalla Advocates,
he acquired a semi-urban site in the outlying suburb of Moivaro Arusha, Northern Tanzania’s main
economic centre.
The fact that the reasonable price of the land was directly attributable to the lack of access in no way
dissuaded the young pioneer. He purchased land from each of his neighbours – a metre or two at a time –
and tarred a road to his new front door.
7

No.4
Nyaga Paul Mawalla
- Pioneer -

Mawalla Advocates quickly became prominent as a dynamic, fast growing law firm following this visionary
move to Arusha. Nyaga P Mawalla identified exceptional talent and assembled a team of motivated lawyers
offering specialised skills in the disciplines of corporate, wildlife and land law.
Deciding that its future is not in being all things to all men, the strategic decision was taken to concen-
trate Mawalla Advocate’s focus on corporate governance, wildlife law, real estate, wealth structuring and
management. Affiliate companies Mawalla Holdings Limited (formerly known as NPM Holdings limited)
and Mawalla Trust Limited were incorporated to supplement the Mawalla group’s core service offerings.
As the firm’s business grew, its supporting infrastructure needed to expand. In 2006 the firm moved again,
this time to a private estate in Arusha’s Burka suburb, now Mawalla Heritage Park.
Inspired as much by a talent for wealth creation as a need for office space, Mawalla Heritage Park now houses
the Mawalla Law Offices (including Mawalla Advocates and Mawalla Trust Limited), the Mawalla Corporate
Centre (including Mawalla Corporate Services, Mawalla Financial Services and Mawalla Holdings), as well
as a private restaurant and eight stand-alone residential units.
Known as much for breaking new ground, building roads and planting trees (leading to the formation of
Plant-a-Tree Limited), Nyaga P Mawalla has harnessed the legendary acumen of the Mawalla bloodline
and honed it through education and experience, to ensure that he enriches any project to which he turns
his hand.
9

No.5
‘Msongoru’ is the Chagga word for lawyer.
It means ‘the person who walks in front’

If you refuse to be made straight when you are green,
you will not be made straight when you are dry.
‘Msongoru’ is the Chagga word for lawyer. It means ‘the person who
walks in front’. Describing a guide, a sage, a trusted advisor, this definition
is at the heart of an honour code which channels our endeavours
in a way that is both ethical and practical, both spiritual and functional,
mindful of both our past and our future. We call it The Mawalla Way.
Be forthright from the first; accurately identify those clients you can help and those you cannot, so not to
waste their time or ours.
Be efficient with your energy; achieve optimal results for our chosen clients in the safest, quickest and most
economical way.
Be realistic; bring to bear elements of legal and financial literacy (the ability to create and manage wealth) in
such a way that our clients’ investments and business ideals are protected with diligence, care and excellence,
without unnecessary complexity or gratuitous recourse to protracted and costly litigation.
Leave no stone unturned; be tenacious – whether in support of a client, in defence of the courts or in
the promotion of fairness, impartiality and integrity.
Be an example to all; embody the highest standards of reasoning, courtesy, independence and confidentiality.
Be nobody’s darling; stand alone for as long as it takes, risking popularity and favour, in a quest to do what
must be done and say what must be said.
Chapter 02
11

No.6
Mastery of three law systems
- Islamic Law, Customary Law, English common law -

It is foolhardy to climb two trees at once
just because one has two feet.
Understanding the complexity of one legal system is hard enough.
Understanding Three Systems of Law as they apply within one country
is near impossible.
Tanzania’s legal system combines Islamic law, customary law and
a legacy of English common law, and requires a unique blend of skills
and mastery of a dazzling array of precedents.
In themselves, the Judicature and Application of Laws Act and the Mode of Life Test (that together deter-
mine which legal system will apply and when) often prove to be beyond the grasp of all but the most astute
legal minds.
Chapter 03
13

No.7
Giving business a raised
platform for flight

The prosperity of the
trees is the well being of the birds.
Over the years, the pursuit of legally based yet business oriented solutions
to the complicated issues facing business set-ups in Tanzania has
led Mawalla Advocates to specialise in solutions ranging from real estate
development, asset and property acquisition, to statutory compliance,
corporate governance, investment and project financing. But it has also
propelled us into the forefront of change, demanding that we blaze a trail
as A Pioneering Force within our profession.
The firm set up Tanzania’s first Legal Aid Clinic in the early 1980s to offer legal knowledge and access
to justice for the less fortunate.
Our Conveyancing Division has handled over 50% of major conveyancing and merger & acquisition
transactions in the Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions.
Pioneered many aspects of Tanzania’s landed property law, including the creation of models for ease-
ments to otherwise inaccessible land, planning highest and best use models for land use, zoning for land use
and land rent purposes, subdividing to enhance the value of land, creation of titles for clients to have
bankable documents, drawing up restrictive covenants for estates and enabling properly planned suburbs and
satellite towns.
We set up the first, fully licensed Trust Division in Tanzania. This trust currently holds funds, equity and inter-
ests exceeding USD 5,000,000 in trust for its clients.
Chapter 04
Mawalla Advocates was the first firm to form a dedicated Corporate Services Division offering a full range
of corporate management solutions to clients, including a comprehensive data and record keeping system
for proper corporate governance and a landed property management system for managing company assets.
Corporate Services currently manages over 100 companies.
15

No.8
Creating stars for others to navigate their
way in the world of business

We pioneered the establishment of a Financial Services Division to offer various financial services to Mawalla
group clients. Financial Services advises and provides financial services to clients to ensure they comply with
Tanzania’s Income Tax Act [No. 11 of 2004].
We pioneered models to enable hunting companies to consolidate for efficiency.
We were the first firm to set up a fund to conduct community conservation and block development
in terms of Tanzania’s Hunting Regulations of 2000 (as amended).
We pioneered Tanzania’s first Private Public Partnership (PPP) in wildlife management areas by facilitating
and negotiating investment agreements, as well as creating models of how Wildlife Management Areas should
be valued and how proceeds should be derived and distributed.
We were Tanzania’s first training-orientated law firm offering clear training guidelines, a value system
for interns and office and accommodation facilities of a high standard.
The Mawalla group presently comprises 20 lawyers specialising in various disciplines, supported by
70 employees, all of whom are instructed and expected to conduct their relationships with clients and each
other in terms of The Mawalla Way.
17

No.9
Providing our clients with all the business channels
- under one canopy -

The elephant eats from
many trees.
Effective protection of wealth demands proficiency in a number of key
Wealth Creation and Management Services. Each one of these specialised
services stems from our time-honoured ability to craft solutions that
are legally based but with a powerful business-friendly orientation. Each
has been honed by our founding fathers and their associates over generations,
and each is dedicated to one singleminded mission: to manage
the wealth of those who have it, and to unlock value for those who don’t,
thereby improving the plight of all.
Real Estate Services
With a long and proud history of ground-breaking projects, including the development of virgin land, the
Mawalla Group has long been at the forefront of implementing real estate legislation. The Group has consider-
able experience in planning and zoning land, and advising on real estate finance, real estate investment, real
estate investment trusts, real estate litigation, real estate private equity, real estate securitisations and real
estate tax.
Trust and Management Services
As a long-standing family business, ensuring that a legacy passes safely from one generation to the next
is always close to the hearts of the Mawalla people. The Mawalla Group has pioneered the formation of the
first duly licensed trust company dedicated to establishing and managing trusts, advising on asset protection
schemes, preparing wills and administering deceased persons’ estates, acting as attorneys, providing inde-
pendent trustees and corporate trustee services, setting up charitable trusts and companies, and providing
custodial or nominee management services
Chapter 05
19

No.10
Mawalla a place for all to learn, grow,
protect and create wealth

Corporate Services
The skills developed in building, managing and maintaining Mawalla’s own diversified group of companies
are successfully applied on behalf of other corporations. These competencies extend to performing complex
mergers and acquisitions, overseeing private equity and private equity funds, and advising on all aspects of
corporate management and governance.
Asset Management Services
The Mawalla Group has learned from its many clients that the only aspect of wealth more challenging
than creating it, is the ability to keep it. As a result, Mawalla Asset Management’s skills extend to all manner
of wealth and asset management, including asset management outsourcing.
In summary, the Mawalla Group’s Wealth Creation and Management divisions expertly consult, invest and
manage wealth and assets for our clients, always in accordance with The Mawalla Way.
21

This tree and that, under which one will you sit?
Here and there a road, which one will you follow?
-
African Riddle Proverb

Mawalla Road Mawalla Heritage Park Plot No. 175/20 Mawalla Law Offices Arusha Tanzania P. O. Box 6101
Telephone: +255 754 282 038 Telephone/Facsimile: +255 732 972 468 Electronic mail: law.reception@mawalla.co.tz
Website: www.mawalla.co.tz
1

Strategic Plan(s) and Management Questionnaire
For Mr. Nyaga Paul Mawalla
Position: CEO of the Mawalla Group
By:
Irene Ngowi (LL.B, MBA), 2009

Q1. What is the Mawalla Group Strategy?
a) The short term plans – Strategic Plans?
b) The long term plans – Strategic Plans and Management Plans?
Answer:
Q. A) The short term strategic plans for Mawalla Group consists of:
1) Creating a product line to sell under the Mawalla Brand. This product line will comprise of
services that are offered under:
a) Mawalla & Advocates;
b) Mawalla Financial Services;
c) Mawalla Corporate Services;
d) Mawalla Real Estate Services.
2) Creating systems that will enable the use of the product line and ensure that the products under
the brand reach the desired target groups – i.e. individuals, corporations (public and private).
The following systems have been created already:
a) The corporate data profile – a system to be utilized by Mawalla Corporate Services Limited;
b) The property data profile – a system to be utilized by Mawalla Advocates under the Mawalla
Real Estate Services Department.
c) A financial data profile – system to be utilized by Mawalla Financial Services Limited.
3) Rolling out the three systems to corporations and other law firms within the country for use.
This is will involve a marketing strategy as all corporations and law firms will be at liberty to buy
(at a nominal value) and use the systems. However, the said end users will not be at liberty to
alter or change the systems without the authorization of Mawalla. Thus, Mawalla shall reserve
all rights of the systems under the brand Mawalla.
4) Enter into a Public Private Partnership (PPP) with the Business Registrations & Licensing Agency
(BRELA) to provide corporate services to all the 26 regions of Tanzania by opening an office in all
regional capitals of Tanzania within five (5) years starting with four (4) in the next five years.
Page 2 of 27

B) The Long term plan and strategic management plan for the core business of the Mawalla Group of
Companies (operating under Mawalla Advocates) is wealth creation and management, which will be
done through the provision of the following services:
1) The Provision of Real Estate Services by implementing real estate legislation; planning and
zoning; advising on real estate finance; real estate investment, real estate investment trusts,
real estate litigation, real estate private equity, real estate securitization and real estate tax.
2) The Provision of Trust and Management services by establishing and managing trusts,
advising on asset protection schemes, preparing wills and administering estates, acting as
attorneys, providing independent trustees and corporate trustee services, setting up
charitable trusts and companies and providing custodial or nominee management services.
3) The Provision of Corporate Services by building, managing and maintaining groups of
companies on behalf of other corporations; performing complex mergers and acquisitions;
overseeing private equity and private equity funds and advising on all aspects of corporate
management and governance.
4) The Provisions of Asset Management Services by advising on asset management and
investment, including outsourcing of the same to expert consultants within and abroad.
5) Helping to create and manage an Institute of Chartered Secretaries (ICS) in Tanzania and
training young lawyers on how to become chartered secretaries for companies in East Africa.
6) The forming of a partnership with Rooth Wessels Motla Conradie in (Pretoria – Brooklyn - a
law firm in South Africa) and or any other Law Firm anywhere else in the world and the
University of Free State also in South Africa (and or any other University anywhere else in the
world), to work towards developing new product lines for use in both jurisdictions.
7) The managent of the Mawalla Group in Partnership with the five main Associates of Mawalla
Advocates.
8) The entering into a Public Private Partnership (PPP) with the Business Registrations &
Licensing Agency (BRELA) and the Tanzania Investment Center (TIC), as well as work with
programmes such as Mpango wa Kurasimisha Rasilimali na Biashara za Wanyonge Tanzania (
MKURABITA) (the programe for the legal and economic empowerment of the poor in
Tanzania); and MKUKUTA (National Strategy for growth and Reduction of Poverty in
Tanzania), in order to assist in business formalization in Tanzania by rolling out corporate
services in all the regions of Tanzania and thereby assist in poverty reduction.
9) The provision of tax and financial advise through Mawalla Financial Services Ltd to public and
private companies, hence assist the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) to collect taxes in
their capacity as tax consultants.
Page 3 of 27

10) The provision of legal corporate securities services through Mawalla Corporate Services
Limited to Major Banks throughout the Northern Region of Tanzania.
11) The setting up of a Research and Development (R&D) Department within Mawalla
Advocates that shall provide legal opinions on various legal issues to individuals and
corporations (private and public) on diverse legal issues.
Page 4 of 27

Q2. Which of the alternatives below best describes how is the Mawalla Group Strategy is formulated:
Answer:
a) By the Chief Architect Approach (where there is one major player e.g. Dell and Microsoft)?
b) The Delegation Approach (where the CEO gives the responsibilities to people closer to the
activities performed by the organization)?
c) The Collaborative/team Approach - (team composing different section of employees)?
d) The Corporate/Entrepreneur Approach (which relies on middle or lower managers and
teams to spot new business opportunities e.g. Hewitt and Packard)?
The Mawalla Group Strategy is formulated by (a) The Chief Architect Approach where there is one major
player - being Mr. Mawalla.
Mr. Mawalla is the Sole Proprietor of Mawalla Advocates, (procedures are underway to make Mawalla
Advocates a Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) under Mr. Mawalla and Mr. Lemmy Bartholomew) and up
to now, it is through Mr. Mawalla that all the strategies are formulated. Mr. Mawalla, who was inspired
by his Father, Mr. Juma R. S. Mawalla, is solely the mastermind behind the Mawalla Group progressive
strategy. According to him, the Mawalla Group strategy is periodically developed, for a term of five
years each. The following are the strategic periods under which the Mawalla Group has been operating:
1) Phase One Strategy: From 1998 – 2003 – During this Period, the Mawalla Strategy was focused
on the development of infrastructure, assessment of its competitors and the opportunities
available.
2) Phase Two Strategy: From 2003 -2008 – During this Period the Mawalla Strategy was focused on
the development of internal systems, creation of product lines, branding and marketing.
3) Phase Three Strategy: From 2008 – 2013 – During this Period, the Mawalla Strategy is focused
on perfecting the legal skills of the lawyers, assessing its resources, consolidating its businesses,
directing its focus on its capabilities, strengths and pursuing its current strategic plans and
strategic management module.
Page 5 of 27

Q3. Why has the Mawalla Group chosen the specific Strategy Formulation process mentioned under Q2
above?
Answer:
Mr. Mawalla has opted to use the Chief Architect Approach as a strategic plan formulation process for
the simple reason that the core business of the Group is law practice.
A. Advantages of this Strategy formulation process:
1) This approach ensures that there are no variations in the Business Strategy, i.e. the Blue Ocean
Strategy by the Group and or dissimilar interpretations in the application of the law at Mawalla
Advocates; hence creating a united Mawalla Way. This is reflected in the systems that are
developed to ensure that the Mawalla Group is run uniformly and the clients are served
accordingly.
2) This approach also ensures that there is one point of control and that the same rests with the
Mr. Mawalla.
3) This approach ensures that Strategy and Strategic Plans are implemented as it is presented; not
withstanding the normal and necessary adjustments that are made on parts of the Strategic
Plan.
B. Disadvantages of this Strategy formulation process:
1) The down fall of this Strategic Plan initiation and formulation process is that, the people
involved in the implementation of the Strategic Plan need to be made to understand fully the
Business Strategy of the Mawalla Group, the Strategic Plan itself, envision the results and
pursue whole heartedly the objectives of the Mawalla Group. This sometimes tends to be a
difficult task, and Mr. Mawalla may need to massively educate the implementers and
sometimes the implementers of the Strategic Plan may not understand or agree and hence fail
to implement the Strategic Plan accordingly.
2) This Strategic Plan initiation and formulation process sometimes leads the implementers to
believe that they are merely implementing the ideas of one visionary.
3) When Mr. Mawalla is not available to make a final decision, the implementers may be stranded
and left without a Strategic leader.
Page 6 of 27

Q4. How are the Mawalla Group Strategic Plans implemented? How are the CEO, the Senior Managers,
and the Managers responsible for specific Functions or Departments and the Managers of Major
Operating Units responsible for implementing the strategic plan?
Answer:
In reference to the Group Structure appearing under Figure 1 above; however, the simpler structure of
the strategy implementation process is as appearing on Figure 2 below;
Mawalla Corporate Services Mawalla Advocates
Mawalla Financial Services
Figure 2.
Key:
Trust & Tax
Consultancy
Services
Department
Solid Line – means reporting to
Real Estate
Services
Department
Broken Line – means associated with
Mawalla Trust Limited
Senior Associate Senior Associate Senior Associate Senior Associate Senior Associate
Research
Development
& Opinion
Department
Wealth
Management
Services
Department
Specialized
Litigation
Services
Department
Page 7 of 27

From Figure 2 above, the Law Firm (Mawalla Advocates) is run by the five main Associates (also known
as Senior Associates) who report to Mr. Mawalla and likewise receive instructions from him. The five
main Associates are also the Heads of the Departments as above indicated, and they are responsible for
the implementation of specific strategies under each Department. Mawalla Advocates, being the core
business of the Mawalla Group, is headed by Mr. Mawalla. Legally, Mawalla Advocates is a Sole
Proprietor Business belonging to Mawalla trading as Mawalla Advocates. In the process to make easy
the strategy implementation process, each Department has a defined mandate for operations, and time
frame within which to complete the tasks, and a budget within which to operate.
The two main companies, being Mawalla Corporate Services Limited and Mawalla Financial Services
Limited, are run by Directors, under the umbrella of Mawalla Trust Limited. The Strategic Plans of the
Mawalla Group are implemented under the Brand name Mawalla through the two main companies.
Mawalla Trust Limited is a trust company. It operates through the three companies being, Mawalla
Advocates, Mawalla Corporate Services Limited and Mawalla Financial Services. Mawalla Trust Limited
also has development rights for specific projects which are carried out directly under the trust company
as depicted on Figure 1 of this document.
Page 8 of 27

Q5. How is the Strategic process of the Mawalla Group initialed and agreed upon? What is the role of
the Associates in the process?
Answer:
The Strategic process of the Mawalla Group is initialed by Mr. Mawalla in the following manner:
1) Mr. Mawalla presents a strategic plan as an idea to the five main Associates at a meeting of the
Associates of Mawalla Advocates. There are instances in which anyone of the five main
associates may initial a strategy, and a meeting is held to discuss the same. However, such
situations are rare.
2) The Strategy is then processed by deliberation, assessing the legal, financial, and sometimes
ethical outcome for the implementation of the strategy.
3) The implementation process and the evaluation process of the strategy are agreed upon.
4) Once the strategy has been introduced at the first meeting, Mr. Mawalla then packages the
strategy (by polishing the ideas in consultation with relevant persons and organizations in
Tanzania and abroad, also by reviewing the internal process of how the strategy shall be
implemented to completion).
5) Mr. Mawalla thereafter calls another meeting in which the strategy is once again deliberated,
appraised and or criticized (if need be).
6) Once the strategy is understood and the strategy implementation process is agreed upon, the
implementation process is set to motion by the heads of departments and the various staff
beneath them.
Page 9 of 27

Q6. What are the Mawalla Group mandates?
Answer:
The mandates of the Mawalla Group lay with the various officials of the Companies under the Group as
follows beginning from the top:
A. Mr. Mawalla (the Sole Proprietor):
1) He is the ultimate boss, who makes all of the strategic decisions. His decisions are final;
2) He initiates the Strategic Plans, sees through the implementation of the Strategic Plans
and evaluates the outcome of the Strategic Plans;
3) He provides the strategic visions, the objectives and the values for the Mawalla Group;
4) He selects the clients, the projects, marks the time frames and the financial investment
to be injected into each project;
5) He decides on the strategic plans and strategic management;
6) He decides on the operations of the Departments and the budget and profit allocation
to each Department;
7) He is the pioneer developer of the various product lines and the data base system, he is
also the sole owner of the copyrights to the systems;
8) He is the backbone and think tank of the entire Group of Companies;
B. Senior Associates: These include the five (5) main associates of Mawalla Advocates:
1) These are responsible to their individual Departments and have the mandate to decide
the matters within their Departments, provided the same are in line with the strategic
plans and management of the entire Mawalla Group;
2) Each Senior Associates or the Head of the Department is mandated to operate an
account set up for the specific Department and are responsible for the supervision of
the tasks carried out by the junior staff working within the departments;
3) Senior Associates are required to hold meetings with their assistants to direct, clarify
and guide them on the implementation of the Group’s Strategic plans;
4) Senior Associates are also responsible to ensure that clients’ work done under their
Departments is timely completed;
5) These Heads of Departments are also Advocates. In this capacity, they are directly
responsible to clients of the Mawalla Group.
Page 10 of 27

C. Junior Associates: These include legal officers, legal interns and trainees who work with
Mawalla Advocates periodically. Their mandates are as follows:
1) To research and present findings on various legal matters as they shall be directed by
the Senior Associates;
2) To implement the products developed under the Mawalla Group;
3) To put to test the systems that are created and criticize the same where need be;
4) To assist the Senior Associates in all matters as shall be directed by them.
D. Non Legal Staff: These include an entire department of accountants working with the Mawalla
Financial Services, Consultants and the Support staff;
1) The Accountants are responsible for the management of the accounts of the entire
Mawalla Group;
2) Accountants are also mandated to produce their own product line (under the Brand) to
sell to the clients of Mawalla Advocates and Mawalla Corporate Services Limited;
3) The Consultants are hired on a need basis and are mandated to use the Group’s
infrastructure to carry out their tasks in line with the strategic plans of the Mawalla
Group;
4) The Support Staff include the Officer Administrators, the Drivers, the Cleaners and the
Gardeners, Security and the Maintenance and Repair personnel, who are responsible for
the various tasks that are allocated to them accordingly by the Sole Proprietor, the
Heads of Departments, the Accountants and Consultants.
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Q7. What is the Mawalla Group Strategic Vision? What is the Mawalla Mission Statement?
Answer:
A. Mawalla Group Strategic Vision consists of the following:
1) To craft and timely deliver solutions that are in accordance with the most advanced
technological systems which, are also legally based, but with a powerful business – friendly
orientation in real estate services, trust management services, corporate services and asset
management services.
2) To create the blue ocean strategy focusing on capturing new demand, breaking the value cost
trade off, creating an uncontested market space, making competition irrelevant, and aligning
the whole system of the Mawalla Group’s activities with its strategic choice of differentiation
and low cost.
3) To create and brand corporate, property and financial data profile systems that will be made
available to all corporations (public and private) in East Africa at a nominal price and to roll out
or duplicate the Mawalla Corporate and Financial Services in Tanzania within a five year time
frame.
4) To form partnerships with public institutions, other law firms in Tanzania and abroad, as well as
to partner with a University(ies) in order to obtain better or more qualified human resource and
train its legal associates under Mawalla Advocates.
B. Mawalla Group Mission Statement:
• ‘To manage the wealth of those who have it and to unlock value for those who don’t, thereby
improving the plight of all.’
• The Slogan for the Group reads: “Taking care of Business”.
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Q8. From the alternatives below, which alternative best describes how Strategic Planning is Monitored
at Mawalla and why?
a) by evaluating performance,
b) by reviewing changes in the surrounding environment,
c) by making adjustments that are normal and necessary on parts of strategic management?
Answer:
Strategic Planning at Mawalla is monitored by (c) above mentioned i.e. by making adjustments that are
normal and necessary on parts of strategic management.
Reason:
This is because the Mawalla core business is Law Practice, hence the need to create a strategic plan and
strategically manage the group of companies by creating products and changing the product in
accordance with the law. The need to make adjustments that are normal and necessary as part of the
strategic management is important so as to enable the creation of new products under the brand
Mawalla.
It is not easy to monitor strategic planning by evaluation performance of lawyers due to the difference
in the type of transactions carried by the various Departments and or by reviewing the surrounding
environment due to the changes that are brought about by the change of law.
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Q9. Given the five elements of strategic planning below, elaborate briefly how the Mawalla Group
assesses its environment in creating its strategic plans?
a) Externally – by assessing its competitors, the industry, the threats, and the opportunities?
b) Internally – by assessing its resources, capabilities, competitiveness, strength, and weakness?
c) Strategic intent – by forming and pursuing relentlessly an ambition objective and or
concentrating on its competitive actions and energies in achieving that objective?
d) Operational results – by assessing its previous achievements?
e) Strategic Choice – by assessing the need to change its strategic plan?
Answer:
The Mawalla Group assesses its environment in creating its strategic plans by using methods numbered
(a), (b), (c) and (e) above in the following manner:
In crafting its strategic plans, the Mawalla Group assesses its environment by focusing on the following:
1. The external circumstances such as assessing its competitors, the industry, the threats, and the
opportunities;
2. The internal circumstances by assessing its resources, capabilities, competitiveness, strengths,
and weakness;
3. The strategic intent by forming and pursuing relentlessly its objectives and or concentrating on
its competitive advantage in achieving those objectives and thereby aligning its strategic
choice(s) with the need to change its Strategic Plans to suit the management and
implementation process as shall be discussed briefly in the various strategic phases below.
From the very beginning (in 1998) Mr. Mawalla focused on the external environment of the Mawalla
Group by assessing its competitors, the requirements in the legal industry, the threats and the
opportunities that were available in Arusha and in Tanzania as a whole. He also had to create a Strategy
Map in this regard and decide on what strategic choices to make in order to implement the plan. Mr.
Mawalla has since inception of the Mawalla Group employed the strategy of making five year plans,
which are adjusted during implementation when and where the need arises. Thus, this Strategy choice
has worked to create three Strategic Planning phases so far, being: Phase I from 1998 -2003; Phase II
from 2003 -2008; and Phase III from 2008 – 2013 as shall be discussed albeit briefly below.
Phase I of the Strategic Planning from 1998 -2003:
From 1998 to 2001 Mr. Mawalla interned at Kibo Chambers under the Mentorship of Advocate J.S.
Mawalla. In 2002 Mr. Mawalla moved the office base from Kibo Chambers in Moshi to Mawalla
Advocates in Moivaro - Arusha. Being new in town and speculating on what products to offer the
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Arusha market; Mr. Mawalla was forced to look at the already existing law firms some being: Maro &
Co. Advocates; Ngalo & Co. Advocates; Ojare Advocates and Mwale & Co. Advocates.
Mr. Mawalla was aiming at creating new products, yet legally acceptable within the industry. Much
research was conducted by him to identify the threats and the opportunities that were available. Two
factors massively favoured Mr. Mawalla during this time, firstly - the name “Mawalla” which he shares
with his Father, Advocate Juma R.S. Mawalla (who was renowned for his acute legal skills in the
Northern Region of Tanzania since 1961) and secondly, the unsaturated market for not just any lawyer,
but a good corporate, trust, real estate and wildlife law lawyer in Arusha.
During this time, the opportunities which were available were as follows:
1) That there were very few corporate, trust, real estate and wildlife law lawyers in Arusha; a
service that Mr. Mawalla was developing to sell to the market;
2) That there was an elite group of clientele (locals and foreigners) who massively required the
corporate, trust, real estate and wildlife law services.
3) That the trust and investment laws were under developed; services in these legal areas were
and still are greatly demanded for by investors.
It was thus in this phase that Mr. Mawalla created the required office infrastructure at Moivaro, and
also acquired massive tracts of land at various parts of Arusha for both commercial and residential
purposes. He created a niche for the Firm in the market by assessing the needs of the customers and
tailoring legal products according to the customers’ needs and finally creating the environment that
would serve the customers in the most efficient way.
Phase II of the Strategic Planning from 2003 - 2008:
Following the successful completion of the Phase I Strategic Planning - i.e. laying the foundation and
creating a product line and identifying customers for the said products, Mr. Mawalla began Phase II
Strategic Planning, which was implemented through 2003 -2008. In this phase, Mr. Mawalla again
focused not only on assessing the environment externally as above discussed, but he also assessed the
environment internally by assessing Mawalla Group resources, capabilities, competitiveness, strength
and weaknesses.
During this Phase, Mr. Mawalla built another office (which later became the main office) in the outskirts
of Arusha, an office which would accommodate the needs of the Group’s clients, and the entire Mawalla
Group structure as appearing under Figure 1 of this document. The office is located within an Estate,
containing both offices and residential units, which are used by some of the Senior Associates. Mr.
Mawalla also focused on internal environmental assessment of the Mawalla Group by developing its
resources, capabilities, competitiveness, and strengths. He has always focused on eliminating the
weaknesses of the said group, which is an on going venture.
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It is also at this time that Mr. Mawalla built up the human resource of the Mawalla Group i.e. a team of
lawyers who would work with him. He ventured to look for young and fresh graduates from Universities
to come and train under him. He also marketed massively the services of the Mawalla Group to an elite
group of clientele who continue to pay appropriately for the same as per the Advocates' Remuneration
and Taxation of Costs Rules made under the Advocates Act [Cap 341 of the R.E 2002] of the laws of the
United Republic of Tanzania. Mr. Mawalla managed to build the cash reserves for the Mawalla Group by
saving massively, cutting off on non essential expenditures and having an efficient tax structure.
Mr. Mawalla saw an opportunity to venture into unchartered territories thereby minimizing competition
with the local lawyers and branding the product line he created “Mawalla”, hence creating a product
line and services that are uniquely “Mawalla”, and offered in the Mawalla Way. He invested massively in
best IT technology and consultants who would help create the administrative systems for the group,
thereby enabling efficient turn around time for the delivery of the products under the brand name.
Phase III Strategic Planning from 2008 – 2013:
In Phase III, Mr. Mawalla is focusing on internal analysis of the Mawalla Group as discussed above, and
assessing the strategic intent by forming and pursuing relentlessly the Mawalla Group objectives and or
concentrating on its competitive advantage and energies in achieving those objectives, herein appearing
on Figure 1 of this document. The Mawalla Group shall in this last phase focus on Research and
Development (R&D) as well as the provision of opinions on various legal issues and provide these
services to various private and public corporation in line with the Strategic Plans for the Mawalla Group.
The Strategic Objectives of the Mawalla group are as follows:
1. To go (within the next five years) into the 26 regions of Tanzania in a Public Private Partnership
(PPP) with:
a. The Business Registration & Licensing Agency (BRELA), to assist in maximizing the
communication gap between BRELA and the potential users of the BRELA services,
thereby increase the number of users, establishing new businesses and seeking
protection of creative corporate works.
b. The Tanzania National Land Use Plan Commission (NUPLC) to help create sustainable
land use management systems and avoid land degradation, misuse and abusive use in
order to maintain and enhance the land quality in Tanzania and to promote prudent and
sustainable land use, to conserve land natural resources in order to alleviate poverty
and eradicate environmental problems afflicting the population.
c. The Tanzania Investment Center (TIC) and assist in portraying Tanzania as Africa’s
Premier Investment destination and enhancing an environment conducive for business
and entrepreneurship growth.
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d. Programmes such as MKUKUTA (National Strategy for growth and Reduction of Poverty
in Tanzania), and MKURABITA (the programme for the legal and economic
empowerment of the poor in Tanzania) towards poverty reduction; improvement of
quality of life and social well being and governance and accountability.
2. To train young Tanzanian lawyers on how to become chartered secretaries for companies in East
Africa through the Institute of Chartered Secretaries (ICS).
3. To provide tax consulting services to Tanzanians and thereby work with the Tanzania Revenue
Authority (TRA) to assist the Government in collecting taxes efficiently and promoting voluntary
tax compliance and thereby assist TRA meet its Third Corporate Plan.
4. To provide legal corporate securities services through Mawalla Corporate Services Limited to
Major Banks throughout the Northern Region of Tanzania.
5. To provide legal opinions on various legal issues to individuals and corporations (public and
private) on diverse legal issues.
The Objectives of the Mawalla Group of companies are pursued in line with the following honor code:
1. To be forthright from the first: this entails accuracy in the identification of clients that the
Group of clients can assist in the least time possible.
2. To be efficient with energy: this entails the achievement of optimal results for chosen clients in
the safest, quickest and most economical way.
3. To be realist: this entails to bear elements of legal and financial literacy (the ability to create and
manage wealth) in such a way that the clients’ investment and business ideals are protected
with diligence, care and excellence, without unnecessary complexity or gratuitous recourse to
protracted and costly litigation.
4. Leave no stone unturned; this entails to be tenacious – whether in support of a client, in
defence of the courts or in the promotion of fairness, impartiality and integrity.
5. Be an example; this entails the embodiment of high standards of reasoning, courtesy,
independency and confidentiality.
6. Be no body’s darling; this entails to stand alone for as long as it takes, risking popularity and
favour, in a quest to do what must be done and way what must be said.
Therefore in Phase III, Mr. Mawalla will not only be looking to implement its strategic plan by assessing
the internal environment of the group, but also he will also focus on the strategic intent of the group
and delink the parts of the group that are weak by focusing on the strategic objectives and vision of the
Mawalla Group.
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It is the personal objectives of Mr. Mawalla that with the end of Phase III, the Mawalla Group will
sustain without him and the story of the Group will no longer be about him, but about the Mawalla
Group. It is evident that the core values, the common vision and the product line of the Group has been
established and the roll out plan for the services offered by the Group is underway for Dar es Salaam,
Iringa, Babati, Mbeya and Mwanza, by way of a Public Private Partnership (PPP) with the Business
Registrations Licensing Agency (BRELA).
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Q10. In analyzing its environment, which of the two methods below is used by the Mawalla Group?
Why?
a) The SWOT analysis – Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats Analysis?
b) The PEST analysis – the Political, Economic, Social and Technological Analysis?
Answer:
Having the legal business as the core business of the group the Mawalla Group in analyzing its
environment uses both the methods cited above in the following manner:
a) The SWOT analysis: See Figure 3 below:
Figure 3.
The Strengths:
1. The Brand name ‘Mawalla’.
2. The product range it offers, being: Real Estate Services, Trust and
Management Services, Corporate Services, and Asset Management
Services.
3. The energetic, youthful and knowledgeable human resource of the
Mawalla Group who are being trained to attend in the most efficient
way to the clients and ensure maximum client satisfaction.
4. The IT technology and the administrative systems that are in place to
serve the group and the customers.
5. The strategic choice and management of the Mawalla group as
spearheaded by Mr. Mawalla.
6. The strategic location of the Mawalla Group, being in Burka – the
outskirts of the town, which is an added advantage for the real estate
business in which the Group is involved.
7. The leadership of Mr. Mawalla, who is not only a visionary, but also a
great teacher and business man.
The Opportunities:
1. The offer of new products which are highly in demand such as mergers
and acquisitions, derivative rights application under Corporate Law
Land Law and Wildlife Law, Tourism Law and Trust Law.
2. The changing laws. With the change in legislation such as the
Companies Act, the Income Tax Act, the Land Act, the Unit Titles Act,
and the general change in the business law is the country creates
massive opportunities for Mawalla Advocates.
3. Tanzania is still very much unexploited, hence opportunities in land
development and financing are the focus of Mawalla Advocates, and
hence the opportunities are plenty.
The Weaknesses:
1. Being a sole proprietorship business, the strategic plan, the
management and financial decisions are made by Mr. Mawalla. This
being the case, his absence from the office for any amount of time
could mean that no serious decisions are made.
2. Skill transfer: It goes without saying that skilled labour is the one of the
biggest problems in Africa. It is against this background that Mr.
Mawalla has tried massively to train his own team of lawyers. Where
training has not been applicable, consultants with skill have been hired
from as far as South Africa and India to cater for the demands, which is
expensive and unsustainable.
3. The lack IT expertise is a problem that which hinders the proper
application of the office administration systems, thereby limiting the
maximum turn around time.
4. The group lacks proper and faithful accountants and financial advisors
as well as copyrighters.
5. The group faces an English language problem. Most employees do not
have the level of English required to communicate effectively with the
clients.
6. Bad political background of Ujamaa/socialism. The Group is pro
capitalism, but most of those who work with the Group have a socialist
mentality.
The Threats:
1. Corruption; this is one of the threats to the business as the legal
system is somehow corrupted.
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) PEST analysis:
Politically, Economically & Socially With the change of Law, the core business of
the Group is affected politically, socially and
economically. For example, the coming into
force of the Political Parties Act [Cap 258 of the
Revised Laws of 2002] of the Laws of the
United Republic of Tanzania, the Banking and
Financial Institutions Act [Cap 342 of the
Revised Laws of 2002] of the Laws of the
United Republic of Tanzania, and the Women
Empowerment policies have all positively
affected the core business of the Group of
companies in one way or another.
Technologically - The core business of the group is affected as transactions are done via the
advanced IT technology, i.e. via emails. It is thus easier for fraud and breach of confidentially to
occur and piracy is also easier with all the new technology. There is thus a need for the law in
this area to be improved.
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Q11. In formulating a strategy for the Mawalla Group, which of the following alternatives are the most
important in the strategy formulation?
a) Resource Audit as indicated by:
i. Resource analysis,
ii. Quantity and Quality Analysis,
iii. Unique Resources,
iv. A good and initial analysis?
Answer:
This method of strategy formulation is used in the Phase III from 2008 -2013, in which there will
be a roll out plan for the services and products that have been created in Phase I and Phase II.
The Mawalla Group is richer, looking at protecting its assets and growing solidly. It is also
looking at consolidating and protecting the product line and new sources.
b) Analysis of cost and profit as indicated by:
i. The current sources of profits and trends,
ii. Recast standard reporting to give new insights,
iii. Pragmatic approach to get value from time and effort spent,
iv. A good initial analysis?
Answer:
This method of strategy formulation was used in Phase I from 1998 – 2003, where the Firm was
smaller, looking at creating new products and profits.
c) Benchmarking which is achieved by comparing the best in class on the market with what the
Mawalla Group is producing? Who are the Mawalla competitors?
Answer:
Benchmarking has always been employed in the strategic planning of the Mawalla Group, hence
the branding. However, following the successful implementation of Phase I and Phase II of the
Mawalla Strategic plans, Mawalla Advocates has eliminated competitors in Arusha. The current
competitors of Mawalla Advocates are IMMA Advocates, REX Attorneys, Mkono & Company
Advocates, Ringo Tenga Law Associates and M.A Ismail & Co. Advocates, all of whom are based
in Dar es Salaam. However, Mawalla still manages to thrive in this competitive atmosphere by
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providing services that are somehow unique to those provided by its competitors, but at a
cheaper cost, without compromising the end product. Over and above this, the brand Mawalla
is now widely known and the current shift in the philosophy of the law firm i.e. into Research
and Development (R&D) and the provision of legal opinions on various legal issues shall be an
added advantage.
d) Value chain analysis indicated by:
i. Primary activities such as skills, core competence, management marketing,
price, customer satisfaction and human resource management?
ii. Support activities such as infrastructure, technology and strategic management?
Answer:
Both indications of the value chain analysis as cited under (i) and (ii) above have been used in
the strategy formulation process, but at different phases of the said development.
For example, in Phase I and II of the Mawalla Group Strategic Planning process, the value chain
analysis was indicated by the focus on the support activities such as infrastructure, technology
and strategic management; while in Phase III the value chain analysis will be indicated by the
focus on the primary activities such as skills, core competence, management marketing, price,
customer satisfaction and human resource management.
e) Focusing on its core competencies as depicted below in figure 4 below?
Answer:
Mindset Personality Collective knowledge of the organization
Interpersonal skills Staff Skills Embodied as core competencies product
Services
Task Skills Professional Knowledge
Figure 4. (Adopted from Mahen Tampoe February 6, 1996)
Mawalla Advocates often hires fresh university graduates and trains them massively to instill in
them the Mawalla Way. Mawalla Advocates began to focus on the core competencies of the
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Law Firm in the Phase II as cited above and it intends to continue this through out Phase III of its
strategic plan. It is under Phase II that Mr. Mawalla formulated the strategic plan of creating the
Institute of Chartered Secretaries (ICS) with the Public Private Partnership (PPP) of Business
Registrations and Licensing Agency (BRELA) in Tanzania, which it shall serve to create an elite
group of lawyers who are trained to manage corporate entities in accordance with the laws of
the country. Strategically, Mawalla Advocates stands to be a benefactor of this entity as it shall
obtain highly trained Secretaries who shall run Mawalla Corporate Services Limited in the most
efficient manner.
It is also anticipated that with the introduction of Research and Development (R&D) and the
provision of legal opinion on various legal issues by the Law Firm, Lawyers shall be benefit from
the professional knowledge and task skills. It is a known factor that the Proprietor of the Law
Firm hires interpersonal skill as opposed to personal skills – hence the training. It is for this
reason that with the start of Phase III, the Mr. Mawalla has decided to launch induction
manuals, which shall serve to help and train all new lawyers on the mindset, the personality and
interpersonal skills that the lawyers working with the Mawalla Group shall be required to have.
The induction manuals shall guide all young lawyers on financial literacy, the spiritual principles
by which we should live, and the basic concepts of the legal practice. These manuals are
expected to be launched later this year.
Putting together the training and the induction manuals, it is hoped that staff skills shall be
developed to sustainably ensure that the core competencies of the Mawalla Group is delivered
in the serving the clients.
Page 23 of 27

f) Applying the shareholder value analysis as depicted below?
Corporate
Objective
Valuation
Components
Value
Drivers
Answer:
Management
Decisions
Figure 5. (Adopted from Rappaport (1986)
As with any other profit making business, the shareholder value analysis is of massive
importance to determine shareholder returns from the business for the Mawalla Group. As a
matter of principle, the Proprietor has gone as far as to document the importance of this matter
in the induction manuals – under financial literacy for lawyers.
g) Assessing parenting advantage:
i. Stand alone influence of MA?
ii. Linkage influence of the entire group of companies?
iii. Central functions of the Group?
iv. Corporate development of the Group?
Answer:
Duration of
Value growth
Cash from
Operations
Creating Shareholder
Value
Discount
Rate
Sales Growth Op.
Profit Margin
Debt
Fixed & Working
Capital Investments
Shareholder Return
Dividends Capital Growth
Cost of
Capital
Operating Investment Financing
In formulating its strategic plans, Mawalla Advocates, which is the core business of the group,
assesses the parenting advantage of the Group. Mawalla Advocates is the parent of the Mawalla
Group.
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1) The stand alone influence of the group is Mawalla Advocates. This is the core business
of the Group.
2) The linkage influence of the group as depicted under Figure 2 above is very high. This is
because the other companies have been created to serve the core business of the group
– Mawalla Advocates.
3) The central function of the group is Wealth Management and the provision of Corporate
and Financial Services under Mawalla Advocates, Mawalla Corporate Centre (including
Mawalla Corporate Services Limited and Mawalla Financial Services Limited) and
Mawalla Trust Limited.
4) The internal structure of the group is what is currently being addressed in Phase III;
however, it is highly linked to the Mawalla Brand.
h) Portfolio analysis as indicated in the diagram below
Market growth rate
High
Low
Market share rate
High Low
Figure 6. (Adopted from the Boston Consulting Group – in wide use)
Given the diagram above and the various businesses which the Mawalla Group is involved, which of
the companies is or are:
i. The star
ii. The cash cow
iii. The sleeping dog
iv. The Question mark and why?
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Answer:
This portfolio analysis is also used in the strategic formulation for the Mawalla Group. The
following are the results as per Mr. Mawalla:
1) Among the Mawalla Group, the companies that has the high market share rate and the
high market growth ( the Star Companies) are Mawalla Advocates and Mawalla Trust
Limited, because these are the core businesses of the Group and they are personally
managed by Mr. Mawalla;
2) Among the Mawalla Group, the company that has the high market share and the low
market growth rate (the Cow Company) is Mawalla Corporate Services Limited, because
this company manages the corporate clientele of Mawalla Advocate Clients, however,
they are charged annually and some of the fees for the services offered by the company
are statutorily provided for, hence the need for the company to comply with the said
fee structures. More over, the company services are offered competitively by other Law
Firms, and the management team of this relatively new company has yet to learn to
implement better business strategies to ensure that the systems (such as the corporate
data profile) that are in place work towards a high market growth rate.
3) Among the Mawalla Group, the company that has the low market share and the low
market growth rate (the Dog Company) is Mawalla Financial Services Limited, because
this company is new and the human resource set up is still incomplete. The present
management team of this company has yet to train and or select better officials to carry
out more than just works for the clients of the Firm, hence improve its business
strategies and ensure that it meets the set objectives.
Q12. According to Chan Kim and Renee Maubougne (Harvard Business School Press, Boston; 2005) Red
Ocean Strategy focuses on existing customers and has the following traits:
a) Compete in existing market space;
b) Beat the competition
c) Exploit the existing demand
d) Make the value cost trade off
e) Align the whole system of a firm’s activities with its strategic choice of differentiation
or low cost.
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Blue Ocean Strategy on the other hand focuses on the non customers and demonstrates these traits:
a) Create an uncontested market space
b) Make the competition irrelevant
c) Create and capture new demand
d) Break the value cost trade off
e) Align the whole system of a firm’s activities with its strategic choice of differentiation
and low cost.
Given the explanation above, under which of the above (red or blue ocean strategy) does the Mawalla
Group fall under? And why?
Answer:
In Phase I Group of companies used the Red Ocean Strategy, however, in Phase II and III the Mawalla
Group is using the Blue Ocean Strategy. It has created a range of services, hence an uncontested market
space, making the competition irrelevant, captured new demand and broke the value cost trade off. It
has also aligned the whole system of the firm’s activities with its strategic choice of differentiation and
low cost.
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