Strategic Management as a Systematic Process
Strategic management is a systematic process of defining the direction and scope of an organization and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this direction. The process typically includes the following steps:
- Environmental scanning: This involves monitoring and analyzing the external and internal environment to identify opportunities and threats that may affect the organization’s ability to achieve its goals and objectives.
- Strategy formulation: This involves developing a plan for how the organization will respond to the opportunities and threats identified in the environmental scanning stage. This plan includes the goals and objectives of the organization and the strategies and tactics that will be used to achieve them.
- Strategy implementation: This involves putting the strategies and tactics developed in the strategy formulation stage into action. This may include restructuring the organization, allocating resources, and making changes to the organizational culture.
- Evaluation and control: This involves monitoring the progress of the strategy and making any necessary adjustments to ensure that it stays on track. This may include setting performance standards, monitoring progress against these standards, and taking corrective action if necessary.
- Continuous improvement: This involves continuously improving the organization’s strategy through ongoing monitoring and evaluation. The results of the evaluation and control stage are used to identify areas for improvement and to make any necessary changes to the organization’s strategy.
Strategic management is an ongoing process that helps organizations to align their resources with their goals and objectives, and continuously improve their performance. Effective strategic management requires a clear understanding of the organization’s strengths and weaknesses, a thorough analysis of the external and internal environment, and an ongoing commitment to monitoring and adjusting the strategy as needed.
