The Strategic Management Process

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 611.

THE CONCEPT OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

I. Information for study.

Unit 2

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Most well-run organizations attempt to develop and followstrategies, large-scale action plans for interacting with the environment in order to achieve long-term goals. A comprehensive statement of an organization's strategies, along with its mission and goals, constitutes an organization's strategic plan. To learn where such strategies originate and how they are put into action, we need to examine carefully an aspect of the planning function called strategic management.Strategic management is a process through which managers formulate and implement strategies geared to optimizing strategic goal achievement, given available environmental and internal conditions. This definition recognizes that strategic management is oriented toward reaching long-term goals, weighs important environmental elements, considers major internal characteristics of the organization, and involves developing specific strategies.

The strategic management process is made up of several major components. The process begins with identifying the organization's mission and strategic goals. The process also includes analyzing the competitive situation, taking into consideration both the external environment and relevant organizational factors. Once the situation has been carefully analyzed, managers can begin to develop, or formulate, various strategies that can be used to reach strategic goals. The part of the strategic management process that includes identifying the mission and strategic goals, conducting competitive analysis, and developing specific strategies is often referred to asstrategy formulation. In contrast, the part of the strategic management process that focuses on carrying out strategic plans and maintaining control over how those plans are carried out is known asstrategy implementation. Strategy implementation is increasingly highlighted as a distinct part of the strategic management process because even the most brilliantly formulated strategies must be implemented effectively in order to reach strategic goals.