- Sep 14, 2016
- Comments Off on What is Strategic Management?
- Lavery McGlynn
What is Strategic Management?
In short, Strategic Management is practiced by the most successful organisations in the world. It’s how they set and achieve their goals.
Strategic Management is a continuous process. An organisation’s leaders determine their business objectives; then establish a strategy, or map detailing how these will be accomplished; they then implement this strategy, evaluate the results and adjust. It’s the difference between a strategy gathering dust on a shelf, and one that affects real change and growth in an organisation.
Stage one: Assessment
Also known as ‘environmental scanning’, the first stage of Strategic Management is collecting and analysing data to ensure that any strategy has a firm foundation to build upon. It’s a review of the company’s current position in order to assess the gap to the final goal(s).
Stage two: Plan
The stage of ‘Strategy Formulation’ looks at the organisational plans in place and adjusts them, or creates an initial strategy based on the assessment’s findings. A common mistake is creating a list of actions and calling it a strategy. A real strategic plan has clear prioritisation of actions and a clearly planned review process.
Stage three: Implementation
Strategy Implementation is the biggest stage, requiring the most input and resources. Processes need to be changed; staff need to be involved through a change management project; measures and controls need to be put in place and more. This is the stage that most organisations fail at due to poor planning and execution.
Stage four: Evaluation
Strategy Evaluation looks at the Performance Measures in place, and after analysing the data, taking any corrective steps required. This process is ongoing. Strategic Management is a continuous process of measurement and improvement.
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