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What Is Strategic Management?

Strategic Management

Investopedia / Alex Dos Diaz

Definition

Strategic management strategies help companies restructure, set new goals, implement revised approaches๊, and determine resul⛦ts.

What Is Strategic Management?

Strategic management evaluates and may reorganize company resources to achieve new goals and objectives. Strategic management looks at the competitive environment and internal organization, evaluates strategies, and ensures that management rolls out new approaches across the company.

Key Takeaways

  • Companies, universities, nonprofits, and other organizations can use strategic management to set goals and meet objectives.
  • Flexible companies can more easily restructure than inflexible organizations.
  • A strategic manager may oversee strategic management plans and devise ways for organizations to meet their benchmark goals. 

Management Styles

Organizational leaders commonly focus on learning from past strategies and examining the current environment. Strategic management may includ💖e an analytic process, where all threats and opportunities are accounted for, or merely applying new guiding princ🥂iples.

The skills and competencies of employees, 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:business culture, and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:organizational structure i൩nfluence how an organization can achieve its objectives. Inflexible companies may find it difficult to succeed in a changing business environment. Creating a barrier between 𓆉strategies and their implementation can make it difficult for managers to determine whether objectives have been efficiently met.

While an organization’s upper management is ultimately responsible for its strategy, the strategies are often sparked by actions and ideas from lower-level managers and employees. An organization may have several employees devoted to strategy, rather than relying solely on the chief executive officer (CEO) for guidance.

Important

Participative leadership occurs when management includes team members in the strategic decision-making process.


Strategic Management Steps

Strategic management helps organizations turn visions into action to reach business goals and objectives. A prescriptive approach outlines how strategies are developed, while a descriptive approach focuses on how they are implemented. Most organizations generally follow a series of steps that include:

  • Goal Setting: An organization must establish clear, realistic goals to articulate its vision and long- and short-term goals. A company can then identify the objectives, or how the goals will be reached.
  • Strategic Analysis: Organizations examine, understand, and codify what internal and external forces affect their business and goals, as well as what they need to remain competitive. Analytical tools, such as SWOT analysis, are helpful during this phase.
  • Formulation: A company develops its strategy, outlining how it will achieve its goals. In this phase, an organization may identify the people, technology, and other resources it needs, how resources will be allocated to fulfill tasks, and what performance metrics will measure success. It is also critical to gain buy-in from 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:stakeholders and business leaders.
  • Execution: Once the strategies are defined, it is time for execution. The strategy moves from planning to implementation. The allocated resources are placed into action based on their roles and responsibilities.
  • Determine Success: The final stage of strategic management is to evaluate the effectiveness of implemented strategies using defined metrics. The company will determine whether ineffective methods should be replaced with more viable ones. The organization will monitor the business landscape, and internal operations, and maintain effective strategies.

Examples of Strategic Management

Consider a large company that wants to achieve more ambitious online sales rates. To meet this goal, the company will develop a strategy, communicate the plan, apply it ♈across var💞ious units and departments, integrate it with employee goals, and execute it accordingly. If an effective strategy is created, it will help the company achieve its targets through a single, coordinated process. 

Suppose a for-profit technical college wishes to increase new student enrollment and enrolled student graduation rates over the next three years. The purpose is to make the college known as the best buy for a student's money and increase revenue. The school may evaluate its financials to create high-tech classrooms and hire the most qualified instructors. The college may also devote resources to marketing and recruitment.

Why Is Strategic Management Important?

Strategic management allows a company to analyze areas for operational improvement. It may follow an analytical process—identify♊ing specific threats and specific opportunities—unique to the company. A company may c💮hoose general strategic management guidelines that apply to any company.

What Are the Key Elements of Strategic Management?

Strategic management is not a🅠 one-size-fits-all strategy. However, there are key elements that are found to be critical. These include goal setting, industry and organizational analyses, strategy formation, strategy implementation; and the measurement, monitoring, and controlling of strategies.

What Internal Changes May Be Implemented in Strategic Management?

Some action steps that comp🌞anies may take to execute their strategic management plans include realigning financial and personnel resources or changing the methods to create, sell, and deploy products and services.

The Bottom Line

Strategic management is the assembling and management of resources to achieve a company's goals and objectives. Companies create and adapt a strategic management process that works best for the firm. Strategic management does not end with implementation but is commonly reevaluated well into the organization's future.

Article Sources
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  1. Harvard University. "."

  2. Strategic Planet. "."

  3. Harvard University. "."

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