Strategic management
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Strategic management is both a field of knowledge and specific practical activities. This includes general principles and methods, as well as specific techniques. The complexity of the potential of the company makes strategic management different compared to traditional approaches and methods of management.
The strategic dimension in the company has the following meaning:
- Includes a comprehensive range of business organization that is, all components arising in cause-effect relationships,
- Take into account the relations of company to the competitive environment (industry, domain)
- Considers the role of goals of industry and sector.
- Universal, since it relates to the resources, competitors, objectives and functions.
Planning and decision process that starts by establishing mission and goals, SWOT analysis, strengths and weaknesses, strategy realization and control in changing environment in a long-run perspective. Strategic management is a total system perspective reflecting organisation's ability to cope the demands by external and internal forces and go in with functioning of the organisation to allocate resources.
See also:
Genesis of strategic management
- H.I. Ansoff (1965, 1979) - an analytical approach to planning in strategic management,
- RL Ackoff (1970) - developed optimization account and synthesis of strategic planning,
- B. Henderson (1964) - the founder of the consulting firm Boston Consulting Group (BCG), developed research instruments such as the experience curve, growth / market share matrix (called BCG matrix), model of competition and the concept of customer retention,
- ME Porter (1980, 1982, 1990), introduced the concept of industry analysis, showcased a client role, recognizing it as the main factor determining the strategies of the company and developed the concept of international competition,
- T. Peters and R. Waterman jr. (1982), who pointed out sources of competitive advantage,
- G. Hamel and CK Prahalad (1990), who advocated a return to classical principles of specialization and staff, indicating that core competencies are the key factor for competitive advantage,
- H. Mintzberg (1991), who proposed a 5P model, which is a kind of alternative to the analytical approach,
Steps of the strategic management process
- Mission and vision and goal setting - Every company must have a vision of future being. Mission is a purpose of organization's existing and values that it will represent on the way to archive vision. By setting goals and archiving them managers get closer to organization's vision.
- Analyzing opportunities and threats in environment - It all starts with analyzing the industry and market. Next step is to examine competition and society. Afterwards organisation should analyze human resources, their needs and problems. At the end look for potential innovations.
- Strengths and weaknesses - First of all organizations have to have financial controlling department to examine income statement, know the outlay and maybe cut some unnecessary expenses, then analyze company's structure, all levels of management and employees to focus on how to improve their work. Another important thing is to examine organization's: position on the market, production process, information systems.
- SWOT analysis - is a comparison of strengths that are helpful and weaknesses that are harmful in internal origin to opportunities that are helpful and threats that are harmful in external origin that helps executives in formulating a strategy.
- Implementation of strategy - strategies must be implemented under control of managers. The strategy must reflect in managers decisions and must match organization's environment.Implementation process changes the organization's structure, technology, human resources, information and reward system, culture and leadership style. In strategy implementation change starts with the leader.
- Strategic control system - helps managers to evaluate organization's progress. That system also includes monitoring finances and establishes limits.
Strategic management results in financial and non-financial. If it is effective it can bring organization's benefits and superior performance.
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References
- Bateman T.S., Snell S.A., (2004), Management: the new competitive landscape -6th ed., McGraw-Hill Irwin, New York.
- Freeman, R. E. (2010). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Cambridge University Press.
- Hill, C., Jones, G., & Schilling, M. (2014). Strategic management: theory: an integrated approach. Cengage Learning.
- Mintzberg, H. (1990). The design school: reconsidering the basic premises of strategic management. Strategic management journal, 11(3), 171-195.
- Pearce, J. A., Robinson, R. B., & Subramanian, R. (2000). Strategic management: Formulation, implementation, and control. Columbus, OH: Irwin/McGraw-Hill.
- Porter, M. E. (1981). The contributions of industrial organization to strategic management. Academy of management review, 6(4), 609-620.
Author: Monika Stempień
