Strategic Management Defined
Strategic management refers to the amalgamation of an entire organization’s running activities and processes in a bid to enable senior management coordinate them in a systematic way. This way, such managers are able to align the company’s resources and decisions with its vision as well as mission and overall strategy seamlessly throughout the whole organization.
A strategic management process has the potential to transform an organization into a dynamic well-coordinated system. With guidelines that govern feedback in a way that affects senior management decision making.
Key Steps in Strategic Management
A strategic plan has to work well if it’s to be effective. Strategic management process, as well as strategic planning, have differing frameworks plus methodologies. No single framework is set in stone though they take on certain similar attributes.
However, the cycle is usually the same for most frameworks taking on the following steps;
1.Analysis and Assessment. Senior management analyses and assesses the state of affairs both internally and externally to understand how best to formulate a strategic plan.
2.Strategic Formulation. Management formulates a suitable strategy for the organization and comes up with a workable strategic plan. A strategic plan is that document that management uses to speak to the internal stakeholders of an organization about the organization’s goals. The steps needed to attain the goals as well as other key essential elements that management came up with during the strategic planning phase.
3.Strategy Execution. Senior management then goes further to break down the strategic plan into actionable chunks. It also comes up with an appropriate operational plan. This is the plan that is cascaded to the rest of the internal stakeholders.
4.Evaluation of the strategic plan. Management at this stage monitors how the strategic plan is doing, carrying continuous improved and evaluation. The overall organizational culture is placed under a microscope as well as organizational performance, reporting among other strategic management issues.
The success of any company or organization strongly depends on how the management run its affairs. One way to ensure a company’s visions are met within the parameters of its resources is by fostering better strategic management practices.