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Clarify Your Vision

The purpose of goal-setting is to clarify the vision for your business. This stage consists of identifying three key facets: First, define both short- and long-term objectives. Second, identify the process of how to accomplish your objective. Finally, customize the process for your staff, give each person a task with which he can succeed. Keep in mind during this process your goals to be detailed, realistic and match the values of your vision. Typically, the final step in this stage is to write a mission statement that succinctly communicates your goals to both your shareholders and your staff.

Gather and Analyze Information

Analysis is a key stage because the information gained in this stage will shape the next two stages. In this stage, gather as much information and data relevant to accomplishing your vision. The focus of the analysis should be on understanding the needs of the business as a sustainable entity, its strategic direction and identifying initiatives that will help your business grow. Examine any external or internal issues that can affect your goals and objectives. Make sure to identify both the strengths and weaknesses of your organization as well as any threats and opportunities that may arise along the path.

Formulate a Strategy

The first step in forming a strategy is to review the information gleaned from completing the analysis. Determine what resources the business currently has that can help reach the defined goals and objectives. Identify any areas of which the business must seek external resources. The issues facing the company should be prioritized by their importance to your success. Once prioritized, begin formulating the strategy. Because business and economic situations are fluid, it is critical in this stage to develop alternative approaches that target each step of the plan.

Implement Your Strategy

Successful strategy implementation is critical to the success of the business venture. This is the action stage of the strategic management process. If the overall strategy does not work with the business' current structure, a new structure should be installed at the beginning of this stage. Everyone within the organization must be made clear of their responsibilities and duties, and how that fits in with the overall goal. Additionally, any resources or funding for the venture must be secured at this point. Once the funding is in place and the employees are ready, execute the plan.

Evaluate and Control

Strategy evaluation and control actions include performance measurements, consistent review of internal and external issues and making corrective actions when necessary. Any successful evaluation of the strategy begins with defining the parameters to be measured. These parameters should mirror the goals set in Stage 1. Determine your progress by measuring the actual results versus the plan.

Monitoring internal and external issues will also enable you to react to any substantial change in your business environment. If you determine that the strategy is not moving the company toward its goal, take corrective actions. If those actions are not successful, then repeat the strategic management process. Because internal and external issues are constantly evolving, any data gained in this stage should be retained to help with any future strategies.

Strategic Management Functions

To understand management, it is imperative that we break it down into five managerial functions, namely, planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling.

Planning:

Planning involves selecting missions and objectives and the actions to achieve them. It requires managerial, choosing future courses of act from among alternatives. Plans range from overall purposes and objectives to the most detailed actions to be taken. No real plan exists until a decision a obligation of human and material resources has been made. In other words, before a decision is made, all that exists is planning study, analysis, or a suggestion; there is no real plan.

People working together in groups to achieve some goal must have roles to play. Generally, these roles have to be defined and structured by someone who wants to make sure that people put in in a specific way to group effort.

Organizing:

It is that part of management that involves establishing an intentional arrangement of roles for people to fill in an organization. Intentional in that all tasks essential to accomplish goals are assign and assigned to people who can do those best. Indeed, the purpose of an organizational structure is to help in creating an environment for human act. However, designing an organizational structure is not an easy managerial task because many problems are encountered in making structures fit situations, including both refining the kind of jobs that must be done and finding the people to do them. Staffing involves filling, and keeping filled, the positions in the organization structure.

Leading:

Leading is the influencing of people so that they will give to organization and group goals; it has to do mostly with the interpersonal aspect of managing. Most important problems to managers arise from people their needs and attitudes, their behavior as individuals and in groups. Hence, effective managers need to be effective leaders. Leading involve motivation,

Controlling:

Controlling, for example, budget for expense, is the measure and correct of behavior of subordinates to ensure that events conform to plans. It measures performance against goals and plans, shows where negative deviations exist, and, by putting in motion actions to correct deviation, helps ensure achievement of plans. Even though planning must precede controlling, plans are not self-achieving. Plans guide managers in the use of resources to accomplish specific goals, then activities are checked to determine whether hey conform to the plans. Compelling events to conform to plans means locating the persons who are liable for results that differ from planned action and then taking the required steps to improve performance. Thus, controlling what people do controls organizational outcomes.

Coordinating:

Finally, coordination is the essence of manager-ship for achieving synchronization among individual efforts toward the accomplishment of group goals. Each of the managerial functions discussed earlier on is an exercise causative to coordination. Because individuals often interpret similar interests in different ways, and their efforts in the direction of mutual goals do not automatically network with the efforts of others, it, thus, becomes the central task of the manager to reconcile differences in approach, timing, effort, or interest, and to go with individual goals to add to organizational goals.

Although these management functions concern the internal environment for performance within an organization, managers must operate in the external environment of an organization as well. Clearly, managers cannot perform their tasks well unless they have an understanding of, and are responsive to, the many elements of the external environment economic, technological, social, political, and ethical factors that affect their areas of operation.

3. Importance and benefits of strategic management

Strategic management allows an organization to be more proactive than reactive in

shaping its own future; it allows an organization to initiate and influence (rather than just

respond to) activities and thus to exert control over its own destiny.

Strategic planning provides a road map to help the business get from where it is

now to where it want to be. Milestones are expressed in specific terms, as quantifiable

objectives that measure whether business is proceeding as planned and, if not, how far

gone off path.

Long-Term Objectives - Long-term strategic objectives help to think in

terms of big picture goals and overarching visions. The farther in the future planning, the

more difficult it is to set specific goals. May to project an intention to open five stores in

the next ten years without knowing what the real estate market or demand for the product

will look like that far into the future. This objective can still be useful because it provides

a general time frame, a schedule and a plan for ongoing growth, and it will still be

relevant, even if only open four stores in five years.

Short-Term Objectives - Align the short-term objectives in the strategic

plan with the longer term goals allows to make incremental steps while also proceeding in

a clear direction. If plan is to open five stores in ten years, need to open them one by one,

and the opening nearest at hand is the most urgent goal. It's easier to be specific with

shorter term objectives, and the more specific, the better able to be to assess the progress.

If plan is to open the next store in two years, can base the timeline on this

objective, making plans to finalize the lease and financing in six months, complete major

construction after a year and half, and spend the final six months on finishing work,

furnishing, collecting inventory and training your staff.

Long-term objectives provide distant milestones that help to orient the shorter term

decisions. For example, if plan to eventually open five stores, can build supply chain

relationships based on intention of eventually doing considerably more business with

these suppliers. Or, may to approach the branding as an effort that will start off small but

build on memes and themes over time.

In recent years, virtually all firms have realized the importance of strategic

management. However, the key difference between those who succeed and those who fail

is that the way in which strategic management is done and strategic planning is carried

out makes the difference between success and failure. Of course, there are still firms that

do not engage in strategic planning or where the planners do not receive the support from

management. These firms ought to realize the benefits of strategic management and

ensure their longer-term viability and success in the marketplace.

Historically, the principal benefit of strategic management has been to help

organizations formulate better strategies through the use of a more systematic, logical,

and rational approach to strategic choice. There are many benefits of strategic

management and they include identification, prioritization, and exploration of

opportunities. For instance, newer products, newer markets, and newer forays into

business lines are only possible if firms indulge in strategic planning. Next, strategic

management allows firms to take an objective view of the activities being done by it and

do a cost benefit analysis as to whether the firm is profitable.

Just to differentiate, by this, we do not mean the financial benefits alone (which

would be discussed below) but also the assessment of profitability that has to do with

evaluating whether the business is strategically aligned to its goals and priorities.

The key point to be noted here is that strategic management allows a firm to orient

itself to its market and consumers and ensure that it is actualizing the right strategy.

1) Financial benefits

It has been shown in many studies that firms that engage in strategic management

are more profitable and successful than those that do not have the benefit of strategic

planning and strategic management. When firms engage in forward looking planning and

careful evaluation of their priorities, they have control over the future, which is necessary

in the fast changing business landscape of the 21st century.

It has been estimated that more than 100,000 businesses fail in the US every year

and most of these failures are to do with a lack of strategic focus and strategic direction.

Further, high performing firms tend to make more informed decisions because they have

considered both the short term and long-term consequences and hence, have oriented their

strategies accordingly. In contrast, firms that do not engage themselves in meaningful

strategic planning are often bogged down by internal problems and lack of focus that

leads to failure.

2) Non-financial benefits

The section above discussed some of the tangible benefits of strategic management.

Apart from these benefits, firms that engage in strategic management are more aware of

the external threats, an improved understanding of competitor strengths and weaknesses

and increased employee productivity. They also have lesser resistance to change and a

clear understanding of the link between performance and rewards.

The key aspect of strategic management is that the problem solving and problem

preventing capabilities of the firms are enhanced through strategic management. Strategic

management is essential as it helps firms to rationalize change and actualize change and

communicate the need to change better to its employees. Finally, strategic management

helps in bringing order and discipline to the activities of the firm in its both internal

processes and external activities.