Subject: Strategic Management

Provide a 10-15 sentences reflection or summary about the context below:

Strategic Management Process

Developing an organizational strategy involves five main elements: strategic

analysis, strategic choice, strategy implementation and strategy evaluation and

control. Each of these contains further steps, corresponding to a series of decisions and actions that form the basis of the strategic management process.

Strategic Analysis:

The foundation of strategy is a definition of organizational purpose. This defines the business of an organization and what type of organization it wants to be. Many organizations develop broad statements of purpose, in the form of

vision and mission statements. These form the spring-boards for the development of more specific objectives and the choice of strategies to achieve them.

Environmental Analysis:

Assessing both the external and internal environments is the nest step in the strategy

process. Managers need to assess the opportunities and threats of the external environment in the light of the organization's strengths and weaknesses keeping in view the expectations of the stakeholders. This analysis allows the organization to set more specific goals or objectives which might specify where people are expected to focus their efforts. With a more specific set of objectives in hand, managers can then plan

how to achieve them.

Strategic Choice:

The analysis stage provides the basis for strategic choice. It allows managers to consider what the organization could do given the mission, environment and capabilities - a choice which also reflects the values of managers and other stakeholders. These choices are about the overall scope and direction of the business. Since managers usually face

several strategic options, they often need to analyze these in terms of their feasibility, suitability and acceptability before finally deciding on their direction.

Strategy Implementation:

Implementation depends on ensuring that the organization has a suitable structure, the right resources and competences (skills, finance, technology etc,), right leadership

and culture. Strategy implementation depends on operational factors being put

into place.

Strategy Evaluation and Control:

Organizations set up appropriate monitoring and control systems, develop standards and targets to judge performance.