Strategic Management

Strategic Management

Overview of Strategy

It is imperative to begin with a clear definition of Strategy, which will facilitate the interpretation and understanding of strategic management and the pertinent theories throughout the paper. Strategy is a natural process which has evolved over a billion of years through the complex interaction of multiple evolutionary and environmental variables, such as competition, trial and error, variety, and an efficient usage of resources (Haugstad 1999).

It is important to note that with a naturalistic constraint of resources and the emergence of various organisms, individuals, and organisations; only the fittest of them all survives. It is a universal fact, as studied by various researchers that no two identical businesses or individuals, earning their living the same way can coexist for a longer period of time. Every individual or organisation should either succumb to the competitive forces or develop unique ways or advantages of adapting and surviving (Hendersen 1989, p. 139). This is the way how strategy and strategic management comes into play.

Hence, Strategic Management can be defined as a paradigm where the decision makers and managers develop a long-term orientation of the institution or organisation, with the intention of efficiently utilizing the resources to enhance the performance and effectively meet the needs of the challenging environment and the stakeholders (Masch 2004, p. 431; Kazmi 2008, p.2).

Despite a plethora of material and resources available on strategic management, this paper will strive to cover a brief introduction of three major strategic theories.

Overview of Strategic Management Theories

Strategic theories refer to an academic paradigm, composed of a diverse and multidisciplinary nature. There are various schools of thought, often found competing on the discipline of strategy, strategic management and strategic theory (Haugstad 1999).

It is imperative to note various organisations follow seemingly opposite strategies. For example, Designing agencies might follow a very open minded and creative approach; whereas financial firms on the other hand might be known for a stifling and rigorous organisational culture. Therefore, the nature of the work handled by an organisation and its organisational hierarchy can make a real difference in defining the nature of strategies they follow. It is essential for organisations to evolve their organisational structure overtime, with particular reference to the environmental factors (Elfring and Volberda, p. 3; Whittington 2001, p.11).

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Henry Mintzberg's Strategic Theory

Henry Mintzberg, born on 2nd September, 1939, in Montreal, is an internationally recognized theorists and strategic author. He has written prolifically on management and strategy disciplines and has distinguished books on his name. Mintzberg wrote “The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning” in 1994, that critically analyzed the current practices of strategic planning.

It is important to analyze that Mintzberg consistently advocates the practical training of managers in real management experiences. The management and strategic theories provided by Henry Mintzberg can be broken down into the 5 P's for strategy, hierarchical structures for an organisation and the roles and responsibilities for managers (Mintzberg 1987, p. 11).

Mintzberg's 5 Ps for Strategy

Henry Mintzberg provides us with five valuable definitions of ...