Strategic thinking and management is the process of managing and measuring organisational process. Major corporations such as Wal-Mart, Shell Oil, and Sears, Roebuck, and Co. as well as non-profit and public institutions have successfully put it into practice to outperform their competition. For many organisations, however, the successful assessment and management of the key drivers of process have remained elusive. Strategic thinking and management is the clear differentiator of market leaders. Of all the competencies, this set of component skills makes the biggest difference to the bottom line.
It comes in many forms, including visionary thinking about the future, picking up on customer trends, seeing competitors for what they are, and sizing up a marketplace. Strategic planning determines product and service fit by analyzing the external and internal impacts on the business, as well as examining customers and markets. This information, in combination with a competitive analysis, results in strategies that will help a business grow and sustain profits over the long-term. The strategic planning process is driven by top management and should be conducted on a yearly basis.
Section 2
Summary of the Article
Mapping the Boundary Conditions
Today is the era of competition and technological obsolescence; hence the complacent companies are destroyed like they never existed. The practices which were considered best for business no longer exist. Every organization is striving to retain their existing customers and planning to attract the new. This process requires the construction of effective strategies in order to achieve a sustainable market position. Management of the organization is responsible for control and monitoring process of the strategies designed by the company. Strategic management implies not only to the short term goals but also the long term objectives set by the organization.
Researchers have observed that too many organisations carry out their strategic management initiatives without making sure that their strategy is clear to all levels of staff. Managers and executives may interpret the strategy differently from others in the organisation. An organization can only provide better value if the organization is financially stable and skilled to utilize its resources optimally. Strategic management capability is an organizations tendency to optimally utilize the available resources in order to maximize the competences necessary for survival and prosperity of the organization. These resources can be technological resources, financial resources, human resources or knowledge and expertise.
Strategic capability model is the most effective way to evaluate an organization because when a company utilizes its available resources fully, it becomes competent enough to provide the unmatchable values to its existing and potential customer. The basis for strategic boundary conditions, or the components of an organisations vision, starts with considering its main mission and the overall guiding principles. This usually remains constant unless a fundamental change, such as a merger, brings a need for the enterprises involved to harmonize their ...