The strategic management of a company requires establishing a framework to ensure the success of the entire organization. This includes planning, ensuring that strategies are implemented and monitored, and assisting employees to prioritize tasks that help to achieve strategic goals. This includes identifying and analysing potential opportunities, risks, and business challenges. This kind of management is typically performed by top management. However, new ideas can be generated by employees at any level. Companies employ descriptive as well as prescriptive strategic management techniques based on well-known management theories and practices to help them make decisions to allocate resources and meet objectives.
The initial step in strategic management is to evaluate the current state of the company. This requires examining internal structure, resources and capabilities, as well as evaluating existing plans for strategic management. Companies may also use tools such as SWOT analysis to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in the marketplace.
Following the initial evaluation, companies should create an outline of their vision or modify it to reflect the overall strategic goals of the organization. These goals could range from increasing revenue to cutting costs. These goals usually have a target that is measurable and is achievable over time.
But merely developing the strategy will not be enough to ensure its success. The final stage of strategic management is executing the plan, which requires effective coordination and communication across departments and management levels. Selecting and implementing a strategy management framework such as the Balanced Scorecard, Theory of Change or Objectives and Key Results (OKR) is essential to coordinating and managing the various aspects of the strategic plan.
