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A strategic management model is a framework or approach used by organizations to make strategic decisions and plan for the future. It typically includes steps such as setting objectives, analyzing the internal and external environment , formulating and implementing strategies, and evaluating progress and making adjustments as needed. Some popular strategic management models include SWOT analysis , Porter's Five Forces, and the Balanced Scorecard. The choice of model will depend on the organization 's specific needs and goals.

Diagram of the overall concept of strategic management model is shown in the figure below. Particular attention should be paid to the functional information and feedback indicating the dynamic nature of strategic management in the enterprise .

After implementation such model should take into account changes in business environment and their impact on the realized strategy . In the extreme case mission of the company or its chief strategic goal could be modified or adapted.

  • 1 Strategic management model vs. business model
  • 2 Development of strategic management model
  • 3 Strategic management model importance
  • 4 Strategic Management
  • 5 Strategic Managers
  • 6 References
  • 7 Footnotes

Strategic management model vs. business model

A strategic management model and a business model are both frameworks used by organizations to guide decision-making and achieve success, but they serve different purposes.

A strategic management model is a framework used to guide an organization in achieving its long-term goals and objectives . It focuses on the overall direction and strategy of the organization and involves analyzing the internal and external environment , setting objectives, formulating and implementing strategies, and monitoring and adjusting as needed.

A business model , on the other hand, describes how an organization creates, delivers, and captures value. It outlines the key elements of an organization's operations and how it generates revenue. A business model describes the products or services offered, the target market , the distribution channels, the revenue streams, and the key partnerships and resources required to deliver the products or services. Examples of business models include subscription-based models, freemium models, and pay-per-use models.

In summary, a strategic management model focuses on the organization's overall direction and strategy, while a business model describes the organization's operations and how it generates revenue. Both are important frameworks that organizations use to guide decision-making and achieve success.

Development of strategic management model

Developing a strategic management model typically involves the following steps:

  • Define the organization's mission, vision, and values : These provide a clear sense of direction and purpose for the organization.
  • Conduct a SWOT analysis : This will help to identify the organization's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, which can be used to inform strategy development .
  • Develop strategic objectives : These should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) and aligned with the organization's mission and vision.
  • Formulate strategies : This involves identifying the actions and plans needed to achieve the strategic objectives.
  • Implement and execute the strategies : This involves allocating resources, building a plan of action , and communicating the plan to all stakeholders .
  • Monitor and evaluate progress : This involves tracking progress against the strategic objectives and making adjustments as needed.
  • Review and update the model : This involves periodically revisiting the model to ensure it remains relevant and effective in light of changes in the organization's internal and external environment .

It's worth noting that, this is a general outline and the steps may vary depending on the complexity of the organization or the industry it operates in. Additionally, some organizations may prefer to use different strategic management models such as Porter's Five Forces, the Balanced Scorecard, or others.

Strategic management model importance

Developing the strategic management model is important because it provides the basic framework for understanding how strategic management can be operationalised at the company level. The strategic management model provides managers and strategists a greater comprehension of the iterative approach in conducting real strategic management in the organizational setting. The strategic management model begins with the development of the organizational mission and vision . The organizational vision and mission would then be translated into the organizational goals . These elements show the direction and the areas of concern to be attained by an organization. Once these elements have been determined, the role of the manager or strategist is to perform an analysis of the organization . The results of these analyses could help managers and strategists to match the niche areas to be focused, identify distinctive competence of the organization and determine the competitive position the organization should take in order to sustain its competitive edge in the industry [1] .

Strategic Management

Strategic management is the process of making decisions and taking actions that will shape and guide an organization in achieving its long-term goals and objectives. It involves the development of a strategic plan that outlines the organization's mission, vision, values, and objectives, and the formulation and implementation of strategies to achieve those objectives. The process of strategic management also includes ongoing monitoring and evaluation of progress, and making adjustments as needed to stay on track.

Key components of strategic management include:

  • Environmental scanning : monitoring the internal and external environment to identify opportunities and threats
  • Strategy formulation : determining goals and objectives, and developing plans and actions to achieve them
  • Strategy implementation : putting the plan into action, allocating resources and establishing metrics for measuring progress
  • Evaluation and control : monitoring progress, making adjustments as needed, and taking corrective action to ensure that goals and objectives are met.

Strategic management is a continuous process that allows organizations to adapt to changes in the business environment, stay competitive and achieve long-term success.

Strategic Managers

Managers play a key role in the strategy-making process . They must take responsibility for formulating strategies, which the aim is to attain a competitive advantage and to putting those strategies into effect. There are two mains types of managers:

  • general managers - they are bear responsibility for the overall performance of the company
  • functional managers - they are responsible for supervising a particular function, for example: a task, activity, or operation.

General managers have profit and loss responsibility for a product , a business, or the company as a whole. They are responsible for deciding how to create a competitive advantage and achieve high profitability thanks the resources and capital [2] .

  • Dess G. G., Lumpkin G. T., & Eisner A. B. (2010). Strategic management: Text and cases .
  • Hill C., Jones G., Schilling M. (2014).' Strategic management: theory ’, Cengage Learning.
  • Narayan B. (2000) Strategic Management , A.P.H. Publishing Corporation.
  • ↑ B. Narayan (2000)
  • ↑ C. Hill, G. Jones, M. Schilling (2014)

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1.2 Defining Strategic Management and Strategy

Learning objectives.

  • Learn what strategic management is.
  • Understand the key question addressed by strategic management.
  • Understand why it is valuable to consider different definitions of strategy.
  • Learn what is meant by each of the 5 Ps of strategy.

What Is Strategic Management?

Issues such as those currently faced by Apple are the focus of strategic management because they help answer the key question examined by strategic management —“Why do some firms outperform other firms?” More specifically, strategic management examines how actions and events involving top executives (such as Steve Jobs), firms (Apple), and industries (the tablet market) influence a firm’s success or failure. Formal tools exist for understanding these relationships, and many of these tools are explained and applied in this book. But formal tools are not enough; creativity is just as important to strategic management. Mastering strategy is therefore part art and part science.

This introductory chapter is intended to enable you to understand what strategic management is and why it is important. Because strategy is a complex concept, we begin by explaining five different ways to think about what strategy involves ( Table 1.1 “Defining Strategy: The Five Ps” ). Next, we journey across many centuries to examine the evolution of strategy from ancient times until today. We end this chapter by presenting a conceptual model that maps out one way that executives can work toward mastering strategy. The model also provides an overall portrait of this book’s contents by organizing the remaining nine chapters into a coherent whole.

Defining Strategy: The Five Ps

Defining strategy is not simple. Strategy is a complex concept that involves many different processes and activities within an organization. To capture this complexity, Professor Henry Mintzberg of McGill University in Montreal, Canada, articulated what he labeled as “the 5 Ps of strategy.” According to Mintzberg, understanding how strategy can be viewed as a plan, as a ploy, as a position, as a pattern, and as a perspective is important. Each of these five ways of thinking about strategy is necessary for understanding what strategy is, but none of them alone is sufficient to master the concept (Mintzberg, 1987).

Table 1.1 Defining Strategy: The Five Ps

Strategy as a Plan

Strategic plans are the essence of strategy, according to one classic view of strategy. A strategic plan is a carefully crafted set of steps that a firm intends to follow to be successful. Virtually every organization creates a strategic plan to guide its future. In 1996, Apple’s performance was not strong, and Gilbert F. Amelio was appointed as chief executive officer in the hope of reversing the company’s fortunes. In a speech focused on strategy, Amelio described a plan that centered on leveraging the Internet (which at the time was in its infancy) and developing multimedia products and services. Apple’s subsequent success selling over the Internet via iTunes and with the iPad can be traced back to the plan articulated in 1996 (Markoff, 1996).

A business model should be a central element of a firm’s strategic plan. Simply stated, a business model describes the process through which a firm hopes to earn profits. It probably won’t surprise you to learn that developing a viable business model requires that a firm sell goods or services for more than it costs the firm to create and distribute those goods. A more subtle but equally important aspect of a business model is providing customers with a good or service more cheaply than they can create it themselves.

Consider, for example, large chains of pizza restaurants such as Papa John’s and Domino’s.

image

Franchises such as Pizza Hut provide an example of a popular business model that has been successful worldwide.

Wikimedia Foundation – CC BY 2.0.

Because these firms buy their ingredients in massive quantities, they pay far less for these items than any family could (an advantage called economies of scale ). Meanwhile, Papa John’s and Domino’s have developed specialized kitchen equipment that allows them to produce better-tasting pizza than can be created using the basic ovens that most families rely on for cooking. Pizza restaurants thus can make better-tasting pizzas for far less cost than a family can make itself. This business model provides healthy margins and has enabled Papa John’s and Domino’s to become massive firms.

Strategic plans are important to individuals too. Indeed, a well-known proverb states that “he who fails to plan, plans to fail.” In other words, being successful requires a person to lay out a path for the future and then follow that path. If you are reading this, earning a college degree is probably a key step in your strategic plan for your career. Don’t be concerned if your plan is not fully developed, however. Life is full of unexpected twists and turns, so maintaining flexibility is wise for individuals planning their career strategies as well as for firms.

For firms, these unexpected twists and turns place limits on the value of strategic planning. Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson captured the limitations of strategic plans when he noted, “Everyone has a plan until I punch them in the face.” From that point forward, strategy is less about a plan and more about adjusting to a shifting situation. For firms, changes in the behavior of competitors, customers, suppliers, regulators, and other external groups can all be sources of a metaphorical punch in the face. As events unfold around a firm, its strategic plan may reflect a competitive reality that no longer exists. Because the landscape of business changes rapidly, other ways of thinking about strategy are needed.

Strategy as a Ploy

A second way to view strategy is in terms of ploys. A strategic ploy is a specific move designed to outwit or trick competitors. Ploys often involve using creativity to enhance success. One such case involves the mighty Mississippi River, which is a main channel for shipping cargo to the central portion of the United States. Ships traveling the river enter it near New Orleans, Louisiana. The next major port upriver is Louisiana’s capital, Baton Rouge. A variety of other important ports exist in states farther upriver.

Many decades ago, the governor of Louisiana was a clever and controversial man named Huey Long. Legend has it that Long ordered that a bridge being constructed over the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge be built intentionally low to the ground. This ploy created a captive market for cargo because very large barges simply could not fit under the bridge. Large barges using the Mississippi River thus needed to unload their cargo in either New Orleans or Baton Rouge. Either way, Louisiana would benefit. Of course, owners of ports located farther up the river were not happy.

Ploys can be especially beneficial in the face of much stronger opponents. Military history offers quite a few illustrative examples. Before the American Revolution, land battles were usually fought by two opposing armies, each of which wore brightly colored clothing, marching toward each other across open fields. George Washington and his officers knew that the United States could not possibly defeat better-trained and better-equipped British forces in a traditional battle. To overcome its weaknesses, the American military relied on ambushes, hit-and-run attacks, and other guerilla moves. It even broke an unwritten rule of war by targeting British officers during skirmishes. This was an effort to reduce the opponent’s effectiveness by removing its leadership.

Centuries earlier, the Carthaginian general Hannibal concocted perhaps the most famous ploy ever.

image

Hannibal’s clever use of elephants to cross the Alps provides an example of a strategic ploy.

Wikipedia – public domain.

Carthage was at war with Rome, a scary circumstance for most Carthaginians given their far weaker fighting force. The Alps had never been crossed by an army. In fact, the Alps were considered such a treacherous mountain range that the Romans did not bother monitoring the part of their territory that bordered the Alps. No horse was up to the challenge, but Hannibal cleverly put his soldiers on elephants, and his army was able to make the mountain crossing. The Romans were caught completely unprepared and most of them were frightened by the sight of charging elephants. By using the element of surprise, Hannibal was able to lead his army to victory over a much more powerful enemy.

Ploys continue to be important today. In 2011, a pizzeria owner in Pennsylvania was accused of making a rather unique attempt to outmaneuver two rival pizza shops. According to police, the man tried to sabotage his competitors by placing mice in their pizzerias. If the ploy had not been discovered, the two shops could have suffered bad publicity or even been shut down by authorities because of health concerns. Although most strategic ploys are legal, this one was not, and the perpetrator was arrested (Reuters, 2011).

Strategy as a Pattern

Strategy as pattern is a third way to view strategy. This view focuses on the extent to which a firm’s actions over time are consistent. A lack of a strategic pattern helps explain why Kmart deteriorated into bankruptcy in 2002. The company was started in the late nineteenth century as a discount department store. By the middle of the twentieth century, consistently working to be good at discount retailing had led Kmart to become a large and prominent chain.

By the 1980s, however, Kmart began straying from its established strategic pattern. Executives shifted the firm’s focus away from discount retailing and toward diversification. Kmart acquired large stakes in chains involved in sporting goods (Sports Authority), building supplies (Builders Square), office supplies (OfficeMax), and books (Borders). In the 1990s, a new team of executives shifted Kmart’s strategy again. Brands other than Kmart were sold off, and Kmart’s strategy was adjusted to emphasize information technology and supply chain management. The next team of executives decided that Kmart’s strategy would be to compete directly with its much-larger rival, Walmart. The resulting price war left Kmart crippled. Indeed, this last shift in strategy was the fatal mistake that drove Kmart into bankruptcy. Today, Kmart is part of Sears Holding Company, and its prospects remain uncertain.

In contrast, Apple is very consistent in its strategic pattern: It always responds to competitive challenges by innovating. Some of these innovations are complete busts. Perhaps the best known was the Newton, a tablet-like device that may have been ahead of its time. Another was the Pippin, a video game system introduced in 1996 to near-universal derision. Apple TV, a 2007 offering intended to link televisions with the Internet, also failed to attract customers. Such failures do not discourage Apple, however, and enough of its innovations are successful that Apple’s overall performance is excellent. However, there are risks to following a pattern too closely. A consistent pattern can make a company predictable, a possibility that Apple must guard against in the years ahead.

Strategy as a Position

Viewing strategy as a plan, a ploy, and a pattern involve only the actions of a single firm. In contrast, the next P— strategy as position —considers a firm and its competitors. Specifically, strategy as position refers to a firm’s place in the industry relative to its competitors. McDonald’s, for example, has long been and remains the clear leader among fast-food chains. This position offers both good and bad aspects for McDonald’s. One advantage of leading an industry is that many customers are familiar with and loyal to leaders. Being the market leader, however, also makes McDonald’s a target for rivals such as Burger King and Wendy’s. These firms create their strategies with McDonald’s as a primary concern. Old Navy offers another example of strategy as position. Old Navy has been positioned to sell fashionable clothes at competitive prices.

image

Old Navy occupies a unique position as the low-cost strategy within the Gap Inc.’s fleet of brands.

Lindsey Turner – clearance – CC BY 2.0.

Old Navy is owned by the same corporation (Gap Inc.) as the midlevel brand the Gap and upscale brand Banana Republic. Each of these three brands is positioned at a different pricing level. The firm hopes that as Old Navy’s customers grow older and more affluent, they will shop at the Gap and then eventually at Banana Republic. A similar positioning of different brands is pursued by General Motors through its Chevrolet (entry level), Buick (midlevel), and Cadillac (upscale) divisions.

Firms can carve out a position by performing certain activities in a different manner than their rivals. For example, Southwest Airlines is able to position itself as a lower-cost and more efficient provider by not offering meals that are common among other airlines. In addition, Southwest does not assign specific seats. This allows for faster loading of passengers. Positioning a firm in this manner can only be accomplished when managers make trade-offs that cut off certain possibilities (such as offering meals and assigned seats) to place their firms in a unique strategic space. When firms position themselves through unique goods and services customers value, business often thrives. But when firms try to please everyone, they often find themselves without the competitive positioning needed for long-term success. Thus deciding what a firm is not going to do is just as important to strategy as deciding what it is going to do (Porter, 1996).

To gain competitive advantage and greater success, firms sometimes change positions. But this can be a risky move. Winn-Dixie became a successful grocer by targeting moderate-income customers. When the firm abandoned this established position to compete for wealthier customers and higher margins, the results were disastrous. The firm was forced into bankruptcy and closed many stores. Winn-Dixie eventually exited bankruptcy, but like Kmart, its future prospects are unclear. In contrast to firms such as Winn-Dixie that change positions, Apple has long maintained a position as a leading innovator in various industries. This positioning has served Apple well.

Strategy as a Perspective

The fifth and final P shifts the focus to inside the minds of the executives running a firm. Strategy as perspective refers to how executives interpret the competitive landscape around them. Because each person is unique, two different executives could look at the same event—such as a new competitor emerging—and attach different meanings to it. One might just see a new threat to his or her firm’s sales; the other might view the newcomer as a potential ally.

An old cliché urges listeners to “make lemons into lemonade.” A good example of applying this idea through strategy as perspective is provided by local government leaders in Sioux City, Iowa. Rather than petition the federal government to change their airport’s unusual call sign—SUX—local leaders decided to leverage the call sign to attract the attention of businesses and tourists to build their city’s economic base. An array of clothing and other goods sporting the SUX name is available at http://www.flysux.com . Some strategists such as these local leaders are willing to take a seemingly sour situation and see the potential sweetness, while other executives remain fixated on the sourness.

Executives who adopt unique and positive perspectives can lead firms to find and exploit opportunities that others simply miss. In the mid-1990s, the Internet was mainly a communication tool for academics and government agencies. Jeff Bezos looked beyond these functions and viewed the Internet as a potential sales channel. After examining a number of different markets that he might enter using the Internet, Bezos saw strong profit potential in the bookselling business, and he began selling books online. Today, the company he created—Amazon—has expanded far beyond its original focus on books to become a dominant retailer in countless different markets. The late Steve Jobs at Apple appeared to take a similar perspective; he saw opportunities where others could not, and his firm has reaped significant benefits as a result.

Key Takeaway

  • Strategic management focuses on firms and the different strategies that they use to become and remain successful. Multiple views of strategy exist, and the 5 Ps described by Henry Mintzberg enhance understanding of the various ways in which firms conceptualize strategy.
  • Have you developed a strategy to manage your career? Should you make it more detailed? Why or why not?
  • Identify an example of each of the 5 Ps of strategy other than the examples offered in this section.
  • What business that you visit regularly seems to have the most successful business model? What makes the business model work?

Markoff, J. 1996, May 14. Apple unveils strategic plan of small steps. New York Times . Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/14/business/apple-unveils-strategic -plan-of-small-steps.html .

Mintzberg, H. 1987. The strategy concept I: Five Ps for strategy. California Management Review , 30 (1), 11–24.

Porter, M. E. 1996, November–December. What is strategy? Harvard Business Review , 61–79.

Reuters. 2011, March 1. Philadelphia area pizza owner used mice vs. competition—police. Retrieved from news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110301/od_uk_nm/oukoe_uk_crime_pizza.

Mastering Strategic Management Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Strategic Management

(15 reviews)

strategic management model essay

Kennedy B. Reed, Virginia Tech

Copyright Year: 2020

ISBN 13: 9781949373950

Publisher: Virginia Tech Publishing

Language: English

Formats Available

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Reviewed by Jiwon Suh, Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Arlington on 3/7/24

This book covers core topics that should be included in a strategic management textbook. I particularly like that the book has a chapter devoted to corporate governance, ethics, and social responsibility. I hope to see that vertical and horizontal... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

This book covers core topics that should be included in a strategic management textbook. I particularly like that the book has a chapter devoted to corporate governance, ethics, and social responsibility. I hope to see that vertical and horizontal alignment within an organization is highlighted at the beginning of the book. I see it in Chapter 10.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

This book contains core and major models, concepts, frameworks, and theories that should be included in a strategic management textbook. Especially, this book also explains a balanced scorecard and its linkage with organizational mission and vision.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

The main content is highly relevant. The concepts and frames that are included in the book are not fast-changing. This book uses a variety of examples to explain concepts to help students understand. These examples are a good mixture of timing (old and relatively new) and I believe such examples should be aged well to evaluate.

Clarity rating: 5

This book was well-written. This book uses clear language so that students including undergraduates can easily follow.

Consistency rating: 5

This book is consistent with all the structures and contents that are expected in the strategic management textbooks.

Modularity rating: 5

The topics in this book are well divided into 11 chapters so that faculty members can easily develop a semester-long course. On page 2, the authors also provide 6 modules on how these chapters can be used in a shorter course.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The way of chapter sequencing is easy to follow: understanding strategic management -> external analysis -> internal analysis -> strategy development -> implementation. Every chapter provides ‘Learning Objectives,’ ‘Key Takeaway,’ and ‘Exercises’ from which students can effectively learn about the topics in the chapters. Also, figures, pictures, videos, and other sources are very helpful.

Interface rating: 4

External sources were hyperlinked with the original sources. This book also provides enough space between paragraphs and the next sections. This helps readers. It would be very helpful if the book included an Index at the end of the book.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

I didn’t find any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

This book uses examples from different cultural backgrounds, such as an example of ancient China and wars on Russian soil on pages 18-20 and an example of Starbucks in Korea on page 33.

I'd like to use this book for my Strategic HR management course in the public and nonprofit sectors. Although this book doesn't 100% fit my course, I can use this book to explain and provide core/major concepts of strategic management.

Reviewed by Sergiy Dmytriyev, Assistant Professor of Management, James Madison University on 9/10/23

The textbook covers all key topics in the strategic management such as overall strategy, business- and corporate-level strategies, the analysis of external and internal environments, international strategy, organizational design, innovation, etc.... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The textbook covers all key topics in the strategic management such as overall strategy, business- and corporate-level strategies, the analysis of external and internal environments, international strategy, organizational design, innovation, etc. Each sections ends with the reference list of the cited sources, and the Glossary of key terms is provided at the end of the book.

The book is well-written which makes it an easy read.

The content is up-to-date, with plenty of contemporary business situations and examples. At the same time, these examples are of general nature and can be used in a classroom for many years ahead, without become obsolete. Having said that, the textbook also has a number of historical examples which is a must to have in order to learn from strategic successes and failures.

The text is written in a more informal way than in some other strategic management textbook. This makes this textbook better perceived by undergraduate students, who are rather more excited by its interesting and accessible prose.

Consistency rating: 4

The textbook utilized common terminology and frameworks used in the strategic management field, and is consistent throughout the whole text. The only thing, sometimes I could have a feeling that there were many interesting narratives and examples, but some of them might not be well connected among themselves, which could make the reading slightly less coherent, though it wasn't a big deal.

Indeed, the text is readily divisible into smaller reading section since many of them start and end in a similar fashion making them standalone pieces. I didn't find many self-references which serves the modality purpose well.

The book is well organized in terms of the sequence of introduced topics and the transitions between them.

Interface rating: 5

The textbook offers an easy-to-follow navigation structure such as a numeration for each section/subsection as well as consistent headings' styles and the use of colors and graphical designs.

I didn't find any grammatical errors or typos in the text which speaks to its high quality.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

The textbook is full of various examples from different countries which helps keep the reader's mind open to insights from different cultural environments. Yet, I wish there would be more examples with female and minority managers - I realize that today those groups are still underrepresented in leadership roles, but the author could have considered purposefully selecting those stories/backgrounds which may appeal to and inspire different audiences.

Most sections in the textbook end with discussion questions (often provoking ones) which can help with kicking off interactive discussion in class. The key information is summarized in the form of tables or graphs that make it easy to review the summarized learnings. There are also many videos throughout the book which can help break the monotony of reading with interesting visual experiences.

To sum it up, the textbook offers a typical content for a strategic management textbook (in terms of key strategic topics, terminology, theories and frameworks, etc.), yet it does it in a more appealing way compared to some more "formal" available textbooks in the market. In addition to offering discussion questions and exercises at the end of each section, the textbook also utilizes a more accessible prose for undergraduate students, as well as provides many illustrative or summary tables and graphs, as well as short business stories and videos done in an interesting way.

I really like the textbook and this year I started using it in my Strategic Management course.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Gale, Professor Emeritus of Strategic Management, Loyola Marymount University on 4/10/23

[Note: I used the book in my Strategic Management class in Spring 2023 semester. I have, in the past, used the open textbook, Mastering Strategic Management on which this one is based as well as a commercial version of the text which was picked up... read more

[Note: I used the book in my Strategic Management class in Spring 2023 semester. I have, in the past, used the open textbook, Mastering Strategic Management on which this one is based as well as a commercial version of the text which was picked up by a pubisher.] The coverage in the book is pretty standard for Strategic Management texts. It's a little light on implementation/execution particularly on reward systems, strategic leadership and a bit on culture. Like most of the texts, it really doesn't cover the online world. Because it was done in 2020 and used some of the materials some of the materials need newer examples--and to reflect lessons of the pandemic and de-globalization (in Chap. 9) There is a glossary but no index.

The coverage of the book is accurate in the concepts handled.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

All strategic management textbooks suffer from obsolescence--it is the nature of the subject matter and the need for ongoing revision of relevant examples. The concepts change more slowly. Use of the book requires instructors to fill that in to make the material relevant. The prior book (from 2020) was not updated for years which made it hard to use. Hopefully this one will be.

The book was extremely well-written and edited. This is remarkable since there was a team who worked on it at VPI. Kudos for doing a good job.

It is consistent. The framework used is very standard in strategic management texts.

The book is well done with coherent chapters and headings and subheading breaking up the text. I was able to use some of the materials out of order.

Strategic management textbooks lend themselves to a logical organization based on the analytic process common to the topic. This book is consistent with that. I did find that references and credits, which are listed in the chapter sections, are a bit distracting and would be better, in my opinion, at the end of the chapters. Likewise, I would prefer that the Exercises be at the chapter end as well. Learning Objectives at the beginning of each chapter are useful as well as the Takeaways in the sections.

My students and I used the PDF version of the book which is pretty standard with only limited jumps for Table of Contents. .

I didn't find any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

I did not see anything culturally insensitive or offensive in the book. There is, as is typical in the texts in the field, not a lot of cultural variety. There are no Black or Hispanic business in the examples.

The book did what I wanted it to in the course. I thought that Chapter 7 on Innovation is a bit of a hodge-podge of topics and doesn't flow all that well. The Powerpoint slides that the author made available are very uneven and I wasn't able to really use them--though I didn't really need to since I have taught the course for so long. They are not the equivalent of what commercial publishers provide with their texts. I did not use the text bank that is also available.

Overall, a good quality textbook that is usable with the caveats I raised earlier.

Reviewed by Stephen Horner, Associate Professor, Allen Community College on 6/9/21

Chapter one is a good an example of the type of comprehensiveness that I like. The text addresses most of the major models and concepts within the strategy domain. It also includes examples of strategy and strategic management from antiquity and... read more

Chapter one is a good an example of the type of comprehensiveness that I like. The text addresses most of the major models and concepts within the strategy domain. It also includes examples of strategy and strategic management from antiquity and classic military history encompassing ancient, modern, and postmodern eras. In addition, the critique of strategic management is refreshing to see in an introductory textbook chapter.

I find no glaring inaccuracies.

The cross disciplinary relevance of the text is demonstrated by allusion in chapter one to strategy throughout history. The text also has relevance in terms of relating the topic to contemporary issues.

This text is written at a basic level easily accessible to the common reader and especially suited to today's college senior.

The text uses the A-F-I framework consistently throughout.

The chapter topics are organized following the traditional analysis-formulation-implementation (A-F-I) framework allowing the course to be easily divided into modules. In addition, the authors have developed their own modular framework overlaying the A-F-I model.

The text uses the traditional analysis-formulation-implementation framework while taking a critical asssessment of the use of that framework.

The layout and flow of the text are satisfactory. In addition, I appreciate the smaller chunks in each chapter supplemented by references cited only in those specific chunks.

The writing demonstrates no systematic grammatical difficulties. The use of the Engish language is proper and acceptable.

The authors recognize changing sociocultural values and demonstrate sensitivity of the theory and practice of strategic management to such changes.

I found the text to be quite readable. It spawned in me new ideas for ways of reaching my students.

Reviewed by Yuan Li, Assistant Professor, James Madison University on 5/29/20

The text covers all major topics discussed in a standard strategic management textbook. Some topics that could be included or discussed more in detail are strategic leadership, innovation management, and corporate entrepreneurship. The pdf version... read more

The text covers all major topics discussed in a standard strategic management textbook. Some topics that could be included or discussed more in detail are strategic leadership, innovation management, and corporate entrepreneurship. The pdf version of the text does not include an index or glossary, which can be an enhancement to the book.

The content is accurate, error-free, and unbiased. However, there are a few typos in the book. Some of the labels are incorrect. For example, Level 3 of Table 10.4 is labeled incorrectly.

The content is up-to-date. For the most part, the examples are classic and do not need to be updated frequently. However, some of the examples, especially those related to movies are dated. Nevertheless, necessary updates can be easily implemented.

One of my favorite things about this text is its clarity. The text is written in a language that is accessible to all undergraduate students, including freshmen. Jargon and technical terms are explained in layman’s terms using real-world examples.

The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.

The chapters of the text are self-contained and can be individually assigned to students or used as additional readings to supplement a different text.

The structure of the text is clear and follows the structure of a standard strategic management textbook. The only difference is that international strategies are discussed before corporate-level strategies. Many of the tables and the text repeat each other. I think some of the tables can be eliminated.

There are no significant interface issues in the text. There are no hyperlinks in the pdf version of the book. All navigation is done through the search and find function of the pdf reader. The text in the examples and vignettes is too small and hard to read, at least for the pdf version I have. Overall, I would describe it as a no-frills text.

The text contains no grammatical errors.

The text is not culturally offensive in any way. The examples include both American and non-American firms mostly competing in the US market.

This is a great book for an introductory level strategic management class. Students do not have to be a management major to understand the book. Instructors can easily supplement the book with examples that are relevant to the background and major of their students. I find the book an interesting and enjoyable read. The authors did a great job in making strategic management interesting to students.

Reviewed by David Flanagan, Professor of Management, Western Michigan University on 12/12/19

This book covers all the major topics needed in a strategic management course plus a few other useful topics. read more

This book covers all the major topics needed in a strategic management course plus a few other useful topics.

First rate book. Easy to read with no errors (conceptually or grammatically).

All the conceptual information is up to date. I do have students do assignments where they research more recent examples.

Students comment that it is straight forward and easy to read. Key concepts are defined.

The text flows well from start to finish.

The chapters break up the material well as do sections within chapters.

good structure

easy to interface with

Well edited and credibly written

I detected nothing that could be insensitive

The authors are outstanding in their field. Can't find more credible sources.

Reviewed by Jason Kiley, Assistant Professor, Oklahoma State University on 5/21/18

Overall, the book has very good coverage of the topics typically included in a strategy textbook. To be more specific, I reviewed the book against a commercial book that I have used in the past. I looked at 43 topics that is a union of the content... read more

Overall, the book has very good coverage of the topics typically included in a strategy textbook. To be more specific, I reviewed the book against a commercial book that I have used in the past. I looked at 43 topics that is a union of the content I would use across the two books. The commercial book covered 41 topics, and Mastering Strategic Management ("MSM") covered 39. Of the discrepancies, three topics in the commercial book and one topic in MSM were topics that were probably timely when written but are less relevant now. Excluding those, each book had one topic that I would have liked to have seen in the other.

Across a number of topics, the exposition that fit my expectations about the material covered, explanations of the material, and examples that fit the material. Strategy covers a number of models that have been around for some time, and the authors seemed to do a good job of thinking about which models are reasonable to describe as they were conceived and which ones should be adjusted a bit to better reflect the underlying mechanisms or modern circumstances.

One small exception (shared in most strategy books) is the description of the BCG matrix using market share (as originally conceived). That notion is very sensitive to specification of markets, and I've seen more helpful formulations that describe it a little more generally as having dimensions that reflect using and generating cash.

The main content is fine and highly relevant. However, there are some examples which have not aged well. This is not so much the fault of the authors, as the business-relevant content is fine, but an example using Jared from Subway reads very differently in light of subsequent revelations. That is perhaps the most glaring, but there are a few others that have not aged well (e.g., the AppleTV has become reasonably successful in subsequent iterations). That said, this book is well within the norms of example relevance over time.

The book is written directly and clearly. In terms of style, it is more approachable than some alternatives, in part because I never got the sense that the authors were lowering the information density to produce more text.

Terminology and approach are generally consistent. Strategy is at the intersection of other disciplines, so there is often a change of perspective, but that comes with the content. That said, the authors have combined those well into a logical, consistent narrative.

For the most part, this book would be easy to use out of order or as selections. The chapters have numbered subdivisions that are logically coherent, and, in my view, it would be clear to students to assign selections. My initial read suggests that the brief motivating examples to begin chapters and the conclusions of chapters would be helpful to include even if the middle sections are selected from or reordered.

Overall, the organization and flow are consistent and logical, and it generally mirrors that of most strategy books. In a couple of places, the ordering is a bit different (e.g., international strategy before corporate-level strategy), but the broader logic may actually be more linear that way.

I used the epub 3 version of the book. The table elements tended to be built with markup instead of images, so they rendered nicely on a high-resolution display. Cross references were often done with links, and many text boxes were also done with markup, so the book takes advantage of the technology it uses for distribution. Given the prevalence of mobile devices among students, this is a strong positive for this book compared to others.

The writing is clear, error-free, and straightforward, including the consistent use of active voice.

Though the book (like many strategy and business textbooks) has a somewhat US-centric presentation, there are plenty of examples that include diversity along a number of dimensions where that kind of diversity is not the topic of the example. That broad level of inclusiveness is a positive for the book.

Overall, I found the book to be consistently high in quality, coverage, and consistency with other books in this area. Using it as an alternative or replacement for other books should be straightforward. The anonymous authors have done the field and our students a real service in writing this book.

Reviewed by Jiyun Wu, Associate Professor , Rhode Island College on 5/21/18

The book covers key areas of strategic management, much like other strategic management textbooks. read more

The book covers key areas of strategic management, much like other strategic management textbooks.

The content is accurate, though there are a few typos.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

The examples are a few years old and need to be updated.

The book is very lucidly written. I think it is one of the best written textbooks.

The book is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.

The text is easy to follow.

The topics are organized well and easy to follow.

I didn't encounter any problem with navigation.

I did not detect any grammar errors, although I did find a few typos.

The book is culturally relevant.

Please update the examples and correct the few typos in the text.

Reviewed by Edward Ward, Professor, Saint Cloud State University on 2/1/18

Relative to the other textbooks I have used in my strategic management course, this textbook is comprehensive. Topics include analyzing the environment, leading strategically, selection of business level strategies, ethics, organization design,... read more

Relative to the other textbooks I have used in my strategic management course, this textbook is comprehensive. Topics include analyzing the environment, leading strategically, selection of business level strategies, ethics, organization design, and more. However, it does not have a separate chapter about small business strategy.

This book is accurate as evidenced by the frequent references from both research journals and practitioners' publications. There is little in the way of the author's opinions, rather facts are emphasized.

The relevance of the book is excellent in that historical examples are often used, which by definition will not need to be updated. The examples of recent strategy uses (e.g. a goal by Coca-Cola on page 40 is for 2012) are in need of only slight modifications.

This is the paramount strength of the book. When the vocabulary (i.e. jargon) of strategic management is used, facile explanations and examples are used to clarify the term. An example is Figure 2.5, which explains financial performance measures for students who did not major in finance or accounting.

What is admirable as to the book's consistency is it's sequence of chapters, such as starting with "Mastering Strategy" as chapter one, through "Selecting Business Level Strategies" in the middle of the text, and concluding with corporate governance and ethics. There is also consistency in terms of the key takeaways and exercises throughout the book.

This is another strength of the book. For example, in clarifying "Entrepreneurial Orientation" sections such as "Autonomy", "Competitive Aggressiveness", and "Innovativeness" are presented in small sections that in total describe the term. This is done consistently in the book, such as in chapter eight the terms vertical integration, backward vertical integration, and forward vertical integration.

The topics are presented in a deductive order, starting with a superordinate term such as "Strategies for Getting Smaller", followed by retrenchment and restructuring. By describing a construct by its dimensions, the construct is more readily understood by students.

I don't think there are any such problems.

There are not any grammatical errors. I do think the reading level is for undergraduates rather than MBA students.

The photographs and examples are varied in terms of surface characteristics.

It is superior to my present textbook in terms of being written in a conversational style, which is complemented by useful tables such as 8.7 on page 293. These tables and other graphics will assist students with a visual learning style. The only negative that comes to mind is if this textbook is to be used for a MBA course, outside readings will need to be assigned.

Reviewed by Jorge Zazueta, Adjunct Professor, American University on 2/1/18

The book covers all the standard topics in Strategic Management in a well-structured and cohesive manner. The table of contents provides detail on contents and the interactive PDF version is an excellent way to navigate the text. Electronic... read more

The book covers all the standard topics in Strategic Management in a well-structured and cohesive manner. The table of contents provides detail on contents and the interactive PDF version is an excellent way to navigate the text. Electronic versions are searchable, obviating the need for an index.

I didn't find any inaccuracies or biases in the text (although I ran into a few minor typos). Each concept follows a critical discussion inviting the reader to reflect on the topic, rather than being dogmatic.

The topics covered are well established Strategic Management ideas with direct application in actual business practice, making the content both relevant and time enduring.

Clarity rating: 4

The book is clearly written and enjoyable. It provides straight commentary on the ideas discussed and is very easy to read. A minor drawback is that it lacks memorable design around many of the classic frameworks. For example, when discussing the diamond model in chapter 7, its elements are defined in the form of a table--rather than in a diamond shape.

The narrative is consistent throughout both in depth and style.

While the content follows a logical path, chapters are concise and mostly stand-alone, making it easy to use individual chapters or to tailor content for a class.

The topics follow a standard order of ideas in a consistent and logical flow, while maintaining modularity.

The interactive PDF version is clean and easy to use. A comprehensive table of contents is always available without being intrusive and the book is fully searchable. Making it convenient for student research or review. A keyword search results in a list of references to different chapters in the book, with a short summary of the content discussed.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

Other than a few minor spelling typos. I found no errors.

The nature of the book is mostly transparent to cultural issues. Examples are business focused and do reflect a wide world view.

It is a great introductory text to Strategic Management. It covers all the standard material in a concise, easily accessible way. I would have enjoyed a bit more quantitative material, such as basic formulas from economics or discussions about how to quantify market competitiveness for example. Perhaps, that´s the material for a second book….

Reviewed by Bill Rossman, Instructor, Penn State University on 2/1/18

The book covers the major topics expected to be covered in a strategic management textbook. read more

The book covers the major topics expected to be covered in a strategic management textbook.

The material covered in the textbook is accurate and error-free.

Th material is up-to-date, however, some of the examples in the book could quickly become outdated. For example, there is an example referencing a 2001 movie which students may not understand. The book could easily be updated to keep examples up-to-date.

The book is clearly written without unnecessary jargon. Definitions for key terms could be emphasized to help students identify key terms and concepts. Additionally a glossary would be beneficial for students to quickly reverence the definition of key terms.

The book is consistent with other texts on the topic of strategic management.

The book is modular and chapters could be reorganized without issue. Instructors could assign chapters or subsections as they see fit without loss of educational value.

The book flowed well, the only change I would make is to move the corporate-level strategies to follow the business-level strategies. The instructor could easily make this change when assigning chapters in the textbook.

I did not encounter any issues with the interface of the textbook. The location of charts and images were appropriate and supported the material.

The book was free of grammatical errors.

The text was not insensitive or offensive.

Supporting material such as glossary, online assignments or self check exercises could be included. Overall, the book is well thought out and easily adaptable for instructors to use.

Reviewed by Sam Cappel, Professor, Southeastern Louisiana University on 6/20/17

I found the book to be comprehensive, covering in detail important parts of strategic management. read more

I found the book to be comprehensive, covering in detail important parts of strategic management.

I found the book to be accurate and well referenced. Examples were used which were most instrumental in helping students to understand important concepts.

The text is written and/or arranged in such a way that necessary updates will be relatively easy and straightforward to implement. Many of the examples used are classic or very timely. It would require little work to update concepts and examples.

The book is written without unnecessary jargon. Terms commonly used in the study of Strategy are fully explained.

The framework of the book allows for easy transitions from one topic to another. Throughout the book there is consistency in the straight forward approach to topics. There is a consistent attempt within this book to explain complex concepts in such a way as to allow undergraduate students to master them easily.

Modularity rating: 4

The text is well divided into a logical sequence of intuitively developed reading sections. Sections within the book serve to reduce confusion which can occur when learning a subject area with the diversity and complexity of Business Strategy

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

I like the flow of the text but prefer a flow which started by simply following the strategic management process step by step.

I had no issues with the interface of the textbook. Navigation was simple and charts were well placed and clear.

I found no grammatical errors i the text.

Culturally the book was sensitive in dealing with issues such as ethics and the role of diversity in the workplace.

With the current push for on-line offerings I feel that it is now imperative that offerings include test banks, power-points, on-line readings, films and perhaps simulation tools that can be used on-line. I love the book for in-class use but feels that it does not offer enough support to be viable for extensive on-line offerings,

strategic management model essay

Reviewed by Cynthia Steutermann, Multi-Term Lecturer, University of Kansas on 8/21/16

This book does a somewhat good job of covering many aspects of strategic analysis. For instance, the discussions relative to cost leadership, differentiation, and focused strategies were good. However, I found this book to be lacking in critical... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

This book does a somewhat good job of covering many aspects of strategic analysis. For instance, the discussions relative to cost leadership, differentiation, and focused strategies were good. However, I found this book to be lacking in critical discussion areas, such as the importance of evaluating a firm's internal financial assets. While it mentioned current ratio, debt to equity ratio, and net income .. it does not show how to calculate those ratios. And, there are many, many more financial ratios that should be covered in great detail to effectively analyze an organization's internal financial capabilities. This was an area I would consider to be seriously lacking in content.

Other critical areas missing from this textbook were the discussion of entrepreneurial strategy and competitive dynamics, as well as managing innovation and corporate entrepreneurship. Likewise, this textbook did not include any strategic management cases which greatly supports a student's ability to apply concepts to a multi-page case of an organization they may be familiar with.

Also, while there was included on the website a table of contents, no such table of contents exists in the .pdf version that students would actually use. In general, this book is not written at the level of sophistication and comprehensiveness I would expect to use for college students, particularly since a strategic analysis course is often taught as a capstone course (undergraduate senior level of student). In my opinion, this textbook is written more at the senior in high school or college freshman level.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

The book's accuracy is adequate, although there are many areas of strategic analysis which I would consider to be missing in this textbook.

The one area of relevance and longevity I found to be questionable was the various references to "At the Movies". Some of the movies are quite dated and students may not have even heard of them. Or, if they have heard of the movie, they may not have seen it. While the intent seems to be a creative way to illustrate basic concepts, the use of movies is not (in my opinion) the most relevant way to accomplish this, at least to the extent that this is repeated throughout the textbook.

The book is written clearly, although not at the college reading level I would expect it to be written at.

Consistency rating: 3

The text is inconsistent since it references certain figures that actually do not exist. For instance, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix is referenced to be in figure 8.7. There is no BCG matrix figure, nor any figure 8.7. In fact, there are very few figures in the book. There are some pictures (unidentified mostly) but no figures that illustrate important concepts.

The book's modularity is done well. Within each chapter there are several smaller reading sections.

The book's organization/structure flow is generally good. I believe the organization and flow would be better if corporate-level strategies followed business-level strategy, and then the chapter about international markets would follow after that. This textbook, instead, has business-level strategy, international markets, then corporate-level strategy.

The images are generally not distorted, although on page 172 the Arby's graphic and text are out of proportion. Page 177 includes some type of graphic that is only shades of grey. I don't know what that is intended to represent.

The text contains no grammatical errors that I observed.

The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way that I observed.

Reviewed by Daniel Forbes, Associate Professor, U. of Minnesota on 6/10/15

The book covers most of the chapters commonly found in a strategy textbook, and the content within each chapter is also similar in terms of the key topics & models addressed. One exception is strategic entrepreneurship, which is not covered as... read more

The book covers most of the chapters commonly found in a strategy textbook, and the content within each chapter is also similar in terms of the key topics & models addressed. One exception is strategic entrepreneurship, which is not covered as a separate chapter as is often the case but is instead partially covered under "Entrepreneurial orientation" within Chapter 2, "Leading strategically". Another exception is that there is only one chapter on corporate strategy, whereas many books have a second chapter on strategy alternatives (M&A, etc.). However, some of this content has been folded into the corporate strategy chapter. The PDF I reviewed did not contain a glossary or index.

The book provides an accurate introduction to contemporary strategic management. The authors' perspective is consistent with mainstream scholarly views in the field.

Most strategy textbooks tend to gravitate towards concepts and models that have a relatively long "shelf life," and this one is no exception. The book contains current examples and timely content. The book also does a good job presenting strategy in ways that undergraduate students, in particular, will find relevant. It does this through an emphasis on familiar, everyday brands (Facebook, Redbox) and through cultural references, such as its "Strategy at the movies" segments, which link concepts in the book to recent popular films.

The book is written in clear and accessible prose, and it carries a sense of humor. At times I would have liked to see clearer definitions that were easier to find in the text (e.g., highlighted or placed in sidebars). For example, the concept of "cost leadership" is introduced with good examples, but a concise definition seems lacking. Having clear definitions on key concepts is helpful to students studying for exams and for faculty who want to check concepts for consistency across materials without re-reading entire sections.

The book is internally consistent. It provides a framework for understanding strategy that is coherent and, at the same time, generally consistent with other major texts.

The text seems modular, and reorganizing the material is unlikely to pose a problem. It would be easy to rearrange the materials within a strategy course - provided, of course, that foundational concepts (e.g., "capabilities") have been established early on, as would be required in working with any major strategy text.

The book's flow is logical and it adheres to a structure that is common in strategy texts. One slightly unusual sequencing is the presentation of international strategy before corporate strategy (the reverse is more common), but these two chapters remain adjacent and there is a reasonable case for doing this. Given the overall modularity of the book, moreover, instructors can rearrange chapters as they see fit without much difficulty.

The interface reflects the thoughtful and creative selection of accompanying visual materials, especially photos and illustrations. There are fewer charts and tables than in the average strategy text. Some instructors and MBA students might find the text easier to navigate with fewer visual interruptions overall and perhaps more data or charts included in addition to the pictures. Overall, I think this interface that would be well received by undergraduate students, in particular.

The book's grammar is fine.

The book does not appear to be culturally insensitive. Examples are drawn primarily from the U.S., as is common in many major strategy texts, but there are also many examples drawn from outside the U.S.

Overall, I think this book is a very solid and worthwhile contribution to the set of available strategy textbooks. A particular strength of the book is its accessible writing style and its selection of "user-friendly" illustrations and examples. I think the book would be especially well-suited to first-time students of strategy who seek a general introduction. I also like that the book avoids delivering long, arbitrary lists of items in presenting material (e.g., "the nine reasons firms do acquisitions"), which is a common weakness of strategy textbooks. Instead, this book is generally succinct and reasonably comprehensive. At the same time, instructors & students seeking a more advanced treatment of strategy may find coverage of some topics to be relatively light. For example, limitations of the 5 Forces model are only briefly addressed and issues of industry evolution do not seem to be addressed.

Reviewed by David Try Ph.D., Instructor , Northwest Community College on 10/9/13

I found this text to be well-written and high quality, with up-to-date material, examples and case studies. In my experience, both as an instructor and retired practitioner, this textbook covers all basic concepts and topics at an appropriate... read more

I found this text to be well-written and high quality, with up-to-date material, examples and case studies. In my experience, both as an instructor and retired practitioner, this textbook covers all basic concepts and topics at an appropriate depth for an Introduction to Business Strategy/Policy course. The backend - index, glossary, on-screen reader and search engine - were accurate and faultless.

Diagrams, tables and case studies were up-to-date, professional quality and accurate. I found the text well supported by the supplemental teaching resources (quizzes, PowerPoint's, teaching notes, etc.) As with any USA based textbook, and to be fair hardly unique to this one, the content is USA-centric. Examples and in-text case studies do tend to examine issues through the lens of USA companies, and occasionally USA laws/regulations. Within this caveat, all material was well-edited, error-free, unbiased and including appropriate supplemental instructor material.

As with most introductory courses, the basic components of Business Strategy tend not to change rapidly. New tools, techniques, occasionally fads, as well as the inevitable rebranding (i.e. Management by Objectives [MBO] becomes Outcome Based Key Performance Indicators) are adopted by Business relatively slowly. The textbook covers certain recent advances in strategic and policy, as appropriate for a textbook at an introductory level. Looking forward, advances to this textbook would tend to focus on maintaining current and timeliness of in-text examples, update trends and data, and incorporate emergent strategies which could emerge in response to changing economic, business or global events, such as a global recession.

The textbook to be quite readable and engaging, and makes good use of current business examples. Terms and business jargon are properly defined, both within the text and by using small ‘call-out' (?) boxes on the side of pages and through the use of examples.

The concepts and ideas in the textbook are presented in a clear and logical order. Terminology is used consistently. As well, I found the ‘readability' of the textbook to be internally consistent – with no sense that different authors/editors had writte

The material is covered in 12 chapters, with 2 to 4 sections each, making it easy to assign weekly readings and cover the content within one semester. Chapters are fairly consistent in length and complexity. Instructors have the option to re-organize the course / subject order prior to students downloading the textbook should they wish. The text is not overly self-referential.

The flow or order of idea/concept presentation is consistent to most Strategy texts, and appropriate for an introductory textbook. Within Chapter layout is consistent; each chapter begins with "Learning Outcomes" and concludes with "Key Takeaways" and exercises, which can be assigned as homework.

Neither I, nor any of my students, experienced any interface issues at all. The underlying technology appeared faultless. The navigation process is logical and all images and text were clear and high quality, even on smaller e-reading devices. As well, color use is consistent, assisting in overall navigation. Interestingly, as the first e-textbook for NWCC Business, my students appreciated the ability to perform in-text searches and hyper-link to external electronic references (in text URLs), as well as textbook's cost of course!

I found zero (0) grammatical errors, or ‘broken' URL links. Well edited

This text is not culturally or sexually insensitive, or offensive. Overall, examples are based on business culture with limited applicability on cultural relevance. One chapter focuses on Ethics and Social Responsibility and examines these issues from a strategic perspective, with examples. However, the focus is principally from a business perspective, as compared to social, legal or moral perspectives. As the text is fairly USA-centric, Canadian students may feel that Canadian and possibly Asian business strategies should receive greater emphasis.

Overall, I was very impressed with the quality and professionalism of the text. A ‘newbie' to e-textbooks, I was surprised by the usefulness of additional features available with electronic textbooks (searching, imbedded URLs, etc.). As noted above, the textbook content is somewhat USA-centric. Examples and in-text case studies tend to focus on USA companies, and occasionally USA laws/regulations. However, given the highly integrated nature of Canadian and USA business environments, there is some value in this. And, it was certainly not difficult to incorporate Canadian examples into the Lectures. This review originated in the BC Open Textbook Collection and is licensed under CC BY-ND.

Table of Contents

  • I. Chapter 1: Mastering Strategy: Art and Science
  • II. Chapter 2: Assessing Organizational Performance
  • III. Chapter 3: Evaluating the External Environment
  • IV. Chapter 4: Evaluating the Internal Environment
  • V. Chapter 5: Synthesis of Strategic Issues and Analysis
  • VI. Chapter 6: Selecting Business-Level Strategies
  • VII. Chapter 7: Innovation Strategies
  • VIII. Chapter 8: Selecting Corporate-Level Strategies
  • IX. Chapter 9: Competing in International Markets
  • X. Chapter 10: Executing Strategy through Organizational Design
  • XI. Chapter 11: Leading an Ethical Organization: Corporate Governance, Corporate Ethics, and Social Responsibility

Ancillary Material

  • Virginia Tech Publishing

About the Book

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT  offers an introduction to the key topics and themes of strategic management. The authors draw on examples of familiar companies and personalities to illustrate the different strategies used by today’s firms—and how they go about implementing those strategies. Students will learn how to conduct a case analysis, measure organizational performance, and conduct external and internal analyses. In short, they will understand how organizations operate at the strategic level to be successful.

An older version of Mastering Strategic Management  (2015) by University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing can be found here: https://open.lib.umn.edu/strategicmanagement/

About the Contributors

Reed B. Kennedy, Associate Professor of Practice, Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech

Reed B. Kennedy is an Associate Professor of Management Practice in the Management Department, where he teaches management courses. He began his career as a naval officer before entering his primary career in healthcare administration, where he served in senior executive roles in various hospitals for over 20 years. He then worked as a business consultant for the Small Business Development Center for the New River Valley at Radford University. His education includes a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy, a Masters of Healthcare Administration from Medical College of Virginia / Virginia Commonwealth University, a Masters in Public Health and a Graduate Certificate in Global Planning and International Development from Virginia Tech. Reed served as the chief textbook reviser on this project. He worked with the contributor and editorial teams from project start to completion.

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Strategic Management Process Essay

Strategic management is a process that assesses the business areas that an organization operates. The process scrutinizes the organization’s competitors, both current and future, and comes up with its goals and objectives. Strategic management process has several components, including the vision, environmental scanning, strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and strategy evaluation (Moore, 2000).

The vision formulation directs the company into its mission. A mission statement states how the management plans to offer products and services to its customers. Johnson and Whittington (2008) affirm that environmental scanning entails the process of analyzing the companies’ processes and coming up with detailed information about its strategic needs: It examines both the internal and external issues that control the organization.

Environmental assessment is important because continuous evaluation of the organization’s environment helps the management to identify areas that require improvement.

After analysis of the environment, strategy formulation is the next step, which involves making decisions on the best actions to take to achieve the organization’s goals and objectives while considering the political and society factors, opportunities and threats and the potential strengths and weaknesses. The company then formulates its business and corporate strategies (Moore, 2000).

Strategy implementation is the next step, and it entails putting the chosen strategy into work. This is where the company’s structure is designed: allocation of human resources and issuing resources in all the sections involved with change. The last component is strategy evaluation, which implies evaluating the performance of the implemented strategies and taking the best action in case it diverts from the set objectives (Moore, 2000).

Liebeskind (2002) conforms that strategic management process is important in an organization because it helps in planning the steps and procedures to follow for the processes to work according to the set goals and objectives. Additionally, strategic management helps the company to carry out its procedures using a systematic method in a smooth flow to achieve corporate goals.

In this regard, The Ford Company is a typical company that uses the components strategic management process. The company has many plans, which are operational for a given period to check on performance. The management implements the plans if there is improvement in the company’s processes. Thus, Ford assesses each process to make sure that they are working according to the set plans and objectives (Johnson & Whittington, 2008).

Ford Company has faced big losses, while its competitors like Toyota and Nissan are making a lot of profits. This was due to the fact that Ford’s costs were higher as compared to both Toyota and Nissan. The Ford Company has had a new strategic plan, which involves closing some of its plants and cutting-off some of the workers to maintain its competitive advantage.

Ford’s strategic plans entail defining the existing business’s mission and vision. The management has planned on how to produce its products and services for differentiation purposes. Likewise, the company also performs weekly internal and external audits. After evaluation of the current business operations, it formulates new business strategies and mission statements. The missions are then transformed into company’s goals.

Plans are then formulated to attain the strategic goals. The ford Company then implements the strategies and evaluates its performance (Johnson & Whittington, 2008). Therefore, strategic management is essential for both small and big companies, especially those whose main aim is to stay at the competitive edge.

Johnson, G. & Whittington, R. (2008). Exploring Corporate Strategy . Essex: FT Hall.

Liebeskind, J. P. (2002). Knowledge, Strategy, and the Theory Firm. Strategic Management Journal, 17, 93-108.

Moore, M. H. (2000). Creating Public Value: Strategic Management in Government . Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

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Essay on Strategic Management: Top 7 Essays

strategic management model essay

Here is a compilation of essays on ‘Strategic Management’ for class 9, 10, 11 and 12. Find paragraphs, long and short essays on ‘Strategic Management’ especially written for school and college students.

Essay on Strategic Management

Essay Contents:

  • Essay on CEO’s Functions in Strategic Management

Essay # 1. Definition of Strategic Management:

The term ‘strategic management’ has been defined differently by different scholars of management.

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Some of them are:

1. Strategic management is “ a set of decisions and actions resulting in formulation and implementation of strategies designed to achieve the objectives of an organisation” (Pearce and Richard Robinson).

2. Strategic management is “the manner by which organisations plan to deal with various aspects of management like problem perception, divergent thinking, substantial resources, decision making, innovations and risk-taking” (Cunningham).

3. Strategic management is “the means by which management establishes purpose and pursues the purpose through co-alignment of organisational resources with environment, opportunities, and constraints.” (Bourgeois).

4. Strategic management can be defined as “the art and science of formulating, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that enable an organisation to achieve its objectives” (Glueck).

(a) Strategic management is an on-going process of analysis, planning and action. It attempts to keep an organisation aligned with its environment while capitalising on organisational strengths and environmental opportunities and minimising or avoiding organisational weaknesses and external threats, and

(b) Strategic management is also a future-oriented provocative management system. The managers, who use strategic management skills, are seeking a competitive advantage for their organisations and long-term organisational effectiveness.

It is, therefore, a complex function covering all activities connected with formulating, implementing, recycling and reformulating strategies.

In short, an effective strategic management translates a sound strategy into action. As otherwise, even a sound strategy would be rendered ineffective if it cannot be converted into action.

Hence, it is the duty of the strategic managers to do environmental scanning, assess internal strengths and weaknesses, set goals, mobilise resources, design action plans, implement actions, monitor progress, and control resources and deviations from goals for the achievement of goals and key results areas.

Essay # 2. Process of Strategic Management:

The strategic management process is most often described as a rational and analytical one.

The process consists of the following activities in different phases:

Strategic Management Process

(i) Environmental Scanning:

Threats and opportunities analysis.

This involves analysing each threat and opportunity according to its time frame (i.e., short term or long term). Significance and likelihood of occurrence can help focus on the’ most important threats and opportunities.

In identifying them in the organisation’s environment, three questions need to be kept in mind:

(i) Which threats are critical and  how can they be avoided in order to derive opportunities?

(ii) Which opportunities are critical and must be exploited?

(iii) Which threats and opportunities are short-terms and which are long-term?

An Indian Example on: Bady Food Manufacture

(ii) Organisational Analysis:

Mission, Strengths and Weaknesses analysis.

An organisational analysis begins with an analysis of how the organisation is performing and why. A broad statement about purpose, philosophy, and goals would guide executive actions, by the processes of evaluation.

An Indian Example on: Bady Food Manufacture

(iii) Strategic Goals Setting:

Understandable, measurable, achievable and challenging long-term goals.

It is necessary to set annual objectives in line with long-term objectives as well as specifying functional strategies consistent with the company’s grand strategy Such goals should be measured in terms of quality, cost, and time-frame.

A chart below classifies and explains the ‘Goals’:

Classifies and Explains the 'Goals'

Given the mission and objectives and having done the SWOT analysis, the strategic manager should proceed to generate possible ‘strategy alternatives’. There may be different ‘strategic options’ for accomplishing a particular goal. It is necessary to consider all possible alternatives to make the base for a choice.

The purpose of considering different ‘strategic options’ is to adopt the most appropriate strategy as ‘goal’. This necessitates the evaluation of the ‘strategy alternatives’ with reference to the criteria like suitability, feasibility and acceptability.

(iv) Strategic Actions Formulations:

An action plan to achieve the goals.

Strategic actions flow from the goals of the organisation. A strategy sets forth a general programme of action and an implied development of employees and resources to obtain goals.

This strategic action can be taken from three approaches:

(a) Func­tional approach,

(b) Product approach, and

(c) Business Units grouping approach.

Here, ‘business units grouping’ approach works well in diversified enterprises. All these approaches involve choosing target markets, and product and product development plans, capital expenditure plans, and marketing plans. For all major actions, the aspects of timing and sequencing should be considered.

(v) Strategy Implementation:

Spelling out effective policies or operating procedures to initiate actions for implementing strategy.

This involves translating the strategies into organisational actions. This requires ‘strategic leadership’ i.e., identifying policies, rules, and key results areas; allocating responsibilities; and making operational plans and day-to-day decisions.

Strategy implementation is, thus, the action phase of the strategic management process. This step, therefore, encompasses the operational details to translate the strategy into effective practice.

A simple chart below sums up the implementation phase:

Strategy Implementatation

(vi) Strategy Evaluation and Control:

Monitoring progress of strategic actions and controlling the resources.

This includes both monitoring progress and control resources—human/physical/ financial—by analysing the deviations from standards and goals and providing the feedback for modifications.

It is important to note that traditional control parameters are not adequate here as they delay the results and thereby become a useless exercise to face the environmental risks and uncertainties. In contrast to ‘past-action control’, strategic control is forward looking and attempts to steer the company on a long-term basis.

Types of Control

Essay # 3. Stages of Strategic Planning Process:

Stage 1. Defining the mission.

Stage 2. Assessing organisational Resources.

Stage 3. Evaluating Environmental risks and opportunities.

Stage 4. Establishing long-term Objectives.

Stage 5. Formulating strategy.

Stage 6. Establishing Annual Objectives.

Stage 7. Establishing Operational Plans.

Stage 8. Implementing the Plans.

Stage 9. Imple­menting, Monitoring and Adapting.

These stages seldom occur in a fixed sequence, and some may take place simulta­neously, but given the flexibility needed for a bit of cycling— revising, seeking authorisations and coordinating—some rationale exists for considering the stages in the order presented (Williams, Du Brin & Sisk, 1985).

Strategies are designed by top management of an enterprise. They come to be as a result of the strategic planning process.

Essay # 4. Characteristics of Strategic Management Process:

The basic characteristics of the strategic planning process may be as follows:

1. It is the place where decisions of highest importance to a company are made. Here is where the basic thrust and direction of the company is determined and the major approaches are decided.

2. The time spectrum covered ranges from the very short range to infinity. Although the general thrust is long-range, a decision can be made in this process to stop producing Product X tomorrow or start to build tomorrow a new plant to produce the Product Y.

3. The process may produce a written document on a periodic basis, say annually—yet the process is a continuous activity. Top management cannot, of course, develop a strategic plan once a year and forget strategy in the meantime.

4. Compared with medium-range and short-range planning, the results of strategic planning process are not usually neatly incorporated into a prescribed form.

5. Strategic planning covers any element of the business that is important at the time of analysis and embodies details that are of sufficient scope and depth to provide the necessary basis for implementation.

6. The format of strategic plans is much more flexible and variable in content, from time to time, than for other types of plans.

7. Strategic planning process has many starting points, each different from the other.

8. Strategic planning is especially appropriate in volatile industries, such as the computer or telecommunication or anti-pollution industries where technological change is rapid and international competition is fierce.

9. Strategic planning is uniquely suited for providing ‘a broad managerial perspective which rescues management from the tunnel vision of unanalysed assumptions and fuzzy objectives’.

10. Strategic planning, even if the methods as well as the human resources and other situational variables differ greatly from one firm to another, is an increasingly necessary aspect of effective management.

Essay # 5 . Factors and Elements of Strategic Planning Process:

From the above, we see that the general contents of strategic planning process are:

(i) Objective of enterprise,

(ii) Basic mission,.

(iii) Basic strategies, and

(iv) Operational plans.

The factors and main elements of strategic planning process can be best identified and shown in a model below:

A Model of Strategic Planning Process

As we can see, strategic planning involves the development of objectives (step 1 in the planning process). Next the top management searches for the environment.

Next top management weighs the advantages of the several strategies considered and chooses one. It outlines the general organisational and policy changes necessitated by its strategic choice. It then delegates detailed planning and implementation activities to its middle management. Top management also sets budget levels and indicates general usage of funds; detailed budgeting is done by middle management.

Strategic planning is exciting. It involves decisions like: Xerox Corporation’s decision to enter (and leave) the computer field, Reliance Industries’ decision to get out of textiles and become a conglomerate, or Cadbury chocolate’s decision to become Cadbury Foods (all hypothetical).

Essay # 6 . CEO’s Role in Strategic Management:

The increasing time demands of strategic management have nowadays forced top managements among the larger companies to delegate more and more of the operating authority for running the business to lower-level managers.

Some companies today have Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) who are concerned essentially with outside environmental forces, and Chief Operating Officers (COOs) who are concerned primarily with running the day-to-day affairs of the business. In these cases as well as in others where there is no COO or its equivalent, more authority is usually being delegated to middle managers.

This does not mean that top managements remain unconcerned about the day-to-day operational matters. Only thing is that, in the changing environment from that of the past, the top managements are forced to spend much less time on routine operating matters and to devote much more time on strategic issues.

The most important case in point is that managerial strategies in large-sized organisations are considerably different from the operational strategies needed. After all, corporate level strategy in the changing environment is essential for success and growth, and for competitive advantage. Herein, comes the role of the chief strategist, the CEO.

The chief strategist is faced with three basic questions:

(1) What business are we in?

(2) How are we to match the best product-market opportunities?

(3) How are we to make best use of the company resources?

The first two questions are concerned with corporate-level strategies, while the third question relates to operational-level strategy. The CEO must conceptualise the whole strata of strategy as he is at the top. CEO is responsible for relating his organisation to a changing environment.

He alone is responsible for assuring the proper balance among various competing subsystems in the organisation. He alone is responsible for determining the total thrust of his organisation and for assuring that performance matches with his design. So, the role of the CEO is unique and so is his way of thinking.

Again, the CEO is expected to concentrate on the total enterprise rather than parts of it, and in the process ‘entirely new phenomena take place’.

CEO has to think in these terms. The thought processes, the attitudes, the perspective, the methods of analysis and the skills in the total strategic management process are unique and of demanding nature and call for higher level dynamism and initiative. CEO, as the chief strategist, has to have widest vision in these respects.

Essay # 7 . CEO’s Functions in Strategic Management:

Mintzberg’s classification of ‘Ten Managerial Work Roles’ vis-a-vis the functions/roles that concern the chief strategist is given below for better comprehension:

strategic management model essay

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1.7 Conclusion

This chapter provides an overview of strategic management and strategy. Ideas about strategy span many centuries, and modern understanding of strategy borrows from ancient strategies as well as classic military strategies. You should now understand that there are numerous ways to conceptualize the idea of strategy, and that effective strategic management is needed to ensure the long-term success of firms. The study of strategic management provides tools to effectively manage organizations, but it also involves the art of knowing how and when to apply creative thinking. Knowledge of both the art and the science of strategic management is needed to help guide organizations as their strategies emerge and evolve over time. Such tools will also help you effectively chart a course for your career as well as to understand the effective strategic management of the organizations for which you will work.

  • Think about the best and worst companies you know. What is extraordinary (or extraordinarily bad) about these firms? Are their strategies clear and focused or difficult to define?
  • If you were to write a “key takeaway” section for this chapter, what would you include as the material you found most interesting?

Strategic Management Copyright © 2020 by Reed Kennedy is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Strategic Management

Journal title, journal issn, volume title.

Strategic Management (2020) is a 343-page open educational resource designed as an introduction to the key topics and themes of strategic management. The open textbook is intended for a senior capstone course in an undergraduate business program and suitable for a wide range of undergraduate business students including those majoring in marketing, management, business administration, accounting, finance, real estate, business information technology, and hospitality and tourism. The text presents examples of familiar companies and personalities to illustrate the different strategies used by today’s firms and how they go about implementing those strategies. It includes case studies, end of section key takeaways, exercises, and links to external videos, and an end-of-book glossary. The text is ideal for courses which focus on how organizations operate at the strategic level to be successful. Students will learn how to conduct case analyses, measure organizational performance, and conduct external and internal analyses.

If you are an instructor reviewing, adopting, or adapting this textbook, please help us understand your use by filling out this form http://bit.ly/strategy-interest.

How to access this book This text is available in multiple formats including PDF, a low-resolution PDF which is faster to download, Open Document Format (ODT), and ePub found on the left side of your screen. It is also available online in Pressbooks at https://pressbooks.lib.vt.edu/strategicmanagement . Softcover print versions are available at the manufacturer's lowest price in color interior or black & white interior . The main landing page for this book is: https://doi.org/10.21061/strategicmanagement .

Attribution This textbook was adapted for use in Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business capstone course, MGT 4394 Strategic Management, and is shared under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial ShareAlike 3.0 license . It is adapted without attribution to the original 2010 author or publisher at their request. It is adapted from Mastering Strategic Management which was published by the University of Minnesota Publishing in 2015 as an adaptation of the 2010 version. University of Minnesota Publishing reformatted the original text, and replaced some images and figures to make the resulting whole more shareable but did not otherwise significantly alter or update the original 2010 text.

Instructor ancillaries Powerpoint slides are available at http://hdl.handle.net/10919/102735 . A test bank only for instructors is also available at http://hdl.handle.net/10919/104179 .

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Table of contents Chapter 1: Mastering Strategy: Art and Science Chapter 2: Assessing Organizational Performance Chapter 3: Evaluating the External Environment Chapter 4: Evaluating the Internal Environment Chapter 5: Synthesis of Strategic Issues and Analysis Chapter 6: Selecting Business-Level Strategies Chapter 7: Innovation Strategies Chapter 8: Selecting Corporate-Level Strategies Chapter 9: Competing in International Markets Chapter 10: Executing Strategy through Organizational Design Chapter 11: Leading an Ethical Organization: Corporate Governance, Corporate Ethics, and Social Responsibility About the Author / Editorial and Production Teams Version Notes Glossary

This work is published by Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business in association with Virginia Tech Publishing .

Suggested citation Kennedy, Reed. (2020) Strategic Management. Blacksburg, VA: Virginia Tech Publishing. https://doi.org/10.21061/strategicmanagement CC BY NC-SA 3.0

Contributors About the previous author The publisher of the 2010 version of this book requested that they and the original author not receive attribution.

This Version Primary contributor: Reed B. Kennedy Reviewers / contributors: Eli Jamison, Joseph Simpson, Pankaj Kumar, Ayenda Kemp, Kiran Awate, and Kathleen Manning Cover design, illustration, and alternative text; student reviewer: Kindred Grey Research and editorial assistant; student reviewer: Kathleen Manning Managing editor: Anita Walz Production editor: Robert Browder Copyeditors: Grace Baggett, Lauren Holt

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21061/strategicmanagement ISBN 978-1-949373-94-3 (print-color) ISBN 978-1-949373-89-9 (print-black & white) ISBN 978-1-949373-96-7 (ebook-PDF) ISBN 978-1-949373-95-0 (ebook-Pressbooks) https://pressbooks.lib.vt.edu/strategicmanagement

Accessibility Virginia Tech Publishing is committed to making its publications accessible in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The HTML and screen reader–friendly PDF versions of this book utilize header structures and include alternative text which allow for machine-readability.

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strategic management model essay

The Models Of Strategic Management

In the 20o1 movie Lagaan, when Bhuvan’s team won against the British in a game of cricket, they not only…

Strategic Management Process Model

In the 20o1 movie Lagaan , when Bhuvan’s team won against the British in a game of cricket, they not only showed great teamwork but also a strategic approach. In life, we need effective strategies to meet our goals. Similarly, organizations need a strategic management process in place to survive in a dynamic world—full of social, economic, political and technical changes.

Several theories and models of strategic management have emerged over time, each instrumental in informing organizations how to plan for growth and profitability. Before we look at any strategic management process model , let’s understand the meaning and importance of strategic management first.

What Do You Mean By Strategic Management?

What are the various models of strategic management, putting the models of strategic management to use  .

Strategic management is a process by which managers create and implement a strategy that’s instrumental in driving growth and competitive advantage in the market. It’s an important step in the management process as it helps you develop a sustainable business model. It helps you set organizational goals, perform a competitive analysis, reflect on an organization’s internal structure and evaluate current strategies.

The need for strategic management can be understood by looking toward the future of a company. Management is responsible for planning and preparing for continuous changes to navigate any undesirable situation. A clear and focused effort by upper management goes a long way in calibrating internal strengths with external deviations. Even the most basic model of strategic management can help businesses keep pace with internal and external changes.

If you’re a manager or leader, here’s why you should focus your efforts on creating an effective strategic management process model :

  • You’ll be able to tap into opportunities and identify strengths and weaknesses by studying the internal structure of your organization. Within every team, there’s unrealized potential that needs your attention.
  • A business environment is dynamic and fast-paced. By evolving and adapting your strategies, you can keep abreast of vital changes in the business sphere. Goal-setting is a key element  while preparing for the future.
  • You can reflect on your organization’s internal structure and make changes wherever you feel necessary. Only a strong organizational structure can endure testing times.

Let’s explore the importance of strategic management in greater detail through different models of strategic management .  

Constructing a strategic vision with long-term objectives in mind is useful for achieving organizational goals. Consider these models of strategic management while creating your future-ready plan:

1. SWOT Analysis Model

A basic model of strategic management , SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This technique is instrumental in determining growth strategies. By gauging available opportunities and addressing weaknesses, organizations can leverage strengths and circumvent threats. By utilizing this basic model of strategic management , organizations can gain a competitive advantage over others.

2. PEST Model

This type of business model in strategic management is a macro-level plan that helps organizations assess future changes based on four factors—Political, Economic, Social and Technological. It helps you analyze market growth, standing and position with respect to your competitors and customers in addition to assessing growth strategies to expand your business. It helps you strategize based on different geographies, demographics and products/services.

3. Porter’s Five Forces Model

According to Porter’s Five Forces Model, there are five forces that can strengthen or weaken your organization’s position in the market. These are industry competition, new entrants in the market, supplier power, buyer power and threat of substitutes. This model helps in assessing an organization’s competitive environment. You can create, modify and update your business strategy based on these five competitive forces.  

Putting The Models Of Strategic Management To Use

If you want to make the most of the various models of strategic management , you need to create a plan that’ll aid the process. Set short-term and long-term goals as they form the basis of strategic management. Gather and assess data to identify trends and potential problems. The next step is to formulate the strategy. The penultimate step is to implement it and finally, you need to evaluate it. By tracking your progress, you can make necessary revisions.

The purpose of strategic management is to endure uncertainties and accomplish goals despite challenges. It requires you to think critically and make important decisions in the process. Harappa’s Making Decisions course will teach you how to process, reflect and include multiple perspectives for informed decision-making. Frameworks such as Good Decision Process and The PRISM framework will help you seek multiple viewpoints on situations before making final decisions. Try Harappa and become an effective decision-maker!

Explore Harappa Diaries to learn more about topics such as Importance Of Strategic Management , What Is Strategic Management Process , Different Levels of Strategic Management , and Strategic Management Process Examples to classify problems and solve them efficiently.

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Expertly Crafted Essay On Strategic Management

Type of paper: Essay

Topic: Company , Business , Yelp , Customers , Services papers , Activities , Resources , Products

Words: 4000

Published: 03/30/2023

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Internal Analysis

The process of internal analysis helps in identifying and evaluating an organization’s capabilities, resources, and core competencies. Internal Assessment The internal assessment has three main components that are resources, value chain, and core competencies. The assessment of these components helps in determining the internal strength of the company.

Resource Based Views

The resource-based view helps an organization to analyze the tangible and intangible resources that are available at the disposal of the firm and can be used. These resources are determined to develop a competitive advantage of an organization. The main aim of the model is to analyze the internal resources that assist in developing the strategies that can lead to a sustainable competitive advantage. For the purpose of developing the resource based view for Yelp, the tangible resources of the company that is financials, physical resources, and technological resources of the company are discussed. In addition to it, some of the intangible resources like human resources, innovation and creativity, and reputation are discussed to develop resource-based view .

Tangible Resources

Tangible resources are those resources which have a physical existence. These resources are of great importance and abundance of their quality can have a huge positive impact on the company. To discuss the tangible resources of Yelp, the financial ratios of the company are discussed along with its physical and technological resources .

The financial ratios of Yelp are presented in the table below. In order to explain the financials of the company, the ratios of three year that is 2013, 2014, and 2015 is taken. The industry analysis of the company is not available. Therefore, the industry analysis of one of its competitors ‘Trip Advisor’ is taken for comparison. The financial table of Yelp determines four main ratios that are liquidity, asset management, long-term debt paying ability, and profitability. In the liquidity ratio section, two ratios current ratio and cash ratios are provided. The condition in which the liquidity ratio of the company is high is considered to be beneficial for the company. On viewing the current ratios of the company for three years, it is noticed that the current ratio of the company is decreasing. It is not an alarming situation for the company as the value of the ratio is more than one which means that the company has a strong ability to pay off its debts. The values of the ratio more than one is a good sign, but the company must also have its concern over the decreasing trend in the ratio as it can be harmful to the company in future. Similar is the case with cash ratio, Yelp’s cash ratio are decreasing but they are above one which means the company has an ability to pay off its debts. The company needs to improve its financial activities as the trend of the analysis is not perceived to be favorable to the company. On comparing the liquidity ratio of Yelp with its competitors, it is observed that Yelp has a higher ability to pay its debts . There are several ratios that have been calculated in the asset management. The ratios related to raw material, work-in-process, and finished goods turnover in days is not mentioned because of the nature of the business. The account receivable turnover in days of the company shows that the ratio is decreasing every year, but while comparing to its customers, the company’s performance in receiving payments from its customers is poor. Trip Advisor on an average recovers the receivables in 8.29 days whereas, Yelp recovers it in 12.44 days. The accounts payable turnover in days of the company has a fluctuating trend as it significantly increased in 2014 and dropped again in 2015. On considering the value of 2015, it is noted that Yelp takes17 days to pays of its short-term debts whereas its competitors pays it quickly in less than six days. It represents that Yelp finds it difficult to make payments to the creditors. The cash conversion cycle of the company also shows a fluctuating trend. The decrease in the cash current ratio is beneficial for the company as it depicts the overall health Yelp is good but on its comparison with the competitors it can be stated that Trip Advisor has a relatively low cash conversion cycle which proves it to be better than Yelp in this function. The fixed asset turnover of Yelp has a fluctuating trend has increased in the previous year. As the higher value of fixed asset turnover is favorable for the company, it is noted that the company has an advantage of the customer in this section . The long-term debt paying ability includes two ratios that are a long-term debt to total capitalization and cash flow coverage ratio. The long-term debt to total capitalization of Yelp is less than its competitor. Therefore, it can be stated that Yelp is stronger financially and has an ability to pay off its debts. Cash flow coverage ratio of Yelp shows a fluctuating trend as it increased in 2014 and decreased in 2015. The value of cash flow coverage value in should be one or more than one in order to be favorable for the company. On comparison, it is noted that the value of both the selected companies is greater than one but the value of Yelp is much higher. Therefore, Yelp has more financial strength as compared to its competitors .

The core business of Yelp is online local advertising and brand advertising. In addition to it, the website of the company includes features like creating a profile, add friends that can be searched through Facebook, and chatting on inline forums. Moreover, Yelp also allows other facilities of making reservations in a restaurant. People have an option of giving reviews about different business and rate them on their products and services. The company does not have much of physical resources at its option because of the nature of the business. Therefore, limited or no physical resources is not an area of concern for the company .

Technological

Yelp is a social networking, and an audience sourced local business website. The company earns its revenues through advertisement of local business and brand advertisements that are displayed as text ads. The company uses a cost per click (CPC) model that helps them in identifying the number of clicks that have been made by the customers. With the help of this model, the company is able to direct the traffic to the websites of the brands and businesses that pay for advertisements. The advertised brands and business make payment to the company when their ad is clicked on by the customers. Search engine results page (SERP) plays an important role to function the services of the company in an effective manner. SERP is the page that is displayed to the searcher when there is an issue in doing a search. It also provides a list of other results and ads which are closest to the original search of the company. The technological model used by the company is very efficient as it helps the company to find out the amount of traffic per day. With the help of the results of the per day traffic, the company is able to estimate the number of customers that will visit the website. The CPC model helps the company to keep a record of the customers that have visited the website. The SERP model is also effective as it allows the company to find out what is searched for the customers and the things they are not able to find. The company can make effective strategies to excel their website and attract more customers to their website from the findings of these models .

Intangible Resources

Intangible resources are those resources which have no physical existence. These resources are also of great importance as they help in realizing the market worth of the company. The intangible assets of the company are its business methodologies, copyrights, goodwill, patents, and brand recognition. On the analysis of the intangible resources, the company is able to make effective strategies that can be beneficial for the company in the long run. The intangible assets of Yelp can be determined by discussing its human resources, innovation and creativity, and reputation .

Human Resources

The company has more than 3,800 employees working for them which help it to expand the business. It is reported that almost 60% of the company’s employees are sales representatives. The employees at different level have different tasks. As the company is also involved in training the small businesses to respond to their customers, therefore, some of the employees are involved in hosting classes for the owners of small businesses. The employees are also involved in organizing parties for prolific reviewers and encourage the reviewers from their messages. Some of the employees are associated in making contracts with the local businesses and brands to increase the number of vendors that pay for advertisements. The employees of the company have helped the company to grow, and it is still on the verge of expansion. The company provides its employees with different benefits which help the company to retain its employees. The employees working at Yelp are satisfied as the employee turnover rate of the company is low. Overall, the workforce of the company is very competitive and devoted towards their work. The efficient controlling of lower staff by the management is reflected in the financials of the company .

Innovation and Creativity

Innovation and creativity are very necessary for the current era as it helps in attracting more customers. Innovation always attracts people and Yelp has been innovative by providing a platform for businesses to promote themselves. The company provides an opportunity for the customers by providing a platform through which they ca give their views on different businesses. Some of the reviews provided by the customers are very creative and followed by many. As far as innovation and creativity within the organization or the business model of the company are concerned, Yelp has been able to attract a lot of customers and has expanded in different parts of the world. It has only been possible because of innovation and creativity of the team that is associated with the company. The company is creative in promoting and advertising the brands and attract the customers towards the site. The high amount of users that visits the site are proof that the company uses innovative techniques and is creative in attracting the customers towards its activities. In addition to it, the creativity of the company to attract small businesses to advertise themselves through their platform .

The company was founded in 2004 and within the span of six years the company had a roaring revenue of $30 million. The innovation and creativity of the company have helped the company to attract many customers to their platform. It was noted that by 2010 the company had published over 4.5 million crowd-sourced reviews. Yelp maintained its standards and earned a good reputation in the market which helped the company to expand throughout Europe and Asia. From the current analysis, it is noted that the company has around $135 million monthly visitors, and it publishes nearly 95 million reviews. These statistics helps in determining the reputation of the company in the market. From the analysis of the reputation, it is observed that the company holds a reputable place in the market with millions of monthly visitors .

Value Chain Analysis

The term value chain is referred to a collection of activities which a firm performs while operating in a specific industry that helps in delivering valuable products or services in the market. The process of the value chain is divided into two categories that are primary activities and supportive activities. The primary activities in value chain analysis consist of inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service . The components in the supporting activities are procurement, human resource management, technological development, and infrastructure. The analysis of value chain helps in understanding the process of value chain and the way all the activities of the organization are conducted. From the analysis of value chain, an organization can figure out the loopholes (if any) and make strategies to make this process more efficient . The value chain analysis of Yelp is provided in the provided in the table below.

The primary activities are those activities where the high value for the customers is created. It contains all the work that results in making the final product that the customer receives. The primary activities are essential because the end product that is created after the completion of these activities is important to attract the customers and will help in the growth of the organization. The primary activities of Yelp do not implement all the functions of the primary activities because of the nature of the business .

Inbound Logistics

The process of inbound movement of material from to the manufacturing plant or warehouse is called inbound logistics. The inbound logistics activities of the companies depend on upon the nature of the business. The inbound logistics can be easily discussed when a product is manufactured . As for service providers, it is difficult to elaborate the function of inbound logistics as most of the service companies do not perform such actions. Similar is the case with Yelp, as the company provides services to the customers. No physical item or software is kept in storage for the customers nor does any kind of internal movement of objects or services take place to complete the operational activities of the company. Therefore, it can be rightly claimed that the inbound logistics of Yelp is nonexistent. The only way to fit in the activities of Yelp in the category of inbound logistics is that they take information from different businesses and post it on their website.

The operational activities of a company are those activities which involve the utilization of labor, raw material, etc. to develop a product. In supply chain terms, the usage of material and labor is referred to inputs whereas, the final product is called the output. Mostly, the physical product has a high variety of operation activities that also differ from each other but in the case of the service industry, the operational activities are less . It may vary depending upon the services that are provided by the organization. Yelp does not have any physical product that it can offer to its customers, but some of the operational activities of the company include the collection of data of all the small businesses and presenting and marketing it to the customers. The company also render training services to the small business owner who helps them in dealing with the customers. The maintenance of the website is the main operational activity of Yelp as it allows the company to attract more customers. The customers of the company are satisfied with the platform it provides to them .Therefore, it can be said that the company has efficient operational activities.

Outbound Logistics

The outbound logistic is the movement of final product to the customers. The process flow of outbound logistics starts from the end of the production line and finishes till the product or service has reached to the end user. The value chain function of outbound logistics is also related to the manufacturing of the products . It is also used in the service industry to some extent. In the case of Yelp, the outbound logistics function of the company is to make their services available to the customers. Making their website available for the customers to use is a part of outbound logistics of the company. The company also has a function that allows the customers to write reviews about the small business and restaurants to make the people aware about the quality of products. Yelp has been efficient is performing its outbound logistics as the customers have given positive feedback on the website of the company and many people consider it to be a great place to socialize and express their views related to the local products they have experienced.

Marketing and Sales

Marketing and sales one of the most important features of any business as it helps the company to bring awareness to the public about the products and services that are being offered. The marketing team plays a key role in the success of any business as they help in determining the needs of the people and the type of products and services are required in the market. It helps in determining the target market of the company and ensures that the customers are satisfied with the products and services of the company that is being offered to them. Yelp has more than 3,800 employees that are working for the company to ensure that the company is able to cater the needs of the customers. At Yelp, out of the total number of employees 60% are a part of marketing and sales department. The company gives high importance to this function of the value chain as it considers it to be an important feature in the success of the company. The marketing team develops efficient strategies to attract the customers. It can be claimed that the marketing and sales strategies of the company are very effective as they have helped the company to increase the number of viewers that visit the place and also expand in different parts of the world .

As all the functions of the value chain analysis are important, the function of services is also equally important. The function of services is important as it helps in developing good relations with the customers of the company even after purchasing the products and services. The reason for the success of most of the companies is its services which they offer to the customers of the company. It is the responsibility of the company to make sure that the customers of the company are able to utilize the products and services to the fullest. It is deemed to be an important factor as it helps the company to gain competitive advantage. It is observed that most of the companies have failed in being successful because they lack such functions. The final product of Yelp is the services that it provides to the customers. The services of the company are available for the customers 24/7. People can log in to their website and search for the products offered by local business owners. From the analysis, it is noted that the company provide full services to the customers and helps them take full benefits of their services. N the case of providing training to the small business owners, the company helps them to deal with the reviews of the customers and help them in developing strategies to overcome the challenges that are faced by them .

The main role of the supportive activities is to facilitate the performance of primary activities of the company. The main elements of supportive activities are discussed below.

Procurement

The process of procurement involves purchasing of inputs like raw material, supplies, and equipment. The company does not purchase raw materials or equipment. Therefore, there are no procurement activities conducted at Yelp.

Technology Development

Technology is an important factor that can help in the growth of a company. Technological advancement supports the supply chain activities and makes the work much easier for the company. Yelp had adopted CPC model which helps the company to determine the number of customers that have viewed the website of the company. As the performance of the company is effective, it can be claimed that the company has adopted efficient technology that helps the company to grow .

Human Resource Management

Yelp has an effective human resource management as it hires qualified and experienced people to work with the organization. The company follows standardized method to recruit, hire, and train an employee so that they can perform in an efficient manner. The company provides compensation and other benefits to the customers which help them in retaining the employees.

General Administration

There are three levels of the organizational chart of Yelp. The first level is the board which includes the CEO, Chairman of the Board, and another director. The second level is of upper-level management which includes CFOs, COOs, and heads of different departments. The upper management of the company reports to the CEO. The third level of the company includes the heads of different marketing and sales departments who report to the senior vice president of marketing .

Core Competency Analysis

The core competency analysis helps the company to develop a competitive advantage in the industry that has a lasting effect. In this section organization capabilities and key success factors of Yelp are identified.

Organizational Capabilities

The organizational capabilities include specific knowledge, skills, and abilities along with VRIO analysis. Specific Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Specific knowledge, skills, and abilities of the company will help in determining the capabilities of the organization. The specific knowledge that Yelp has is the information of the local business within a specified region. The company has skills and abilities to train the small business owners to respond to the reviews and the steps that need to be taken for further improvement.

VRIO Analysis

VRIO is a business analysis model which is used to evaluate almost all the resources and capabilities of a company. The framework has four questions on value, rarity, imitability, and organization. From the analysis, it is observed that the company has the ability neutralize the external threat with the available resources which adds to the values of the company. The question of rarity determines that few people at Yelp control resources. The cost of imitability of the products and services of Yelp is very low, and others can easily imitate the capabilities of the form. The last question is related to the organization from which it is known that Yelp is ready and organized to capture the value in the market. The VRIO Analysis in a tabular form is provided below .

Key Success Factors

There are several key success factors at Yelp, which helps the company to expand itself in different parts of the world. Some of the important key success factors are mentioned below . Providing an opportunity to the customers to write a review and rate the products. It has helped the company to increase the number of visitors on daily basis. The customers find it exciting and has made it a social networking site where they share each other’s views and add friends as well. Marketing strategies of Yelp play a major role in its success. More than 50% of the company’s employees are associated with the marketing department, and they have been successful in attracting the customers. The effective marketing strategies have enabled the company to get more than 4.5 million visitors on its site in a month. The training of small business owner has helped the company to improve its services and attract more businesses towards its site. By training more business owners, the company is able to generate more profit by marketing their products.

Grünig, R., & Kühn, R. (2015). The Strategy Planning Process: Analyses, Options, Projects. Berlin: Springer. Lawrimore, E. W. (2011). The 5 Key Success Factors: A Powerful System for Total Business Success. Raleigh: Lulu.com. Sekhar, G. V. (2009). Business Policy and Strategic Management. New Delhi: I. K. International Pvt Ltd. Yelp Inc. (2015). Yelp Management. yelp.com: http://www.yelp.com/management

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7 strategic planning models, plus 8 frameworks to help you get started

15 must-know strategic planning models & frameworks article banner image

Strategic planning is vital in defining where your business is going in the next three to five years. With the right strategic planning models and frameworks, you can uncover opportunities, identify risks, and create a strategic plan to fuel your organization’s success. We list the most popular models and frameworks and explain how you can combine them to create a strategic plan that fits your business.

A strategic plan is a great tool to help you hit your business goals . But sometimes, this tool needs to be updated to reflect new business priorities or changing market conditions. If you decide to use a model that already exists, you can benefit from a roadmap that’s already created. The model you choose can improve your knowledge of what works best in your organization, uncover unknown strengths and weaknesses, or help you find out how you can outpace your competitors.

In this article, we cover the most common strategic planning models and frameworks and explain when to use which one. Plus, get tips on how to apply them and which models and frameworks work well together. 

Strategic planning models vs. frameworks

First off: This is not a one-or-nothing scenario. You can use as many or as few strategic planning models and frameworks as you like. 

When your organization undergoes a strategic planning phase, you should first pick a model or two that you want to apply. This will provide you with a basic outline of the steps to take during the strategic planning process.

[Inline illustration] Strategic planning models vs. frameworks (Infographic)

During that process, think of strategic planning frameworks as the tools in your toolbox. Many models suggest starting with a SWOT analysis or defining your vision and mission statements first. Depending on your goals, though, you may want to apply several different frameworks throughout the strategic planning process.

For example, if you’re applying a scenario-based strategic plan, you could start with a SWOT and PEST(LE) analysis to get a better overview of your current standing. If one of the weaknesses you identify has to do with your manufacturing process, you could apply the theory of constraints to improve bottlenecks and mitigate risks. 

Now that you know the difference between the two, learn more about the seven strategic planning models, as well as the eight most commonly used frameworks that go along with them.

[Inline illustration] The seven strategic planning models (Infographic)

1. Basic model

The basic strategic planning model is ideal for establishing your company’s vision, mission, business objectives, and values. This model helps you outline the specific steps you need to take to reach your goals, monitor progress to keep everyone on target, and address issues as they arise.

If it’s your first strategic planning session, the basic model is the way to go. Later on, you can embellish it with other models to adjust or rewrite your business strategy as needed. Let’s take a look at what kinds of businesses can benefit from this strategic planning model and how to apply it.

Small businesses or organizations

Companies with little to no strategic planning experience

Organizations with few resources 

Write your mission statement. Gather your planning team and have a brainstorming session. The more ideas you can collect early in this step, the more fun and rewarding the analysis phase will feel.

Identify your organization’s goals . Setting clear business goals will increase your team’s performance and positively impact their motivation.

Outline strategies that will help you reach your goals. Ask yourself what steps you have to take in order to reach these goals and break them down into long-term, mid-term, and short-term goals .

Create action plans to implement each of the strategies above. Action plans will keep teams motivated and your organization on target.

Monitor and revise the plan as you go . As with any strategic plan, it’s important to closely monitor if your company is implementing it successfully and how you can adjust it for a better outcome.

2. Issue-based model

Also called goal-based planning model, this is essentially an extension of the basic strategic planning model. It’s a bit more dynamic and very popular for companies that want to create a more comprehensive plan.

Organizations with basic strategic planning experience

Businesses that are looking for a more comprehensive plan

Conduct a SWOT analysis . Assess your organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats with a SWOT analysis to get a better overview of what your strategic plan should focus on. We’ll give into how to conduct a SWOT analysis when we get into the strategic planning frameworks below.

Identify and prioritize major issues and/or goals. Based on your SWOT analysis, identify and prioritize what your strategic plan should focus on this time around.

Develop your main strategies that address these issues and/or goals. Aim to develop one overarching strategy that addresses your highest-priority goal and/or issue to keep this process as simple as possible.

Update or create a mission and vision statement . Make sure that your business’s statements align with your new or updated strategy. If you haven’t already, this is also a chance for you to define your organization’s values.

Create action plans. These will help you address your organization’s goals, resource needs, roles, and responsibilities. 

Develop a yearly operational plan document. This model works best if your business repeats the strategic plan implementation process on an annual basis, so use a yearly operational plan to capture your goals, progress, and opportunities for next time.

Allocate resources for your year-one operational plan. Whether you need funding or dedicated team members to implement your first strategic plan, now is the time to allocate all the resources you’ll need.

Monitor and revise the strategic plan. Record your lessons learned in the operational plan so you can revisit and improve it for the next strategic planning phase.

The issue-based plan can repeat on an annual basis (or less often once you resolve the issues). It’s important to update the plan every time it’s in action to ensure it’s still doing the best it can for your organization.

You don’t have to repeat the full process every year—rather, focus on what’s a priority during this run.

3. Alignment model

This model is also called strategic alignment model (SAM) and is one of the most popular strategic planning models. It helps you align your business and IT strategies with your organization’s strategic goals. 

You’ll have to consider four equally important, yet different perspectives when applying the alignment strategic planning model:

Strategy execution: The business strategy driving the model

Technology potential: The IT strategy supporting the business strategy

Competitive potential: Emerging IT capabilities that can create new products and services

Service level: Team members dedicated to creating the best IT system in the organization

Ideally, your strategy will check off all the criteria above—however, it’s more likely you’ll have to find a compromise. 

Here’s how to create a strategic plan using the alignment model and what kinds of companies can benefit from it.

Organizations that need to fine-tune their strategies

Businesses that want to uncover issues that prevent them from aligning with their mission

Companies that want to reassess objectives or correct problem areas that prevent them from growing

Outline your organization’s mission, programs, resources, and where support is needed. Before you can improve your statements and approaches, you need to define what exactly they are.

Identify what internal processes are working and which ones aren’t. Pinpoint which processes are causing problems, creating bottlenecks , or could otherwise use improving. Then prioritize which internal processes will have the biggest positive impact on your business.

Identify solutions. Work with the respective teams when you’re creating a new strategy to benefit from their experience and perspective on the current situation.

Update your strategic plan with the solutions. Update your strategic plan and monitor if implementing it is setting your business up for improvement or growth. If not, you may have to return to the drawing board and update your strategic plan with new solutions.

4. Scenario model

The scenario model works great if you combine it with other models like the basic or issue-based model. This model is particularly helpful if you need to consider external factors as well. These can be government regulations, technical, or demographic changes that may impact your business.

Organizations trying to identify strategic issues and goals caused by external factors

Identify external factors that influence your organization. For example, you should consider demographic, regulation, or environmental factors.

Review the worst case scenario the above factors could have on your organization. If you know what the worst case scenario for your business looks like, it’ll be much easier to prepare for it. Besides, it’ll take some of the pressure and surprise out of the mix, should a scenario similar to the one you create actually occur.

Identify and discuss two additional hypothetical organizational scenarios. On top of your worst case scenario, you’ll also want to define the best case and average case scenarios. Keep in mind that the worst case scenario from the previous step can often provoke strong motivation to change your organization for the better. However, discussing the other two will allow you to focus on the positive—the opportunities your business may have ahead.

Identify and suggest potential strategies or solutions. Everyone on the team should now brainstorm different ways your business could potentially respond to each of the three scenarios. Discuss the proposed strategies as a team afterward.

Uncover common considerations or strategies for your organization. There’s a good chance that your teammates come up with similar solutions. Decide which ones you like best as a team or create a new one together.

Identify the most likely scenario and the most reasonable strategy. Finally, examine which of the three scenarios is most likely to occur in the next three to five years and how your business should respond to potential changes.

5. Self-organizing model

Also called the organic planning model, the self-organizing model is a bit different from the linear approaches of the other models. You’ll have to be very patient with this method. 

This strategic planning model is all about focusing on the learning and growing process rather than achieving a specific goal. Since the organic model concentrates on continuous improvement , the process is never really over.

Large organizations that can afford to take their time

Businesses that prefer a more naturalistic, organic planning approach that revolves around common values, communication, and shared reflection

Companies that have a clear understanding of their vision

Define and communicate your organization’s cultural values . Your team can only think clearly and with solutions in mind when they have a clear understanding of your organization's values.

Communicate the planning group’s vision for the organization. Define and communicate the vision with everyone involved in the strategic planning process. This will align everyone’s ideas with your company’s vision.

Discuss what processes will help realize the organization’s vision on a regular basis. Meet every quarter to discuss strategies or tactics that will move your organization closer to realizing your vision.

6. Real-time model

This fluid model can help organizations that deal with rapid changes to their work environment. There are three levels of success in the real-time model: 

Organizational: At the organizational level, you’re forming strategies in response to opportunities or trends.

Programmatic: At the programmatic level, you have to decide how to respond to specific outcomes or environmental changes.

Operational: On the operational level, you will study internal systems, policies, and people to develop a strategy for your company.

Figuring out your competitive advantage can be difficult, but this is absolutely crucial to ensure success. Whether it’s a unique asset or strength your organization has or an outstanding execution of services or programs—it’s important that you can set yourself apart from others in the industry to succeed.

Companies that need to react quickly to changing environments

Businesses that are seeking new tools to help them align with their organizational strategy

Define your mission and vision statement. If you ever feel stuck formulating your company’s mission or vision statement, take a look at those of others. Maybe Asana’s vision statement sparks some inspiration.

Research, understand, and learn from competitor strategy and market trends. Pick a handful of competitors in your industry and find out how they’ve created success for themselves. How did they handle setbacks or challenges? What kinds of challenges did they even encounter? Are these common scenarios in the market? Learn from your competitors by finding out as much as you can about them.

Study external environments. At this point, you can combine the real-time model with the scenario model to find solutions to threats and opportunities outside of your control.

Conduct a SWOT analysis of your internal processes, systems, and resources. Besides the external factors your team has to consider, it’s also important to look at your company’s internal environment and how well you’re prepared for different scenarios.

Develop a strategy. Discuss the results of your SWOT analysis to develop a business strategy that builds toward organizational, programmatic, and operational success.

Rinse and repeat. Monitor how well the new strategy is working for your organization and repeat the planning process as needed to ensure you’re on top or, perhaps, ahead of the game. 

7. Inspirational model

This last strategic planning model is perfect to inspire and energize your team as they work toward your organization’s goals. It’s also a great way to introduce or reconnect your employees to your business strategy after a merger or acquisition.

Businesses with a dynamic and inspired start-up culture

Organizations looking for inspiration to reinvigorate the creative process

Companies looking for quick solutions and strategy shifts

Gather your team to discuss an inspirational vision for your organization. The more people you can gather for this process, the more input you will receive.

Brainstorm big, hairy audacious goals and ideas. Encouraging your team not to hold back with ideas that may seem ridiculous will do two things: for one, it will mitigate the fear of contributing bad ideas. But more importantly, it may lead to a genius idea or suggestion that your team wouldn’t have thought of if they felt like they had to think inside of the box.

Assess your organization’s resources. Find out if your company has the resources to implement your new ideas. If they don’t, you’ll have to either adjust your strategy or allocate more resources.

Develop a strategy balancing your resources and brainstorming ideas. Far-fetched ideas can grow into amazing opportunities but they can also bear great risk. Make sure to balance ideas with your strategic direction. 

Now, let’s dive into the most commonly used strategic frameworks.

8. SWOT analysis framework

One of the most popular strategic planning frameworks is the SWOT analysis . A SWOT analysis is a great first step in identifying areas of opportunity and risk—which can help you create a strategic plan that accounts for growth and prepares for threats.

SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Here’s an example:

[Inline illustration] SWOT analysis (Example)

9. OKRs framework

A big part of strategic planning is setting goals for your company. That’s where OKRs come into play. 

OKRs stand for objective and key results—this goal-setting framework helps your organization set and achieve goals. It provides a somewhat holistic approach that you can use to connect your team’s work to your organization’s big-picture goals.  When team members understand how their individual work contributes to the organization’s success, they tend to be more motivated and produce better results

10. Balanced scorecard (BSC) framework

The balanced scorecard is a popular strategic framework for businesses that want to take a more holistic approach rather than just focus on their financial performance. It was designed by David Norton and Robert Kaplan in the 1990s, it’s used by companies around the globe to: 

Communicate goals

Align their team’s daily work with their company’s strategy

Prioritize products, services, and projects

Monitor their progress toward their strategic goals

Your balanced scorecard will outline four main business perspectives:

Customers or clients , meaning their value, satisfaction, and/or retention

Financial , meaning your effectiveness in using resources and your financial performance

Internal process , meaning your business’s quality and efficiency

Organizational capacity , meaning your organizational culture, infrastructure and technology, and human resources

With the help of a strategy map, you can visualize and communicate how your company is creating value. A strategy map is a simple graphic that shows cause-and-effect connections between strategic objectives. 

The balanced scorecard framework is an amazing tool to use from outlining your mission, vision, and values all the way to implementing your strategic plan .

You can use an integration like Lucidchart to create strategy maps for your business in Asana.

11. Porter’s Five Forces framework

If you’re using the real-time strategic planning model, Porter’s Five Forces are a great framework to apply. You can use it to find out what your product’s or service’s competitive advantage is before entering the market.

Developed by Michael E. Porter , the framework outlines five forces you have to be aware of and monitor:

[Inline illustration] Porter’s Five Forces framework (Infographic)

Threat of new industry entrants: Any new entry into the market results in increased pressure on prices and costs. 

Competition in the industry: The more competitors that exist, the more difficult it will be for you to create value in the market with your product or service.

Bargaining power of suppliers: Suppliers can wield more power if there are less alternatives for buyers or it’s expensive, time consuming, or difficult to switch to a different supplier.

Bargaining power of buyers: Buyers can wield more power if the same product or service is available elsewhere with little to no difference in quality.

Threat of substitutes: If another company already covers the market’s needs, you’ll have to create a better product or service or make it available for a lower price at the same quality in order to compete.

Remember, industry structures aren’t static. The more dynamic your strategic plan is, the better you’ll be able to compete in a market.

12. VRIO framework

The VRIO framework is another strategic planning tool designed to help you evaluate your competitive advantage. VRIO stands for value, rarity, imitability, and organization.

It’s a resource-based theory developed by Jay Barney. With this framework, you can study your firmed resources and find out whether or not your company can transform them into sustained competitive advantages. 

Firmed resources can be tangible (e.g., cash, tools, inventory, etc.) or intangible (e.g., copyrights, trademarks, organizational culture, etc.). Whether these resources will actually help your business once you enter the market depends on four qualities:

Valuable : Will this resource either increase your revenue or decrease your costs and thereby create value for your business?

Rare : Are the resources you’re using rare or can others use your resources as well and therefore easily provide the same product or service?

Inimitable : Are your resources either inimitable or non-substitutable? In other words, how unique and complex are your resources?

Organizational: Are you organized enough to use your resources in a way that captures their value, rarity, and inimitability?

It’s important that your resources check all the boxes above so you can ensure that you have sustained competitive advantage over others in the industry.

13. Theory of Constraints (TOC) framework

If the reason you’re currently in a strategic planning process is because you’re trying to mitigate risks or uncover issues that could hurt your business—this framework should be in your toolkit.

The theory of constraints (TOC) is a problem-solving framework that can help you identify limiting factors or bottlenecks preventing your organization from hitting OKRs or KPIs . 

Whether it’s a policy, market, or recourse constraint—you can apply the theory of constraints to solve potential problems, respond to issues, and empower your team to improve their work with the resources they have.

14. PEST/PESTLE analysis framework

The idea of the PEST analysis is similar to that of the SWOT analysis except that you’re focusing on external factors and solutions. It’s a great framework to combine with the scenario-based strategic planning model as it helps you define external factors connected to your business’s success.

PEST stands for political, economic, sociological, and technological factors. Depending on your business model, you may want to expand this framework to include legal and environmental factors as well (PESTLE). These are the most common factors you can include in a PESTLE analysis:

Political: Taxes, trade tariffs, conflicts

Economic: Interest and inflation rate, economic growth patterns, unemployment rate

Social: Demographics, education, media, health

Technological: Communication, information technology, research and development, patents

Legal: Regulatory bodies, environmental regulations, consumer protection

Environmental: Climate, geographical location, environmental offsets

15. Hoshin Kanri framework

Hoshin Kanri is a great tool to communicate and implement strategic goals. It’s a planning system that involves the entire organization in the strategic planning process. The term is Japanese and stands for “compass management” and is also known as policy management. 

This strategic planning framework is a top-down approach that starts with your leadership team defining long-term goals which are then aligned and communicated with every team member in the company. 

You should hold regular meetings to monitor progress and update the timeline to ensure that every teammate’s contributions are aligned with the overarching company goals.

Stick to your strategic goals

Whether you’re a small business just starting out or a nonprofit organization with decades of experience, strategic planning is a crucial step in your journey to success. 

If you’re looking for a tool that can help you and your team define, organize, and implement your strategic goals, Asana is here to help. Our goal-setting software allows you to connect all of your team members in one place, visualize progress, and stay on target.

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Home — Essay Samples — Business — Change Management — Models of strategic change

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A Report on Strategic Change Management and Its Function

  • Categories: Change Management Strategic Management

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Words: 2346 |

12 min read

Published: Jul 17, 2018

Words: 2346 | Pages: 7 | 12 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, change: its nature, approaches on change management, perspectives on process of change, notable change management models, evidences on scope of application, competitiveness of lewin’s three stage model vs. kotter’s eight-stage change model, references:.

  • Arnaboldi, M., & Azzone, G. (2005). Incrementalism and strategic change: a university's experience. International Journal of Educational Management, 19 (7), 552-563.
  • Balogun, J. and Hope Hailey, V. (2008). Exploring Strategic Change. London: Prentice Hall. Pp. 127-129.
  • Beer, M. and Nohria, N. (2000). Cracking the code of change. Harvard Business Review, May/June, pp. 133-41.
  • Drucker, P. F. (1999). Management Challenges for the 21st Century. New York: Harper Publication. Pp. 63-67.
  • Helms Mills, J., Dye, K. and Mills, A. (2009). Understanding organizational change. 1st ed. London: Routledge. Pp. 137-139.
  • Dibella, A. (2007), “Critical perceptions of organizational change”, Journal of Change Management, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 231-42.
  • Edmonds, J. (2011). Managing successful change. Industrial and Commercial Training, 4 (6), 349-353.
  • Hiatt, J. (2006) ADKAR. 1st ed. Loveland, Colorado: Prosci Learning Center Publications. Pages 1-43
  • Jones, E., Watson, B., Gardner, J. and Callois, C. (2004). Organizational communication. Journal of Communication, December, pp. 722-50.
  • Kotter, J. (2012). Leading Change. 1st ed. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business Review Press. Pages 3-153
  • Meaney, M. and Pung, C. (2008). McKinsey Global Results: Creating Organizational Transformations. The McKinsey Quarterly, August, pp. 1-7.
  • Pettigrew, A.M., Woodman, R.W. and Cameron, K.S. (2001). Studying organizational change and development. Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 44 No. 4, pp. 697-713.
  • Petersen, S., Ballegaard, N. and Pedersen, J. (2008). A Case on Change Management, p. 677-685
  • Pfeifer, T., Schmitt, R., & Voigt, T. (2005). Managing change: quality-oriented design of strategic change processes. The TQM Magazine, 17(4), 297-308.
  • Senior, B. and Swailes, S. (2010). Organizational Change. Harlow: Pearson Education.
  • Stacey, R. D. (1993). Strategic Management and Organizational Dynamics. Pitman, London.
  • Sturdy, A. and Grey, C. (2003). Beneath and Beyond Organizational Change Management. Organization, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 651-62.
  • Westover, J. H. (2010). Managing organizational change: Change agent strategies and techniques to successfully managing the dynamics of stability and change in organizations. The International Journal of Management and Innovation, 2 (1), 45-50.

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