Assignment - 求答案

Q1~Strategic Management is the art and science of formulating, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that will enable an organization to achieve its objectives. It is the process of specifying the organization's objectives, developing policies and plans to achieve these objectives, and allocating resources to implement the policies and plans to achieve the organization's objectives. Strategic management, therefore, combines the activities of the various functional areas of a business to achieve organizational objectives. It is the highest level of managerial activity, usually formulated by the Board of directors and performed by the organization's Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and executive team. Strategic management provides overall direction` to the enterprise and is closely related to the field of Organization Studies.
“Strategic management is an ongoing process that assesses the business and the industries in which the company is involved; assesses its competitors and sets goals and strategies to meet all existing and potential competitors; and then reassesses each strategy annually or quarterly [i.e. regularly] to determine how it has been implemented and whether it has succeeded or needs replacement by a new strategy to meet changed circumstances, new technology, new competitors, a new economic environment., or a new social, financial, or political environment."
Strategic management is a combination of three main processes namely;
1) Strategy formulation involves:
- Performing a situation analysis, self-evaluation and competitor analysis: both internal and external; both micro-environmental and macro-environmental.

- Concurrent with this assessment, objectives are set. This involves crafting vision statements (long term view of a possible future), mission statements (the role that the organization gives itself in society), overall corporate objectives (both financial and strategic), strategic business unit objectives (both financial and strategic), and tactical objectives.

- These objectives should, in the light of the situation analysis, suggest a strategic plan. The plan provides the details of how to achieve these objectives.
This three-step strategy formulation process is sometimes referred to as determining where you are now, determining where you want to go, and then determining how to get there. These three questions are the essence of strategic planning. SWOT Analysis: I/O Economics for the external factors and RBV for the internal factors.
2) Strategy implementation involves:
- Allocation of sufficient resources (financial, personnel, time, technology support)

- Establishing a chain of command or some alternative structure (such as cross functional teams)


- Assigning responsibility of specific tasks or processes to specific individuals or groups


- It also involves managing the process. This includes monitoring results, comparing to benchmarks and best practices, evaluating the efficacy and efficiency of the process, controlling for variances, and making adjustments to the process as necessary.


- When implementing specific programs, this involves acquiring the requisite resources, developing the process, training, process testing, documentation, and integration with (and/or conversion from) legacy processes.
3) Strategy evaluation involves:


- Measuring the effectiveness of the organizational strategy.

Strategic Management theories have been expounded and recommendations have been suggested, based on diagnostic tools like SWOT, Five Forces and PEST Analysis, for its recover. It will be prudent for management to follow this advice.

Strategic Management

Strategy should be inventive. It is a thought process that requires perception and flexibility. Determining the strategic drive of the company is the primary task of top management. This mission is aided by assessments of problems. This involves formulation of following guidelines.


Vision statements
Mission statements
Corporate objectives
Strategic Business Unit (SBU) objectives
Tactical objectives

These objectives suggest a strategic plan. The plan provides the details of how to achieve these objectives.