Strategic Management

MGT/498

August 27, 2012

Ian Ericson

Instructor: Patricia Dues

Strategic Management Process Paper

There are four elements that make up the strategic management process. The first element is situation analysis. Situation analysis provides the necessary information needed to create a mission statement. The second element of the strategic management process is strategy formulation. When it comes to strategy formulation, a company uses this element to design and develop strategies for the company. Strategy formulation is broken down into three levels; operational, competitive, and corporate. The third element in the strategic management process is strategy implementation. Strategy implementation is just like it sounds, a company puts the strategy they developed into practice. Strategy implementation is used to better determine what strategy to implement first. This is done through determining what strategy is the most important. The last element in the strategic management process is strategy evaluation. Strategy evaluation is used to help examine the strategy that was implemented is working and if the outcome of that strategy is what was expected. The evaluation element determines if all aspects of the strategy have been met, this could include deadlines, cost, and even employee participation.

I worked for a company that used the strategic management process better than any other firm that I have worked for. Bunn-O-Matic Corporation uses the strategic management process with every item that they create or plan on implementing. The company understands each element of the process and uses employee input to better design the process with each product developed. By using more input from the people that are actually working on the product, the company is better able to determine where the possible errors could come from. Granted, not all errors are able to be foreseen but, a company using the strategic management process to its full extent is able...