Strategic Management Analysis

Strategic management analyzes the major initiatives taken by a company's top management on behalf of owners, involving resources and performance in external environments.[1] It entails specifying the organization's mission, vision and objectives, developing policies and plans, often in terms of projects and programs, which are designed to achieve these objectives, and then allocating resources to implement the policies and plans, projects and programs. A balanced scorecard is often used to evaluate the overall performance of the business and its progress towards objectives. Recent studies and leading management theorists have advocated that strategy needs to start with stakeholders expectations and use a modified balanced scorecard which includes all stakeholders.

Strategic management can depend upon the size of an organization, and the proclivity to change of its business environment. These points are highlighted below:

• A global/transnational organization may employ a more structured strategic management model, due to its size, scope of operations, and need to encompass stakeholder views and requirements.

• An SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) may employ an entrepreneurial approach. This is due to its comparatively smaller size and scope of operations, as well as possessing fewer resources. An SME's CEO (or general top management) may simply outline a mission, and pursue all activities under that mission.

• Whittington (2001) highlighted four approaches to strategic management. These are Classical, Processual, Evolutionary and Systemic approaches.

• Mintzberg stated there are prescriptive (what should be) and descriptive (what is) approaches. Prescriptive schools are "one size fits all" approaches that designate "best practice" while descriptive schools describe how strategy is implemented in specific contexts.

No single strategic managerial method dominates, and remains a subjective and context-dependent process.

Strategy formation...