Question

Strategic management is the management of an organization’s resources to achieve its goals and objectives. For an organization to develop an effective strategy it must view its employees as assets (Mello, 2018). Strategic management involves setting objectives, analyzing the competitive environment, analyzing the internal organization, evaluating strategies, and ensuring that management rolls out the strategies across the organization. Strategic management is divided into several schools of thought. A prescriptive approach to strategic management outlines how strategies should be developed, while a descriptive approach focuses on how strategies should be put into practice. These schools differ on whether strategies are developed through an analytic process, in which all threats and opportunities are accounted for, or are more like general guiding principles to be applied. Business culture, the skills and competencies of employees, and organizational structure are all important factors that influence how an organization can achieve its stated objectives. Inflexible companies may find it difficult to succeed in a changing business environment. Creating a barrier between the development of strategies and their implementation can make it difficult for managers to determine whether objectives have been efficiently met. While an organization’s upper management is ultimately responsible for its strategy, the strategies themselves are often sparked by actions and ideas from lower-level managers and employees. An organization may have several employees devoted to strategy rather than relying on the chief executive officer (CEO) for guidance. Because of this reality, organization leaders focus on learning from past strategies and examining the environment at large. The collective knowledge is then used to develop future strategies and to guide the behavior of employees to ensure that the entire organization is moving forward. For these reasons, effective strategic management requires both an inward and outward perspective. For example, a for-profit technical college wishes to increase enrollment of new students and graduation of enrolled students over the next three years. The purpose is to make the college known as the best buy for a student's money among five for-profit technical colleges in the region, with a goal of increasing revenue. In this example strategic management means ensuring that the school has funds to create high-tech classrooms and hire the most qualified instructors. The college also invests in marketing and recruitment and implements student retention strategies. The college’s leadership assesses whether its goals have been achieved on a periodic basis. Strategic management is so critical to the success of an organization in meeting its goals and creating work environments where employees and employers thrive together .

Answer 1

Strategic management involves planning and guiding an organization's strategy, taking into account internal and external factors. Management styles, organizational structure, and employee input all influence strategic outcomes. A comprehensive inward and outward perspective is essential for effective strategic implementation.

Step-by-step explanation:

Strategic management is a comprehensive approach to planning and guiding an organization's strategy over time. The process involves setting objectives, analyzing the competitive environment, evaluating internal capabilities, and rolling out strategies throughout the organization. Notably, management styles such as Theory X and Theory Y describe different approaches to leadership and employee motivation. Theory X assumes employees are inherently lazy and require strict supervision, while Theory Y assumes employees are self-motivated and seek responsibility. Moreover, strengths-based management suggests focusing on employee strengths to boost performance, although the effectiveness of this strategy is debatable.

Strategic management is influenced by various factors including business culture, the skills and competencies of employees, and the organizational structure. Companies that are inflexible may struggle in a dynamic business environment, and a disconnect between strategy development and implementation can hinder performance evaluation. Increasingly, employees at various levels contribute to strategy formation, moving beyond the traditional reliance on the CEO. Effective strategic management, therefore, requires an inward and outward perspective to harness collective knowledge for future strategizing and employee guidance.