MNG3701: EXAM REVISION PACK
, Strategic planning is the coordination of all the business units being put together in a
more resourceful manner that encompasses the deliverables and goals and aims of the
organisation. It is about achieving the desired long term goals of the business through
strategic intent.
Strategic planning involves strategic formulation and strategic intelligence for running
the organization and also a view on both internal and external environments within
which the business is or going to operate.
Neil Ritson, (2013:63), maintains that, ‘the purpose of the strategic alternatives
generated by SWOT analysis should be to build on organisation strengths in order to
exploit opportunities and counter threat in order to correct organizational weaknesses’.
Also, Kotler, (1997:89), shares some light by stating that, ‘Market-oriented strategic
planning is the managerial process of developing and maintaining a viable fit between
the organization’s objectives, skills, and resources and its changing market
opportunities.
The aim of strategic planning is to shape and reshape the company’s businesses and
products so that they yield target profits and growth’.
Kotler, below, displays the concept of how the strategic intent helps the organizations
to grow, penetrate the market and as well as how to stay in the game.
Strategic Management
Strategic management is the thinking process of strategy formulation and it involves
spotting the trends and understanding the competitive landscape into which an
organization performance its activities.
It coordinates all the organization’s resources and core-competencies into a ‘chain of
command’ and ‘bureaucracy’.
In the same manner, Ehlers and Lazenby, (2012:3), corroborates, ‘strategic
management can be defined as the process whereby all the organizational functions
and resources are integrated and coordinated to implement formulated strategies which
are aligned with the environment, in order to achieve the long-term goals of the
organization and therefore gain a competitive advantage through adding value for the
stakeholders’.
Explain what is meant by strategic management and discuss the dynamic nature of the
traditional strategic management process. Or Define strategy, strategic planning and
strategic management/ Illustrate and explain the strategic management process
Strategic management: is a rational approach that organisations use to achieve
strategic competitiveness and competitive advantage.
Traditional it draws on the perspective that the management tasks consists of planning,
organising, leading and controlling.
Building on this view, the strategic tasks of top management consist of formulation
strategy (planning), implementing strategy (organising and leading) and control
Strategic management can be looked at from a traditional perspective and in a new
perspective (strategy-as-practice)
The traditional perspective is structured and a process as explained below:
1. Strategy Planning/Formulation - The planning and thinking phase where top
management:
© 2016 Together We Pass. All rights reserved.
pg. 3
, Decides on the organisation‘s strategic direction and its long-term objectives
(usually found in the vision and mission statement)
Analyses the organisation‘s external (to identify opportunities and threats) and
internal environments (to identify best resources and capabilities and the
organisation‘s strength and weaknesses)
Selects appropriate competitive strategies strategic choice such as focus,
differentiation or best cost
2. Strategy Implementation/Execution- it’s the doing part where both human and non-
human factors in the organisation are applied to ensure that the strategy is executed in
line with the devised plans.
These are the key elements to be considered:
Leadership and culture- a strategic leader must ensure that the culture of the
organisation is aligned with strategic choice
Implementation competencies- The organisation must ensure that individuals
have the right mix of knowledge, skills and attitudes to support the strategy
Learning organisation- The organisation must be a learning organisation
through its staff and be willing to share knowledge
Systems, policies and procedures- There must be systems such as reward
systems in place to support strategic direction
Organisational architecture and structure- the organisation needs appropriate
structure to successfully execute the strategy
3. Strategic Control
Control measures ensuring that strategies are on track
It reviews and provides feedback to the formulation and implementation phases
Explain the rationale for new perspectives on strategy/Explain the strategy-as-practice
approach and how it differs from the process approach to strategic management/Explain
strategy-as-practice as an effective approach to managing new strategic realities.
The new perspective (strategy-as-practice)
Drivers of strategy-as-practice approach have been as follows:
i. The rise in so-called emergent strategies’’, as opposed to the more traditional,
deliberate strategies of organisations, also stemming from rapidly changing
business
environments,
ii. The increasing involvement in strategizing of people from all levels in the
organisation.
Strategies are complex and really address an uncertain future in the sense that
environments are dynamic and changing.
Human behaviour also has to be considered.
Apart from new insights and changing environmental conditions, what was actually
taught in strategy did not reflect the realities of business, and this mainly gave rise to
the following realisations about strategy:
Strategy is what people do, not what organisations have-managers, the talk and
documents produced and in their actions
© 2016 Together We Pass. All rights reserved.
pg. 4
, Strategy is not solely the domain of top and executive management—any
individual
or group in the organisation that controls key actions can be regarded as a
strategist
Strategic management is not a neat and rational process- strategy is emergent
rather than deliberate ,messy rather neat and experimental and filled with failure
than efficient and effective from the start
Strategy is a conversation and involves dialogue and communication- it is about
ideas and choices that are fuelled by both cognitive and political processes.
It also emphasises the importance of conceptual, verbal skills and written
documents
Discuss the shortcomings of the traditional process approach to strategic management
and identify the new perspectives on strategic management that have emerged in
response to these shortcomings
The traditional process perspective has some criticisms opposed to the new practice
strategy, they are as follows :
It is viewed as a rational and linear process, comprises consecutive phases and
does
not effectively embrace new competitive realities.
Because it is a linear process, the effects of the complex, messy and dynamic
nature of the external environment are not fully considered.
Strategy formulation and strategy implementation are seen as separate phases.
It supports the notion that it is only the top management team or senior
managers who develop strategy, thus ignoring potentially valuable contributions
by all levels of
staff.
It essentially ignores the development of strategy through dialogue, conversation and inputs
from all organisational levels, and on occasion, external expertise
Ignores the rise in so-called _emergent strategies‘‘, as opposed to the more
traditional, deliberate strategies of organisations, also stemming from rapidly
changing business environments
New perspectives on strategic management
Strategy is what people do, not what organisations have.
Strategy is not solely the domain of top and
executive management.
Strategic management is not a neat and rational
process.
Strategy is a conversation and involves dialogue
and communication.
© 2016 Together We Pass. All rights reserved.
pg. 5
, Strategic planning is the coordination of all the business units being put together in a
more resourceful manner that encompasses the deliverables and goals and aims of the
organisation. It is about achieving the desired long term goals of the business through
strategic intent.
Strategic planning involves strategic formulation and strategic intelligence for running
the organization and also a view on both internal and external environments within
which the business is or going to operate.
Neil Ritson, (2013:63), maintains that, ‘the purpose of the strategic alternatives
generated by SWOT analysis should be to build on organisation strengths in order to
exploit opportunities and counter threat in order to correct organizational weaknesses’.
Also, Kotler, (1997:89), shares some light by stating that, ‘Market-oriented strategic
planning is the managerial process of developing and maintaining a viable fit between
the organization’s objectives, skills, and resources and its changing market
opportunities.
The aim of strategic planning is to shape and reshape the company’s businesses and
products so that they yield target profits and growth’.
Kotler, below, displays the concept of how the strategic intent helps the organizations
to grow, penetrate the market and as well as how to stay in the game.
Strategic Management
Strategic management is the thinking process of strategy formulation and it involves
spotting the trends and understanding the competitive landscape into which an
organization performance its activities.
It coordinates all the organization’s resources and core-competencies into a ‘chain of
command’ and ‘bureaucracy’.
In the same manner, Ehlers and Lazenby, (2012:3), corroborates, ‘strategic
management can be defined as the process whereby all the organizational functions
and resources are integrated and coordinated to implement formulated strategies which
are aligned with the environment, in order to achieve the long-term goals of the
organization and therefore gain a competitive advantage through adding value for the
stakeholders’.
Explain what is meant by strategic management and discuss the dynamic nature of the
traditional strategic management process. Or Define strategy, strategic planning and
strategic management/ Illustrate and explain the strategic management process
Strategic management: is a rational approach that organisations use to achieve
strategic competitiveness and competitive advantage.
Traditional it draws on the perspective that the management tasks consists of planning,
organising, leading and controlling.
Building on this view, the strategic tasks of top management consist of formulation
strategy (planning), implementing strategy (organising and leading) and control
Strategic management can be looked at from a traditional perspective and in a new
perspective (strategy-as-practice)
The traditional perspective is structured and a process as explained below:
1. Strategy Planning/Formulation - The planning and thinking phase where top
management:
© 2016 Together We Pass. All rights reserved.
pg. 3
, Decides on the organisation‘s strategic direction and its long-term objectives
(usually found in the vision and mission statement)
Analyses the organisation‘s external (to identify opportunities and threats) and
internal environments (to identify best resources and capabilities and the
organisation‘s strength and weaknesses)
Selects appropriate competitive strategies strategic choice such as focus,
differentiation or best cost
2. Strategy Implementation/Execution- it’s the doing part where both human and non-
human factors in the organisation are applied to ensure that the strategy is executed in
line with the devised plans.
These are the key elements to be considered:
Leadership and culture- a strategic leader must ensure that the culture of the
organisation is aligned with strategic choice
Implementation competencies- The organisation must ensure that individuals
have the right mix of knowledge, skills and attitudes to support the strategy
Learning organisation- The organisation must be a learning organisation
through its staff and be willing to share knowledge
Systems, policies and procedures- There must be systems such as reward
systems in place to support strategic direction
Organisational architecture and structure- the organisation needs appropriate
structure to successfully execute the strategy
3. Strategic Control
Control measures ensuring that strategies are on track
It reviews and provides feedback to the formulation and implementation phases
Explain the rationale for new perspectives on strategy/Explain the strategy-as-practice
approach and how it differs from the process approach to strategic management/Explain
strategy-as-practice as an effective approach to managing new strategic realities.
The new perspective (strategy-as-practice)
Drivers of strategy-as-practice approach have been as follows:
i. The rise in so-called emergent strategies’’, as opposed to the more traditional,
deliberate strategies of organisations, also stemming from rapidly changing
business
environments,
ii. The increasing involvement in strategizing of people from all levels in the
organisation.
Strategies are complex and really address an uncertain future in the sense that
environments are dynamic and changing.
Human behaviour also has to be considered.
Apart from new insights and changing environmental conditions, what was actually
taught in strategy did not reflect the realities of business, and this mainly gave rise to
the following realisations about strategy:
Strategy is what people do, not what organisations have-managers, the talk and
documents produced and in their actions
© 2016 Together We Pass. All rights reserved.
pg. 4
, Strategy is not solely the domain of top and executive management—any
individual
or group in the organisation that controls key actions can be regarded as a
strategist
Strategic management is not a neat and rational process- strategy is emergent
rather than deliberate ,messy rather neat and experimental and filled with failure
than efficient and effective from the start
Strategy is a conversation and involves dialogue and communication- it is about
ideas and choices that are fuelled by both cognitive and political processes.
It also emphasises the importance of conceptual, verbal skills and written
documents
Discuss the shortcomings of the traditional process approach to strategic management
and identify the new perspectives on strategic management that have emerged in
response to these shortcomings
The traditional process perspective has some criticisms opposed to the new practice
strategy, they are as follows :
It is viewed as a rational and linear process, comprises consecutive phases and
does
not effectively embrace new competitive realities.
Because it is a linear process, the effects of the complex, messy and dynamic
nature of the external environment are not fully considered.
Strategy formulation and strategy implementation are seen as separate phases.
It supports the notion that it is only the top management team or senior
managers who develop strategy, thus ignoring potentially valuable contributions
by all levels of
staff.
It essentially ignores the development of strategy through dialogue, conversation and inputs
from all organisational levels, and on occasion, external expertise
Ignores the rise in so-called _emergent strategies‘‘, as opposed to the more
traditional, deliberate strategies of organisations, also stemming from rapidly
changing business environments
New perspectives on strategic management
Strategy is what people do, not what organisations have.
Strategy is not solely the domain of top and
executive management.
Strategic management is not a neat and rational
process.
Strategy is a conversation and involves dialogue
and communication.
© 2016 Together We Pass. All rights reserved.
pg. 5
