Why Strategic Management Is Important to a Business free essay sample

Why is strategic management important to a corporation? For many years, businesses have been failing and this failure has been attributed to the inability of managers to strategically manage business processes and operations. As a result of these failures, more business managers are paying keen attention to strategic management because of its importance to the continuity of a business. Strategic management is a strategy that is focused on long-term planning within an organization that takes into consideration both the internal and external environment. Strategic management is important to corporations for different reasons, in that, it provides the management with the ability to plan for the future, making the most of a corporation’s competitive advantage, analyzing and neutralizing threats to the corporation. Strategic management involves the set of managerial activities that allows managers to set goals and implement tactics to plan for the future. Corporations have a responsibility to their various stakeholders and their main aim is to make a profit. We will write a custom essay sample on Why Strategic Management Is Important to a Business or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page As such, decisions are made that will ultimately benefit the corporation. Managers are aware that there are many forces in the business environment that will impact the corporation and as such plans have to be made in an effort to combat such forces. The government, competitors, employees or customers among others may have or expect certain actions from the corporation, thus, the corporation must take a strategic position in an effort to plan for the future. The corporation will therefore scan the environment to determine its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats and develop strategic alternatives to ensure that strengths are a source of competitive advantage and weaknesses are eliminated. Additionally, opportunities can be explored where the corporation may diversify its product offerings and develop strategies to overcome threats. This will allow the corporation to develop a reputation of consistency based on the corporation’s success. This is all involved in the process of strategic management. This strategic position may mean proper, regular and direct dialogue between the various stakeholders and trading partners of the corporation. It may also incorporate detailed analyses of the positioning in relation to markets that may be achieved through independent market research or changes to the strategic plan or goals. Strategic management is also important because it allows a corporation to put a strategy into action. A strategy in this sense is a step by step plan through which a corporation will achieve a stated goal. This can be done through organizing, enabling and managing change. Management will need to organize its resources and deploy technical or human resources to strategic positions to ensure that value is achieved and customers and the society at large benefits from the strategic management process. The strategy that is implemented should be feasible and use the corporation’s resources efficiently. Therefore, the goal to be achieved should be attainable and done within a timely manner. This will ensure that the corporation remains stable in the face of adversity. The corporation should also be sufficiently equipped to manage change. This may come in the form of new government regulations or standards or new methods of operation that requires technical changes. The corporation should be poised to deal with such changes by foreseeing trends in the environment and adapt measures to ensure that a competitive advantage is maintained. As such, risks can be determined and acted upon. Strategic management is also important to the corporation for making strategic choices. Management should make decisions that facilitate change at different levels within the corporation. They should ensure that they benefit from corporate level strategies that oversee the overall operation of the business through the implementation of s strategy to achieve company goals and objectives. Secondly, in this case, management should formulate business level strategies which will allow the corporation to achieve its corporate level strategy. These business level strategies will be better able to use up the corporation’s competitive advantage and implement a proactive approach which will enable the corporation to seize opportunities available in the external environment. The corporation will also be better able to formulate development strategies or procedures or methods of operations. Because of threats brought on by competition or economic and social factors, the corporation may need to change its mode of operation or processing. It may mean training of workers or a different product offering. Whatever the change required, there should e a strategic plan in place to ensure the longevity of the corporation and the achievement of corporate goals and objectives while carrying out its corporate social responsibility. It is important therefore that strategic plans are made known to stakeholders and approved where appropriate. Additionally, there should be a monitoring system to ascertain the progress of the strategy t o determine if it is in line with achievement of strategic goals. Finally, stakeholders should be made aware of all relevant information to be had from the corporation. There should be no embellishment of the truth. In concluding, good strategic management is important to corporations because it allows managers to choose a strategic position, put a strategy into action and make strategic choices. It therefore will determine higher organizational performance especially when strategic goals are achieved. It will also require managers to examine and adapt to business environmental changes so as to maintain a competitive edge. This will help in coordinating diverse business units in an attempt to focus on organizational goals and provide involvement in the managerial decision making process.