Benefits of strategic management

“Research has revealed that organisations that engage in strategic management generally out-perform those that do not”

The connotation of the ancient Greek word “strategos”, in its various grammatical forms, implies meaning of skilful manoeuvouring leading to achieving a highly crucial position or attaining a desired end. Commonly associated with the military operations, strategies aim at methodical out-performance of adversaries. Analogically, application of deliberate strategies in the business management context suggests combination of activities directed at becoming superior to business opponents. Hence, it can be assumed that engaging in these activities will produce better business results than not doing so.

This essay attempts to provide evidence to support the opening statement. It firstly reviews the purpose of managerial activities from the historic perspective. It, then discusses the impact of strategic management process components on organisational performance and finally describes benefits of strategic thinking and strategic integration.

The analysis concentrates on matching the theoretical principles of strategic management with the pragmatic business examples. For the purpose of this discussion, out-performance has been defined as surviving on the existing or successful entering the new market.

Although definitions of management range from very simple statements, like the one of Frederick Taylor – “knowing exactly what you want people to do and then seeing that they do it in the best and cheapest way” (Taylor, 1903, p. 21) to complex postulates listing managerial activities and objectives (Davidson & Griffin, 2003, p. 5), their common denominator points to a set of deliberate actions to achieve organisational efficiency – “using resources wisely” (Davidson & Griffin, 2003, p. 7) and effectiveness – “making the right decisions” (Davidson & Griffin, 2003, p. 7).

Accompanied by a large volume of the theoretical work, management practice, can therefore be broadly described as a constant search for the optimal performance methodologies. Thus, from the historical point of view, it can be proposed that strategic management is a twentieth century form of the management discipline that emerged as a result of the evolution process necessitated by the changes in the organisational internal and external environment. The environmental chang...

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...siness Policy”, Prentice & Hall, New Jersey.

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