Importance Of Strategy Process And Context In Determining Strategy Content

Strategy development process

Strategic management can be defined as managerial activities and decisions which govern the persistent performance of any business. It encompasses environmental analysis (internal and external), strategic planning formulation, strategy enactment, assessment, and control. Strategic management underscores the evaluation of external prospects and risks by a company’s strengths and flaws. This emphasizes on crafting fresh initiatives and the necessity for strategic content which accepts environmental facts to inform plans gradually. This is achieved by expounding on the current missions and objectives, targeting expenditure, redesigning a company’s plans, besides fundraising together with other operational phases. Furthermore, strategic content is an assortment to help acquire experiences from other individuals – inclusive of workforces and frontrunners – into a collective vision. Strategic management allows corporations to craft value for their clients (Elshamly, 2013). It also enables the company to adjust to variations in its outside atmosphere, for instance, competition. Therefore, it is vital that the strategy content, such as goals, management priorities, and initiatives remain consistent with the company’s general mission and vision. Thus, strategy expansion is a dynamic variable within the company design plan since it illustrates a company’s selected path to competitive achievement (Obaga, 2016).

An eminent and clear strategy designing process is crucial in supporting actual strategy execution. In various companies, this happens in the form of a yearly strategic scheduling practice. This procedure ought to be systematically articulated, with a particular commencement and conclusion and unmistakably outlined sectors. The duties and roles of the members in the method should be elucidated, and the outcome of the procedure (the planned strategies, goals and initiatives) ought to be unambiguously detailed (Boulton, 2010, p. 31). Moreover, many authors advocate that strategic management should be connected to the objective setting practices of the corporations to facilitate personal goals to be connected to the planned goals of the corporation in objective-setting deliberations among leaders and the workforces. Realizing this objective at the inception is influential in stimulating the desired social change and incentive in workforces, which sets the execution procedure in a favorable position (TOMA, 2016, p.184).

Procedural justice in the process of strategy formulation is an essential factor since it impacts on the commitment, trust and structural coordination of leaders in subordinate corporations. It is debated that in case a subsidiary’s administration views the process of strategy formulation as being unbiased, open, reliable, and embracing their contribution, this generates higher levels of commitment to the structural good, confidence in management, and communal congruence with their management coworkers, and consequently they are motivated to execute the plan (Hammer, 2012, p. 915). Different supportive outlooks centered on revelatory social interaction reveal that corporations are communally constructed schemes of collective importance. Whenever this fair procedure is lacking, the adverse effect will be evident in the organization. This also applies in the local corporations. Various studies have revealed that organizations can secure employee investments by allowing them to participate in the process of strategy formulation (TOMA, 2016, 184).

Proper implementation starts with appropriate strategic plans. Studies for identifying hindrances to the implementation of strategies have been conducted widely alongside the dynamics necessary to promote effective enactment. For instance, by use of survey data sampled from 110 directors working in various corporations, some study that was conducted showed that a remarkable number of the participants ranked the choice of a comprehensive strategy to be the leading aspect for effective implementation of the strategy. Thus, a strategy which is not profoundly comprehensive will one way, or another fail, in spite of applying the best efforts in the implementation. Majority of company managers often mention the necessity of starting with an explicitly outlined strategy which contains good ideas and concepts as vital in supporting effective implementation. Other studies have introduced the idea of achieved vs. projected strategy; perceiving that despite how well a corporation strategizes its plan; a unique strategy may arise (Jagoda, 2016, 746). From time to time companies achieve strategies which were not projected per se and this is termed as the emergent strategy.

The strategy content

The different strategies in organizations

a). Corporate strategy

This strategy describes a corporate’s general direction regarding its overall outlook on expansion and the running of its various branches and merchandise. Three main classes are applied in corporate strategy, and these include stability, growth and retrenchment strategies (Buckley, 2008, p.86).

b). Commercial strategy

This strategy commonly occurs at the corporate unit or merchandise level. It underscores on the competitiveness improvement, upgrading the services and good offered by the organizational unit in a particular market segment or the broader field. In the commercial strategy, there’re two key classes which influence its success, and these are co-operative and competitive strategies.

c). Practical strategy

This strategy gives line taken by a corporate unit to achieve company along with the business unit strategies and goals through boosting resource efficiency. The business unit is under the umbrella of the company, and thus their strategies are almost similar.

The company policies are very critical factors in the formulation of its strategies. They are guidelines and rules which articulate the confines in which action ought to happen. Policies provide broad guidelines for managers to make choices which pool the strategy formulation along with its application. The company policies can ensure that the personnel within the company take the perfect decisions and engage in actions which uphold the corporate’s mission, strategies, and goals.

The company policies and strategies should be put into action using the development agendas, financial plans, and procedures which translates into strategy implementation. During implementation, some changes may be encountered in the general organization, management system and culture in the entire corporation. The agendas, financial plans and procedures are three methods for implementation of the strategy. An agenda is an account of the events or phases required to realize a particular program, and this gives the orientation to the strategy.

Similarly, a financial plan is a report of a company’s agendas concerning money. It is imperative during organization and control; it gives the in-depth costs of the agendas. Lastly, procedures are a scheme of successive techniques or phases which describe comprehensively how a specific job or task can be accomplished (Bryson, 2010, p.512).

Assessment and control phases cannot be skipped since they allow the company owners to tell if they are improving or not. In this process, the actions and performance outcomes of the company are checked to compare the real performance of the company with the anticipated performance. Performance comprises of the tangible results of the process of strategic management. Assessment requires feedback too. To develop a company, the managers should correct or revise the inappropriate choices which could have been made earlier during the strategy implementation (Boyne, 2010, p. 188).

Strategies are frequently formulated and executed within the framework of a corporation’s culture. Therefore, it is essential to align the cultural standards and demeanor of the corporation along with the activities needed to implement strategy so that it is executed expertly. Strategic enterprises which are comparable to the competencies and culture of a corporation may guarantee prompt and effective implementation. For instance, a company which desires to implement a cost-management strategy should uphold a culture of economy and prudence, while a firm in pursuit of a diversity strategy hinged on technology leadership and innovation may involve a culture which sustains innovation and creativity, partnership and the readiness to accept modifications (Bryson, 2009, p. 178).

Company policy

Organization culture epitomizes a vital aspect of a company’s existing state of affairs. Resisting the activities and conduct ensuing from the organizational culture pose an intimidating trial in any success of the process execution. This, together with the ubiquity of a company’s culture, necessitates that administration recognize fundamental scopes of their company culture in addition to its influence on worker-related variables for instance fulfillment, commitment, interrelation, performance, etcetera, as a crucial aspect before executing strategy. A central part of the strategy execution process must take into consideration structural culture. The influence of primary culture on cooperation, coordination, and communication amongst different functions, sections plus levels of administration should be taken into account before implementing the strategic plans. Execution efforts which uphold collective values and improve the workstation support initiatives will be highly successful (Walker, 2013, p. 110).

Communication when implementing the strategy primarily denotes the ways by which the plan is amended throughout the company. Communicating a new strategy effectively and efficient underlying its rationale is crucial in implementing the strategy successfully. Therefore, communication must be conveyed to the entire personnel. Efficient communication is crucial mainly when the management intends to reach out to the staff who did not participate in the formulation of the strategy. Communication is also vital during the making and conveying of collective insights, beliefs and values amongst various levels of the personnel where everyone in the company needs to know the course the company will go once the strategy has been implemented (Andrews, 2012, p.80.

Conclusion

The significance of strategic managing in administrating corporates cannot be exaggerated. Formulating strategic objectives that can set basic course and that can guide allocation of resources in the company is vital. Creating strategy, efficient execution, monitoring, assessing performance and developing counteractive interventions whenever deem essential, are among the critical dynamics which can help companies to establish and maintain competitive advantage which is sustainable.

References

Andrews, R., Boyne, G.A., Meier, K.J., O’Toole Jr, L.J. and Walker, R.M., 2012. Vertical strategic alignment and public service performance. Public Administration, 90(1), pp.77-98.

Boulton, J., 2010. Complexity theory and implications for policy development. Emergence: Complexity and Organization, 12(2), p.31.

Boyne, G.A. and Walker, R.M., 2010. Strategic management and public service performance: The way ahead. Public administration review, 70, pp.185-192.

Bryson, J.M., Berry, F.S. and Yang, K., 2010. The state of public strategic management research: A selective literature review and set of future directions. The American Review of Public Administration, 40(5), pp.495-521.

Bryson, J.M., Crosby, B.C. and Bryson, J.K., 2009. Understanding strategic planning and the formulation and implementation of strategic plans as a way of knowing: The contributions of actor-network theory. International public management journal, 12(2), pp.172-207.

Buckley, W., 2008. Society as a complex adaptive system. Emergence: Complexity and Organization, 10(3), p.86.

Elshamly, A., 2013. Developing a strategic framework in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (Doctoral dissertation, University of Gloucestershire).

Hammer, R.J., Edwards, J.S. and Tapinos, E., 2012. Examining the strategy development process through the lens of complex adaptive systems theory. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 63(7), pp.909-919.

Jagoda, K., Kiridena, S. and Lin, X., 2016. Alternative operations strategy processes: do they matter?. Production Planning & Control, 27(9), pp.740-752.

Obaga, E.M., 2016. The importance of strategic content, strategic context, and organizational process factors to effective strategy implementation: a case study of Deloitte Kenya (Doctoral dissertation).

TOMA, S.G., MARINESCU, P. and CONSTANTIN, I., 2016. Approaches to strategic thinking in business organizations. Energy, Climate Change and Sustainability, p.184.

Walker, R.M. and Andrews, R., 2013. Local government management and performance: A review of evidence. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 25(1), pp.101-133.