Strategic Management

Introduction and Background

Jakhotiya (2013), described a strategic plan as a systematic road map, which

implies that it is essential and is needed in order to attain improvement and betterment of

an institution. According to Pierce and Robinson (2013), strategic management is the set

of decisions and actions that result in the formulation and implementation of plans

designed to achieve a company’s objectives, the company being an educational institution

in this paper. It comprises of nine critical tasks, which are to formulate the school’s

mission, including broad statements about its purpose, philosophy and goals; conduct an

analysis that reflects the company’s internal conditions and capabilities; assess the

company’s external environment, including both the competitive and the general

contextual factors; analyse the company’s options by matching its resources with the

external environment; identify the most desirable options by evaluating each option in

light of the company’s mission; select a set of long-term objectives and grand strategies

that will achieve the most desirable options; develop annual objectives and short-term

strategies that are compatible with the selected set of long-term objectives and grand

strategies; implement the strategic choices by means of budgeted resource allocations in

which the matching of tasks, people, structures, technologies, and reward systems is

emphasized; evaluate the success of the strategic process as an input for future decision

making. The key point that strategic management activities are undertaken at three levels:

corporate, business and functional.

Discussion

Strategic management is the formulation and implementation of the major goals and
initiatives taken by a school’s top management on behalf of owners, based on consideration
of resources and an assessment of the internal and external environments in which the
organization competes.

Strategic management provides overall direction to the enterprise and involves specifying
the organization's objectives, developing policies and plans designed to achieve these objectives,
and then allocating resources to implement the plans. Academics and practicing managers have
developed numerous models and frameworks to assist in strategic decision making in the context
of complex environments and competitive dynamics. Strategic management is not static in
nature; the models often include a feedback loop to monitor execution and inform the next round
of planning.

Michael Porter identifies three principles underlying strategy: creating a "unique and
valuable [market] position", making trade-offs by choosing "what not to do", and creating "fit"
by aligning company activities with one another to support the chosen strategy.

Corporate strategy involves answering a key question from a portfolio perspective: "What
business should we be in?" Business strategy involves answering the question: "How shall we
compete in this business?" In management theory and practice, a further distinction is often made
between strategic management and operational management. Operational management is
concerned primarily with improving efficiency and controlling costs within the boundaries set by
the organization's strategy.

Conclusion

The application of strategic management has benefits, according to Pierce and Robinson

(2013), one of which strategic formulation activities enhance the firm’s ability to prevent

problems. Managers who encourage subordinates’ attention to planning were aided in their

monitoring and forecasting responsibilities by subordinates who are aware of the needs of
strategic planning. Another benefit is that group-based strategic decisions are likely drawn from

the best available alternatives. The strategic management process results in better decisions

because group interaction generates a greater variety of strategies and because forecasts based on

the specialized perspectives of group members improve screening of options. The involvement

of employees also improves their understanding of the productivity-reward relationship in every

strategic plan and, thus, heightens their motivation. And resistance to change it reduced.

Strategic planning is essential in every institution or company, it allows room for improvement

and also allows people to be involved.

Recommendation

I would highly recommend that admins and principals study and apply it, since the above

data clearly states and provides the reason to accept strategic planning and management as part

of the task of the institution.

Reflection

Personally, I see strategic management as a lot of work, but aside from the obvious, it

really delivers and shows the benefits of making it. It provides a direction, and it also allows a

space for improvement and forseeing possible problems in the future and it assesses things in the

organization that needs work, that should be terminated, changed or improved.