Select a small business that you may want to start. What is strategic management and planning?

Why would a strategic plan be important to the success of this business? How are the four functions of management relative to creating and implementing a strategic plan? A small business that I would want to start is a Candy Store. Strategic planning is important to the success of not only a candy store, but any business. Strategic management is defined as the set of decisions and actions that result in the formulation and implementation of plans designed to achieve a companys objectives (Pearce & Robinson, 2009, p. 3). Strategic management and planning is the groundwork for a companys vision and allows a company to be ready to capitalize on opportunities. Strategic management is a process of formulating and evaluating a companys mission, conducting an analysis that reflects internal conditions and capabilities, assessing the companys external environment, analyzing options by matching resources with the external environment, identifying desirable options through evaluation, selecting long-term objectives and grand strategies, developing annual objectives and short-term strategies, implementing strategic choices through budgeted recourses, and evaluating the success of the strategic process as an input for future decision making. The four functions of management are planning, leading, organizing, and controlling; much the same as strategic management which involves, the planning, directing, organizing, and controlling of a companys strategy-related decisions and actions (Pearce & Robinson, 2009, p. 3). Planning involves outlining the companys mission, purpose, and goals. Directing, is determining what needs to be done, and the individuals to carry it out. Organizing or implementation is making use of available resources to enable the carrying out of the plan. Controlling is the evaluation of success of the plan. References Pearce, J. A. II, & Robinson, R. B. (2009). Strategic management: Formulation, implementation, and control (11th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.