WEEK 2 : Learning Journal

Strategic Management:

According to Alfred D. Chandler, "strategy is the determination of long sun goals and objectives of an enterprise and adoption of courses of action and allocation of resources necessary for carrying out these goals." (www.oxford.co.za,2013)

Strategic Management is a art and science of formulating, implementing and evaluating a decision of an organization to enhance its success both in present and in the future. It helps managers to identify the direction in which the organization is moving. (fngovernance.org, 2013)
It is a continuous process that evaluates and controls the business and the industries in which an organization is involved; evaluates its competitors and sets goals and strategies to meet all existing and potential competitors; and then reevaluates strategies on regular basis to determine how it has implemented and whether it was successful or does it need replacement.


It is an on-going process which contains three elements:

• strategic analysis: which covers the environment, resources, objectives and expectations
• strategic choice: which covers generation of option, evaluation and selection of strategy
• strategy implementation: which about resource planning, organization structure, people and systems.(www.sagepub.com,2013)

The similarities between business and military strategy are:

• both military and business strategy's key aim is to gain competitive advantage
• both use their strength to exploit competitors' weakness
• it is important for military to always improve its weakness and same goes for the business which is similar to SWOT analysis
• they always seek for higher technology to keep a significant advantage
• training and engaging staffs or troops is important to both
• good coordination and communication is crucial for both to progress
• team approach is important to both.

The differences between business and military strategy are:

• they both have different purpose. the military's focus is security- to fight and win nation's war whereas the business aim is to promote the interests of stakeholders
• the military have a exact rules of conduct, defined roles and ranks and; they have shared values and traditions that differ from the business.

Strategic analysis:

The process of developing strategy for a business by researching the business and the environment in which it operates is known as strategic analysis. 

Strategic analysis is about looking at what is happening outside your organization now and in the future. It takes two questions:

• How might what's happening affect you?
• What would be your response to likely changes

Strategic analysis helps to:

• anticipate what might happen
• evaluate how likely it is to happen 
• prepare for it happening

It will lead to clearer goals, better quality decisions, and a more secure future as you are better prepared for what will happen.

Strategic development:
Strategic development is about change. How management handles the new realities in technology, information flow, global competition and political accountability is key to success.
It is a question based process like: Where are we now?, Where do we like to go ?, and  How do we get there?
 It has four components:

1. Awareness
2. Planning'
3. Development 
4. Results

Strategic implementation:

Strategic implementation is translation of chosen strategy into organization action so as to achieve strategic goals and objectives.
According to Steiner, "the implementation process covers the entire managerial activities including such matters as motivation, compensation, management appraisal, and control processes"

About the case study:
The case study was bit difficult to understand at first but it became easy as we continue to read it the second time. The case study was about the cities in the UK which followed a certain strategy to develop it rapidly. The questions were easy to answer as we discussed it in the class and we agreed with each other on the answers.

Reference:
Strategic Management. Available at <http://www.oxford.co.za/download_files/catalogues/Strategic%20Management.pdf> (Accessed on: June 3, 2013)
Strategic management and accountability for first nation. available at<http://fngovernance.org/resources_docs/Strategic_Management_and_Accountability_for_First_Nations.pdf> (Accessed on: June 3, 2013)
http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/36579_02_Harzing_Ch_01.pdf (Accessed on: June 3, 2013)