Write 8 page essay on the topic Strategic Managment.Download file to see previous pages... Principal factors fostering this development are advances in information and communication technologies, inte

Write 8 page essay on the topic Strategic Managment.

Download file to see previous pages...

Principal factors fostering this development are advances in information and communication technologies, international travel and the greater emphasis being given to formation of regional groupings by nations. Consequently, the world can now be best described as a small village. Resources can easily be acquired from any part of the world. For a multinational company as is even with a small company, competitors extend well beyond its immediate business environs. It is in this business environment that companies are supposed to manage their resources optimally for growth and development. Concepts, theories and tools on strategic management help companies to better understand their environment and optimize their resources for profit.

Two approaches of strategic management exist (4). These are the industrial organization approach and the sociological approach. The former had its roots from economic theory and considers strategic management principally from the point of view of resource allocation. The latter, on the other hand, places greater emphasis on human interactions and gives premium to intuition and satisfying behaviour.

Structurally, multinational companies are built in several ways and forms. ...

It has three regional divisions in Australia, Asia and North America (NAFTA)(5).

In addition to these, there is the matrix-type of structure, where functional specialization is built around products, projects, or programmes. This structure thrives on team working. Once an assigned task is completed, the team is dissembled and reconstituted for a new one. In recent times, modern forms of communication allow virtual companies to be formed easily. These are made up of freelance businesses and /or individuals.

Irrespective of the company structure and setting, processes for strategy development take three forms. Strategy can be developed from the bottom to the top or the other way round. The third form is more collaborative, where several employees of the company and management sit together to fashion it out. Bluescope steel 's plan captioned by the company as "Our Bond" is a collaborative one, involving 200 employees of the company. A plan of this nature is likely to have collective ownership, devoid of the "we think and they do'' mentality.

Various tools are available for analyzing the business environment. Andrews (1971) built on the work of Selznick (1957) and came up with the SWOT analytical tool. This tool enables companies to match their strengths to available opportunities, whilst dealing with their weaknesses and threats. The tool has been criticized for its tendency to lead its users into inflexible positions (3). Also, until Nigel Piercy (2001) developed simple procedures for accurately evaluating a company's strengths and weaknesses, no such method was available. The outcome was that in SWOT workshops, strengths and weaknesses of companies were often coloured in motherhood statements.