Assignment Title:

Strategy evaluation allows an organisation to take a proactive stance towards shaping its
own future. Discuss the meaning of this statement.

In this modern era of 21st Century, it is really hard to imagine any result-orientated or
business-orientated organizations to remain in static-quo. Usually those organizations are
easily prompted to influences or changes from external environment elements. Based on
PESTEL analysis, those external environment elements shall include political
environment; economical environment; social environment; technological environment;
environmental environment & legal environment. However, the impacts of each
environment elements differ from time to time and in order to ensure the sustainability of
an organization, it is important for an organization to constantly review their objectives
and goals from time to time.

Organization constitutes of a group of structured and organized people and with a specific
purpose or goal to achieve in mind for the entity. Due to that, strategy plays a very
important part in determine the success or failure of an organization. Carl Von Clausewitz
once said, “Tactic is the art of using troops in the battle; Strategy is the art of using
battles to win wars”. It shows how important of a strategy plays in a bigger picture in
anonymous circumstances where “battles” can be won or lost, strategies govern and lead
to the end result of the campaign.

Subhash C Jain on the other hand, have a more direct explanation on strategy by saying
“Strategy in a firm is a pattern of major objectives, purposes or goals…and essential
policies and plans for achieving those goals…, stated in such a way as to define…what
business the company is in or is to be in and the kind of company it is or is to be.” It is
interesting to see that C Jain has exactly underlined what strategy is, how it suppose to
work and what it does to a firm or company, it also implicitly explain that strategy needs
to be managed in various phases throughout its process. Generally, the strategic
management process consists of three stages:

1) Strategy Formulation (strategy planning)

Strategic formulation means a strategy formulate to execute the business activities
its activities includes developing:-Vision and Mission (The target of the business);
Strength and weakness (Strong points of business and also weaknesses);
Opportunities and threats (These are related with external environment for the
business). Strategy formulation is also concerned with setting long term goals and
objectives, generating alternative strategies to achieve that long term goals and
choosing particular strategy to pursue.

2) Strategy Implementations
Strategy implementation requires a firm to establish annual objectives, devise
policies, motivating employees and allocate resources so that formulated
strategies can be executed. Strategy implementation is often called the action
 stage of strategic management. Implementing means mobilizing employees and
managers in order to put formulated strategies into action.

3) Strategy Evaluation
Strategy evaluation is the final stage in the strategic management process.
Management desperately needs to know when particular strategies are not
working well; strategy evaluation is the primary means for obtaining this
information. All strategies are subject to future modification because external and
internal forces are constantly changing.

The strategic-management process does not end when the firm decides what strategy or
strategies to pursue. There must be a translation of strategic thought into strategic action.
The strategic-management process is dynamic and continuous. A change in any one of the
major components in the model can necessitate a change in any or all of the other
components. For instance, a shift in the economy could represent a major opportunity and
require a change in long-term objectives and strategies; a failure to accomplish annual
objectives could require a change in policy; or a major competitor's change in strategy
could require a change in the firm's mission. Therefore, strategy formulation,
implementation, and evaluation activities should be performed on a continual basis, not
just at the end of the year or semiannually. The strategic-management process never
really ends.

Therefore, it is clear to say that if a firm or a company or organization has went through
Strategy Formulation and Strategy Implementations stage, we can only classify that they
have established a proper structured framework or roadmap for their organization but the
process does not and should not end there. The organization shall continue and
persistently carried out Strategy Evaluation in order to ensure sustainability of the
organization and shaping it own future as the kind of company it is or is to be.

Effective strategy evaluation allows an organization to capitalize on internal strengths as

they develop, to exploit external opportunities as they emerge, to recognize and defend
against threats, and to mitigate internal weaknesses before they become detrimental.
Strategists in successful organizations take the time to formulate, implement, and then
evaluate strategies deliberately and systematically. Good strategists move their
organization forward with purpose and direction, continually evaluating and improving
the firm's external and internal strategic position. Strategy evaluation allows an
organization to shape its own future rather than allowing it to be constantly shaped by
remote forces that have little or no vested interest in the well-being of the enterprise.

Although not a guarantee for success, strategic management allows organizations to make
effective long term decisions, to execute those decisions efficiently, and to take corrective
actions as needed and come out with contingency plans for the very worst cases in order
to ensure success of the organization. Strategists in successful organizations realize that
strategic management is first and foremost a people process. It is an excellent vehicle for
fostering organizational communication. People are what make the difference in
organizations. The real key to effective strategic management is to accept the premise that
the planning process is more important than the written plan, that the manager is
continuously planning and does not stop planning when the written plan is finished. The
written plan is only a snapshot as of the moment it is approved. If the manager is not
planning on a continuous basis—planning, measuring, and revising—the written plan can
become obsolete the day it is finished. This obsolescence becomes more of a certainty as
the increasingly rapid rate of change makes the business environment more uncertain.

(1002 Word Counts)