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Identify and discuss the concept of strategic development

Strategic management is defined as the art and science of formulating, implementing, and evaluating cross-functional decisions that enable the organization to achieve its objectives (David, 2003, p.5). Strategic management is made up of processes including the analysis, decisions, and actions an organisation undertakes and manages in order to achieve its objectives (usually an organisation will aim to create and maintain a competitive advantage as this will generally result in success within the business environment). The process of analysis allows the manager to understand the organisations internal and external environment. This insight points out the strengths and weaknesses within the organisation while also indicating the external opportunities and threats to its success in the business environment. This analysis (or environmental scanning) shows where the organisation currently is, thus within the strategic management context it is a process that must be managed continually to provide an ongoing, accurate and up-to-date view. The process of decisions includes recognising or developing the organisations missions and objectives (this could logically be the first step in the strategic management process but does not have to be) and also formulating strategies, based on the analysis (information achieved through the environmental scanning) process, to achieve these. The best strategy, the one (or perhaps combination) which will most effectively move the organisation in the direction of its mission and the achievement of its objectives, is chosen creating the strategic plan. The actions process involves the actual implementation of the chosen strategy and its control and evaluation (in order to determine the performance and give an indication of any need for review or change). Due to the dynamic

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nature of the business environment, that is, its continually changing nature, it is necessary to conduct this evaluation and assessment in an ongoing fashion so that the organisation may respond to emerging changes early with the aim of achieving a proactive organisation rather than being simply a reactive one within the business environment. Hence it can be seen that the processes of strategic management (analysis, decisions and actions) are necessarily ongoing and must be continually managed in order to allow the strategist or manager to assess where the organisation is, where it wants to be, and how it is going to get there. Strategic management is an important concept that can often prove critical in determining the future success of an organisation. Through its decision and action processes, strategic management aids top-level management in determining and implementing the best possible strategy for the organisation to follow in order to be successful (or win) in the competitive and challenging business environment.