It is true that a company’s realized strategy is the product of whatever planned strategies that are actually put into action (the company’s deliberate strategies) and of any unplanned or emergent strategies (Haines, 2004, p. 22). This is because planned strategies will play an important role in coming up with the right cross functional decisions that will enable the company achieve its long term objectives. Planned strategies will ultimately lead to a good strategic approach in the market.
There are cases where a company can come up with these strategies in advance with a well laid out plan, but in other occasions there might be need to involve unplanned or emergent strategies (Kotler, 1986, p. 17). Unplanned or emergent strategies are necessitated by circumstances. The situation in the market might demand that the company comes up with new strategies to succeed. One of these unforeseen circumstances might be increased competition in the market.
Although competition can be seen coming, its intensity always shifts in different times and this can force the company to come up with new strategies. These strategies will enable the company to come up with the right avenues to survive in the market. So, a good strategy will be a product of whatever strategies that the management has put in place to advance its goals (Drucker, 1954, p. 13). In cases where the market (competitors included) changes its strategies, the company will be forced to come up with new emergent strategies to succeed in its operations.
A normal planned strategy should be initiated by the management. The long term effect will be a strategic management process that will enhance the company’s ability to achieve the set strategies. A good strategic management process should also cater for unplanned or emergent strategies as this is the only way that the company can be guaranteed flexibility (Senge, 1990, p.13). A good strategy needs a strategic plan which is done by a strategic management process.
Strategic planning is the process by which an organization defines its strategy thereby coming up with the right direction to pursue their goals (Ansoff, 1965, p.5). In the process, they will be able to make the right decisions on how resources will be allocated to achieve these strategies (Naisbitt, 1982, p. 7). Resource allocation involves the necessary capital that will be used in implementation together with the human resource that will enforce the strategy and make it practical.
There are various business techniques that need to be used to ensure that a strategic plan is effective as this will ultimately lead to an appropriate business strategic position (Drucker, 1954, p. 5). In a broad perspective, strategic planning seems to be the consideration of an organizations future course of direction (Christensen, 1997, p. 27). This gives the organization a framework that they will use to achieve their long term objectives. It should be concerned on how the whole process will be done (Chandler, 1962, p. 12).
A strategic plan should be having a major concern on why the company is coming up with it (Kotler, 1986, p. 11). This means that there should be a viable intention of coming up with a strategic plan. With this in place, the company will have a good framework of withstanding competition (Tracy, 2000, p. 9). In the long run, the company will be able to survive in harsh business environments with an intention of ensuring that customers, employees and shareholders are well catered for.
Before a company comes up with a strategic plan it must know where it is by reviewing its performance in relation to what it had projected to achieve (Moore, 1995, p. 10). This is important as the company will tell if indeed what it had projected to achieve was really achieved (Allison & Kaye, 2005, p. 6). In coming up with a strategy(for a company), it can be quite difficult to tell how the market will evolve in the next coming days or years and this will call for a review of the planned strategies.
For a company to achieve its strategic projections there is need for strategic innovation and tinkering (Burkhart & Reuss, 1993, p. 9). Strategic innovation and tinkering is the ultimate strategy that a company needs to be able to survive in the ever changing market and business environment. This means that the company must have a good combination of goals that it seeks to achieve (Senge, 1990, p.16). The means of achieving these goals is what forms the necessity of a strategic plan.
Strategic planning should seek to analyze the company’s current situation. This should also take care of the market in general. In doing this, it is necessary to look at the business trends and market analysis (Haines,2004, p. 14). Later on, the company can look at the marketing mix, segmentation and competitive analysis. The company’s current situation should evaluate its positioning in the market with a SWOT analysis (Haines, 2004, p. 18).
After doing this analysis, the company should now shift its attention to the expected or desired situation that it wishes to see itself in the coming years as a result of these strategies (Kotler, 1982, p. 3). This should critically look at the position and perceptual gaps as it plans to execute its strategy. In addition, it needs to look at its desired marketing mix and segmentation.
In developing a strategy that will help the company to achieve results, a proper environmental analysis needs to done. This analysis should be executed at an internal and external level to know the threats and opportunities that a company faces in the market (Naisbitt, 1982, p. 26).
On the other hand, this will identify the company’s strengths and weaknesses which are important in a bid to achieve unrivalled growth in the market. Analysis of the external environment should take some important factors into consideration (Allison & Kaye, 2005, p. 8). This includes customers and supplier markets as they have a direct bearing on the strategies that the company will ultimately decide to embrace.
Competition is an external environment that can make a company adopt its intended strategy or review it to be strategic (Christensen, 1997, p. 43). Sometimes, competitors in the market can be very innovative in coming up with their strategies. They can do this by looking at what the company has put in place (Castells, 1996, p. 25). This therefore implies that the company needs to be highly flexible in relation to its strategies.
Other factors that need to be looked at include; the economy at that given time, technology and the regulatory environment (Mintzberg, 1987, p. 21). The company must always look at the regulatory environment because some of its strategies can be in contravention of the legal frameworks put in place and this will be an impediment to the success of the strategy (Drucker, 1954, p. 24).
Some strategies might need a good technological framework for efficiency and the company needs to put this in mind before it comes up with a strategy that will positively advance its goals (in both the long run and short run).
In a broad view, the set strategy should be able to translate into an action plan (Slywotzky, 1996, p. 32). This means that a strategic plan should be articulated into the day to day activities of an organization. Specific tasks will be and should be put in place to achieve the objectives of a strategic plan (Castells, 1996, p.17).
This means that they should not be filled with conceptual terms that may end up not being tied to the day to day realities that the staff expects. In a more objective way, this will help to achieve the company’s strategic moves and expectations.
A company should employ Unplanned or emergent strategies for it to succeed with its strategy. Although the management can be visionary in formulating its strategies, this should be critically and carefully done while looking at the market environment shifts (Kotter, 1986, p.27).
In cases where a company is faced with unexpected market environment shifts, it has to come up with unplanned or emergent strategies that will help it to achieve its goals (Castells, 1996, p. 35). Unplanned and emergent strategies will be necessitated by threats and opportunities that a company is exposed to.
A strategic plan can either be planned partially or unplanned (Moore, 1995, p. 67). These strategies need to be developed because of the relative influence that business and industry factors have on the overall performance of a company. If they are not reviewed in relation to changing market and business dynamics, the company will perform poorly because it will be behind as far as competition in the market is concerned (Ansoff, 1965, p.27).
Emergent strategies will in most occasions come about as the company interacts with its environment (Senge, 1990, p. 45). This is because ideas and actions will come from different and multiple sources thereby integrating into an efficient pattern. Wholesomely, these unplanned and emergent strategies will lead to the achievement of the company’s realized strategy.
Strategic management will assist in decision making that will enhance the achievement of long term objectives (Haines, 2004, p. 29). In other words, strategic management is the only way that organizations goals, missions and visions are specified mostly in programs and projects so that the set objectives are fully achieved (Mintzberg, 1987, p. 43). In the course of embarking on strategic management, resources are supposed to be well allocated to help in achieving the set programs and projects.
After programs and projects have been set, there should be a scoreboard that will be used in evaluating if the anticipated targets have been achieved (Slywotzky, 1996, p. 21). Strategic management more so provides the overall direction that an organization should take in a bid to ensure that there is unrivaled success (Naisbitt, 1982, p. 22). Those in the management level are supposed to come up with good tactics that will enhance the achievement of the company’s set goals as per the strategy.
For strategic management to be effective and achieve what it was set to, it must follow a process that will enhance this. This is because it is an ongoing process that has a long term effect on the company’s performance (Tracy, 2000, p. 29). A strategic management process should first of all have a vision that will lead to the formulation of a mission statement. The mission should then be converted into performance objectives.
For these objectives to be achieved, the company should then develop strategies for proper enforcement. This should be followed by proper strategy implementation (Drucker, 1954, p. 18). After a strategy has been implemented there should be an evaluation on how the strategy has helped the company’s to achieve its expectations and goals.
Companies need to have a strategic management process; this is because strategic planning lies in the value of planning ahead of time so that they can perform well (Castells, 1996, p. 54). It is necessary for unity, direction and a sense of identity in achieving business goals.
It is undeniable that a company’s planned and unplanned strategies will help it to achieve its business goals as it had anticipated. The situation in the market might demand that the company comes up with new strategies to succeed (Haines, 2004, p. 20). One of these unforeseen circumstances might be increased competition and changing business dynamics in the market.
There are various business techniques that need to be used to ensure that a strategic plan in effective as this will ultimately lead to an appropriate business strategic position (Slywotzky, 1996, p. 18).
In general, strategic planning should be taken as the key course of direction of an organization. This gives the organization a framework that they will use to achieve their long term objectives. It should be concerned on how the whole process will be done.
Before a company comes up with a strategic plan it must know where it is by reviewing its performance in relation to what it had projected to achieve. This is important as the company will tell if what it had projected to achieve was really achieved (Tracy, 2000, p. 23). In coming up with a strategy (for the company), it can be quite difficult to tell how the market will evolve in the next coming days or years and this will call for a review of the planned strategies.
For strategic management to be effective and achieve what it was set to, it must follow a process that will enhance this. This is because it is an ongoing process that has a long term effect on the company’s performance (Naisbitt, 1982, p. 20).
A strategic management process should first of all have a vision that will lead to the formulation of a mission statement. The mission should then be converted into performance objectives.
Reference List
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