MOD007205: Strategic Management Assessment Sample

Introduction Of Strategic Management

A vital aspect of every company's achievement and longevity is strategic management. It involves the creation, application and assessment of strategies for achieving the goals of an organization. Strategic management is essential for ensuring the organization's flexibility, productivity and growth in today's dynamic global corporate environment. Here are a few main arguments for the use of strategic management:

• Direction and emphasis: Company's mission, purpose, objectives, and strategic leadership give the organization an unambiguous path and focus. It assists in directing every effort and asset towards a single goal, facilitating effective decision-making and resource management.
• Competitive advantage: By evaluating the internal and external environments, seeing possibilities and developing plans to take advantage of them. In this way, strategic management helps organizations in gaining a competitive edge over rivals (Bogers, et. al. 2019). It lets businesses to set themselves above their rivals and develop unique offerings for their clients.
• Adaptability and flexibility: Strategic management allows organizations to be proactively instead of reactive in a quickly evolving business climate. It entails predicting changes in the market, keeping an eye on the outside environment, and implementing the necessary changes to stay in front of the curve.
• Resource optimization: Organizations may maximize the utilization of resources while decreasing waste by matching them to strategic priorities. Identifying vital skills and allocating resources accordingly ensures optimal use of resources and cost-effectiveness.
• Performance assessment: A framework for tracking and evaluating organizational performance is provided by strategic management. The development of key performance indicators allows for timely changes and corrective measures.
• Organizational alignment: Strategic management encourages coordination and alignment across different teams and departments within the organization (Gupta A., 2022). It fosters collaboration, interpersonal interaction and a common understanding pertaining to the strategic direction of the organization, resulting in a coherent as well as unified workforce.
• Risk management: This involves identifying and reducing risks that might obstruct the achievement of organizational objectives. Companies may proactively handle risks and lessen the impact by recognizing possible threats and creating backup plans.

Struggling to meet deadlines? New Assignment Help is here to rescue you! With our specialized assignment writing services in the UK, you can submit impeccable assignments on time, every time. Take advantage of our free assignment samples to understand our approach better.

The macro environment

The external forces and situations that have an impact on a company's operations, efficiency and strategic choices are collectively referred to as the microenvironment. While most of these elements are out of the organization's control, they significantly impact how well it functions as a whole. Organizations must have a solid understanding of the macro environment in order to see opportunities and risks, adjust to shifting circumstances, and develop winning strategies (Cancela, et. al. 2020). There are different important parts that make up the macro environment:

• Economic factors: Organizations' are directly affected by economic conditions including GDP growth, inflation, rates of interest, currency rates, and unemployment rates. They have an effect on buying power, corporate investments, and market demand as a whole.
• Socio-cultural elements: These elements include statistics, societal values, beliefs, and attitudes. These elements have an impact on consumer trends, preferences, and behaviour. Additionally, they impact the societal expectations, labour markets, and worker makeup that organizations must take into account.
• Technological factors: Technology advances and enhancements have a profound impact on businesses and organizations. The pace of advancements in technology shift, research and development (R&D) efforts, digitization, automation, and the effects of emerging technologies are all examples of technological variables. To stay competitive, companies have to adapt and use technology.
• Political and legal factors: These factors include political stability as well as government actions, rules and regulations (Philip B., 2019). These factors affect how businesses operate as well as agreements on trade, tax rules, labour laws, environmental restrictions, and rules unique to particular industries. To reduce risks and capture opportunities, businesses must adhere to current regulations and negotiate the political climate.
• Environmental factors: It implies for ecological concerns, resource availability, climate change and environmentally friendly practices. To execute sustainability measures and reduce environmental hazards, organizations need to stay informed of societal trends and stakeholders' expectations.
• Competitive factors: The macroeconomic setting also includes market dynamics and the competitive environment. Analysis of the level of competition, market dynamics and trends, and entry & exit obstacles are required. Organizations can evaluate their posture and prospective threats by comprehending the competitive factors.

Resources and capabilities

Strategic management's fundamental concepts of resources and capabilities set up an organization's competitive edge and capacity to accomplish its objectives. They cover the assets, abilities, expertise, and traits that an organization possesses. Organizations have to comprehend their resources and skills to determine their greatest assets, errors, and possible competitive advantages.

The term "resources" refers to both tangible and immaterial assets that a company owns, manages, or is privy to. Physical assets such as buildings, machinery and equipment are examples of tangible resources (Prieto?Sandoval, et. al. 2019). Intangible assets such as brand reputation, copyrights, trademarks, patents, and organizational culture are instances of intangible resources. The basis for a company's operations and activities is its resources.

The ability of an organization to use its resources successfully to complete specific assignments and tasks is represented by its abilities. They include all of the abilities, knowledge, processes, and technologies that allow a company to carry out specific duties. Training, practical application, organizational knowledge, and the synthesis of numerous resources all contribute to the development of abilities. They are frequently unique to a company and challenging for rivals to copy.

According to the Resource-Based View (RBV) theory, unique and priceless resources and talents give rise to durable competitive advantages. Business organizations must have assets and skills that are valuable, rare, challenging to duplicate, and not replaceable (VRIN criteria) for them to get a competitive edge. These instruments and talents allow companies to stand above the competition, provide greater value to clients and thereby surpass the competition.

The review of an organization's resources and capabilities must be performed thoroughly. This entails identifying and categorizing resources, analyzing their benefits, drawbacks, and capacity to offer value and gain an edge over rivals (Vargas-Hernández, 2021). Organizations may take advantage of opportunities, fix weaknesses, and neutralize risks in the external environment by utilizing their current resources and skills.

Industry and Competitor Analysis

Organizations better understand their industry's characteristics and evaluate the competitive environment in which companies operate by doing sector and competitor evaluation, which is a crucial part of strategic management. It involves looking into the immediate environment, seeing market trends, assessing rivals, and identifying strategic openings and risks. This study offers useful information to companies regarding making strategic decisions which further contributes to organizational growth.

Analyzing the general structure, traits and patterns of the sector in which an organization works is known as industry analysis (Tseng, et. al. 2021. It looks at factors like market size, expansion rate, profitability, hurdles for entry, and departure, consumer preferences, technological advances and the regulatory environment. Companies can understand the needs of customers, identify important possibilities and difficulties, and predict changes in the marketplace with the use of market research.

The primary objective of competitor analysis is to assess the advantages and disadvantages of both existing and future rivals. It includes gathering data on the strategies, capacities, share of the market, clientele, price plans, product offers, and advertising methods of rival companies. Organisations could identify their strengths and weaknesses through competitor evaluation, predict rival actions, and develop winning strategies to exceed them.

Important elements of a market and competitor Analysis:

• Porter's Five Forces: Porter's structure for analyzing the forces of competition within a sector offers an organized method (Fairllie 2023). The degree of competitive rivalry, the threat of new entrants, threat of alternatives, and the negotiating power of vendors and customers are all examined.
• Market Segmentation: It entails separating the market into different groups based on comparable traits, requirements, or behaviours.
• SWOT Analysis: A SWOT analysis examines the internal strengths and weaknesses of an organization in addition to threats and opportunities from the outside. It helps companies identify their key strengths, possible growth areas, weaknesses in security, and competitive advantages.

Prescriptive, intended and emergent strategy

Prescriptive, planned, and emergent strategies assist individuals in comprehending different approaches to strategic management as organizations' strategies change over time. These phrases refer to different points of view and techniques for developing and putting into action strategies (Borrero, et. al. 2020). A description of each follows:

Prescriptive Strategy

An intentional, planned, and systematic method of plan creation and execution is referred to as a prescriptive strategy. It includes setting clear objectives, assessing both the internal and external surroundings, and creating an extensive plan to carry them out. Prescription tactics often rest on in-depth data analysis, market study, and a methodical approach to making choices. This approach makes the assumption that businesses are capable of forecast and manage their future.

Intended Strategy

The anticipated course of action that a company intends to take is expressed by its intended strategy. It is the plan that the top leadership has in mind and wants to put into action because of their research and comprehension of the goals of the company as well as the external environment. However, well-intentioned ideas may not always turn out as expected because they could run into unexpected challenges or need to be adjusted when being put into practice.

Emergent Strategy

The emerging strategy describes plans which come about over time as a consequence of conversations, studying, and adaptability to changing circumstances within the company. It is an answer to unanticipated occurrences, shifts in the market, or the emergence of fresh possibilities (Rutherford and Shah, 2021). Instead of being completely established by upper management, new approaches are the result of the joint efforts and choices made by people and groups inside the company. These tactics frequently develop naturally as a result of discovery, education, and feedback.

Prescriptive, planned, and emergent tactics are not incompatible with one another, and so it is important to remember that. All three views can be found in a certain way in strategies. For instance, organizations may have a prescriptive strategy that they deliberately choose to follow, yet they might additionally allow for adaptability and alteration in response to new possibilities or problems with execution. Organizations may better identify how prescriptive, intentional, and emergent strategies interplay when they understand how dynamic and agile strategy creation and execution can be.

Stakeholder analysis

Organizations use the procedure of stakeholder analysis to recognize and comprehend all of its stakeholders, who are directly or indirectly impacted by the company's operations, choices, and outcomes. The term "stakeholder" refers to any person, group, or entity that has a stake in or an interest in a company. Examples of those who are stakeholders include staff members, clients, stockholders, suppliers, groups, governmental agencies, and non-governmental organizations. Engaging stakeholders effectively, managing relationships, and making decisions that take into consideration wider effects are all made possible by doing analysis of stakeholders (Peifer and Newman, 2020). An outline of stakeholder analysis is given below:

• Identifying stakeholders: Identifying the appropriate stakeholders who can influence or be affected by the organization is the first phase in a stakeholder analysis. This means taking into account both internal (workers, managers, shareholders) and external (customers, suppliers, groups, regulatory agencies) stakeholders.
• Evaluating stakeholder interests and expectations: After recognizing the stakeholders, organizations evaluate their needs, interests, worries, and aspirations. Understanding the goals of every stakeholder group, their needs from the organization, and any potential disputes or synergies between them are required for this.
• Mapping stakeholder impact and power: Evaluating each stakeholder's power and influence is an aspect of stakeholder analysis. This aids organisations in identifying those who have significant influence over choices, resource allocation, and overall achievement. Higher-ranking stakeholders may require more concentrated attention and engagement.
• Assessing impact and importance: Organizationsassesstheimportance of each stakeholder's involvement as well as the potential impacts which each one may have on the organization as a whole (Hoory L., 2022). The operations, image or earnings of the organization may be directly affected by some stakeholders, but the same may also have indirect but substantial consequences.
• Creating engagement approaches: Stakeholder analysis enables to creation approaches to engagement that are unique to each stakeholder group. This might entail ongoing communication, getting involved with decision-making, resolving issues and comments, forming collaborations, or putting measures in place to satisfy the demands of stakeholders.
• Constant review and modification: Stakeholder evaluation is a continuous activity. Organizations must always keep an eye out for changes in stakeholder factors, interests, and connections as well as any possible external influences. As a result, organisations may modify their goals and activities to better meet the expectations of their stakeholders.

Organizations, structures, systems and culture

Organizations' are complex made up of a variety of parts, such as structures, systems, and cultures. Effective management and organizational achievement require an understanding of how all of these components interact. Here is a description of each component:

• Organizational structure: A company's organizational structure is a structure that outlines the way tasks, roles, and duties are assigned, managed, and integrated inside the company (Chión, et. al. 2020). It establishes accountability structures, lines of communication, and processes for making decisions. Practical, flat, hierarchical, divisional, matrix and networked are examples of typical organizational structure types. The framework has an impact on how work is set up, encourages effectiveness, makes cooperation easier, and makes authority and accountability clear.
• Organizational systems: The formal and unofficial processes, processes, and routines that direct the activities of an organization are referred to as organizational systems. Operation procedures, financial processes, human resource procedures, information processes, and performance management procedures are some of these systems. Organizational systems include policies, procedures, and tools for successful and efficient operations. They foster cooperation across many departments and functions, assure consistency, and simplify processes.
• Organizational culture: The group of values, assumptions, conventions, and convictions which govern how people behave and view the world inside a company are referred to as the organizational culture. According to Charles Handy, there are mainly four types of culture which prevail within business units such as task, role, power and people. It refers to the social dynamics and unspoken "rules" that influence the way staff members communicate, decide, and see the company (Martínez-Caro, et. al. 2020). The drive, participation, and commitment of employees are affected by organizational culture. Collaboration, inventiveness, and flexibility may all be fostered by a powerful and good culture.

Systems and organizational structure are linked, systems offer the means for carrying out and maintaining the framework, while the structure stipulates the way they are created and put into effect. For example, the structure of a matrix needs efficient communication and collaboration tools to enable coordination throughout multiple dimensions. The creation of structures and systems is affected by organizational culture. Flatter organizational structures and decentralized processes for making decisions may result from an environment that encourages cooperation and empowerment of staff members. On the other hand, a culture of hierarchy might favour more formalized, top-down, and conventional plans. The implementation and execution of technologies within an organization are also influenced by the culture of the organization.

Elevate Your Academic Performance! New Assignment Help offers the best Management Assignment Help, helping you navigate through difficult concepts and demanding deadlines. Our services are designed to enhance your learning experience and boost your grades. Partner with us today and watch your academic performance soar!

References

Books and journals

• Bogers, M., Chesbrough, H., Heaton, S. and Teece, D.J., 2019. Strategic management of open innovation: A dynamic capabilities perspective.California Management Review.62(1), pp.77-94.
• Borrero, S., Acosta, A. and Medina, A.F., 2020. Culture, strategy formulation, and firm performance: a meta-analysis.Academia Revista Latinoamericana de Administración.
• Cancela, B.L., Neves, M.E.D., Rodrigues, L.L. and Gomes Dias, A.C., 2020. The influence of corporate governance on corporate sustainability: new evidence using panel data in the Iberian macroeconomic environment.International Journal of Accounting & Information Management.28(4), pp.785-806.
• Chión, S.J., Charles, V. and Morales, J., 2020. The impact of organisational culture, organisational structure and technological infrastructure on process improvement through knowledge sharing.Business Process Management Journal.26(6), pp.1443-1472.
• Martínez-Caro, E., Cegarra-Navarro, J.G. and Alfonso-Ruiz, F.J., 2020. Digital technologies and firm performance: The role of digital organisational culture.Technological Forecasting and Social Change.154, p.119962.
• Peifer, J.L. and Newman, D.T., 2020. Making the business case for corporate social responsibility and perceived trustworthiness: A cross?stakeholder analysis.Business and Society Review,125(2). pp.161-181.
• Prieto?Sandoval, V., Jaca, C., Santos, J., Baumgartner, R.J. and Ormazabal, M., 2019. Key strategies, resources, and capabilities for implementing circular economy in industrial small and medium enterprises.Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management.26(6), pp.1473-1484.
• Rutherford, R. and Shah, S., 2021, November. Study of Emergent Strategy Implementation during Global Pandemic. In2021 IEEE International Conference on Technology Management, Operations and Decisions (ICTMOD)(pp. 1-5). IEEE.
• Tseng, M.L., Tran, T.P.T., Ha, H.M., Bui, T.D. and Lim, M.K., 2021. Sustainable industrial and operation engineering trends and challenges Toward Industry 4.0: A data-driven analysis.Journal of Industrial and Production Engineering.38(8). pp.581-598.
• Vargas-Hernández, J.G., 2021. Circular-green economy: Analysis based on the theory of resources and capabilities. InExamining the Intersection of Circular Economy, Forestry, and International Trade(pp. 1-17). IGI Global.

Online

• Angela Gupta, 2022. Strategic Management: Meaning & Its Importance. Online. Available through: < https://www.mygreatlearning.com/blog/strategic-management/>.
• Bobin Philip, 2019. Micro and Macro environment factors to be analyzed for companies. Online. Available through: <https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/micro-macro-environment-factors-analyzed-companies-bobin-philip/>.
• Fairllie M., 2023. How to Do a Competitive Analysis. How to Do a Competitive Analysis. Online. Available through: <https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/15737-business-competitor-analysis.html>.
• Leeron Hooray, 2022. What Is A Stakeholder Analysis? Online. Available through: < https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/what-is-stakeholder-analysis/>.