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Knowledge of strategic management with the skills thereof is very important to any successful organization or management because it allows the organization to flourish within and outside its environments. Therefore, a strategy is that thing that makes your company or organization to be on top or above your competitive rivalry. A strategy is that thing (careful plan or method) that allows your company or organization to solve all their difficult challenges and stay above them. Further still, a strategy is that thing (stratagem) that can be seen or described as formulated integrated and easily understandable body of ideas with detailed plan of action which is designed thoughtfully to archive unprecedented success. Simply put differently, a strategy is a detailed and systematic plan of action that is developed by strategic managers or leaders to solve complex problems facing the organization and to achieve better results. A strategy helps you or your organization to maintain success in any given environment where change is inevitable.
However, someone who is trained to use his or her intellectual capability to plan or design strategies is called strategist. Hence, strategic training and knowledge with strategic skills acquired will enable you to develop uncommon ideas or solutions that are original with residual potential to achieve greater and better results. Nevertheless, the writer will discuss different types of strategy in the remaining paragraphs.
Corporate Strategy
Corporate strategy is a broad plan over a long period of time, specially designed in line with the company’s vision and objectives for all areas within the organization(s) to work collectively towards the common goal of the company.
This kind of strategy intends to reduce risk and increase customer satisfaction, growth and expansion of the business, while at the same time paying focused attention on the successful growth of the new expansion or business. Part of corporate strategic activities include planning alternative strategies in case of changing possibility and creating change to suit new conditions in structure, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, including any other agreement with other companies to work together to achieve common business goals. A successful corporate strategy must operate above substitution and competitive rivalry.
A strategy could be seen as the planning over a period of time for the use of company’s or organization’s resources to succeed in accomplishing specific organizational goals in competitive environments. Hence, a strategy is the company’s tool and idea of choosing the best approach or way to achieve the objectives of the business or company in the face of substitution and competitive rivalry, changing resources and changing environment including any other forces that are likely to affect the business operations.
Functional strategy
This is a definite plan designed by different departments within an organization to achieve the goals and the objectives put in place or defined in the corporate strategy for daily activities or daily operations.
In other words, a functional strategy is the plan made before time in the corporate strategy, that’s based on general objectives of the company for various departments within an organization to make sure that, each functional department of the company works towards the success of the company in a coordinated manner in its daily operations or activities.
In a simple language, functional strategy is a clear day-to-day plan of action in line with the organizational goals and objectives, developed for various departments in a single organization, expected to be implemented successfully by these departments with the aim to accomplish unprecedented success.
Business Strategy
The establishment and management of commercial enterprises i.e. (businesses) whether small, medium or large business or company, needs a business strategy from strategists or experts to ensure that all efforts bring desired results. A strategy is important and needed in every area of the business to deal with any issue or problem that may come up during the business operations. A strategy is crucial in managing business progress and also a resource for improving business/company performance. Naturally, there’s no business owner or the founder of a company that will not expect his business to succeed. This is where a strategy is a crucial factor. The primary function of a strategist is to plan in advance to ensure that the business succeeds.
A business can be described as any activity which an organization or individual, who produces, buys, sells or supplies goods or services, with the intention of making money or profit, in its engagements.
A strategy, on the other hand, is the use of early planning to achieve a desired end in business. Put differently, it is a plan of action ahead of time purposely to achieve specific long-time goals.
A business strategy is the implementation of beforehand planning relating to the activities which an organization or an individual engages in with the intention of making profit or achieving its goals. This may include product development, market development, innovation, customer service, amongst others.
Knowledge of a strategy will help managers, executives, business owners, to mention a few, to come up with the best way of approaching any problem that the company or business may face in the future. Strategists may come up with the best way to improve their products and services, so as to satisfy their customers, and consequently, improving customer retention. A good strategic solution may bring multiple results or benefits to the organization or company. That is why it’s strategic or called a strategy. It’s uncommon valuable way of planning ahead to tackle any future problem that may occur in business operations. In addition, in situations where the organization suddenly encounters a problem, knowledge of strategic management will also help you without any delay to come up with a plan to take strategically important decisions and find a solution to fix the issue or problem with immediate alacrity.
However, there are principles by which a strategy should be formulated or made. Here are some principles of assessing a strategy:
Principles for a good strategy.
- A good strategy must not be in contradiction with the company’s policies. Put differently, there should not be contradiction between the company policies and the strategy.
- A strategy should be flexible or adaptable to a new situation or condition relating to internal and external environment. In other words, a strategy must be suitable enough for any change within and outside the business environment.
- A strategy must be suitable enough to allocate resources more efficiently. A strategy must allow efficient use of resource.
- A strategy must be capable of reducing risks to the minimum level. / A strategy must be a good and strong tool to eliminate potential risks.
- A strategy must have enough time within acceptable limits.
- A strategy must be practical. Put differently, strategy must be a plan that can be used successfully and effectively.
- A strategy must be according to the principles of good behavior and what is consider to be right. In other words, a strategy must be morally acceptable.
- A strategy must be clear and easy to understand for effective use.
By and large, strategic managers or executives are proactive in identifying and preventing potential problems. They are always strategically inclined to ensure a fair amount of success or great success in its approach. In short, for better performance, THE strategic management knowledge is important in any given organization. Strategic management focuses on all the functional areas of business to ensure that the organizational goal{s} or vision is achieved through its mission, while at the same time focusing on the impact of the environment to ensure smooth business operations.
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