Business Policy - Strategic Management Approach

Personal Reflections:

The strategic management approach has to be top-down. Although the bottom line of a company may have very good ideas about taking the business to the next level, it is only the top-management that can make provisions to implement those ideas, while encouraging all the employees to think about ways in which they could make the business sustainable.

Business processes sometimes will have to be re-engineered in order to implement the outcomes of the strategic management process. Although this may seem to be a lot of work in the beginning, but it will pay-off in the end, especially because the company will constantly change in order to suit itself to its environment and hence will have better chances of surviving and succeeding.

The company has to listen to and understand its customer before it can move forward in the strategic management. In today's world, there is this mad rat race about maximizing sales and buying whatever new thing the market offers. The company has to be careful not to fall in this trap of "chasing the customer", a strategic management process well executed will lure the customer to the company.

The company has to first understand that it is not necessary to just increase production, but it is important to increase the life-time of a product, and hence the quality of that product. Strategic management can easily make this mind-shift by stirring the company away from maximizing sales to maximizing profits.

Strategic Management is not just about one company, it is a process which requires that organizations work together in order to survive in the corporate world. It is not only about shareholders profit but it is also about the earth – environmental initiatives can bring competitors to work together while fulfilling their individual strategic goals.

A very good example of sharing knowledge for R&D in order to move ahead in the strategic goal is the coming together of the cola-rivals – Coke and Pepsi. If these cut-throat rivals can come together on a common platform, it is only because of their strategic goals and the management of those goals.

Strategic Management and Leadership:

If there is one thing I learned about leadership from strategic management, then it has to be "Taking Responsibility". There are innumerable ways in which a company may plan its strategic route, but all the route ultimately begin with one major leadership quality – Taking responsibility for your actions and not waiting for some-one else to implement the ideas for you!

There should be no second thoughts about executing an idea which is beneficial to the society and is morally correct.

I think the difference between a good leader and a bad leader would be how they think about the entire process of strategic management. How