Pages 1-20 A firm’s performance is stricktly related to the strategy they adopt, and good strategy affect all of the functional areas of the firm. Three main concepts are essential to develop competency in strategic managment. 1- firms and industries are dynamic, therefore we can’t see a firm as a snapshot in one particular moment, but as a ongoing movie. Therefore, if a firm is successful now, that is the result of many decisions made over time. 2- In order to succeed, it’s not only important to formulate a good strategy, but also to keep implementing it. In fact, managers usually tend to focus on formulating new strategies, but not to implement them, as reaserch suggests. This problem is described as the “knowingdoing gap”. 3- If a firm wants to create and implement strategies (that create value), they need strategic leaders. What are the main roles of strategic leadership? 1- making implementation-lever and resource-allocation decisions 2- develop support for the strategy from the stakeholders. STRATEGIC MANAGMENT: STRATEGIC MANAGMENT IS THE PROCESS BY WHICH A FIRM MANAGES FORMULATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ITS STRATEGY. Even knowing this concept, we still don’t know what does having a strategy means, and what the goal of the strategy should be. What is the “strategic leader’s prespective”? The word strategy comes from the Greek “strategos” which means “the general’s view”. What is the difference between the general’s view and lower-level officers? Lower lever officers focus only on specifical areas of responsibility, and therefore they don’t have to worry too much about the overall plan. The general however has to understand how all the parts interrelate and draw up a plan that will lead to victory. This plan is called a strategy.
In business, strategy is a BIG PICTURE PERSPECTIVE (the strategic leader’s prespective) on the firm and its context. In order for a strategy to be fgood, it has to be well executed by line managers.