Strategic Management – a Model for Growth-Driven Denominational Leadership
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT – A MODEL FOR GROWTH-DRIVEN DENOMINATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Rev. Stephen O. Asaju Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary, Ogbomoso, Nigeria.
INTRODUCTION Strategic Management as a term and concept is not new. The term was first used in the 1970s, and it meant that a staff of strategic planners more or less thought up strategic programs and then tried to sell them to decision makers. In the 1980s and 1990s, the view of strategic planning and strategic management was much different. According to Goodstein, Nolan, and Pfeiffer strategic planning is “.... the process by which the guiding members of an organization envision its future and develop the necessary procedures and operations to achieve that future.”[1] The concept of strategic management builds on this definition of strategic planning, recognizing that although planning is the prelude of strategic management, it is insufficient if not followed by the deployment and implementation of the plan and the evaluation of the plan in action. Strategic management is a systems approach to identifying and making the necessary changes and measuring the organization’s performance as it moves toward its vision. It has been defined as a “. . . . management . . . system . . . that links strategic planning and decision making with the day-to-day business of operational management.”[2] Consequently, the first decade of the 21st Century has experienced major modifications and paradigm shift in Strategic Management from Traditional to Post-Modern models.
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT MODEL Strategic Management goes beyond the development of a strategic plan, which included the pre-planning and strategic planning processes. Strategic Management is the deployment and implementation of the Strategic Plan and measurement and evaluation of the results. Deployment involves completing the plan and communicating it to all employees. Implementation involves
Rev. Stephen O. Asaju Nigerian Baptist Theological Seminary, Ogbomoso, Nigeria.
INTRODUCTION Strategic Management as a term and concept is not new. The term was first used in the 1970s, and it meant that a staff of strategic planners more or less thought up strategic programs and then tried to sell them to decision makers. In the 1980s and 1990s, the view of strategic planning and strategic management was much different. According to Goodstein, Nolan, and Pfeiffer strategic planning is “.... the process by which the guiding members of an organization envision its future and develop the necessary procedures and operations to achieve that future.”[1] The concept of strategic management builds on this definition of strategic planning, recognizing that although planning is the prelude of strategic management, it is insufficient if not followed by the deployment and implementation of the plan and the evaluation of the plan in action. Strategic management is a systems approach to identifying and making the necessary changes and measuring the organization’s performance as it moves toward its vision. It has been defined as a “. . . . management . . . system . . . that links strategic planning and decision making with the day-to-day business of operational management.”[2] Consequently, the first decade of the 21st Century has experienced major modifications and paradigm shift in Strategic Management from Traditional to Post-Modern models.
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT MODEL Strategic Management goes beyond the development of a strategic plan, which included the pre-planning and strategic planning processes. Strategic Management is the deployment and implementation of the Strategic Plan and measurement and evaluation of the results. Deployment involves completing the plan and communicating it to all employees. Implementation involves