Strategic Management Process

The final stage of the strategic management process is the implementation phase in which an organisation’s aim and objective will be to communicate with all its members and demonstrate the application of the system to achieve organisational objectives. Implementation of strategy is carried out within the framework of action plans using a balance scorecard (BSC). Balanced scorecards combine both qualitative and quantitative measures, acknowledge the expectations of different stakeholders and relate an assessment of performance to choice of strategy (Johnson et al., 2008, Phadtare, 2010).

Sample Balance Score Card

Source: Developed from the work by Phadtare (2010) 

The most challenging part of this stage is planning the implementation, finding the type of change required and finding the effective methods of managing the strategic change (Johnson and Scholes, 1997). Changes will be initiated by the company management and a detailed working system will be developed by the team leaders that is in line with the organisation’s aim. Throughout the implementation phase, strategists look for the possibility of outsourcing/sub-contracting non-core activities or executing it through an in-house team, which will depend on the organisation’s existing resources and capability. In case of change, it is preferable to focus on revising the existing strategy in a suitable way without generating a new strategy from scratch.

Implementation of Strategic Management

Designed by the Present Researcher

In the feedback and control stage, the strategists continuously monitor the performance of the strategy, which is in place against the set objectives. If it does not meet corrective action and decisions are made. In order to measure the strategic performance, strategists must carry out the strategic audit in which they evaluate all facets of the process or focus on a single part of the process. The feedback and control stage is carried out at three levels of the organisation: corporate level, business level and operational level. Corrective actions and decision are made in case the performance does not meet the set objectives (Shaik, 2009).

You should now be able to produce a strategic profile of your own organisation for sustainable growth.

References

JOHNSON, G. SCHOLES, K. 1997) Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and Cases. London: Prentice Hall.

JOHNSON, G., SCHOLES, K. WHITTINGTON, R. 2008) Exploring Corporate Strategy: Text and Cases. London: Prentice Hall.

PHADTARE, M. T. 2010) Developing Balanced Scorecard: Case of Three Construction Firms Small Size. Journal of Asia-Pacific Business Vol.11, pp. 135-157

SHAIK, S. H. 2009) Implementing Strategic Management in Construction. Articles Vol.1, pp. 1-8