STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
In a hyper competitive marketplace, companies can operate successfully by creating and delivering superior value to target customers and also learning how to adapt to a continuously changing business environment. So to meet changing conditions in their industries, companies need to be farsighted and visionary, and must develop long- term strategies. Strategic planning, an important component of strategic management, involves developing a strategy to meet competition and ensure long-term survival and growth of the company. The overall objectives of strategic management are two fold:

•  to create competitive advantage, so that the company can outperform the competitors in order to have dominance over the market. 
•  To guide the company successfully through all changes in the environment. 

the organizational operations are highly influenced by the increasing rate of change in the environment and the ripple effect created on the organization. changes can be external to the firm or they may be introduced in the firm by the managers. It may manifest in the blurring of industry and firm boundaries, driven by technology, deregulation, or, through globalization. the tasks of crafting, implementing and executing company strategies are the heart and soul of managing a business enterprise.
The term ‘strategic management’ refers to the managerial process of developing a strategic vision, setting objectives, crafting a strategy, implementing and evaluating the strategy, and initiating corrective adjustments where deemed appropriate.
Strategic management involves developing the company’s vision, environmental scanning (both external and internal), strategy formulation, strategy implementation and evaluation and control. Originally called, business policy, strategic management emphasises the monitoring and evaluation of external opportunities and threats in the light of a company’s strengths and weaknesses and designing strategies for the survival and growth of the company.