The Strategist : Be The Leader Your Business Needs

Strategy is a set of complicated tactics formulated by the executives of a company directed towards the achievement of company’s goal (Salmela, 2002). It is about all the path ways that a company would follow to reach its ultimate goal. It is a company’s strategy which helps to identify what it does better than the other companies in the industries, which may be different from what it does best. For successful strategy formulation and implementation, a company should know the needs of customers and should have knowledge of its competitors. Through a good strategy a company would identify that opportunity which makes it different from the others (Thompson, 2005).

When working with companies, an employee has to wonder from time to time what makes management tick. What is the source of their decision-making practices? Why should people strategize in business or in war? Well first let’s define what is strategy? “It is a plan, method, or series of maneuvers or stratagems for obtaining a specific goal or result: a strategy for getting ahead in the world.” (dictionary.com, 2012) The main purpose of this article is to enhance our ability to think strategically. In addition, identifying how as managers and leaders of all organizational levels can

For over 20 years, I have accepted higher education administrative opportunities that would allow me to advance to the position of President. I would like to share some of my experiences successfully leading organizational strategic planning processes. My leadership of those strategic processes led to the implementation of processes that moved the organization in the direction that was appropriate for a changing economic environment. My ability to think strategically and develop collaborative relationships contributed greatly to my ability to successfully implement new organizational initiatives as well.

Carpenter, M. A., & Sanders, W. G. (2009). Strategic management: A dynamic perspective concepts and cases. (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

Strategy formulation has been acknowledged as one of the most crucial factors of ensuring the long-term growth of the business. However, the manner in which strategy is formulated, and most importantly, the nature of the strategy chosen for the company determines its future position in the marketplace (Grant, 2005).

The book “The Strategist” begins the reader down a path that will build an organization that will survive into the future. It begins by asking a question, which on the surface seems trivial. The author asks the reader to answer the question” Does your company matter?” On the surface, and as it plays out in the text, most people instinctively answer in the affirmative. However, a closer look at each person’s organization and with some soul searching we inevitably find many of us are on the wrong track and we need to reevaluate our “purpose”. This organizational specific purpose is the key point of the reading.

In the book The Strategist: Be the Leader Your Business Needs by Cynthia A. Montgomery discusses the topic of being an elusive and a rigorously effective strategist. The purpose of the author is to give us a new understanding of what a strategy really is and the components needed to be a strategist. The author through all her pages help us to understand some of the most fundamental questions that the manager must ask themselves when it comes to strategy such as what is strategy, why it is important, and what you have to do in order to effectively execute them. The final and most fundamental

As time passes businesses learn from failure and achievement. Have you ever found yourself, pondering how do businesses remain relevant, lucrative and profitable? For centuries business men and women alike, have introduced new theories and principles to remain competitive and drastically increase the understanding of organizational and human behavior. In this essay, I plan to discuss a few ways business men and women have changed the way we conduct business through their management theories.

Alfred Chandler(1963) defines strategy as ‘ the determination of the long-run goals and objectives of an enterprise and the adoption of courses of action of an enterprise and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for carrying out these goals’. And Michael porter(1996) sees it as ‘Competitive strategy is about being different. It means deliberately choosing different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value’.

Strategy can be defined as being different from one’s competitors, finding the race to operate and accomplished it. According to Michael Porter (1996), while becoming better at what you do is desirable, it will not benefit you in the long run because it is something other competitors can also do. Strategies for organizations are originally developed by Michael E. Porter in 1979 by introducing the five forces model. A company can identify the industry profitability and attractiveness by analyzing the five forces of Porter (Johnson et al., 2008). And then a reasonable strategy can be set up in line with the strengths and the weakness of an organization is able to create a plan for a stronger position for the organization within its

In the book “Good Strategy and Bad Strategy”, Richard Rumelt illustrates examples of success and failure of business management to explain the true meaning of the strategy, and tells companies how to develop a correct strategy and adhere to core of management strategy. He also emphasizes the central role of strategic management as to remind the readers to understand the huge difference between a good strategy and bad strategy. This book has three sections: good and bad strategy, sources of power, and thinking like a strategist. I will be evaluating strengths and weaknesses under these topics. After finish reading the book, I had gained a better understanding of what a good strategy means to the success of a company. According to Rumelt, a good strategy is coherent, where companies pursue multiple objectives that are connected with each other. Rumelt points out that a good strategy consists of three elements: diagnosis, guiding policy, and coherent action. (71) First, diagnosis means to define the obstacles and challenges that the companies are facing, and guidelines help the people to overcome the obstacles. Lastly, coherent action is the activities or actions that company did to be consistent with its guiding policy. Today, many of us lost the focus of the strategy, which results in the downward of businesses and organizations. Rumelt has defined the strategy as acknowledging the main problems and take coherent action to overcome the problems. Moreover, he illustrates

‘Strategic Management’ is a very complex term as many eminent researchers and scholars have had different views and conclusions on strategy. According to White (2004), “Strategic Management involves both systematically developing an idea together with its implications and testing the empirical validity & usefulness of that idea against the real world.” Thus strategy is not only about planning for future but also about confirming the validity of the hypothesis considered and implementing it successfully. Strategy formation may take various forms such as implicit, explicit or emergent. Implicit strategy is a strategy formed by intuitions of an individual. As per implicit strategists, strategic management is about reading the environment

The question of why strategy is important to business is compelling to say the least. There are a number of reasons why strategy can and often does determine the success, growth or failure of a business. Without a strategy the business is responding to internal and external circumstances or demands without the advantage of a plan in place to address them. This sometimes leads to wrong decisions or weak decisions and the business loses the opportunity to turn the circumstance into an optimal resolution that results in profits and better business.

A strategy is said to be a plan that is made for the long term success of a product or brand. It is extremely important to have a strategy in order to figure out a direction towards which any company is able to focus all its resources efficiently and achieve desired outcomes. Formulating effective strategies is a considerably long process in itself that combines analysing several factors, situations and issues that are already present in a company and looking to improve on them alongside trying to implement various innovations and ideas to collectively create a direction towards which they can move and direct the resources available to them.

The connotation of the ancient Greek word "strategos", in its various grammatical forms, implies meaning of skilful manoeuvouring leading to achieving a highly crucial position or attaining a desired end. Commonly associated with the military operations, strategies aim at methodical out-performance of adversaries. Analogically, application of deliberate strategies in the business management context suggests combination of activities directed at becoming superior to business opponents. Hence, it can be assumed that engaging in these activities will produce better business results than not doing so.