The Study of Strategic ManagementAccording to Bamford, Hoffman, Hunger, and Wheelen (2018), strategic management is a set ofmanagerial decisions and actions that help determine the long-term performance of an organization. Itincludes internal and external environment, short term and long-term strategy formulation, strategyimplementation, evaluation, and control. Originally called business policy, strategic management hasadvanced substantially with the concentrated efforts of researchers and practitioners. Today, werecognize both a science and an art to the application of strategic management techniques (Bamford,Hoffman, Hunger, & Wheelen, 2018, p. 37).Now is the perfect time to practice strategic thinking, how can companies emerge from the global healthcrisis brought by Covid-19. The future is unpredictable, as such, strategic thinking may be more importantthan ever.The following phases describe the evolution of strategic management:Phase 1: Basic financial planning. During this phase, managers prepare complex proposalswhenever they are requested to provide the following year's budget. Projects are proposed basedon shallow analysis, with most information coming from within the firm. The sales force usuallyprovides a small amount of environmental information used in this effort. Such simplisticoperational planning only pretends to be strategic management, yet it is quite time-consuming.Normal company activities are often suspended for weeks while managers try to cram ideas intothe proposed budget.Phase 2: Forecast-based planning. During this phase, managers attempt to propose five-yearbudget plans since annual budgets became less useful at stimulating long-term planning. At thispoint, they consider projects that may take more than a year. This phase is also time-consuming,often involving a full month or more of managerial activity to make sure all the proposed budgetsfit together. The process gets very political as managers compete for larger shares of limitedfunds. Seemingly endless meetings take place to evaluate proposals and justify assumptions.Phase 3: Externally oriented planning. During this phase, top management initiates a formalstrategic planning system due to their frustration with the highly political and yet ineffectual five-year plans. The company seeks to increase its responsiveness to changing markets andcompetition by thinking and acting strategically. Planning is taken out of the hands of lower-levelmanagers and concentrated in a planning staff whose task is to develop strategic plans for thecorporation. Consultants often provide sophisticated and innovative techniques that the planningstaff uses to gather information and forecast future trends. Organizations start competitiveintelligence units. Upper-level managers meet once a year at a resort "retreat" led by keymembers of the planning staff to evaluate and update the current strategic plan. Such top-downplanning emphasizes formal strategy formulation and leaves the implementation issues to lower-management levels. Top management typically develops long-term plans with help fromconsultants but minimal input from lower levels.Phase 4: Strategic management. During this phase, the top management realizes that even thebest strategic plans are worthless without the input and commitment of lower-level managers, sothey organize planning groups of managers and key employees at many levels, from variousdepartments and workgroups. They develop and integrate a series of plans focused onemphasizing the company's true competitive advantages. Strategic plans at this point detail theimplementation, evaluation, and control issues. Rather than attempting to forecast the futureperfectly, the plans emphasize probable scenarios and contingency strategies. The sophisticatedannual five-year strategic plan is replaced with strategic thinking at all levels of the organizationthroughout the year. Strategic information, previously available only centrally to topmanagement, is used by people throughout the organization. Instead of a large centralizedplanning staff, internal and external planning consultants are available to help guide groupstrategy discussions. Although top management may still initiate the strategic planning process,the resulting strategies may come from anywhere in the organization. Planning is typicallyinteractive across levels and is no longer strictly top down. People at all levels are now involved. Types of StrategiesThe following are the different types of strategies:Business strategy. This strategy emphasizes the act of strengthening the company's competitiveposition of products or services. Business strategies are composed of competitive and cooperativestrategies. It covers all the activities and tactics for competing in contradiction of the competitorsand the management behaviors that require strategic alignment and coordination. The focus ofbusiness strategies is on product development, innovation, integration, market development, anddiversification among others.BM1807Corporate strategy. This strategy entails a clearly defined, long-term vision that organizations set,seeking to create corporate value and motivate the workforce to implement proper actions toachieve customer satisfaction. It is a continuous process that requires constant effort to engageinvestors in trusting the company with their money, thereby increasing the company's equity.Organizations that manage to deliver customer value unfailingly are those that revisit theircorporate strategy regularly to improve areas that may not deliver the aimed results.Functional strategy. This strategy emphasizes a particular functional area of an organization. It isformulated to achieve some objectives of a business unit by maximizing resource productivity.Functional strategy is concerned with developing distinctive competence to provide a businessunit with a competitive advantage. Each business unit or company has its own set of departments,and every department has its own functional strategy. Functional strategies are adapted tosupport the competitive strategy. For instance, a company following a low-cost competitivestrategy needs a production strategy that emphasizes on reduction cost operation and also ahuman resource strategy that emphasizes on retaining the lowest possible number of employeeswho are highly qualified to work for the organization.Operating strategy. This strategy is usually created at the field level to achieve immediateobjectives. Operating strategy is formulated in the operating units of an organization. In somecompanies, managers develop an operating strategy for each set of annual objectives in thedepartments or divisions.Part of strategizing is planning on how to navigate unchartered territories. Take for example, theglobal health crisis brought by Covid-19. Nobody predicted Covid-19 and how bad it will get. As such,companies must consider how the world is changing and move towards strategic thinking. It is aboutmaking quality decisions, learning from history, and using foresight on what will be needed by thecompany to gain a competitive advantage.

Question

The Study of Strategic ManagementAccording to Bamford, Hoffman, Hunger, and Wheelen (2018), strategic management is a set ofmanagerial decisions and actions that help determine the long-term performance of an organization. Itincludes internal and external environment, short term and long-term strategy formulation, strategyimplementation, evaluation, and control. Originally called business policy, strategic management hasadvanced substantially with the concentrated efforts of researchers and practitioners. Today, werecognize both a science and an art to the application of strategic management techniques (Bamford,Hoffman, Hunger, & Wheelen, 2018, p. 37).Now is the perfect time to practice strategic thinking, how can companies emerge from the global healthcrisis brought by Covid-19. The future is unpredictable, as such, strategic thinking may be more importantthan ever.The following phases describe the evolution of strategic management:Phase 1: Basic financial planning. During this phase, managers prepare complex proposalswhenever they are requested to provide the following year's budget. Projects are proposed basedon shallow analysis, with most information coming from within the firm. The sales force usuallyprovides a small amount of environmental information used in this effort. Such simplisticoperational planning only pretends to be strategic management, yet it is quite time-consuming.Normal company activities are often suspended for weeks while managers try to cram ideas intothe proposed budget.Phase 2: Forecast-based planning. During this phase, managers attempt to propose five-yearbudget plans since annual budgets became less useful at stimulating long-term planning. At thispoint, they consider projects that may take more than a year. This phase is also time-consuming,often involving a full month or more of managerial activity to make sure all the proposed budgetsfit together. The process gets very political as managers compete for larger shares of limitedfunds. Seemingly endless meetings take place to evaluate proposals and justify assumptions.Phase 3: Externally oriented planning. During this phase, top management initiates a formalstrategic planning system due to their frustration with the highly political and yet ineffectual five-year plans. The company seeks to increase its responsiveness to changing markets andcompetition by thinking and acting strategically. Planning is taken out of the hands of lower-levelmanagers and concentrated in a planning staff whose task is to develop strategic plans for thecorporation. Consultants often provide sophisticated and innovative techniques that the planningstaff uses to gather information and forecast future trends. Organizations start competitiveintelligence units. Upper-level managers meet once a year at a resort &#34;retreat&#34; led by keymembers of the planning staff to evaluate and update the current strategic plan. Such top-downplanning emphasizes formal strategy formulation and leaves the implementation issues to lower-management levels. Top management typically develops long-term plans with help fromconsultants but minimal input from lower levels.Phase 4: Strategic management. During this phase, the top management realizes that even thebest strategic plans are worthless without the input and commitment of lower-level managers, sothey organize planning groups of managers and key employees at many levels, from variousdepartments and workgroups. They develop and integrate a series of plans focused onemphasizing the company's true competitive advantages. Strategic plans at this point detail theimplementation, evaluation, and control issues. Rather than attempting to forecast the futureperfectly, the plans emphasize probable scenarios and contingency strategies. The sophisticatedannual five-year strategic plan is replaced with strategic thinking at all levels of the organizationthroughout the year. Strategic information, previously available only centrally to topmanagement, is used by people throughout the organization. Instead of a large centralizedplanning staff, internal and external planning consultants are available to help guide groupstrategy discussions. Although top management may still initiate the strategic planning process,the resulting strategies may come from anywhere in the organization. Planning is typicallyinteractive across levels and is no longer strictly top down. People at all levels are now involved. Types of StrategiesThe following are the different types of strategies:Business strategy. This strategy emphasizes the act of strengthening the company's competitiveposition of products or services. Business strategies are composed of competitive and cooperativestrategies. It covers all the activities and tactics for competing in contradiction of the competitorsand the management behaviors that require strategic alignment and coordination. The focus ofbusiness strategies is on product development, innovation, integration, market development, anddiversification among others.BM1807Corporate strategy. This strategy entails a clearly defined, long-term vision that organizations set,seeking to create corporate value and motivate the workforce to implement proper actions toachieve customer satisfaction. It is a continuous process that requires constant effort to engageinvestors in trusting the company with their money, thereby increasing the company's equity.Organizations that manage to deliver customer value unfailingly are those that revisit theircorporate strategy regularly to improve areas that may not deliver the aimed results.Functional strategy. This strategy emphasizes a particular functional area of an organization. It isformulated to achieve some objectives of a business unit by maximizing resource productivity.Functional strategy is concerned with developing distinctive competence to provide a businessunit with a competitive advantage. Each business unit or company has its own set of departments,and every department has its own functional strategy. Functional strategies are adapted tosupport the competitive strategy. For instance, a company following a low-cost competitivestrategy needs a production strategy that emphasizes on reduction cost operation and also ahuman resource strategy that emphasizes on retaining the lowest possible number of employeeswho are highly qualified to work for the organization.Operating strategy. This strategy is usually created at the field level to achieve immediateobjectives. Operating strategy is formulated in the operating units of an organization. In somecompanies, managers develop an operating strategy for each set of annual objectives in thedepartments or divisions.Part of strategizing is planning on how to navigate unchartered territories. Take for example, theglobal health crisis brought by Covid-19. Nobody predicted Covid-19 and how bad it will get. As such,companies must consider how the world is changing and move towards strategic thinking. It is aboutmaking quality decisions, learning from history, and using foresight on what will be needed by thecompany to gain a competitive advantage.

Accepted Answer

The strategic planning is one of the most important step for any crisis management and it is a long…