business strategy
Business (or Strategic) management is the art, science, and craft of formulating, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that will enable an organization to achieve its long-term objectives. It is the process of specifying the organization's mission, vision and objectives, developing policies and plans, often in terms of projects and programs, which are designed to achieve these objectives, and then allocating resources to implement the policies and plans, projects and programs. Strategic management seeks to coordinate and integrate the activities of the various functional areas of a business in order to achieve long-term organizational objectives. A balanced scorecard is often used to evaluate the overall performance of the business and its progress towards objectives. Strategic management is the highest level of managerial activity.
Strategies are typically planned, crafted or guided by the Chief Executive Officer, approved or authorized by the Board of directors, and then implemented under the supervision of the organization's top management team or senior executives. Strategic management provides overall direction to the enterprise and is closely related to the field of Organization Studies.
In the field of business administration it is useful to talk about "strategic alignment" between the organization and its environment or "strategic consistency". According to Arieu , "there is strategic consistency when the actions of an organization are consistent with the expectations of management, and these in turn are with the market and the context." Before reading the rest, it is recommended that An Overview of Strategic Planning be read. General Business Management The Three Processes of Strategy Approaches to Strategic Management History of Business Management until the 1970s The Japanese Challenge Gaining Competitive Advantage Strategic Change in the 1990s Information- and Technology-Driven Strategy The Psychology of Business Management Failure of Strategy Limitations of Business Management Business Planning Business Plans Marketing Plans and Strategies The content of this Wikibook was originally found on Wikipedia, but moved due to various requests and because Wikibooks is a better location for the information. Theunixgeek (talk) 20:45, 25 February 2009 (UTC)
There are at least three basic kinds of strategy with which people must concern themselves in the world of business: just plain strategy or strategy in general, corporate strategy, and competitive strategy. The purposes of this article are to clarify the differences between and among these three kinds of strategy and to provide some questions useful in thinking about all three.
First, I recommend “Understanding Michael Porter: The Essential Guide to Competition and Strategy“ by Joan Magretta. It covers all the strategy essentials developed by Michael Porter. And, you have all the great ideas from Porter (types of business strategy, 5 forces, competitive advantage example, ….) in one book that reads easy. (Although some of the strategy content will be challenging if you don’t have a background in business strategy)
Once the strategy is determined, various goals and measures may be established to chart a course for the organization, measure performance and control implementation of the strategy. Tools such as the balanced scorecard and strategy maps help crystallize the strategy, by relating key measures of success and performance to the strategy. These tools measure financial, marketing, production, organizational development, and innovation measures to achieve a 'balanced' perspective. Advances in information technology and data availability enable the gathering of more information about performance, allowing managers to take a much more analytical view of their business than before.
Corporate strategy defines the markets and the businesses in which a company will operate. Competitive or business strategy defines for a given business the basis on which it will compete. Corporate strategy is typically decided in the context of defining the company's mission and vision, that is, saying what the company does, why it exists, and what it is intended to become. Competitive strategy hinges on a company's capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses in relation to market characteristics and the corresponding capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses of its competitors.
Strategy, in general, refers to how a given objective will be achieved. Consequently, strategy in general is concerned with the relationships between ends and means, between the results we seek and the resources at our disposal. Strategy and tactics are both concerned with conceiving and then carrying out courses of action intended to attain particular objectives. For the most part, strategy is concerned with how you deploy or allocate the resources at your disposal whereas tactics is concerned with how you employ or make use of them. Together, strategy and tactics bridge the gap between ends and means.
In the 1980s business strategists realized that there was a vast knowledge base stretching back thousands of years that they had barely examined. They turned to military strategy for guidance. Military strategy books such as The Art of War by Sun Tzu, On War by von Clausewitz, and The Red Book by Mao Zedong became business classics. From Sun Tzu, they learned the tactical side of military strategy and specific tactical prescriptions. From von Clausewitz, they learned the dynamic and unpredictable nature of military action. From Mao, they learned the principles of guerrilla warfare. Important marketing warfare books include Business War Games by Barrie James, Marketing Warfare by Al Ries and Jack Trout and Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun by Wess Roberts.
Alfred Chandler recognized the importance of coordinating management activity under an all-encompassing strategy. Interactions between functions were typically handled by managers who relayed information back and forth between departments. Chandler stressed the importance of taking a long term perspective when looking to the future. In his 1962 ground breaking work Strategy and Structure, Chandler showed that a long-term coordinated strategy was necessary to give a company structure, direction and focus. He says it concisely, "structure follows strategy." Chandler wrote that:
There are at least three basic kinds of strategy with which people must concern themselves in the world of business: just plain strategy or strategy in general, corporate strategy, and competitive strategy. The purposes of this article are to clarify the differences between and among these three kinds of strategy and to provide some questions useful in thinking about all three.
First, I recommend “Understanding Michael Porter: The Essential Guide to Competition and Strategy“ by Joan Magretta. It covers all the strategy essentials developed by Michael Porter. And, you have all the great ideas from Porter (types of business strategy, 5 forces, competitive advantage example, ….) in one book that reads easy. (Although some of the strategy content will be challenging if you don’t have a background in business strategy)
Once the strategy is determined, various goals and measures may be established to chart a course for the organization, measure performance and control implementation of the strategy. Tools such as the balanced scorecard and strategy maps help crystallize the strategy, by relating key measures of success and performance to the strategy. These tools measure financial, marketing, production, organizational development, and innovation measures to achieve a 'balanced' perspective. Advances in information technology and data availability enable the gathering of more information about performance, allowing managers to take a much more analytical view of their business than before.
Corporate strategy defines the markets and the businesses in which a company will operate. Competitive or business strategy defines for a given business the basis on which it will compete. Corporate strategy is typically decided in the context of defining the company's mission and vision, that is, saying what the company does, why it exists, and what it is intended to become. Competitive strategy hinges on a company's capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses in relation to market characteristics and the corresponding capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses of its competitors.
Strategy, in general, refers to how a given objective will be achieved. Consequently, strategy in general is concerned with the relationships between ends and means, between the results we seek and the resources at our disposal. Strategy and tactics are both concerned with conceiving and then carrying out courses of action intended to attain particular objectives. For the most part, strategy is concerned with how you deploy or allocate the resources at your disposal whereas tactics is concerned with how you employ or make use of them. Together, strategy and tactics bridge the gap between ends and means.
In the 1980s business strategists realized that there was a vast knowledge base stretching back thousands of years that they had barely examined. They turned to military strategy for guidance. Military strategy books such as The Art of War by Sun Tzu, On War by von Clausewitz, and The Red Book by Mao Zedong became business classics. From Sun Tzu, they learned the tactical side of military strategy and specific tactical prescriptions. From von Clausewitz, they learned the dynamic and unpredictable nature of military action. From Mao, they learned the principles of guerrilla warfare. Important marketing warfare books include Business War Games by Barrie James, Marketing Warfare by Al Ries and Jack Trout and Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun by Wess Roberts.
Alfred Chandler recognized the importance of coordinating management activity under an all-encompassing strategy. Interactions between functions were typically handled by managers who relayed information back and forth between departments. Chandler stressed the importance of taking a long term perspective when looking to the future. In his 1962 ground breaking work Strategy and Structure, Chandler showed that a long-term coordinated strategy was necessary to give a company structure, direction and focus. He says it concisely, "structure follows strategy." Chandler wrote that:
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