General Management, Leadership, and Strategy

This chapter focuses on strategic management and its processes in terms of grand strategy and strategic planning, implementation, and control. Strategic management is the set of decisions and actions used to formulate and implement strategies that would provide a competitively superior fit between the organization and its environment to achieve organizational goals. The overall strategic management process begins when executives evaluate their current position with respect to the mission, goals, and strategies. Strategy formulation includes the planning and decision making that lead to the establishment of the firm's goals and the development of a specific strategic plan. Strategy implementation is essential for effective strategic management. Managers implement strategy through the tools of leadership, structural design, information and control systems, and human resources. The goal of a control system is to detect and correct problems in order to keep plans on target. The input to the strategic planning process is the strategic management process and the output of the strategic planning process is the development of a strategic plan.