Strategic management is a field that deals with the major intended and
emergent initiatives taken by general managers on behalf of owners,
involving utilization of resources, to enhance the performance of firms
in their external environments.[1] It entails 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. A balanced scorecard is
often used to evaluate the overall performance of the business and its
progress towards objectives. Recent studies and leading management
theorists have advocated that strategy needs to start with stakeholders
expectations and use a modified balanced scorecard which includes all
stakeholders.
Strategic management is a level of managerial activity under setting
goals and over Tactics. 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 (2007), "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." Strategic management includes not only the
management team but can also include the Board of Directors and other
stakeholders of the organization. It depends on the organizational
structure.
“Strategic management is an ongoing process that evaluates and
controls the business and the industries in which the company is
involved; assesses its competitors and sets goals and strategies to meet
all existing and potential competitors; and then reassesses each
strategy annually or quarterly [i.e. regularly] to determine how it has
been implemented and whether it has succeeded or needs replacement by a
new strategy to meet changed circumstances, new technology, new
competitors, a new economic environment., or a new social, financial, or
political environment.
