Strategic Management

Strategic management is the ongoing planning, monitoring, analysis, and assessment of the resources and processes an organization should have in place to meet its goals and objectives. Because business environments are dynamic, an organization must constantly assess its strategies to stay competitive and meet its long-term objectives. The strategic management process helps organizations consider their present situation, develop action plans, deploy those plans, and analyze their effectiveness. The process typically includes five basic stages, but the goals and outcomes can vary significantly depending on an organization's goals as well as its internal and external environments. Strategic management enables an organization to have a clear understanding of its mission, its vision for where it wants to be in the future, and the values that will guide its actions. The process requires a commitment to strategic planning, which is a subset of business management that requires an organization to identify its short- and long-term goals. Strategic planning also includes the planning of the processes and resources needed to achieve those goals.