Strategic management is a form of management that allows businesses to evaluate their environment. It helps to identify strengths and weaknesses within the business. Identifying the weaknesses and strengths of an organization is one of the most important steps to be taken to make the future vision of that organization great and sustainable. Hence making arrangements, improvements and developments in this direction are among the most effective and positive decisions strategically.

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 compete and meet its long-term objectives.
The process helps organizations consider their present situation, develop action plans, deploy those plans and analyse and follow up for effectiveness. The process typically includes five basic stages 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.
Having a defined process for managing an organization’s strategies can help leadership make better decisions and develop new goals quickly to keep pace with evolving technology, market and business conditions improve its market share and plan for the future

What are the benefits of strategic management and Leadership
Strategic management offers financial and non-financial benefits. It helps an organization’s leadership better plan for the future and meet its long-term objectives. Strategic management also provides additional benefits include
• Clear vision for direction. Strategic management sets a direction for the organization and its personnel. It clarifies the organization’s mission and vision and helps it reach its goals. Resources and operations are prioritized based on those goals and planned with an eye toward the organization’s long-term objectives.
• Operational improvement. Strategic management helps to define a clear purpose and direction. The organization’s efforts are more cohesive because everyone is focused on the same objectives, with successes tracked and carefully measured. Strategic management also incorporates an objective review of internal operations, resulting in greater efficiency.
• Resource optimization. With strategic management, resources of all types are better planned and managed, resulting in more efficient resource utilization. Resource usage is also prioritized based on stated objectives and goals.
• Competitive advantage/Environment. The ongoing analysis of external forces makes it possible to respond to competitive threats more quickly and efficiently as well as capitalize on potential opportunities within the environment. The organization becomes more proactive in carrying out business, potentially increasing its market share and profitability.
• Sustainable growth and development. Strategic management requires the analysis of internal and external forces. The analysis includes a wide range of factors, from social to environmental, and economic landscape. This process can help mitigate risks and make it easier to adapt to market changes while improving the overall decision-making process.
Unlike once-and-done strategic plans, effective strategic management requires continuous planning, monitoring and testing of an organization’s processes and resource utilization.
Steps in the Strategic Management Process
There are many schools of thought on how to implement strategic management. Academics and managers have developed numerous frameworks to guide the strategic management process. Despite the differences, the process typically includes five stages:
1. Identify direction. Assess the organization’s current strategic direction. Identify its mission and long-term vision along with its objectives and goals. Leadership should be able to clearly articulate what the organization is trying to achieve.
2. Analyze the environment. Identify and analyze factors in the internal and external environments. Use tools such as SWOT analysis to examine the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in those environments.
3. Develop strategy. Formulate an action plan that defines how the organization will reach its goals and the resources to get there, considering what was learned from the analysis stage. Also, establish performance metrics that measure success.
4. Execute strategy. Put the plan into action using the resources defined in the previous step. Strong leadership and clear communication are essential. Each phase of the plan’s execution should be carefully monitored, with issues addressed as they arise.
5. Evaluate implementation. Continuously assess various aspects of the plan to determine how successful each one has been using the performance metrics identified in the development stage. Adjust the strategy if the desired results have not been achieved.
Effective communication, data collection and organizational culture also play important roles in the strategic management process, especially in large, complex organizations. Lack of communication and a negative corporate culture can result in a misalignment of the organization’s strategic management plan and the activities undertaken by its various business units and departments. Leaders should also assess cross-functional business decisions prior to implementing them to ensure they are aligned with strategic plans.
A SWOT analysis is a method organizations use to evaluate internal and external environments when planning their business strategies. The analysis identifies strengths and weaknesses of the organization’s internal business environment as well as the opportunities and threats in the external environment.
The analysis examines and compares the internal strengths and weaknesses to the external opportunities and threats. It also identifies internal and external factors that can impact the organization’s goals and objectives.
The strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) Analysis helps leadership determine whether the organization’s resources and strategies will be effective in the competitive environment and remain successful in this environment. By performing a SWOT analysis, an organization can implement a strategic management plan that considers both internal and external factors that can influence the business strategy.

Source: techtarget