Strategic Management

One aspect of today's world is the constancy of change. Each business must first accept this, then face its effect, predict its impact, and plan how to adapt and use change to its benefit. Expanding technologies, global markets, and an increasing number of businesses provide for a keener competition for any one firm. Ongoing planning is a primary tool for understanding this competition and creating advantageous situations whereby the business can successfully compete and remain financially sound. Critical to success is identifying the business's core competencies and then leveraging them to gain a long-term sustainable advantage over their competition and provide superior value to their customers. As businesses grow and evolve it will be critical that they recognize and leverage the key assets of the organization. The reality is that the intellectual capital of the owner(s) and employees of the business may be more valuable than any tangible assets.

The importance of planning cannot be emphasized enough for any business. Planning forces an organization and its management to look ahead, evaluate, and define itself, its products, and services. Planning is one of the primary functions of management and tends to be one of the most difficult activities to establish as a systematic, routine process of the organization. Studies have shown that the failure to follow a systematic planning process is one of the main reasons businesses fail.

The planning process for a small business differs from a large corporation in its scope, length of time, and in the planning structure. For the small business owner/manager the process of planning, although considered essential, is also often neglected and considered to be very difficult. The reasons are many and different for each business but there are several reasons that stand out: 1) The overwhelming stress of day-to-day operational activities leaves little time or energy for planning; 2) many small business owner/managers do not have the skills and knowledge needed for effective planning; and 3) many are afraid of the problems planning will disclose and the resources necessary to deal with these problems. The final step in the strategic planning process is developing a set of controls to compare actual performance with stated goals and objectives. Small businesses must regularly revisit their strategic plan and recognize the need to be flexible and respond appropriately to environmental changes and shifts in customer expectations.

Lesson Assignment

Please answer the questions (in discussion form unless otherwise indicated; be sure to read the Syllabus for more explanation of course objectives and expectations).