According to Lazenby, 2019, the main goal of strategic management is to strategically position the

organization for future success. Strategic management is the process of analyzing both internal and
external factors to establish strategic goals and create strategies that align with the organization's
vision and mission,(Lazenby, 2019). These strategies are then carried out through coordinated efforts
within different functional areas in order to achieve the organization's strategic goals and ultimately
gain a competitive edge. Strategic management focuses on the future direction decisions that an
organization needs to make, (Lazenby, 2019). A value-creating strategy that is effectively developed
and implemented by an organization will lead to strategic competitiveness. Analyzing the definitions
of strategic management, it is clear that various responsibilities can be distinguished:

 Formulating a strategic vision, mission and values, indicating the long direction of the
organisation.
 Identifying resources and capabilities through internal environmental analysis
 Analysing external environments to identify challenges and opportunities of the organisation.
 Identifying long term goals and the most applicable strategies to deliver value to the
stakeholders.
 Coordinating and integrating the efforts of people, structures, technologies and allocated
resources to implement the identified strategies.
 Evaluating the success and implementation of the strategic choices through strategic control
and evaluation. (Lazenby, 2019).

Strategic management plays an important role in the effectiveness of any business. It involves the
process of setting objectives, crafting strategy, implementing and executing strategy and evaluating
performance and initiating corrective adjustments. It’s an ongoing, dynamic process that requires
continuous monitoring and continual improvement.

Strategic management is essential as it provides a sense of direction and purpose. Without a clear
strategy a business may struggle with meeting the organisations objectives, problems growing its
business, leading to inefficiency and lack on competitive advantage. A well define strategy allows the
organization to direct its resources and effort toward specific goals and objectives, resulting in
improved performance and results, (Lazenby, 2019).

Strategic management, assist to identify and take advantage of opportunities while reducing potential
risks. Strategic management involves an in-depth analysis of an entity’s environment, both internally
and externally, to identify strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Strategic management
then develops strategies that capitalize on the entity’s strengths and opportunities, while addressing
weaknesses and threats, allowing the entity to remain competitive and adjust to evolving market
conditions, thereby improving overall effectiveness.
In addition, strategic management encourages harmonization and coordination within an entity. Its
involves setting clear objectives that are communicated and understood by the whole organisation.
This alignment helps to ensure that everyone is working towards the same goals, preventing conflicts
and encouraging cooperation. Coordination and harmonization of resources also play an important
role in the entity's effectiveness. Strategic management helps to ensure that resources are used in the
most effective and efficient way possible, (Thompson et al., 2014).

Literature indicates that the growth of the strategic management concept is impacted by the rise in
competition, innovation, and focus on customer needs. A company's strategy is the blueprint that
management uses to position the company in its chosen market in order to effectively compete, meet
customer needs, and achieve strong performance, (Thompson et al., 2014). Due to the speed of
transformation, the strategy's development and execution phases need to be closely aligned. To
maintain flexibility, the strategy is constantly reviewed in response to new developments and
implementation challenges.

Benefits of strategic management

During the strategic management process, a key benefit is that employees at various levels of the
organization collaborate and engage in developing and executing the strategy. Strategic management
helps all employees gain a clearer understanding of the organization's goals, which in turn improves
communication effectiveness. Overall, the benefits can be divided into financial and non-financial
benefits. Organizations that implement strategic management concepts experience an improvement in
their financial performance. With reference to non-financial benefits, some tangible advantages can be
mentioned, like an increased awareness of threats and opportunities in the external environment, an
increase in productivity and reduced resistant from employees because they have a clearer
understanding of what is happening in the organisation, (Lazenby, 2019).

(Hough,Thomson, Strickland & Gamble, 2015).

According to Lazenby, 2019, the following strategic management benefits can be mentioned:

 Problems are prevented. Strategy development enhances the organisations ability to prevent
problems by encouraging employees to pay attention to planning and to flag potential
problems.

 Group based decisions are better than individual decisions. As a result of group
interaction within the strategy development process, more strategic options are created.
Group-based decisions can lead to the best option being selected.

 The organisation experiences higher productivity. The goal of an organization is to convert

inputs into outputs with maximum efficiency and effectiveness. Strategic management helps
to optimize resources leading to improved outcomes. Strategic management improves
resource allocation by ensuring that resources are assigned and utilized in a way that
maximizes their impact.

 Communication is improved across the different organisational functions.

Communication plays an essential role in all types of organisations. The strategic
management decisions and objectives that are communicated to employees help them
 understand what needs to be accomplished. Employees will then collaborate to meet these
strategic objectives.

 Gaps and overlaps in activities are reduced. This can be one of the direct benefits of
strategic management, provided it’s managed properly. It helps individuals and teams to
understand their part in the strategic management process, reducing the overlap and gaps in
their day-to-day work. Strategic management integrates the behaviour of employees together
as a collective effort.

 Resistance to change is reduces. Employees are aware of where the organisation is going
and why they need to do things a certain way. Being more aware of the factors that influence
their choices and actions helps them to be less resistant to change and to develop a more
positive attitude towards change.

 Commitment is improved. Having effective strategic management ensures that every

employee in the organization recognizes the significance of their role in strategic
management.

 Management is enabled to think forward. This is possibly one of the key advantages of
strategic management, as it motivates management to adopt a more structured and formal
approach when planning for the future. It also assists in guiding all decisions to align with the
established goals.

Strategic management involves integrating organizational functions and resources to implement

strategies for long-term goals, gaining competitive advantage, and creating value for stakeholders.
Lazenby, 2019, argues that Competitive advantage is crucial for an organization's strategy and
profitability. An important term in strategic management is “competitive advantage,” which is
described as the ability to meet customer needs more effectively and as an organization's advantage
over other organizations. Lazenby, 2019, emphasize the importance of a company's sustainable
competitive advantage for its strategy and future profitability, as it is temporary in today's modern
business environment.

The strategic management process

Five main stages of the strategic management process. These are explained in more detail below.
The strategic management process (The strategic foundations)

 Strategic vision. A strategic vision thus points an organization in a particular direction, charts
a strategic path for it to follow, builds commitment to the future course of action, and moulds
organizational identity. A clearly articulated strategic vision communicates management’s
aspirations to stakeholders. For a strategic vision to function as a valuable management tool,
it must convey what top executives want the business to look like and provide managers at all
organizational levels with a reference point in making strategic decisions and preparing the
company for the future. It must say something definitive about how the company’s leaders
intend to position the company beyond where it is today.

 Strategic Mission: The mission statement defines the current state of an organisation; that is
“who we are” and “why we are here.

 Setting objectives: Objectives are an organization’s performance targets—the specific results

management wants to achieve. The managerial purpose of setting objectives is to convert the
vision and mission into specific performance targets. Objectives reflect management’s
aspirations for company performance in light of the industry’s prevailing economic and
competitive conditions and the company’s internal capabilities. Well-stated objectives must
be specific, quantifiable or measurable, and challenging and must contain a deadline for
achievement. Concrete, measurable objectives are managerially valuable for three reasons:
(1) They focus organizational attention and align actions throughout the organization,
(2) they serve as yardsticks for tracking a company’s performance and progress, and
(3) they motivate employees to expend greater effort and perform at a high level.

 Crafting a strategy: the task of stitching a strategy together entails addressing a series of
“hows”: how to attract and please customers, how to compete against rivals, how to position
the company in the marketplace, how to respond to changing market conditions, how to
 capitalize on attractive opportunities to grow the business, and how to achieve strategic and
financial objectives. Astute entrepreneurship is called for in choosing among the various
strategic alternatives and in proactively searching for opportunities to do new things or to do
existing things in new or better ways. The faster a company’s business environment is
changing, the more critical it becomes for its managers to be good entrepreneurs in
diagnosing the direction and force of the changes under way and in responding with timely
adjustments in strategy.

 Implementing and Executing the strategy: Managing the implementation of a strategy is

easily the most demanding and time-consuming part of the strategy management process.
Converting strategic plans into actions and results tests a manager’s ability to direct
organizational change, motivate employees, build and strengthen competitive capabilities,
create and nurture a strategy-supportive work climate, and meet or beat performance targets.
Initiatives to put the strategy in place and execute it proficiently must be launched and
managed on many organizational fronts.

 Evaluating performance and initiating corrective adjustments: The fifth component of

the strategy management process—monitoring new external developments, evaluating the
company’s progress, and making corrective adjustments— is the trigger point for deciding
whether to continue or change the company’s vision and mission, objectives, strategy, and/or
strategy execution methods. As long as the company’s strategy continues to pass the three
tests of a winning strategy, good fit, competitive advantage, strong performance, company
executives may decide to stay the course. Simply fine-tuning the strategic plan and continuing
with efforts to improve strategy execution are sufficient. But whenever a company encounters
disruptive changes in its environment, questions need to be raised about the appropriateness
of its direction and strategy.

Recommendations to improve effectiveness.

There are several recommendations to improve an organization’s performance through strategic
management. It is crucial for the entire organization to be engaged in the strategic planning process
from the start. Every department and employees within the company should participate and play a role
in the strategic management process. By involving all stakeholders, different perspectives and ideas
can be considers, resulting in better decisions and a more holistic strategy.

It is essential for the organization to foster a culture that encourages innovation and flexibility. This
entails motivating employees to think innovatively and adapt to change, which is crucial for the
success of the strategic plan. This will help the organisation stay ahead of the competition and be able
to adjust to the ever-changing market.
Furthermore, it is important to regularly monitor and evaluate the strategic plan. As the business
environment is always evolving, it is crucial to regularly monitor new external developments and
assess the company's progress in order to make necessary adjustments. This ensure that the
organization remains current and competitive. Assessing whether to keep or revise the company's
vision, goals, and strategy is crucial. Good corporate governance requires an effective strategic
management process to be in place.

In conclusion, the role of strategic management in the effectiveness of an entity cannot be overstated.
It provides a clear direction, identifies opportunities and risks, promotes alignment and coordination,
and ensures efficient resource allocation. To improve effectiveness, it is crucial to involve all
stakeholders, regularly monitor and evaluate the strategic plan, and foster a culture of innovation and
adaptability. By implementing these recommendations, an entity can enhance its effectiveness and
achieve long-term success.