How And What

Advantages and disadvantages of strategic planning

By: Joe David | Tags: Strategic Management

What is strategic planning? Strategic planning is very important as it charts the direction of an organisation. Organisations often engage in it in order to develop, implement and evaluate their strategies. Strategic planning refers to the decision-making and planning process that guides the long-term direction of an organisation (Plunkett & Attner, 1994). According to Martin (2014) strategic planning has three parts i.e. mission/vision statements, list of initiatives, and the conversion of the initiatives into financials. It is worth noting that, there are some advantages and disadvantages of strategic planning that […]

BCG matrix – definition and how to use BCG Matrix

By: M Rahman | Tags: Strategic Management

What is BCG matrix? BCG matrix is an important strategic planning tool. It was developed by Bruce D. Henderson for the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) in the early 1970’s. BCG Matrix helps companies manage a portfolio of different business units (or major product lines) as they sometimes face challenges to allocate resources among their strategic business units. It should be noted that BCG Matrix is also known as Growth-share matrix, Boston matrix, and Portfolio diagram. How does the BCG growth-share matrix work? The BCG matrix considers two variables i.e. relative […]

Strategic planning process

By: M Rahman | Tags: Strategic Management

Last updated: November 2016 What is strategic planning? Strategic planning is an important topic in strategic management. Organisations engage in strategic planning in order to develop, implement and evaluate their strategies. Strategic planning refers to the decision-making and planning process that guides the long-term direction of an organisation (Plunkett & Attner, 1994). The steps in strategic planning process Different writers have identified different stages in strategic planning. For example, Plunkett & Attner (1994) identified six stages which had subsequently been followed by many writers. The discussion that follows will focus […]

Difference between strategic risk and operational risk

By: M Rahman | Tags: Difference between strategic risk and operational risk

Difference between strategic risk and operational risk This article aims to identify the difference between strategic risk and operational risk. Risk management is a very important topic in both Strategic Management and Operations Management. A business may face different types of risk. Not all risks have an equal impact on the business. Therefore, it is important for managers to understand different types of risk. Definition of risk A risk usually refers to a situation that could be dangerous or have a bad outcome. It can also be defined as the […]

PESTEL analysis – definition of PESTEL analysis

By: M Rahman | Tags: Strategic Management, What is PESTEL analysis?

Last updated June 2016 Organisations need to carry out a situation analysis before making any strategic decisions. PESTEL is one the tools which many strategic planners find useful in situation analysis. It helps analysts understand external factors which may impact on the business. The discussion that follows focuses on what PESTEL analysis is and how it works. Brief history of PESTEL analysis PESTEL is also known as PEST, STEEPLE, SLEPT and PESTLE. It is very difficult to establish the true history of PESTEL analysis. However, according to Mind Tools (2016), […]

What is corporate strategy?

By: M Rahman | Tags: Strategic Management, What is corporate strategy?

Strategies are usually divided into three broad categories, namely corporate strategy, business strategy, and operational strategy. Corporate strategic decisions are taken by the highest level of management in an organisation. This mini article focuses on the concept of corporate strategy along with some examples. Definition of corporate strategy Corporate strategy is the direction a company takes with a view to achieving a long-term business success. According to Johnson, Scholes, and Whittington (2006) corporate level strategy is concerned with the overall scope of an organisation and how value will be added […]