Strategic Management Strategic Scanning and Learning

Question: Discuss about the case study Strategic Management for Strategic Scanning and Learning. Answer: Synopsis The article discusses the steps necessary for the strategic management of an organization. The role of strategy is described as the different roles in the organization carried out by the different elements that are part of the organization. To implement the strategic management in an organization there are some preliminary tasks have to be completed first which is mostly about gathering knowledge about the environment the organization operates in along with the condition of the organization itself. The environment analysis is portrayed as the necessary way of gathering said information which help in the strategic decision making process. The environment analysis is divided into two parts external environment analysis that concerns the market conditions and internal analysis that is based on the processes internal to the organization (Drejer, 2004). The external environment analysis is done with the help of tools like PESTLE analysis that analyses macro environmental factors, SWOT analysis that analyses the micro environmental factors and porters five forces analysis that investigates the industry and the competition. Although useful to the extreme, the external environment analysis can not detract from the importance of internal analysis that is necessary to get the full picture as the internal analysis provide information about the operation and performance efficiency of the organization. A change in an organization is dependent on the independence of new strategy from previous ones so the nature of change depends on the impact of the new strategy (Judge, 2011). Knowledge management is necessary for the plan to succeed as the decision making process depends upon the readily available information (Tobin, 1998). Critique The article is right about the importance of internal and external analysis on the strategic management and the maintenance of the knowledge management standards. However, the limitation of one type of analysis from the other and the different types of information about the market and the organization that can be found from the different sources is unclear. It is indistinct about the individual importance of the different types of analysis and their contribution to the overall strategic planning of the future steps of the management. The knowledge management standards of the country and the different ways the strategic planning can be affected by the analysis is given but again no single tool or process has not been separated in the article (Jashapara, 2011). The role of knowledge management is given in the article as examples but their complete scope is not demonstrated with examples. Reflection It is easy to understand that the author of the article was focusing on the basic information about a process that can be quite complex in case of a specific organization so the information that is provided are the bare minimum. The framework for strategic planning is provided which can help in the understanding of the full process of strategic management. However, the information provided is too basic and brief for practical implementation without any other supporting document. To reflect on the purpose of the article and its scope, it can be said that the basic guideline of strategic management has been provided for better understanding of the process. References Drejer, A. (2004).Strategic scanning and learning in the new competitive landscape. Aarhus: Department of Organization and Mangement, Faculty of Business Administration, The Aarhus School of Business. Jashapara, A. (2011).Knowledge management. Harlow, Essex: Pearson/Financial Times/Prentice Hall. Judge, W. (2011).Building organizational capacity for change. New York: Business Expert Press. Tobin, D. (1998).The knowledge-enabled organization. New York: Amacon.