What Is International Strategic Management Critically Examine the Course of Strategic Decision Making, Identifying the Types, Processes and Implication for Managers free essay sample

1. 0Definition: International Strategic Management is a planning process of developing international strategy in the direction of achieving strategic-fit between the organisations competence resources and the global environment under which it tends to operate. It is an ongoing process that adhere an organization to compete in an international scenario. International Strategic Management (ISM) is an ongoing management planning process aimed at developing strategies to allow an organization to expand abroad and compete internationally. Strategic planning is used in the process of developing a particular international strategy. An organization must be able to determine what products or services they intend to sell, where and how the organization will make these products or services, where they will sell them, and how the organization will acquire the necessary resources for these tasks. Even more importantly an organization must have a strategy on how it expects to outperform its competitors. 2. 00The Course of Strategic Decision Making, the Types processes and Implication for the Managers 2. We will write a custom essay sample on What Is International Strategic Management? Critically Examine the Course of Strategic Decision Making, Identifying the Types, Processes and Implication for Managers or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page 01Course of Strategic Decision Making: Strategy formulation is the process of deciding best course of action for accomplishing organizational objectives and hence achieving organizational purpose. After conducting environment scanning, managers formulate corporate, business and functional strategies The initial task in strategic management is typically the compilation and dissemination of a mission statement. This document outlines, in essence, the raison detre of an organization. Additionally, it specifies the scope of activities an organization wishes to undertake, coupled with the markets a firm wishes to serve. Following the devising of a mission statement, a firm would then undertake an environmental scanning within the purview of the statement. Strategic formation is a combination of three main processes which are as follows: †¢Performing a situation analysis, self-evaluation and competitor analysis: both internal and external; both micro-environmental and macro-environmental. †¢Concurrent with this assessment, objectives are set. These objectives should be parallel to a time-line; some are in the short-term and others on the long-term. This involves crafting vision statements (long term view of a possible future), mission statements (the role that the organization gives itself in society), overall corporate objectives (both financial and strategic), strategic business unit objectives (both financial and strategic), and tactical objectives 2. 02The Types processes and Implication for the Managers 2. 01Researchers since Mintzberg et al. have focused on identifying and describing the major categories or types of strategic decision processes. In perhaps the most extensive study of strategic decision processes to date, Hickson, Butler, Cray, Mallory, and Wilson (1986) examined 150 decision processes in British organizations and developed a typology which included three basic types of processes; fluid, constricted, and sporadic. (i)A fluid decision process is one that is steadily paced, formally channeled, and speedy. (ii)A constricted process is one that is narrowly channeled. It is moderately restricted in terms of the effort made to obtain information and in terms of the number of organizational members who participate in the decision. iii)Finally, a sporadic process is one that is spasmodic, protracted, and contains many interrupts and recycles Furthermore, Hart (1992) synthesized earlier research on strategic decision models and developed his own integrative framework which included five styles of strategy making processes. (i)The command mode, in which strategy is driven by the organizations leader or by a small top m anagement team. (ii)The symbolic mode. In this mode, strategy is driven by the organizations mission and vision of the future. (iii)The rational mode, in which strategy is driven by formal structure and planning systems. iv)The transactive mode, strategy formulation is driven by internal processes and mutual adjustment. (v)The generative mode, strategy is most strongly influenced by the initiative of organizational actors. Strategic Decision Models and Characteristics For the past few decades, researchers have attempted to model the strategic decision process and identify the major types or categories of strategic decisions. This is a difficult task since strategic decisions are often described as unstructured, unprogrammed, and messy. Mintzberg, Raisinghani, and Theoret (1976) provided an early attempt at modeling the process of strategic decision making and identified three major phases with subroutines or subphases within each. These included the following: THE IDENTIFICATION PHASE 1. The Decision Recognition Routine: Opportunities, problems, and crises are recognized and evoke decisional activity. 2. The Diagnosis Routine: Information relevant to opportunities, problems, and crises is collected and problems are more clearly identified. THE DEVELOPMENT PHASE . The Search Routine: Organizational decision makers go through a number of activities to generate alternative solutions to problems. 4. The Design Routine: Ready-made solutions which have been identified are modified to fit the particular problem or new solutions are designed. THE SELECTION PHASE 5. The Screen Routine: This routine is activated when the search routine identifies more alternatives than can be intensively evaluated. Alternatives are quickly s canned and the most obviously infeasible are eliminated. 6. The Evaluation-Choice Routine: An alternative is chosen either through a process of analysis and judgment or a process of bargaining among decision makers. 7. The Authorization Routine: When the individual making the decision does not have the authority to commit the organization to a course of action, the decision must move up the organizational hierarchy until it reaches a level at which the necessary authority resides. Strategy Evaluation and choice An environmental scan will highlight all pertinent aspects that affect an organization, whether external or sector/industry-based. Such an occurrence will also uncover areas to capitalize on, in addition to areas in which expansion may be unwise. These options, once identified, have to be vetted and screened by an organization. In addition to ascertaining the suitability, feasibility and acceptability of an option, the actual modes of progress have to be determined. These pertain to: +Implication for Managers The strategic management process means defining the organization’s strategy. It is also defined as the process by which managers make a choice of a set f strategies for the organization that will enable it to achieve better performance. Strategic management is a continuous process that appraises the business and industries in which the organization is involved; appraises it’s competitors; and fixes goals to meet all the present and future competitor’s and then reassesses each strategy. Therefore, a manager with sound strategy that is result oriented, would not only perform well, by ensu ring that his organization compete creditable with other organization, but would also be promoted to a higher level, up to the chairman/chief executive of the organization.