Strategic Management Report: Approaches, Strategies, and Examples

This report delves into the realm of strategic management, exploring diverse approaches crucial for business success. It begins by defining strategic management and its significance in organizational development, emphasizing the formulation, implementation, and evolution of business strategies. The report then dissects three pivotal approaches: the stakeholder approach, which underscores the importance of considering various stakeholders beyond shareholders, dynamic capabilities, which focuses on adapting to environmental changes, and the sustainability approach, which integrates ethical and environmental considerations into business operations. Each approach is elucidated with real-world examples, such as the Toyota case study illustrating the stakeholder approach and Apple and IBM exemplifying dynamic capabilities. The report concludes by highlighting the interconnectedness of these approaches and their collective role in achieving sustainable competitive advantage and organizational goals. The report provides a comprehensive overview of strategic management principles, offering valuable insights for understanding and implementing effective business strategies.

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Executive Summary
The report aims at explaining the strategic management policies and the approaches that
include the evolution of the strategies of the concerned company. These set of strategies help
a company or a business firm in taking the right decision and helps in the sustainability of the
firm and its resources in the market by outnumbering the competitors present in the market.
This report gives a detailed view of the viabilities of the different approach and the
limitations and explains the approaches to strategic management with proper examples for the
better understanding.

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Table of Contents
1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................3
2 The different approaches to strategic management.................................................................4
2.1 Stakeholder’s approach....................................................................................................4
2.2 Dynamic capabilities........................................................................................................6
2.3 Sustainability approach....................................................................................................7
3 Conclusion...............................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................11

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1 Introduction
Strategic management and planning is the procedure through which the organization
tends to formulate, develop and implement plans in order to adopt and define the goals and
objectives of the organization by which the company can evolve and expand (Hill, Jones and
Schilling 2014). It is a corporate managerial practice, which undertakes a set of processes
and defines the range of the strategies to be taken in order to excel in the market and in
achieving the common goals of the organization.
The modern and the most common strategy that is undertaken by most of the
organizations is the linear strategy. The strategy helps in defining the goals of the company
and enumerates the steps involved in achieving the goals. The strategy helps the owners and
the board members to come up with ideas to outnumber the competitors and thereby achieve
the common goal of the company (Farkas 2016). It helps in the systematic functioning of the
company by helping them in determining the goals of the company, take up initiatives to
fulfill the ideas and attempts by which the common goal can be achieved and finally the
proper allocation of the resources. The strategy is considered the most consistent and that it
has a long planning term.
Although the strategic management has a systematic managerial approach, a certain
set of limitations are viable for the company undertaking the systematic approach for their
undertakings. The strategic management and marketing is an analysis, which is based on
approximate values (Durand, Grant and Madsen 2017). Therefore, the company assuming the
conditions and the factors of risk might not work accordingly. Moreover, the strategies being
undertaken might be expensive, and so the expense is a considerable factor that depends on
the managerial and financial condition of the firm. Apart from these limitations, there is
another limiting factor in the path of the strategic management, which evolves when the

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entrepreneur desires short term but immediate results (Wheelen and Hunger 2017). There are
times when the firm might require fast remedies in order to sustain its existence, and in those
cases, the systematic and strategic management laws cannot be applied.
2 The different approaches to strategic management
Strategic management is an important step in managing the effectiveness of the
processes of the business firm. Moreover, the measures that is undertaken in the process helps
in the decision-making functions of the firm. The two major processes involved in the
strategic management are the planning and the implementation of the plans according to the
requirements of the firm (Andersen and Andersson 2017). The functions that the firm
undertakes in order to Make its progress is considered to be coming under ‘operations
management’ which comes into existence after the proper implementation of the strategic
management principles in a business firm.
There are different aspects and approaches to strategic management that has been
discussed in the subsections that follows. It gives a clear view of the concepts of strategic
management and its way of undermining the limitations to export trade.
2.1 Stakeholder’s approach
The stakeholder’s approach to strategic management addresses the morals and values
that a company or a firm must consider while undertaking the export functions and for the
proper management of the organization (Weiss 2014). It recommends the methods of
management through which interests of the groups can be be safeguarded. The stakeholder
theory opposes the notion, which suggests that the owner or the shareholders are the all in all
of the company. Stakeholder theory considers the other elements in the organization
(Bonnafous-Boucher and Rendtorff 2016). To be more lucid- the employees, communities,
government intervention, finance, political groups, trade union, trade associations and

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customers, are the factors, which must be considered in maintaining an effective framework
of the management functions planned by the company. Considering these elements as the
nurturing factors, a company must modify steps for safeguarding the elements and keep the
process service oriented (van Offenbeek and Vos 2016). A shareholder or an owner cannot
run the company without these resources, and so the shareholder must not only consider the
factors that help in the process of effective management.
Competitors are at times considered as the stakeholders as they influence the capacity
of the firm and the shareholders. The sales and the productivity depend on the intervention of
the competitors in the market and the availability of the product in the market (Boiral and
Heras-Saizarbitoria 2017). Therefore, the competitors are often taken as the stakeholders of
the firm due to their influences.
In order to cite an example for the approach for the clear understanding, a research-
based report is being presented in order to make the point clear as to the stakeholder theory of
the strategic planning. Toyota incurred a financial penalty from the US transportation safety
agency as the company hid a brake pedal malfunctioning report. Now, every multinationals
must consider the stakeholders approach in order to make the commodity or the service safe
for the consumers (Seuring 2013). In this case, the automobile company could have
contacted the stakeholders and could have fixed the issues in the brake pedal. Public safety is
a major issue that all automobile companies must undertake and monitor, failing to do which
might bring down the performance regarding the sale of the commodity.
The stakeholders approach not only permits a resource-based view but also facilitates
a market-based analysis in order to make the management more comprehensive and effective
at the same time. It also helps in determining the political criteria and focuses on the
allocation of the resources and the proper functioning of the firm.

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2.2 Dynamic capabilities
Dynamic capabilities of an organization or a firm refer to the methods of the creation
of resources and facilitating them in an organized manner in order to make the business
process run smoothly (Kevill, Trehan and Easterby-Smith 2017). It is the approach through
which the business organization can be made sustainable coping up with the rapid
environmental changes or the sudden emergence of a technology or the behavioral changes of
the consumer, which might take over the market. It is like keeping a record of the current
ongoing trends in the market making them useful and resourceful in defining the company’s
own set of functions (Peppard and Ward 2016). It helps in determining the company’s
competitive demand, which helps in ensuring the sustainability of the company and the
products it manufactures.
The approach includes the identification of the company’s new opportunities in order
to make it growing and expanding depending on the needs and the type of services or the
product that the company manufactures (Machado and Davim 2016). The dynamic
capabilities of a company can be termed under the potentiality of a company to integrate and
build external and internal factors in the environment that affects the trade of the company in
order to avoid the limitations to strategic management.
An example of the functioning of the dynamic capabilities have been cited in this
section for the better understanding and its function in the effectiveness of the strategic
management that the company might undertake in overcoming the obstacles relating to the
management of the organization and the proper marketing of the products. Apple and IBM
are the two companies that can be cited as the best examples while explaining the
effectiveness of the above-explained approach (Teece 2017). Apple, not being a
technological leader in the market has made an amazing advancement in building the brand
loyalty among its consumers and laterally holds on to the same. The success depends on the

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ability to define the path of dependence that the company holds. Companies that hold higher
path dependence are affected by the limitations that hold the company from changing its
course of action even with the changing trends of the world and the customs. The company
cannot define the consumer needs and requirements in order to make the change possible in
their profile. Throughout the process, the company is unable to take steps n order to change
the possibilities and adapt to the environment around.
2.3 Sustainability approach
Strategic management includes a sustainability approach through which the course of
actions of the company or the business organization can be effectively monitored. The
effects of the sustainable approach on proper management of the organization or the business
firm enhances in determining the organizational goals, the internal incentives being
outsourced by the firm and the evaluation systems and the systems that help in the decision
making process of the organization (Adams et al. 2016). It is a result of natural evolution of
the management goals and the implementation of the same in order to make advancements in
the business that the firm undertakes. It cannot be separated thus from the strategy that is
being undertaken by the firm. The approach not only helps in bringing about a change in the
perspective and the perception of the decision making process of the company but also
indicates the need for the integration being undertaken by the company.
The central idea of the sustainable approach to management and development that
follows the managerial functions has been present in the systems since a long time. At certain
levels, the execution plans are reported to be unsatisfactory and unproductive; therefore
undertaking systematic and strategic practices of management is an important criterion in the
proper management of the company or the business firm in order to keep up with the market
(Missimer, Robèrt and Broman 2017). Due to these shortcomings, the sustainability approach

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has been incorporated in the systems b proper implementation and planning the strategies of a
holistic management therapy for the business organization.
Every business undertaking must adopt a sustainable approach through which they
can survive the market conditions and adopt to the changes that is evolving in the market. It
includes the research on the competitors and formulates strategies in order to make their
company policies more comprehensive and systematic (Huy, Sonenshein and Bresman 2016).
A systematic approach to the management functions helps in the effective monitoring of the
business processes and helps in evolving new ideas through which the company can strive to
be expanded. The sustainable approach helps a company in taking decisions that are ethical
with the incorporation of the corporate values and culture.
In order to explain the sustainability approach of the strategic management an
example has been cited in this section. The Formway furniture, a Wellington based furniture-
manufacturing company, is an important example of how corporate commitment and strategic
planning can be undertaken in order to make an improvement in the business concern. The
company undertakes worldwide exports and therefore it formulated a number of
sustainability measures and undertaken strategic planning in order to make the company more
comprehensive and makes sure that the activities, which the company undertakes, are
systematic (Formentini and Taticchi 2016). They have applied strategic planning in their
management, which helped them in evolving and expanding their company and include them
in the activities of the world trade. All that is manufactured by a company has an
environmental impact and office furniture was no exception to this criterion.
The production of the commodities by the company includes the usage of wood and
steel and other synthetic based materials from the environment. The company has undertaken
steps in order to reduce harmful emissions of chemicals and solid waste into the environment

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through the involvement of strategies and proper measures (Eden and Ackermann 2013). The
sustainability approach of strategic management includes a company’s role in maintaining the
environmental balance and adhering to the measures that are being undertaken in the proper
maintenance. The company has enjoyed a reputation of being an innovative company,
looking out for steps that might be undertaken for its sustainable growth, considering the
environmental factors as well.
3 Conclusion
Therefore, from the above analysis it may be concluded that undertaking a strategic
management procedure helps in the systematic and comprehensive management through
which the business concern can achieve its long and short-term goals and expand according
to the requirements and the capabilities of the entrepreneur. In addition to the other
advantages of strategic planning and management, it helps in outnumbering the competitors
of the company.
The viability of the approaches influences in undertaking the strategic management
helps the company or the business firm in order to improve their course of action, making the
most out of their possibilities, and cope up with the market conditions and in outnumbering
their competitors successfully (Trigeorgis and Reuer 2017). The stakeholder’s approach is a
considerable step in order to maintain the elements that are involved in the proper monitoring
and in undertaking the probable course of action in a daily basis. This approach not only
gives importance to the entrepreneur or the owner of the business, but also it considers the
employees, the financial, and the environmental factors without which the production process
is incomplete. In order to maintain the proper balance between the elements and factors of
production, the stakeholder’s approach is applied.

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On the other hand, the dynamic approach to strategic management involves the
proper allocation of the resources and an organized handling of the resources in order to
understand the potentiality of the company integrating the external and internal factors that
includes in the process of production and distribution of the commodities by the concerned
company. The viability of considering the dynamic capabilities of a company helps in the
understanding of the company’s holdings. It helps in determining the company’s issues
regarding the varied situations that might arise out of the changes in the external and internal
environment and synchronizing the factors in order to formulate a set of strategies for the
effective management.
Whereas, the sustainability approach of a business concern correlates to the
company’s concern about the environment in which the company undertakes its functions.
The company must take steps for maintaining the environmental balance, which is a social
responsibility of the company.
Implementation of the approaches to the strategic management helps the company in
covering the long and short-term objectives. Implementation is an important factor, as meager
planning will never help in improving the situation of the company. The company might face
a certain issues in implementing the strategic management. The considerable issues might
amount to the establishment of the annual objectives and goals on which the organization
aims at and the resources being allocated, restructuring procedures in order to make the
processes a bit more comprehensive and systematic.
The limitations of implementing strategic management in a company’s course of
action help in considering the policies to the depth of the resource and the planning
procedures undertaken by the company. Strategic management aims at long term objectives
in order to increase their rate of capabilities and opportunities and to win over the

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competitors. The process of evaluating the company’s situation in the current market being
complex and time consuming and as they are difficult to implement at times it is tough for the
companies to adapt to the strategic management practices. Moreover, it includes proper and
systematic planning in order to make the desired advancements of the company.
References
Adams, R., Jeanrenaud, S., Bessant, J., Denyer, D. and Overy, P., 2016. Sustainability‐
oriented innovation: a systematic review. International Journal of Management
Reviews, 18(2), pp.180-205.
Andersen, T.J. and Andersson, U., 2017. Multinational Corporate Strategy-Making:
Integrating International Business and Strategic Management. In The Responsive Global
Organization: New Insights from Global Strategy and International Business (pp. 13-34).
Emerald Publishing Limited.
Boiral, O. and Heras-Saizarbitoria, I., 2017. Managing biodiversity through stakeholder
involvement: why, who, and for what Initiatives?. Journal of Business Ethics, 140(3),
pp.403-421.
Bonnafous-Boucher, M. and Rendtorff, J.D., 2016. Stakeholder Theory: A Model for
Strategic Management. Springer International Publishing.
Durand, R., Grant, R.M. and Madsen, T.L., 2017. The expanding domain of strategic
management research and the quest for integration. Strategic Management Journal, 38(1),
pp.4-16.