Strategic Management Process Paper Mgt 498

Strategic Management Process Paper MGT 498 January 24, 2013 The long-term performance of a corporation is mostly reliant on managerial decisions and actions, which include internal and external environmental scanning, strategic formulation and implementation, evaluation, and control. All of these characteristics are relatable to the concept of strategic management, which emphasizes “the monitoring and evaluating of external opportunities and threats in light of a corporation’s strengths and weaknesses” (Wheelen, 2010).
The primary components of the strategic management process are environmental scanning, strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and evaluation and control. Environmental scanning is described to be “ the monitoring, evaluating, and disseminating of information from the external and internal environments to key people within the corporation” (Wheelen, 2010). Environmental scanning is usually used to classify strategic influences that will control the future of the corporation.
Strategy formulation is the act of developing long-term plans for the future of a corporation by using the corporation’s strengthens, and weaknesses, for the effective handling of environmental opportunities and threats. Strategy implementation is the putting in action of the strategies formulated by a corporation. Lastly, evaluation and control includes the monitoring of corporate activities and performance in order to compare the actual results, to the ones that are set as goals.

Strategic management helps a company sustain long-term performance. For companies that do not practice strategic management, it is very hard to attain and to sustain long-term performance. Most companies when they have finally attained a high performance level will soon experience a decrease in their performance. Strategic management will help a company understand, and realize that the environment around them is constantly changing, and evolving.
It also helps a company focus on the strategies that are important and beneficial, which altogether helps in building a better understanding of strategies in regards to the corporation. Transportation is known to be an essential tool when it comes to a business, but transportation companies such as British Airways is also corporation that uses strategic management to further its success. One strategy that is used by British Airways is the merging of other airlines into one. In 1935, airlines in Britain merged together and formed British Airways Ltd. and in 1974 other airlines were also combined and finally formed British Airways (Knight, 2008). The main point of merging was being able to access a larger market and establishing a means of long-term profitability. In regards to airlines, quality is a very important factor and it determines the success of an airline. New innovations, and changes are important factors in which British Airways demonstrated these factors by being the first airline to operate weather-beating auto landings, offer jet passenger services and fully-flat beds (Knight, 2008).
Lastly, British Airways in 2005 decided to work with Cisco and Prime in order to improve communications, in which the system allows all voice and data communications onto a single network while reducing costs and improving productivity. In conclusion, strategic management is an important method when it comes to improving a corporation’s well being. When making decisions all factors need to be taken under consideration.
By using British Airways as an example, this paper was able to fully explain and establish the method of strategic management. Reference Knight, B. (2008, March 25). Strategic management of British Airways Company. Retrieved from http://bizcovering. com/business/strategic-management-of-british-airways-company/4/ Wheelen, T. L. , & Hunger, J. D. (2010). Concepts in strategic management and business policy: Achieving sustainability (12th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall.