Discuss the Three Challenges That Strategists Face Today.

August 11, 2017 Management

Discuss the three challenges that strategists face today. According to our textbook, pages 312 to 315, there are three challenges in Twenty-First-Century strategic management. These three challenges are deciding whether the process should be more an art or science, deciding whether strategies should be visible or hidden from stakeholders, and deciding whether the process should be more top down or bottom up in their firm. The first challenge strategists face is deciding whether the process should be more an art or science.

Strategists must decide whether or not they should see the process as an art or science and there are arguments that support both of these sides. Most strategic literature advocates that strategic management is a science. Under this science approach, firms should systematically assess their external and internal environment, they should conduct research and evaluate the pros and cons of all alternatives as well as performing analyses and deciding upon a particular course of action.

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However, Mintzberg’s notion of crafting strategies supports the art approach where strategic decision-making is based on holistic thinking, intuition, creativity, and imagination. As always the supporters of both sides have really good arguments as to why each approach is better than the other one. Supporters of Mintzberg reject strategies that are based on objective analysis while strategy scientists reject strategies that are the result of emotions, hunch, creativity, and politics.

The challenge hear is to decide which approach is the nest one for their firm and ensuring that this approach will help the firm accomplish its strategist goals. The second challenge is whether or not strategies should be visible or hidden from stakeholders. As mentioned on the textbook, page 314, there are many reasons why the strategy process and strategies themselves should be visible rather than secrets. However, there are also many reasons why they should be kept secret.

Some benefits of keeping the strategies visible to all are as follow: they can receive more contributions from everyone in the firm to include ideas that can help in the success of the firm’s strategic goals, the firm will receive more support from stakeholders, investors, and creditors since they would have a better understanding of the firm’s strategies, and there would be more participation which will result in better understanding, commitment, and communication within the firm.

There also benefits of keeping the strategies hidden from stakeholder. Some reason why they should keep these strategies hidden are as follow: making the information available to all can be easily translates into competitive analysis intelligence for rival firms who could use this information to exploit the firm, maintaining the level of secrecy can limit criticism, second guessing, and hindsight, also if this information is kept secret this can limits rivals from imitating or duplicating the firm’s strategies and undermining the firm.

The last challenge is deciding whether or not the process should be more top down or bottom up in their firm. In this challenge the firm needs to take into consideration the benefits of these two approaches. The top down approach is basically when top executives are the only persons in the firm with the collective experience, acumen, and fiduciary responsibility to make key strategy decisions. In the other hand bottom up approach is based on allowing the low and middle managers, and employees be involved in the process since this will ensure their support and commitment.

The challenge here is knowing with approach will better fit goals of the firm, whether it is the top down approach or the bottom up approach or a combination of both. The key of this challenge is to create a balance between all approaches and select the most appropriate approach that will better fit the firm’s vision. David, Fred. R. (2009). Strategic management concepts (12th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

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