Strategic ManagementStrategic management is essential for the global success of an organization. The “process requires competent individuals to insure its success” (Stahl & Grigsby pg7). Among those competent individuals there are key positions that “anticipate changes in the environment, customer, and competitors” (Stahl & Grigsby pg 7). The men and women who hold these key positions can, together, drive the company towards success or failure. As noted in the article, Strategizing as Lived Experience and Strategists’ Everyday Efforts to Shape Strategic Direction, “A strategy tells you where youre going to end up and like a ships rudder, steers the organization to some future destination.” (Samera-Fredericks, D. 2003).
When management has a future destination in mind they need to outline the best way to achieve that goal. Depending on how extensive their future plans are will help determine the challenge of implementing that plan. One must always remember that “you have to continue to have milestones out there that are aggressive and challenging” (Ross, J. 1999) in order to make any business a success. The day you lose sight of your goals and desires for a future within your business is the day your business fails to succeed.
Are there challenges within an organization? Absolutely but most distinctly when ideas cannot be agreed upon. When an organization is taking a financial dive the main push for a new direction comes from the stockholders and what they believe is best for them. If the majority stockholders deem the company unfit to operate successfully the board of directors will do what is necessary to change up the management staff; essentially out with the old and in with the new. Changing a company’s structure may take time but it can certainly lead to much success if everyone works together. “A single person can make a difference at times, but even such heroic CEOs as General Electrics Jack Welch
and John Yoo and their peers have not done that.
‪‬On the contrary, corporate leadership has done a lot to improve. The current leadership team are all strong and they do more than any of them. General Electric, for instance, has done it, and IBM recently increased their stake in the entire company. The board of directors is no longer a committee and has only the power of deciding what their agenda is, but can provide the input from any of the executive council members, directors and various corporate leaders. The board also provides a voice from within the organizations, creating a greater opportunity for change, and the future of all shareholders is more important than ever. On most corporate projects, we find that our decision makers can provide the most positive impact, especially in an environment where the board and everyone in the company agrees. They work with people and take a large number of initiatives and do more great things than anyone can.
‪‬Even today, where the Board of Directors is dominated by a group of people who believe in good governance, I have no doubt that their approach can help create great change. As CEO of a corporation they have no say in the outcome of a major project, they have no authority over the management of the company and therefore cannot demand that management move without doing a huge number of independent review before working with the company. It is highly difficult, but possible, to do in real time how a company’s board and management can influence decisions and the economy directly. By being a part of that process, the executives know they will not be the only ones to be impacted, and so can help make change.
‪‬Perhaps the best aspect is that the top three executives in our company have shown leadership that is both realistic and wise. Many of this leadership has been able to change the company for the better before it even launched. We had this last meeting with General Electric where many members of the company’s boards met in the middle of the meetings to discuss ideas, and a lot of their insights were shared with the CEO in that meeting. In addition, several former General Electric executives spoke publicly about these accomplishments. ‪‬These guys are all very strong and very experienced, and we hope that they have learned from the lessons that have been put into place.
The next step from the Board of Directors is to make sure everybody is being respected and accepted as one of our leaders. It is important to do this right after the first meeting, because many of the Board members can help the board to gain approval from the company leadership to make changes. That is what happened a few weeks ago when the directors and co-chair executives met for the first time to outline their vision for our company. ‬