How To Use Strategic Management In Decision Making

Strategic management is the process of planning and implementing the organizational strategy. It involves making critical decisions and facilitates the performance of such activities which help in the implementation and enforcement of the organizational strategy.

Strategic decision making in an organizations occurs at two different levels -- the individual level and at a team or group level. The successful operationalization of strategies devised by the organization requires involvement of team members in the whole strategic management process. Strategic management helps sustain an organization and allows it to stay afloat in a market inspite of the growing competition. Strategic management is implemented at three organizational levels -- the corporate level, business level, and the functional level. Strategic management is an ongoing process that reviews the organizational performance, its existing and potential competitors and formulates strategies to face the competition. This exercise is repeated every few months to determine its effectiveness and success.

Decision making is at the core of all managerial functions and the future of any organization lies on the vital decisions made. However, there are certain critical issues coupled with factors such as uncertainties, multiple objectives, interactive complexity, and anxiety make the decision making process very much difficult. At times when making a decision is too complex or there are too many interests at stake, then we realize the need for strategic decision making. All complex decisions must be made strategically. In order to be able to make strategic decisions, one requires adopting a structured approach by using an effective, efficient, and systematic decision making process.  Strategic decisions will have multiple options, to be tested against multiple criteria. The best option is to make strategic decisions based on facts after considering all possible factors.