In the recent past, the fishing boat tours business has gained a lot of popularity due to the increase in the demand for fish. Fishers are thus taking advantage of this business to increase their catch. Being the owner of such a business, I need to come up with a strategic management process that would be used by my staff to ensure customer satisfaction and consequent growth of the business. The strategic management process simply entails setting objectives, competition, and internal business analysis, evaluation of strategies to ensure the management has implemented them across the whole organization (Freeman, 2010). In Strategic Management textbook, David outlines five steps that should be followed for a successful strategic management process. My responsibility is thus to ensure that all the steps are followed systematically to ensure my business achieves both the financial and non-financial advantages of the process.
The first step is the external analysis of the business. The external environment comprises the threats and the opportunities available (David, 2011). One of the possibilities for the business is the right weather. The sunny season is conducive to the fishing activity. However, there are a lot of upcoming similar businesses that pose a significant threat of competition. The companies are continually coming up with new strategies and innovations to attract more customers. The analysis updates the business on the upcoming trends in the businesses and how to cope with them.
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The second step involves the internal analysis of the business (David, 2011). The staff will participate in setting the business's goals at the end of the process. There will be an analysis of the strengths within the firm as well as the constraints within the business. A performance and financial audit will also be carried out to determine the loopholes that may hinder the attainment of the business's purpose. There will also be an evaluation of the possible innovations that may lead to the growth of the business and the business responsibility of each employee. Internal analysis keeps the management, and the staff informed about the financial status of the business as well as its performance (Freeman, 2010).
The third step is the formulation of strategies. The staff will actively be involved in the suggestion of the best measures to be used to utilize the available opportunities and strengths to keep up with the competition. Such strategies may include coming up with innovations or new ways of doing things. The strategies will help use the available resources efficiently and effectively thus reducing the cost of running a business (Wheelen & Hunger, 2017). Also, staff participation improves employees’ self-esteem and motivation.
The fourth step is the most crucial as it is the strategy implementation stage. At this point, each employee will have an activity to carry out for the execution of the plan according to their expertise (David, 2011). A lot of care is required because failure in any of the developed strategies would mean no positive change will be experienced, and this may lead to loss of resources and finances. The implementation is necessary for the business in the sense that it ensures that the resources are used for the positive growth of the company and also encourages teamwork among the employees as they are positively involved in the implementation (Wheelen & Hunger, 2017). The innovations also have the probability of attracting more customers and thus earning the business huge profit margins.
The last step is the control stage (David, 2011). Generally, not all plans turn out as expected and some constraints may cause hitches in the processes. An evaluation team will align the goals to the successes and determine any failures and possible measures that could be adopted to achieve full success. An evaluation is necessary to ensure that the business will not continue to waste more money on strategies that are likely to bear no fruits (Wheelen & Hunger, 2017). Also, the staff is updated on the progress of the plan and constantly reminded on what they are supposed to do to keep the project running.
References
David, F. R. (2011). Strategic management: Concepts and cases . Peaeson/Prentice Hall.
Wheelen, T. L., & Hunger, J. D. (2017). Strategic management and business policy . pearson.
Freeman, R. E. (2010). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach . Cambridge university press.