Case Study: Strategic Management
Strategic Management seeks to carefully coordinate and integrate the different cross-functional activities of a company to achieve defined long-term goals. While Strategic Management normally begins with the careful definition and alignment of the company’s mission and vision it also requires the precise organization of management in order to delineate specific managerial and departmental responsibilities as it relates to the end goal. In Strategic Management there is a need to be able to work efficiently independently while still working jointly for company goals.
In the case of Galbvatrens it seems that the five tasks of Strategic Management (SM) was not fulfilled upon the entry of director Chip Brownlees into the helm. The five tasks of SM requires a company to:
- Develop a Strategic Mission and Vision
- Set Objectives,
- Create a Strategy that aligns with the mission and vision and will achieve specific short-term and long-term objectives
- Implement the Strategy
- Evaluate and Correct activities.
When the board of directors hired Chip Brownless their end goal was to reorganize company management and to create a more people-centered work environment. However, in its effort to quickly revive the company it seems that there was not enough action taken to be able to realign and organize management. During the board meeting taken to discuss the present lawsuit there seemed to be the case of passing the buck. When the members of the board themselves were not clear of who was responsible for the failure in the system. Clearly, there feedback system was not clearly devised enough nor specifically defined to clearly identify the roles of management and subordinates. Furthermore, while the system itself was theorized and included in company policy, there was no implementation as the training programs were shelved. As a result no evaluating activities could be conducted. In essence, the problem here can be traced from the core of management and its reporting system.
In addition, subsequent managerial decisions were not clearly aligned with the vision of creating a people-centered organization. In ignoring the recommendations of consultant’s to create an ombudsman position to facilitate management and employee communication, the director did not place people at the center of decision-making. Clearly, what management needs to do now is to reevaluate their current organization and the systems they have in place. There is an innate dysfunction in the current organization that needs to be corrected where management needs to address communication, realignment and a definition of responsibilities. Only until management is able to clearly define their management roles can they be able to successfully manage others (Bramante, 2003). Once management is able to integrate the new mission and vision into their defined roles, then they should reintroduce the new mission and vision through policies and training. For a long period of time, the company’s management discourage management-employee communication, the new management aims to reverse this order. To do so management needs first to communicate the intended change and to introduce the change slowly but firmly. By succinctly developing policies that encourages communication and employee contribution as well as reinforcing this ideal through training management better conveys the change. The company should also focus on strengthening the lines of communication and creating a system or reporting misconduct where employees can immediately be comfortable and adapt to the changes.
Reference
- Bramante, J. (2003, November 1). Introducing and Managing Organizational Change in Support of BPM. Business Performance Management.
- Irwin, R.D. (1995). Principles of Strategic Management. California State University website. Retrieved 22 March 2009 from http://www.csuchico.edu/mgmt/strategy/module1/
