For an orgnanisation to succeed, it needs to allocate its resources and managerial attention in an efficient way. resource allocation is a process by which a company decides where scarce resorces should be be used in production of goods and services. It is ia complex process and iy occurs at every level nad every day in all companies. According to Barney & Hesterley 2010, the organizational culture and ritual in a firm that would direct all the employees in the organization to define their jobs in competitive and fiscal terms leads to gain sustainable competitive advantage A resources in andn organisation includes such things as labour, machinery human resource technology capital and land
Resources are always scarce and therefore management need to use the resources of a company in an effective way to get the maximum value. For example , a saleswoman must decide which customer to call on today, and which customer she will not visit. When meeting with the customer, she must decide which products to emphasize in the conversation, and which to ignore. Every day that an engineer who is a member of multiple product development teams comes to work, he or she needs to decide which of those projects to work on that day, and which to put on the back burner(Clayton M. Christensen and Tara Donovan ) Resource allocation there for may mean creating customer needs and wants in a most profitable way. it is a central management activity and it allows for strategy execution. Understanding and controlling the criteria by which day-to-day resource allocation decisions are made at all levels of the organization, therefore, is a key challenge in managing the process of defining and implementing strategy. Clayton M. Christensen and Tara Donovan Resource allocation should begin at strategic planning stage when a company formulates its vision and goals for the future. The vision and strategic goals are accomplished through achievement of objectives. For example a company may want to become a markrt leader in the production of women cosmetics. So it needs to plan how much resources to be allocated to the plan. Each resource allocation decision, no matter how slight, shapes what the company actually does. This creates a new set of opportunities and problems, and generates new intended and emergent inputs into the process. (Clayton M. Christensen and Tara Donovan )
Once the plan has been made, there is need for a budget. A budget is a financial statement of the resources requires to achieve a set of objectivesSufficient resorces should be allocated in order to accomplish what was planned.
Byt a number of factors may prohibit effective resource allocation in that managers may over protect their resources. For example the marketing department may want to do an advert but the finance manager will not release the funding thinking that it is very expensive or it is a waste of money.
Another factor that may prevent effective resource allocation placing too great emphasis on short run financial criteria, organisational politics, vague strategy targets and a reluctance to take risks and lack of sufficient knowlgent
Managerial attaention is the managers allocate their time for stragic planning and implementation. . Scholars define managerial attention as the noticing encoding ,interpreting ,and focusing of time and effort by organizational decision-makers on issues and their solutions In most firms managers usually have more tasks than they can manage.They have presussure of where they should focus their attention and ass a result strategy formulation and implementation activities gets defredwhich causes problems in the organisation.
The relationship between resources and strategy is two. Strategy affects resources and resources affect strategy. As mentioned earlier the resources of an organisation includes finance research and development, human resources. There are different tools that a company can use to allocate resources. One of them is the BCG matrix. This can be used to link resource allocation decisions to choice strategy.
Resource allocation is important to an organisation because it allows for strategy execution. It involves deciding which department will receive how much,
Strategic thinking focuses on finding and developing unique opportunities to create value by enabling a provocative and creative dialogue among people who can affect an organisation’s direction, i.e. the board and management. It is the input to strategic planning. Good strategic thinking uncovers potential opportunities for creating value and challenges assumptions about an organisation’s value proposition, so that when the strategic plan is created, it targets these opportunities. Strategic thinking is a way of understanding the fundamental drivers of a business and challenging conventional thinking about them, in discussion with others. Finally, strategic thinking is having an awareness of what has not yet taken shape, having foresight. Therefore, boards should encourage forward thinking.
It can be difficult to be strategic. But a strategic thinker is always searching for the unusual – something that is different – and is able to set assumptions aside. They intentionally look at things from different perspectives and can resist the urge to let one decision dictate or forecast future decisions, thus avoiding the sunk cost trap. A person who has strategic perspective creates clarity out of complex and seemingly disconnected details. They can feel the winds of change, sense points of conflict and opportunity and articulate in concrete and compelling terms how they can be addressed. They get to the heart of a problem and see the relationship between key elements.
. What is the economic environment in which we must operate?
Companies must constantly scan the environment for weak signals rather than simply conducting periodic analyses of the business landscape. Changes in one industry or segment often affect companies in others. For instance, who could have imagined that changes brought about by the computer industry and the internet would affect the music industry so radically.
2. What competencies does the organisation have which provide a sustainable competitive advantage?
This question focuses on understanding the relative strengths and weaknesses of the organisation including its human capital, technologies, finances, work processes, etc.
3. What resources support or constrain our actions?
Understanding the organisation’s resource base – such as financial, physical and time – is also a critical element of strategic thinking.
4. What opportunities lay before us?
This question relates to understanding the opportunities available for the organisation to pursue along with consideration of the risks associated with different opportunities and potential courses of action. Having completed strategic thinking, decisions now need to be made.
Beyond these questions, strategic thinkers will also consider: * What profound shifts are, or will, influence the future? * What is our direction and response to these shifts? * How will we describe our desired results in measurable terms? * What are the best ways and means to get there? * How will we measure progress and success? * How will we revise as required?
Wootton and Horne (2001) see strategic thinking as involving three main activities, as shown in Figure 1.
. Anticipate:Most leaders focus on the present, but research shows that futures never follow a straight line. Strategic leaders proactively monitor the environment to foresee industry shifts — even at the periphery — so they can prepare for the resulting threats and opportunities.
2. Challenge:Though conventional wisdom is tempting, strategic thinkers question everything instead of accepting information at face value. They reframe problems to understand root causes, challenge current beliefs and mindsets, and uncover hypocrisy, manipulation and bias.
3. Interpret:Anticipating change and challenging conventions surfaces valuable facts and figures that must be thoughtfully analyzed to yield actionable results. Strategic leaders compare and contrast these data points in unconventional ways and test multiple hypotheses before arriving at conclusions.
4. Decide:Indecision, also known as analysis paralysis, often keeps leaders from acting swiftly, resulting in missed windows of opportunity. Strategic leaders use process and discipline to arrive at a good enough decision. They balance speed, rigor, quality and agility to take courageous stands, even with incomplete information.
5. Align:Strategic leaders welcome the diversity of differing viewpoints and opinions, but also must know how and when to align divergent agendas to work toward a common goal. Actively engaging stakeholders to encourage open dialogue and address misalignment helps build trust and reach consensus.
6. Learn: Learning leaders encourage and embrace feedback, viewing success and failure as sources of critical insight. They insist on rigorous debriefs, remain agile, course-correct quickly if off track, and celebrate the right kind of failures in addition to success.
Using this framework, we created The Strategic Aptitude Assessment (SAA), a self-assessment tool to help leaders evaluate their strengths and weaknesses in each area, compare their scores with other respondents and take action to improve their strategic leadership capabilities. The SAA is an effective tool to help leaders gauge strategic capabilities, and it has already been used by many Fortune 500 organizations. In uncertainty, you need to stop talking and start acting. Take the assessment today to see where you stack up.

Keelin, T. & Arnold, R. 2002. ‘Five Habits of Highly Strategic Thinkers.’ Journal of Business Strategy, 23(5): 38-42.