Strategy is the direction and scope of an org over the long-term, which achieves advantage in a changing environment through its configuration of resources and competences with the aim of fulfilling stakeholder expectations.
Characteristics of strategic decisions
• Long-term direction
• The scope of an organisation’s activities
• Advantages being obtained over competitors
• Strategic fit with the business environment- addressing change in the business environment
• The organisation’s resources and competences- strategy is about exploiting the strategic capability of an org, to provide competitive advantage and/or yield new opportunities.
• The values and expectations- of powerful actors in and around the org who can drive fundamental issues within it.
The above are likely to:
• Be complex in nature- defining feature of strategy and strategic decisions, especially so in orgs with wide geographical scope.
• Be made in situations of uncertainty- inherent in strategy, as no one can be sure about the future
• Affect operational decisions- if operational aspects are not in line with strategy then you will not succeed. Competence in particular operational activities might determine which strategic development might make more sense
• Require an integrated approach, inside and outside the org- managers have to cross functional and operational boundaries to deal with strategic problems and come to agreements with other managers who might have different interests and priorities.
• Involve considerable change- crucial component as it is often difficult due to the heritage of resources and because of organisational culture.
Levels of Strategy
Corporate level strategy
This is the top level, which is concerned with the overall scope of an organisation and how value will be added to the different parts of the org-
