Strategic Management Process

Strategic Evaluation is defined as the process of determining the effectiveness of a given strategy
in achieving the organizational objectives and taking corrective action wherever required.
Strategy evaluation is the final step of strategy management process.

 The key strategy evaluation activities are: appraising internal and external factors that are the
root of present strategies, measuring performance, and taking remedial / corrective actions.
Evaluation makes sure that the organizational strategy as well as it’s implementation meets the
organizational objectives.

Nature of Strategic Evaluation

Nature of the strategic evaluation and control process is to test the effectiveness of strategy.

During the strategic management process, the strategists formulate the strategy to achieve a set
of objectives and then implement the strategy.

There has to be a way of finding out whether the strategy being implemented will guide the
organisation towards its intended objectives. Strategic evaluation and control, therefore,
performs the crucial task of keeping the organisation on the right track.

In the absence of such a mechanism, there would be no means for strategists to find out
whether or not the strategy is producing the desired effect.

Through the process of strategic evaluation and control, the strategists attempt to answer set of
questions, as below.

Are the premises made during strategy formulation proving to be correct?

Is the strategy guiding the organization towards its intended objectives?

Are the organization and its managers doing things which ought to be done? Is there a need to
change and reformulate the strategy?
How is the organization performing? Are the time schedules being adhered to? Are the
resources being utilized properly? What needs to be done to ensure that resources are
utilized properly and objectives met?

Importance of Strategic Evaluation

Strategic evaluation can help to assess whether the decisions match the intended strategy
requirements.

Strategic evaluation, through its process of control, feedback, rewards, and review, helps in a
successful culmination of the strategic management process.

The process of strategic evaluation provides a considerable amount of information and

experience to strategists that can be useful in new strategic planning.

Participants in Strategic Evaluation

Shareholders Board of Directors Chief executives Profit-centre heads Financial

controllers Company secretaries External and Internal Auditors Audit and Executive
Committees Corporate Planning Staff or Department Middle-level managers

Process of Strategic Evaluation

1) Fixing benchmark of performance

While fixing the benchmark, strategists encounter questions such as - what benchmarks to set,
how to set them and how to express them.

In order to determine the benchmark performance to be set, it is essential to discover the
special requirements for performing the main task.

The organization can use both quantitative and qualitative criteria for comprehensive
assessment of performance.

Quantitative criteria includes determination of net profit, ROI, earning per share, cost of
production, rate of employee turnover etc. Among the Qualitative factors are subjective
evaluation of factors such as - skills and competencies, risk taking potential, flexibility etc.
2) Measurement of performance

The standard performance is a bench mark with which the actual performance is to be
compared.

The reporting and communication system help in measuring the performance.

For measuring the performance, financial statements like - balance sheet, profit and loss
account must be prepared on an annual basis.

3) Analyzing Variance

While measuring the actual performance and comparing it with standard performance there
may be variances which must be analyzed.

The strategists must mention the degree of tolerance limits between which the variance
between actual and standard performance may be accepted.

4)Taking Corrective Action

Once the deviation in performance is identified, it is essential to plan for a corrective action.

If the performance is consistently less than the desired performance, the strategists must carry
a detailed analysis of the factors responsible for such performance.

Techniques of Strategic Evaluation

1)Gap Analysis

The gap analysis is one strategic evaluation technique used to measure the gap between the
organization’s current position and its desired position.

The gap analysis is used to evaluate a variety of aspects of business, from profit and production
to marketing, research and development and management information systems.

Typically, a variety of financial data is analyzed and compared to other businesses within the
same industry to evaluate the gap between the organization and its strongest competitors.

2) SWOT Analysis
The SWOT analysis is another common strategic evaluation technique used as a part of the
strategic management process. The SWOT analysis evaluates the organization’s strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors, while opportunities and threats are external
factors. This identification is essential in determining how best to focus resources to take
advantage of strengths and opportunities and combat weaknesses and threats.

3) PEST Analysis

Another common strategic evaluation technique is the PEST analysis, which identifies the
political, economic, social and technological factors that may impact the organization’s ability to
achieve its objectives.

Political factors might include such aspects as impending legislation regarding wages and
benefits, financial regulations, etc

Economic factors include all shifts in the economy, while social factors may include
demographics and changing attitudes. Technological pressures are also inevitable as technology
becomes more advanced each day.

These are all external factors, which are outside of the organization’s control but which must
be considered throughout the decision making process.

4) Benchmarking

Benchmarking is a strategic evaluation technique that’s often used to evaluate how close the
organization has come to its final objectives, as well as how far it has left to go.

Organizations may benchmark themselves against other organizations within the same
industry, or they may benchmark themselves against their own prior situation.

A variety of performance measures, as well as policies and procedures, may be evaluated

regularly to identify where adjustments are necessary to maintain the sustainable competitive
advantage.

Strategic Control
Strategic controls take into account the changing assumptions that determine a strategy,
continually evaluate the strategy as it is being implemented, and take the necessary steps to
adjust the strategy to the new requirements.

Most commentators would agree with the definition of strategic control offered by Schendel and
Hofer: "Strategic control focuses on the dual questions of whether: (1) the strategy is being
implemented as planned; and (2) the results produced by the strategy are those intended. “

Types of Strategic Control

The types of strategic controls are:

Premise control Implementation control Strategic surveillance Special alert control

1)Premise Control

Every strategy is based on certain planning premises or predictions.

Premise control has been designed to check systematically and continuously whether or not the
premises set during the planning and implementation process are still valid.

It involves the checking of environmental conditions. Premises are primarily concerned with
two types of factors:

a. Environmental factors (for example, inflation, technology, interest rates, regulation, and
demographic/social changes).

b. Industry factors (for example, competitors, suppliers, substitutes, and barriers to entry)

2) Implementation Control

Implementing a strategy takes place as a series of steps, activities, investments and acts that
occur over a lengthy period.

The two basis types of implementation control are:

a. Monitoring strategic thrusts (new or key strategic programs): Two approaches are useful in
enacting implementation controls focused on monitoring strategic thrusts: (1) one way is to agree
early in the planning process on which thrusts are critical factors in the success of the strategy or
of that thrust; (2) the second approach is to use stop/go assessments linked to a series of
meaningful thresholds (time, costs, research and development, success, etc.) associated with
particular thrusts.

b. Milestone Reviews: Milestones are significant points in the development of a programme,

such as points where large commitments of resources must be made. A milestone review usually
involves a full-scale reassessment of the strategy and the advisability of continuing or refocusing
the direction of the company.

3) Strategic Surveillance

Strategic surveillance is designed to monitor a broad range of events inside and outside the
company that are likely to threaten the course of the firm's strategy.

The basic idea behind strategic surveillance is that some form of general monitoring of
multiple information sources should be encouraged, with the specific intent being the
opportunity to uncover important yet unanticipated information.

Strategic surveillance appears to be similar in some way to "environmental scanning."

Strategic surveillance is designed to safeguard the established strategy on a continuous basis.

4) Special Alert Control: Another type of strategic control is a special alert control.

"A special alert control is the need to thoroughly, and often rapidly, reconsider the firm's basis
strategy based on a sudden, unexpected event."

The analysts of recent corporate history are full of such potentially high impact surprises (i.e.,
natural disasters, chemical spills, plane crashes, product defects, hostile takeovers etc.).

An example of such event is the acquisition of your competitor by an outsider. Such an event
will trigger an immediate and intense reassessment of the firm's strategy. Form crisis teams to
handle your company's initial response to the unforeseen events