1. Why has strategic management become so important to today’s corporations?

In its underlying sense, strategic management is used by corporations to

develop suitable strategies to make business decisions. Its concepts and
techniques are undertaken to assess the corporation's strengths and weaknesses
to decide the direction the organization is heading. Consequently, strategic
management should constantly be concerned with the long-term stability and
success of the corporation. In that sense, profitability is evaluated since it has to
do with determining whether or not the corporation is strategically aligned with
its goals and priorities. Also, as a firm believer in the need for collaboration, both
during the formulation and implementation of strategy, strategic management
strives to maximize the ideas of the team so that approaches or tactics are more
diversified thus, having more ways to think about how the team can achieve their
perceived objectives.
In today's business setting, managers and business owners must develop
distinctive strategies that distinguish themselves from their competitors. The
ongoing spread of the COVID-19 virus has also posed a threat to the
sustainability of businesses in our country. While some of the changes may be
short-lived, others may pose long-term difficulties for the corporation. They must
employ methods of adapting to changes to account for the pandemic in the
workplace. Perhaps the majority of corporations operating in these difficult times
have a purpose that would otherwise be improved or that would allow them to
maintain the profitability of their business. Many decisions are dependent on
them, and the strategic management team can focus on either the optimist or
pessimist side of each circumstance, depending on the situation. When you
consider that this pandemic has introduced a great deal of uncertainty into the
corporate world, there are certain business decisions that somebody could come
up with that may or may not be feasible. Therefore, I believe that one benefit of
using strategic management is that it teaches the business to be flexible enough
to adjust certain choices and think of other alternatives in the face of uncertainty.

2. How does strategic management typically evolve in a corporation?

Because of the frequent changes that occur in the business setting, strategic
management can be thought of as a process that takes place in real time. In order
to ensure long-term success, it is necessary to constantly evaluate the plans that
are being developed and make revisions when necessary. What is new today will
become old tomorrow in the same way that Strategies that work today may not
work tomorrow if they continue to be implemented in the same manner. For this
reason, the strategic management team must be constantly adapting to the
changes that occur in our fast-paced modern world. For instance, the preferences
and choices of customers, as well as financial situations and even the economic
and political conditions of our country, can all change over time. The necessity of
revising an organization's strategies in order to survive and achieve its long-term
goals and objectives in today's highly competitive business environment is
therefore considered vital.
Having said that, the development of a corporation's strategic management
can be divided into four phases, which are as follows:
The first phase comprises the most basic aspects of financial planning. This is
because the financial operations of the company are more closely integrated with
the bigger picture that they envision while strategizing. Moreover, the primary
focus of this phase is on the preparation of annual budgets, which may include
the monitoring of revenues and costs. This phase is critical because a company
will not be able to achieve its full potential until it has the financial resources to
put its imagined goal into action.
The second phase is concerned with long-term planning and strategizing. In
contrast to Phase 1, forecast-based planning typically takes 3-5 years to complete
depending on the duration of the time range. After conducting an evaluation of its
financial condition, the company will now forecast how the strategies will alter as
the work proceeds through its various stages of implementation. The allocation
of resources is the primary focus of this phase. That is why appropriate
environmental data should be collected on an ad hoc basis— actions taken only
when they are required for a specific purpose, without any prior planning or
preparation – to enable effective decision-making. A requirement for focusing on
the availability of capital and other resources is being considered as part of this
process.
On the other hand, the third phase is all about the external orientation of
strategic planning. This is where the engagement of top management is critical,
as they are the ones that initiate the planning process. The organization has
already begun to look for ways to better understand and respond to the needs
and wants of its customers. This is also the part where decisions are made in
order to strengthen the company's flexibility to adjust to market changes and a
more competitive environment.
Meanwhile, the fourth and last phase is the strategic management itself. Here,
the focus is on the execution, evaluation and control. I think this phase just goes
to show that going through all the phases will be put into waste if all the members
of the organization will not unite. Having said that, the commitment of lower-level
managers, top management forms planning groups of managers and key
employees at many levels, from various departments and workgroups are pivotal.
Due to the fact that individuals from all levels of the organization are involved in
this phase, even if it is claimed that top management initiated the strategic
planning process, the emerging strategies could come from anyone inside the
organization. As a result, we could see that the genuine integration of strategies
that will assist the organization in achieving its objectives will be highlighted.
 3. What is a learning organization? Is this approach to strategic
management better than the more traditional top-down approach in which
strategic planning is primarily done by top management?
At its most primitive level, learning is about acquiring new knowledge and
information. A learning organization is one in which employees with various skills
and knowledge continually improve their cognitive capabilities and thrive in a
fast-paced business environment. As a result, it is critical, even more so, in
today's progressive and transformative corporate setting. There is an engaging
environment in a learning organization where employees are encouraged to give
different kinds of services and collaborate to improve their capacity to think from
a variety of perspectives and conceive of a specific strategy powered by their
great minds. Also, in this approach, the employees are encouraged to be creative
in making decisions and coming up with solutions to specific problems. 
The traditional top-down approach in strategic management, on the other
hand, is somewhat concentrated on leadership. The top-level managers' power
and their specific duties and responsibilities are highly valued in this approach.
As indicated by its name, this strategy stresses a flow of upward movement,
beginning with the top levels of management and continuing through all of the
employees who follow a chain of command. Aside from that, this approach is
more structured because upper management is responsible for gathering and
acting on business choices. The job of the employees, on the other hand, is the
implementation and execution of tasks to fulfill the organization's objectives.
As a result, learning organizations are a far better approach in today's
corporate environment. For this reason, I believe that this approach teaches
everyone how to do things better simply by allowing people to explore. As a
result, they become risk-takers and innovators. I think it is also geared toward
people and ideas. Having said that, I believe the information is more available to
all employees than the traditional approach, which places a higher emphasis on
upper management's control over the data. This approach makes no distinction
between people at the upper and lower levels. In this context, I perceive the
learning organization to be more versatile and have a more flexible organizational
structure than the traditional one. While this may imply that employees are more
prone to make costly errors, it may also mean they will have a more significant
opportunity to develop their abilities and skills. In this way, the organization
fosters a constructive attitude toward change. As a result, a higher competitive
advantage is also generated. Taking all of this into account, I believe that learning
organizations are the way of the future and maybe a necessary condition for the
company's long-term growth.

4. Why are strategic decisions different from other kinds of decisions?

Strategic management techniques, as we all know, must be used as a guide to
ensure that the established plans help the organization achieve its perceived
goals and objectives. Having stated that, strategic decisions are extremely
important in any organization. Without these, the organization will struggle to
concentrate its efforts on maximizing resources while still seeking to achieve a
competitive advantage. Essentially, these are referred to as "strategic" decisions
since they should be given significantly more time and care than other decisions
due to the importance of the complexities associated with it. The significance of
strategic decisions only serves to prove that it necessitates a high level of
dedication at all times.
In light of the fact that it is a long-term and complex decision, there are a few
qualities that separate it from other decisions made inside the organization; three
of these characteristics are that it is rare, consequential, and directive. Strategic
decisions are rare because managers do not have an established patterns to
follow while making them. It has something to do with the fact that an
organization's ability to adapt to changes in the environment must be considered.
Because the organization has limited control over the changes, decisions are
frequently made in response to the market developments. Strategic decisions, on
the other hand, are also consequential because they require resources that are
extremely beneficial in order to be truly effective. Those resources include the
dedication of the organization's workforce, and thus, in order to make effective
strategic decisions, the commitment of all those involved is essential. Finally,
strategic decisions are directive because they establish a standard for the
organization to follow in order to make an informed decision in response to a
certain event. As a result, decisions are made that are geared not only to the
present but also to the activities that must be taken in the future in order for the
organization to be successful.