Austin Journal of Business Administration and Management Open Access Austin J Bus Adm Manage - Volume 2 Issue 3 - 2018 Submit your Manuscript | www.austinpublishinggroup.com Palladan et al. © All rights are reserved Citation: Palladan AA and Adamu MA. An Overview of Strategic Management Practices. Empirical Evidence. Austin J Bus Adm Manage. 2018; 2(3): 1033. Abstract The paper reviewed relevant literatures on strategic management practice. Being a conceptual paper, we start by highlighting the origin and meaning of strategy and strategy planning. This was followed by discussions on factors that affect strategy formulation, strategy implementation as well as factors bedeviling strategy implementation. Essentiality of strategic management practices as a radical improvement method was equally highlighted. Keywords: Strategic management; Strategy planning; Strategy implementation Introduction e term strategy originated from a Greek word “strategos”, meaning army guidance from the position of Commander General. e use of this concept dates to at least 400 years B.C. (Jeżak 1990). Prussian military general and theoretician Karl von Clausewitz argued that strategy is concerned of creation of the war plan and determination of war campaigns and individual undertakings under their scope (Pszczołowski 1976). e word “strategy” gains recognition in other fields of human activity, particularly in politics and, noticeably later, in economy. However, in the second half of the 19 th century, down with development of the U.S. economy, phenomena of strategic element occurred. Business strategies caused speeding up of business development and resulted also in the changing of the modern management (Gliński, Kuc & Szczepankowski, 2000). is latter on led to the spread of the concept to corporate management. ere is no single definition of strategic management, which is generally acceptable (Markiewicz 2011). Despite all that, we present here some of the definitions found in the extant literatures. It is a top management activity, which deals with decisions making in, regards to the purpose of the organizational mission, vision, philosophies, objectives, strategies and well-designed policies. It also encompasses the development of long term plans for efficient management of environmental opportunities and threats in line with the organizational strengths and weaknesses (Sababu, 2007). According to Pearce and Robinson (1991), Strategic Management involves a combination of decisions and actions that guide toward the formulation and implementation of plans intended to achieve organizational objectives. Strategic management entails the planning, directing, organizing and controlling of firm’s strategies that reflects decisions and actions that enhances a company’s competitiveness. Irwin (1995) opined that strategic management is a business operating game plan game plan, for enhancing firm’s competitiveness, creating customer satisfaction and achieving targeted performances. Strategic management led to business continuous success, growth and competitive advantage brought about by implementing the predetermine plans efficiently and effectively. is action facilitates the means, through which organizations analyze the environment, create their desired position, fashion out appropriate strategies and implement them accordingly. Strategic management process entails understanding the strategic situation of an organization, Review Article An Overview of Strategic Management Practices Palladan AA 1 * and Adamu MA 2 1 School of Business, Fce (T) Gombe, Nigeria 2 Muhammad Ahmed Adamu School of Business Fce (T) Gombe, Nigeria *Corresponding author: Ahmad Aliyu Palladan, School Of Business, Fce (T) Gombe, Nigeria Received: April 12, 2018; Accepted: May 29, 2018; Published: June 05, 2018 making strategic options for the future and turning strategy into action. It involves strategic analysis, choice and execution. More so, Porter (1985) opined that strategy is the aspirations and practices an organization employ in order to stay afloat amidst severe competition. A well-managed organization should have the ability to seriously find a place for itself in the contemporary competitive business environment [1]. Strategy is a management technique which gives an organization direction. is refers to holistic actions that are tailored towards actualizing the future of the organization. Porter (1980) affirmed that analysis of strategy or strategic analysis is part of strategic management method that examines the forces of the external environment, organization capability and expectation of stakeholders. Strategy execution is the conversion of strategy plans into action. It entails implementation of strategies and managing the resulting changes. Components of strategic management Rahimnia, Castka, and Sharp (2005) argued that similar types of strategies have been established across basically different organizations (publishing firms, automotive industries, hospitals, administration, ICT companies, and tertiary institutions) because they are of facing related environmental conditions notwithstanding of their internal organizational differences. Strategic planning According to Bryson (2004, p. 6). defines strategic planning as “an effort to produce fundamental decisions and actions that shape and guide what an organization is, what it does, and why it does it” Much wider than program, project, budget, or operation planning’s, strategic planning is ‘big picture’ approaches that solve the most serious issues facing an organization’s long-term efficiency and effectiveness (Kemp, Funk, & Eadie 1993; Poister & Streib, 1999). Its usage has grown reasonably over the past decades, at all levels of government and agencies as they have recognized the need to respond to emerging issues promptly. Again they need to adjust to changing circumstances, and move into the future in a resolute in order to ensure continued viability and fit with a changing environment (Berman & West, 1998; Berry & Wechsler, 1995; Poister & Streib, 2005). Several procedures for conducting formal strategic- planning attempts have been postulated (Bryson, 2004; Denhardt, 1985; Eadie, 1983; Gibson, 1993; Kauf man & Jacobs, 1987; Nutt & Backoff, 1992; Pindur, 1992), but all advocates of strategic planning