What is Strategic Management There are three core elements to be discussed when it comes to strategic management. Analysis Decision Action Strategic management is nothing but taking the organization or project or process to the next higher level by implementing strategic actions. When we say strategic action or plan of action, it concerns both the internal and external environment thoroughly analyzed, to decide upon the future course of action. Strategic management is oriented towards future development with the present environment and past experiences serving as the premises.     Definition of important terms: Strategic Management: Strategic management consists of the analysis, decisions, and actions an organization undertakes, in order to create and sustain competitive advantages. Competitive Advantage: A firm having an edge over its competitors. For example, Narasus Coffee has established its foot hold very strongly in South India, because of its unique flavor. The advantage can be in the form of uniqueness, service, customer satisfaction or availability. Distinctive Competence: Strategy is all about being different from everyone else. Sustainable competitive advantage is possible only through performing different activities from rivals or performing similar activities in different ways. Think about this, if you do not keep your eyes and ears open as to how your competitors are planning to capture the market, where will you be in the next two or three years? Suppose you are running a restaurant that offers multicuisine menus, what will be your plan of action to make it distinctive from your competitors and where would you want the facility to be located? And how will you popularize your service? Crux of Strategic Management: So, what do we mean by strategic analysis? Analysis or interpretation of strategic goals of the organization and also of the internal and external environment of an organization. Vision Mission Goals Objectives All these are some of the means by which an organization devises its short term and long term plans and actions. Say, you are running a blog, your blog will be yet another blog among the millions of other blogs to start with. Two things to be considered if you want to survive and sustain. 1. Your blog should be unique in order to attract audience- Returning visitors are the key to success. 2. Search Engine Optimization is equally important to satisfy the search engines who are the carriers. In modern corporate firms, there is a separate wing established for strategic planning. Next is strategic decisions: Ask yourself the following questions! 1.What industries should we compete in? 2.How should we compete in those industries? 3.Domestic or international arena?   Broadly speaking, in an automobile industry a car manufacturer would have to compete both with competitors in his own niche and other niches, say two wheeler manufacturers. He must analyze why a person would want to buy a four wheeler instead of a bike, whether he owns a product that would satisfy the buyer in terms of service and features, what part of the demography he should target and what would be the value added services he might offer to the buyers, e.g., insurance and loan. Strategic decisions are taken by the owners or senior executives of the top level management.  Next, what do we mean by strategic action? 1. Allocation of resources- financial, human and other physical resources 2. Structuring the organization to bring the intended strategies to reality Focusing on two basic questions, 1· How should we compete in order to create competitive advantages in the marketplace? For example, managers need to determine if the firm should position itself as the low-cost producer, or develop products and services that are unique which will enable the firm to charge...

Managerial Economics and Decision Making One has to observe the economic prospects of a particular #industry before venturing into it. Most of the people are not aware of the existence of some businesses with fantastic economic characteristics like high rate of return on invested capital, substantial profit margins and consistent growth. How do you think Bill Gates and Warren Buffet were able to make it on the Forbes top millionaires list? Successful leaders focus on the economics of a business for decision making. Economic Aspects of a Market Managerial economics is a #management science that gives you more idea about the economic aspects of a market and how they affect your decision making. This is very important because economic profits play a crucial role in a market based economy., While above normal profits are indicators of expansion and growth, below normal profits cautions you about tightening or retrenchment. Business economics is comprised of several tools of micro and macro economic analysis which are useful in management decision-making that act as facilitators to solve business problems. Micro economic instruments used in this context include demand analysis, production and cost analysis, breakeven analysis, theory of pricing, technical progress, location decisions and capital budgeting . Factors Influencing Management Decisions The macroeconomic concepts that are directly or indirectly related to management decisions include analysis of national income, business cycles, monetary policy, fiscal policy, central banking, public finance, economic growth, international trade, balance of payments, protectionism, free trade, exchange rates and international monetary system. The scope of management science is broad and is closely linked with economic theory, decision sciences and accounting. Traditional economics deals with theory and methodology of management, while managerial or business economics applies these theories to solve business problems. The tools and analytical techniques are useful in providing optimal solutions to business problems. Relationship with economics : Managerial economics borrows concepts from economics to idealize the strategic actions needed for decision making in a problem situation. The analysis of micro and macro economic concepts adds valuable information for the organization. Say, for example, national income forecasting is an important aid for the analysis of business conditions that in turn could be an invaluable contribution to forecast demand for specific product groups. Theories of market structure can be analyzed for market segmentation. Managers have the freedom to choose between the decision alternatives that best suits the objectives of the business enterprise. The challenge is to justify the alternative in terms of cost and benefit. Relationship with decision sciences : Decision models are created to format solutions for problem situations and the process uses techniques such as, optimization, differential calculus and mathematical programming. This also helps to analyze the impact of alternative courses of action and evaluate the results of the model. Economic models provide the organizations with the necessary insight concerning value maximization Relationship to Accounting The accounting data and statements constitute the language of business. The accounting profession has a significant impact on cost and revenue information and classification. A manager therefore must be familiar with the generation, interpretation and use of accounting data. Accounting is also seen as a decision management tool and not as a mere practice of book-keeping. The concepts and practices of accounting can be well applied to improve the economic scope of a project. Economic theory is all about allocating scarce resources between competing ends and managerial economics advocates rules for improving managerial decisions and for efficiently achieving the goals of an...

It all began with ADAM SMITH (1776), the Scottish economist when he lashed out against the abuses of monopoly and mercantilism. He highlighted that productivity was a result of specialization, division of work and exchange. We witness the evidence of managerial practices right from the Sumerian age as early as 5000 B.C., from their written records to administer the governmental  and commercial activities. Koutilys’a ARTHASASTHRA and Thiruvalluvar’s THIRUKKURAL  have spelt out management principles in a coherent way that suits any time period. MILESTONES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MANAGEMENT THOUGHT: 5000 B.C SUMERIANS RECORD KEEPING 4000 B.C EGYPTIANS PLANNING,ORGANISING AND CONTROLLING 500 B.C GREEKS SPECIALISATION 1800 ELI WHITNEY MASS PRODUCTION MADE POSSIBLE 1822 CHARLES BABBAGE PRODUCED DIFFERENCE MACHINE,A FORERUNNER OF TODAY’S COMPUTER 1911 F.W.TAYLOR SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT 1916 HENRI FAYOL MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS 1943 ABRAHAM MASLOW MOTIVATION MODEL 1954 PETER DRUCKER POPULARISED MBO-MANAGEMENT BY OBJECTIVES 1961 RENSIS LIKERT CONTINGENCY LEADERSHIP PRE-SCIENTIFIC MANAGEMENT SCHOOL Management is as old as civilization and it is a separate entity by itself. The full boom of management was witnessed  with the advent of INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION in Europe in the late 18th century. There was mass exodus of people to urban cities in search of jobs due to mechanisation and there arose a necessity to manage people. Initially they were treated as slaves by the owners but later the link factor called “Managers” came into the picture to negotiate and solve issues between the union and management. Important contributors to the management theories Robert Owen:     He introduced a system of open rating for workers’ work on a daily basis. He insisted that improving the lives of the working individuals through labor welfare measures was the only way to increase productivity. Charles Babbage: He was a visionary who could foresee scientific management. His difference engine or the modern day computer has made people’s lives easy and has replaced manual operations with machines. Captain Henry Metcalfe: He formed the Bureau of Personal Administration in New York Introduced time cards and material cards Fredrick Winslow Taylor: Founder of scientific management and is called the “Father of scientific management.” He emphasized on the need for management planning and standardization of tools and materials, the former to gauge the capability of men and machine and the latter to save time  and increase productivity. He was one of the founders of “Time  and Motion study.” His theory was based on the following assumptions: · Production planning and control is the main function of an organization · Insisted on functional foremanship · Time study as the basis for arriving standard time · Standardisation of all tools and parts · The use of ‘slide-rules’ and similar time saving implements · Inroduced ‘time-cards’ for workmen · The ‘differential rate system of wages Henry Gantt: He proposed the Gantt Chart, a visual method to compare production output with time it took to complete a task. This is considered to be a forerunner of today’s PERT-PROGRAMME EVALUATION and REVIEW TECHNIQUE). He also developed · Work quota systems · Bonus systems for workers or managers  Objectives of Scientific Management · To ensure continuous employment opportunities for the work force · To gauge market tendencies · To render workers a high standard of living; this motivates them to contribute more · To increase the income of the workers · To assure a socially agreeable condition of working environment · Proper selection, training, assignment, transfer and promotion of workers · To develop self-confidence and self-respect among workers through opportunity and participation · To promote justice through elimination of discrimination in wage-rates · To eliminate causes of friction and to promote understanding, tolerance and the spirit of team-work-Espirit de...

Functions of Management MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS  The objective of this topic is to make students understand the functions of management and the role of managers in an organization. The five  basic management functions are listed below: ·  PLANNING ·  ORGANISING ·  STAFFING ·  LEADING ·  CONTROLLING PLANNING: The managerial activities aid in selecting the objectives, examine and forecast changes, develop policies, procedures and choose future course of action from among alternatives.  Planning proceeds from “Where we are” to “Where we want to go.”     Planning activities are 1.       Analysing the current situation (also called the SWOT Analysis) 2.       Anticipating or predicting the future based on the analysis 3.       Determination of organizational objectives to be achieved 4.       Deciding on the action plan 5.       Evolving proper strategies 6.       Pooling the resources (physical, financial and monetary)  to accomplish enterprise objective    ORGANISING: It is a process which integrates people and tasks; In order to achieve their tasks people are given sufficient authority, tools and information.     Organising activities include 1.       Specification of job responsibilities 2.       Grouping of jobs into respective work units 3.       Allocation of resources   STAFFING: Human resource management is one of the key areas that decides the success of a firm’s activity. Staffing involves the selection of “Right person for the right job.”   The activities are 1.       Recruitment 2.       Selection 3.       Training and Development 4.       Compensation 5.       Promotion 6.       Evaluation and 7.       Rewarding people to achieve enterprise goals.   LEADING: Leadership is the set of interpersonal behaviors that influence people to contribute to the organization and group goals.     The activities under this category are 1. Providing proper direction 2. Guidance and Motivation 3. Clarity in communication  to the work force   CONTROLLING: This is a process that is necessary to keep track of the performace of individuals by setting some standards for direction.     The activities include 1. Establishing performance standards enabling the work force to achieve the goals (both short term and long term) 2. Enhancing the employee performance through performance appraisal or rating of work 3. Comparison of performance against the standards to  identify deviation  or work problems and take corrective measures 4. Bench marking is one of the management techniques that facilitates an organization to uplift its performance levels to the best of industry standards and also catch hold of the strengths of the competitors and rectify the weaknesses prevailing in one’s own firm.   CO-ORDINATION: It is regarded as a key function of a manager to bring in harmony among individuals and an effort towards accomplishment of goals. 1. Marginal decision making and 2. Sub Optimisation are some of the new approaches developed in the field of decision making.   MANAGERIAL SKILLS: Skill is the resultant effect of knowledge, experience and expertise. It is the ability of an individual to perform a task which is obvious from the results he/ she shows.     There are 3 kinds of skills that a manager should possess in order to excel.   1. The Conceptual Skill: Assessing a situation and acting accordingly depicts the manager’s perceiving ability of the abstract elements in  force. A manager has to improve this kind of skill as he moves up the ladder in the management level or let us say that he can move up the ladder only if he possesses this kind of skill. · Management Consultants · Managing Director of a firm · President of a company · Economists · Startegists are conceptual analytic experts   2. The Technical Skill: This skill is purely based on one’s knowledge and  on the job experience. This is needed at  a lower level of management · Computer Operators · Engineers · Accountants · Machine Operators possess this kind of skill   3. The Human Relations Skill: This...

Management is more than just overseeing tasks—it’s the art and science of turning vision into reality. Whether you’re running a small business, leading a team, or scaling a global enterprise, management touches every corner of an organization. From planning and decision-making to coordination and control, its scope is vast and dynamic. It spans across functions like finance, marketing, operations, and human resources, adapting to changing environments and evolving goals. Understanding the scope of management helps us grasp how organizations thrive, how leaders steer progress, and how systems stay aligned with purpose. Management determines the very survival of the organization Management concepts are applied in both business and non-business organizations In countries like USA the demand for management consultants is widespread and they have more clients from 1)      Government 2)      Hospitals 3)      Universities 4)      Schools 5)      Professional associations 6)      Community agencies etc.  In India it is sad to see that only graduates coming out of reputed business schools being placed in the cream of positions by the corporates and others who pass out from the so called second grade institutes struggling to establish themselves. Many institutes offer management courses in the undergraduate and graduate levels for name’s sake, fail to implant the core purpose and perspective of the concepts of management in the minds of individuals. Also lack of expert faculty who have wide exposure and industry experience make the course dull and lifeless. Key Aspects of Scope of Management Management is said to be “Universal” and applied to all the organizations of the society, whether it is large or small, profit making or non-profit making, and a manufacturing or service enterprise Managing is the key social function and management is the effective, integrative,constitutive, determining, and differential organ of the society Management is the organ of leadership, direction and decision in a business enterprise and responsible for producing the results. Management has evolved as the most lucrative academic discipline by itself offering huge scope for the graduates to perform and excel as teachers. Management faculty are in great demand all over the world and are as well compensated for their services. New disciplines of management like Public Health, Health care, Information Technology, Labor management are gaining importance Effective management is aimed at improved productivity (efficient people produce effective results-so ‘RIGHT PEOPLE FOR THE RIGHT JOB’ becomes essential). The society has various facets like government, suppliers, local community, competitors, unions, stockholders, customers etc. The manager is the spokesperson in-charge of negotiating and spending much of his time to predict and influence the future environment and take pro-active measures. This is the managerial function relating to the environment....