Table of Contents

THE GREAT DEPRESSION (1929-1941) 2
WHAT IS STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT? 3
WHY ARE WE STUDYING IT? 3
MANAGER 4
SENIOR MANAGER / CONSULTANT 5
ENTREPRENEUR 7
SPEECH BY FOREIGN MINISTER BARRINGTON WILLIAMS AT THE ASEAN DIALOGUE PARTNERS MEETING BANGKOK, 24 MAY 2040 9

The Great Depression (1929-1941)
In the roaring 1920s, the United States bathed in previously unheard of prosperity. Industry and agriculture alike profited from a thriving economy.

However, the economy began to slow down in 1928, and the trend continued in 1929. Agricultural prices slipped, as a result of production surpluses and a downturn in business activity.

On October 24, 1929, dubbed Black Thursday, the stock market crashed. Prices began to decline early in the day, triggering a selling panic in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). The crash in the market spelled disaster for the national economy because corporations with heavy investments faced a sudden and almost overwhelming shock to their assets. Investing froze and as a result, the national economy fell into an unprecedented period of depression.

The recovery in the US began with the strategic thinking of one man…The inauguration of President Roosevelt. Roosevelt had no idea what he was to do, either. But he did have a conviction that he could do something important. So was born the strategy of the New Deal involving the following facets:

? Try everything you can think of to cure the depression
? Drop and abandon the things that do not seem to be working
? Push the things that do seem to be working.

The two initial planks of the New Deal were the abandonment of the gold standard with an attempt to force the dollar price of gold and other commodities up. The second was the National Industrial Recovery Act with its explicit aim of keeping competition from pushing wages and prices down.

These two broke the expectation of further deflation such that the end of deflation caused a mini industrial boom. Thereafter output slowly increased and unemployment slowly decreased throughout the New Deal.

Living up to his campaign promise to provide "a new deal" for all Americans, Roosevelt worked to pass a series of bills establishing a number of government sponsored relief programs.

Can strategic management be an answer to the revival of the American economy from the Great Depression? This answer can well be detailed as follows:

What is Strategic Management?

Strategic management is a technique used to create a favorable future and help a system to prosper. The key to strategic management is to understand that people communicating and working together will create a future which however is led by the vision of one person coupled with idea development of groups which are called strategies. Strategic management does not only guide growth of a business but every mind hoping to achieve from an individual to the cause of nations developing just like the example of Americas revival from the Great Depression.

Understanding strategic management as business students, strategic management does not replace traditional management activities such as budgeting, planning, monitoring, marketing, reporting, and controlling. Rather, it integrates them into a broader context, taking into account the external environment, internal organizational capabilities, and an organization's overall purpose and direction. Each organization's experience with strategic management is unique, reflecting the organization's distinct culture, environment, resources, structure, management style, and other organizational features.

Why are we studying it?

As a student strategic management is the development of a mindset that determines how one will interpret and respond to various issues faced by organizations such that similar demands in a professional field can well be countered for successful achievement of organization goals. Developing strategic thinking is a process in itself because one has to understand to align circumstances with challenges of the business environment- both problems and opportunities. Therefore as students, we first understand the actions of leaders in any situation, criticizing, adding for improvement hence building up a strategic mindset. Scenario analysis for various situations helps students build up a perquisite for applying strategic thinking.

Manager

A newly appointed manager has to first get used to the environment in the organization, study the strengths, short comings and eventually get the environment get used to him or her. Manager needs to take a more strategic view of the work that is being done, develop a greater awareness of how work of those in the department fits into the strategic vision of the company.

Therefore steps that a manager should follow are:
Evaluate current performance results

The manager has to understand the current operations of their department, determine the shortcomings based on benchmark performances.
Examine and evaluate the current
Mission
Objectives
Strategies
Policies
Implement Strategies

Based on the strategies defined by the senior management, the manager would implement them within their department for the development of the right organizational structure, systems, and culture, as well as the allocation of sufficient resources in the right places
Evaluate and control

During this stage managers would have to mark the current performance with benchmarks of develop standards depending on the strategy revaluation propagated by the senior management such that the plan is being carried out and if it is achieving the anticipated results.

Senior Manager / Consultant

Getting More Involved in Strategy

The manager has to become more involved in the company's strategy identifying different elements of corporate strategy. Distinguish between the elements of a SWOT analysis (internal review) analyze a given situation using a SWOT analysis and determine the likely impact on the business of the external environment using a PEST analysis.

Steps that a senior manager should follow are:
Evaluate current performance results
Mission
Objectives
Strategies
Policies

The senior manager has to understand the current operations of the organization.
Scan External Environment
Select Strategic Factors:
Opportunities
Threats

On the basis of what has happened, is happening, and will happen in the world outside the organization with a focus on the threats and opportunities these external changes present to the organization.

Analyze strategic factors (S.W.O.T) in light of current situation
Scan Internal Environment
Strengths
Weaknesses

Senior manager has to understand why the organization has succeeded in the past, what it will take to succeed in the future, and how it must change to acquire the necessary capabilities to succeed in the future. Compile a list of the strengths and weaknesses that will have the greatest influence on the organization's ability to capitalize on opportunities.

Evaluate and control

Establish a system to monitor how well the organization is using its resources, whether or not it is achieving desired results, and whether or not it is on schedule.

Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur has to develop a clear vision of the objective the organization has to achieve matched with strategic agility, flexibility and creativity. They have to apply entrepreneurial thinking to develop a core strategy for the firm as to how the firm would be perceived in the market place.

Steps that an entrepreneur should follow are:
Evaluate current performance results

Examine and evaluate the current performance with respect to determined:
Mission
Objectives
Strategies
Policies

Entrepreneur to know if the plan is being carried out and if it is achieving the anticipated results. Performance evaluation would be the comparison between actual results and desired results.
Review strategic managers:
Board of Directors
Top Management

Once a direction the organization should take are determined, the entrepreneur should address with the senior management the plans required to get there by developing strategic plans. Strategic plans would be the courses of action that will define how to deal with critical issues based on the development and evaluation of the alternatives available to the organization
Scan Internal and External Environment
An entrepreneur has to use the information developed in the first two components, external analysis and internal assessment, to review the organization's mission, set goals, develop strategic vision, and determine the most critical issues the organization must address if it is going to achieve its vision.

Entrepreneur must be able to imbue the organization with a strategic vision so that the organization's members are able to think big and act. The entrepreneur must be able to deal with the uncertainty of current events and turn these events to the organization's advantage.

Speech by Foreign Minister Barrington Williams at the ASEAN Dialogue Partners Meeting Bangkok, 24 May 2040

We are looking at how we need to organize ourselves to operate in the modern world and to meet our priorities. We also need to be flexible enough to respond quickly and effectively to events we can't predict in advance.

Some people are skeptical about even a ten-year strategy for the Foreign Office.
Foreign Ministries and diplomats will always be affected by events we cannot predict or control. But in a fast moving world, we need more than ever to plan ahead. We often need to take decisions with long term consequences - not only on foreign policy, but when we invest in a new IT system, or when we recruit staff…………………….our strategy is just the beginning of a whole new world signifying new business opportunities…