Strategic Management & Business Policy

Strategic Management & Business Policy Questions The impact of globalization and the Internet presents real challenges for corporate strategic planners across the world. What is the impact of globalization and the internet on corporations? Why is astute strategic planning a must in today's competitive business world? The paradoxical role of the Internet as a means to streamline both customer-facing and supplier management processes within an organization is revolutionizing the strategic planning process as well.

While there are those that contend that the Internet is leading to all nations become westernized at a much greater rate than they otherwise would, there is ample evidence to the contrary (Lombaerde, Lelio-Iapadre, 2008). In fact the Internet is strengthening cultures globally as they seek to stay differentiated and hold onto their customs, values, and norms.

What all this means for the strategic planners is that they must now be more sensitive and cognizant of the many variations in regional, national and even local cultures if they are to succeed in strategic or long-term initiatives globally. The Internet has enabled regions, nations and cultures to selectively choose which of the benefits and options they have available from a globalization standpoint and selectively ignore or in some cases, ban them from their nations.

This is particularly true in Islamic nations that have a fundamentally different mindset with regard to marketing, selling and especially finance. There is an Islamic finance and banking system that is completely different than those found in western nations for example, and the use of the Internet has made their use even more prevalent in the nations they are located in.

For strategic planners from western nations including the U.S., Great Britain, Australia and others, their ability to discern the major differences in values and perceptions across regional locations globally and then devise strategies that allow for growth that compliments these regional requirements is crucial. In summary the Internet is having a significant effect on the entire value chains of organizations.

From customer-facing strategies and systems including multichannel management to the development of more efficient supply chains, the Internet is making it possible to better manage time and financial resources than ever before. In conjunction with this, the Internet is acting as a means for nations to understand and appreciate their inherent value and the uniqueness of their cultures. This is having a significant effect also on strategic planning as it forces organizations to respect, plan for and create value in their products and services that respect these cultural values.

Question 2: Compare and contrast the two models, strategic mgmt model, and the strategic decision making process, and reconcile the strategic decision making process with the strategic mgmt model. Do the two models complement each other or do they clash? Comparing the strategic management model and the strategic decision making process show many similarities, with the greatest being the front-end process of scanning the external environment for risks and opportunities.

There are also process workflows that specifically focus on how to react to risks, opportunities, interpret internal audit results (as is the case with the strategic management model for example) and also generate a select set of strategies based on this feedback. How the two models vary however is in their inherent design differences as they relate to speed of response. While the strategic management model is more of a structured, logical and therefore potentially longer to implement strategic direction, the strategic decision making process is inherently more agile.

It is more capable.