Showing posts with label Management. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Management. Show all posts

Thursday, May 7, 2015

Key Terms in Strategic Management

Most of these terms are used interchangeably and may mean different from one person to another. Based on various sources I read, here's what I think they mean:

Mission - enduring purpose/duty, most important aim

Vision - desired future state supporting mission

Goals / Objectives - what the organization intends to do, an end-game

Strategy
- a chosen path, direction or plan of action, to achieve goal
- involves all or most of the resources within organization
- usually long-term
- usually timeless
- what to do?

Tactics
- way to a achieve sub-goals or implement strategy, tools
- performed by a subset or a specific ___ in  an organization
- shorter to mid term
- may vary depending on some factors like time, environment, etc.
- how to do?

Strategies should consider the tactics and tactical solutions should be aligned with strategies.

Some examples from Jan Zlotnick:

Goal: Be the market share leader in terms of sales in the mid-market in our industry.
Strategy: Remarkable Customer Service
Tactics: Offer lower cost solutions than enterprise competitors without sacrificing white-glove service for first 3 years of customer contracts.

Goal: Become a social utility that earth uses on an daily basis.
Strategy: Love Your Neighbor
Tactics: Offer a free global communication toolset that enables disparate personal interactions with your friends to monitor, share, and interact with.

Execution - implementation

Sources:
http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2013/01/14/the-difference-between-strategy-and-tactics/
http://www.managementguru.net/key-terms-of-strategic-management/
http://bluesummitstrategy.com/strategy/mission-vs-vision/2007/
http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/strategic-planning-strategy-vs-tactics.html