Strategic management is a field that deals with the major intended and emergent initiatives taken by general managers on behalf of owners, involving utilization ( zužitkovanie) of resources, to enhance ( zlepšiť ) the performance of firms in their external environments.general managers resources firms

8.Strategy formation ( formovanie stratégie) Strategic formation is a combination of three main processes which are as follows : 1.performing a situation analysis, 2. self-evaluation and competitor analysis: 3.both internal and external; 4.both micro-environmental and macro- environmental. These objectives should be parallel to a time- line; some are in the short-term and others on the long-term.

This involves crafting 1.vision statements (long term view of a possible future), 2. mission statements (the role that the organization gives itself in society), overall corporate objectives (both financial and strategic), 3. strategic business unit objectives (both financial and strategic), 4. tactical objectives.

8.Strategy evaluation and choice An environmental scan will highlight all pertinent aspects that affects an organisation, whether external, sector/industry-based, or internal. These options, once identified, have to be vetted and screened by an organisation. In addition to ascertaining the suitability, feasibility and acceptability of an option, the actual modes of progress have to be determined.

Mode of action Measuring the effectiveness of the organizational strategy, it's extremely important to conduct a SWOT analysis to figureSWOT analysis out the internal strengths and weaknesses, and external opportunities and threats of the entity in business.

SWOT analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluatestrategic planning the Strengths, Weaknesses/Limitations, Opportunities, and Threats involved in a project or in a business venture.projectbusiness It involves specifying the objective of the business venture or project and identifying the internal and external factors that are favorable and unfavorable to achieve that objective. The technique is credited to Albert Humphrey, who led a convention at Stanford University in the 1960s and 1970s using data from Fortune 500 companies.Albert HumphreyFortune 500

Swot analysis schema

SWOT analysis Setting the objective should be done after the SWOT analysis has been performed. This would allow achievable goals or objectives to be set for the organization.

Strengths: characteristics of the business, or project team that give it an advantage over others Weaknesses (or Limitations): are characteristics that place the team at a disadvantage relative to others

Opportunities: external chances to improve performance (e.g. make greater profits) in the environment Threats : external elements in the environment

Identification of SWOTs is essential because subsequent steps in the process of planning for achievement of the selected objective may be derived from the SWOTs

First, the decision makers have to determine whether the objective is attainable, given the SWOTs. If the objective is NOT attainable a different objective must be selected and the process repeated.

One way of utilizing SWOT is matching and converting. -Matching is used to find competitive advantages by matching the strengths to opportunities. -Converting is to apply conversion strategies to convert weaknesses or threats into strengths or opportunities. -An example of conversion strategy is to find new markets. -If the threats or weaknesses cannot be converted a company should try to minimize or avoid them.

The aim of any SWOT analysis is to identify the key internal and external factors that are important to achieving the objective. These come from within the company's unique value chain. SWOT analysis groups key pieces of information into two main categories:

The internal factors may be viewed as strengths or weaknesses depending upon their impact on the organization's objectives. What may represent strengths with respect to one objective may be weaknesses for another objective. The factors may include all of the 4P's; as well as personnel, finance, manufacturing capabilities, and so on. 4P's

The external factors may include macroeconomic matters, technological change, legislation, and socio-cultural changes, as well as changes in the marketplace or competitive position. The results are often presented in the form of a matrix

SWOT analysis is just one method of categorization and has its own weaknesses. For example, it may tend to persuade companies to compile lists rather than think about what is actually important in achieving objectives. It also presents the resulting lists uncritically and without clear prioritization so that, for example, weak opportunities may appear to balance strong threats. It is therefore advisable to combine a SWOT analysis with portfolio analyses such as the GE/McKinsey matrix 2 or COPE analysis3.23

The usefulness of SWOT analysis is not limited to profit-seeking organizations. SWOT analysis may be used in any decision- making situation when a desired end-state (objective) has been defined. Examples include: non-profit organizations, governmental units, and individuals.non-profit organizations SWOT analysis may also be used in pre-crisis planning and preventive crisis management. SWOT analysis may also be used in creating a recommendation during a viability study/surveycrisis managementviability study

The SWOT-landscape systematically deploys the relationships between overall objective and underlying SWOT-factors and provides an interactive, query-able 3D landscape. Changes in relative performance are continually identified. Projects (or other units of measurements) that could be potential risk or opportunity objects are highlighted. SWOT-landscape also indicates which underlying strength/weakness factors that have had or likely will have highest influence in the context of value in use (for ex. capital value fluctuations).

How to collect relevant data for the SWOT? In order to use the SWOT Analysis for the Strategic Planning, you need to understand how to collect the data for the SWOT factors. Lets start with the Strengths. To collect data for the Strengths in relation to your competitor, you may use the following as a guide: What are the advantages of your company over your competitor? What are some of the customer benefit you can offer? What are some your customer relationship? What are some of the offers to customer your can fulfilled? What are some of the low cost operation capabilities? What are your financial strengths? Similar to the Strengths, the Weaknesses is another internal factor that deals with the weaknesses of the operation. The impact of these weaknesses is more urgent when compared it with the competitors who are ahead of you. Below is the guideline you can use to identify weaknesses

What What are some of the setback with your company or operation What are some of the "out-dated" or inefficient equipment? What are some of the bad customer experience? What are some of the repeated operation failure? What are some of the escalated cost components? In the area of Opportunities, it is an external factor. When dealing with external factors, you have to be objectives. Keep focus on external factors that has an influence to the market and your sales opportunity and those are not within your control. You may use the following guidelines to help you to generate the list of opportunities:-

Political policy Political or Policy changes that may spur development Economic situation that encourage spending. Societal stability that may encourage harmony (more spending) Technological advancement that can accelerate your operation In the area of Threats, it is another external factor you must deal with realistically and that the information has great impact to your business. Keep focus on external factors that has an influence to the market and your sales opportunity and those are not within your control. You may use the following guidelines to help you to generate the list of opportunities:-

Any new entrance to your industry? Any form of substitutions or alternatives What are some of the Political changes that influence the economy? Policy imposed that cost more in the long run Economic downturn in your own targeted market Societal instability Obsolete technology that hinder speed to market Once you have completed the data collection for the four factors, you need to study the list to ensure they are clearly understood. You need to keep your list short probably within 10 items.