The Relationship between Strategic Decision Making & Operation Essay

The strategic decision making process is complex and needs the adequate assessment of the current organizational performance and forecasting the further business development. At the same time, strategic decision making has a considerable impact not only on the long-run business development but also on operations of the organization and its operation management. On the other hand, operations management and current operations of the organization may also influence consistently the strategic decision making process. Such mutual impact of the strategic decision making process and operations of organizations raises the problem of balancing strategic and operational management to make organizations capable to carry out strategic decisions successfully at the operational level because any strategic decision implies practical steps or operations to be undertaken to achieve the target strategic outcome. Therefore, organizations should take into consideration the close relationship between strategic decision making process and operations and operational management to maintain their successful development and enhance their growth.

The strategic decision making process involves the long-run business development of the organization because strategic decisions are the major decision that determine the development of the major part or the entire organization. Managers take strategic decisions to determine the framework within which they want their organization to develop and to identify the key priorities in the organizational development. Strategic decisions set strategic goals and pace of their achievement but the successful implementation of strategic decisions requires the effective operational management because any strategic decision implies specific steps to be undertaken to implement this decision. Therefore, employees of the organization should perform perfectly specific operations that lead to the fulfillment of the strategic decision and achievement of the particular strategic goal of the organization. In such a way, long-run strategic decisions require specific short-run operations without which strategic goals cannot be achieved.

Strategic decisions condition the development of the organization and all processes and operations within the organization are subordinated to the strategic decisions that have been already taken. Therefore, strategic decisions condition, to a significant extent, operations and operation management of the organization. Operations and operational management should meet strategic goals. In other words, strategic decisions may need changes of operations and organizations should be capable to carry out those changes to implement their strategic decision. Strategic decisions also create the framework for the further development of the organization and the organization should carry out its operations within this framework. For example, if the company manufactures two items, but takes a strategic decision to focus on the production of one item only, then its operations will undergo considerable changes. The organization will have to stop the production of one item and focus on the production of the chosen one. Hence, the organization will need to introduce changes in its production operations and so will need changes the supply of materials used in the production process as well as other changes, which the strategic decision requires.

In this regard, it is worth mentioning the fact that operational decisions are decisions that are taken on the daily basis. These are routine decisions that are essential for the maintenance of the normal functioning of the organization and its operations. They do not have long-run effects, as a rule, but they are important for the effective organizational performance (Blanchard & Bowles 194). Short-term, current operations should run smoothly. Otherwise, any strategic decision making process becomes virtually impossible because the implementation of strategic decisions will confront constant constraints and failures caused by the poor operations management. The effective operations management contributes to the stable performance of every operation within the organization. In such a situation, managers can take long-run strategic decisions being certain that the organization will implement those decisions since every operation is performed effectively. Such strategic decisions though may need changes being introduced into operations performed by employees and employees have to understand reasons for changing their operations and they should also understand how to change their operations to achieve strategic goals (Benfari 183). This is why strategic management should b accompanied by the adequate explanation of strategic goals and decisions to employees.

At the same time, operations and operational decisions may and do have influence on the strategic decision making process. To put it more precisely, operational decisions and routine, daily operations may reveal unexpected drawbacks of strategic decisions, which have been already taken by managers of the organization. For example, a company takes a decision to launch a new product, but when the production begins, it turns out that the production line cannot maintain the target level of the production and needs expansion or other optimization. At the operational level, the company cannot introduce any strategic changes and reveals the imperfectness or unpreparedness of the company for the fulfillment of the strategic decision to launch a new product. Alternatively, the company can take an operational decision to expand working hours to meet the target level of production. Anyway, it is only at the operational level that some drawbacks of the strategic decision making may be revealed to the full extent.

On the other hand, operations and operational management and decision making process have to be subordinated to strategic decisions taken by the organization. Operations should match the strategic development of the organization. For example, if the organization takes a decision to save costs and optimize its performance to reach specific strategic goals, then the company should optimize every operation (Ogbu 502). Otherwise, the strategic goal will be simply unachievable for the organization. For example, the organization may introduce the automated system to save costs of operations that will help to reach the strategic goal of saving costs and optimizing the performance of the organization.

Moreover, often organizations face the problem of wide gaps between strategic decision making process and operations and operational management. In fact, such problems can cause a substantial deterioration of the organizational performance because they actually lead to the failure of strategic management and strategic decisions do not work (Van der Borght 114). What is meant here is the fact that the company may take strategic decisions, which are not realistic. Naturally, at the operational level, the organization will never implement those decisions. As a result, those strategic decisions will simply fail. Therefore, such gaps are unacceptable but, at the same time, they reveal the full extent, to which the strategic decision making process and operations are closely intertwined.

In this regard, it is worth mentioning the fact that organizations may experience communication gaps, which may raise unsurpassable barriers on the way of the implementation of strategic decisions. The failure of managers to communicate properly their strategic decisions to their subordinates naturally leads to the failure of subordinates to meet strategic goals. In such a situation, operations of the organization do not meet strategic goals and companies may face difficulties with matching strategic decisions and actual operations of the company. The effective communication is an essential condition of the effective interaction between the strategic decision making process and operations and operational management because, if employees understand properly what managers expect from them and why they have to change their operations and performance, they are capable to perform specific operations, which are essential for the achievement of strategic goals.

Another cause of gaps between strategic decision making process and operations or operational management may be the resistance of employees to changes initiated by strategic decisions. In fact, employees are often unwilling to change operations they are accustomed to perform on the daily basis because such changes need more training (Breneman & Taylor 2011). Employees may simply lack the qualification to complete the change and perform new operations successfully that may put under a threat their position in their company. This is why they become resistant to change. They may also resist to change because they do not understand the reason for the change. However, whatever the cause of the resistance of employees is, it may become an unsurpassable barrier on the way to the implementation of strategic decisions taken by managers of their organization. The resistance of employees to strategic changes will manifest through their under-performance in routine, daily operations.

Thus, the development of the contemporary strategic decision making process is challenging but the successful implementation of strategic decisions depends on operations and operational management, to a significant extent. In fact, the failure of operational management to perform specific operations required for the achievement of strategic goals leads to the failure of organizations to implement their strategic decisions. At the same time, strategic decisions should be taken on the ground of actual performance and resources of organizations that means that managers should take into consideration current operations of their organization, when they take strategic decisions. In such a way, the close relationship of the strategic decision making process and operations can increase the effectiveness of the organizational performance and allow organizations to reach their strategic goals. Managers should focus on matching the strategic decision making process and operations as well as on the communication of their strategic decisions to their subordinates, who carry out the operational management.

 

Works Cited:

Benfari, R. C. Understanding and changing your management style. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2012.

Blanchard, K. and Bowles, S. Raving fans: A revolutionary approach to customer service. New York: Morrow, 2013.

Breneman, D. W. and Taylor, A. L. (eds.). Strategies for promoting excellence in a time of scarce resources. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2011.

Ogbu, J. U. “Differences in cultural frame of reference.” International Journal of Behavioral Development, 16, 1993, 483-506.

Van der Borght, K. Essays on the Future of the WTO: Finding a New Balance. London: Routledge, 2000.

 

The terms offer and acceptance. (2016, May 17). Retrieved from

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016.

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

freeessays.club (2016) The terms offer and acceptance [Online].
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[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]

"The terms offer and acceptance." freeessays.club, 17 May 2016

[Accessed: March 29, 2024]
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