The Historical Development of the Strategic Management Concept

What is strategic management, really? Inductive derivation of a consensus definition of the field

“…Some indicate the overall organization or firm as the relevant unit of analysis (e.g., Learned et al, 1965), while others do not. Some refer to the importance of organizational performance or success (Bowman et al, 2002;Rumelt et al, 1994;Schendel and Hofer, 1979), some to external environments (e.g., Bracker, 1980;Jemison, 1981), some to internal resources (e.g., Bracker, 1980;Jemison, 1981), some to strategy implementation (Van Cauwenbergh and Cool, 1982), and some refer to none of these (e.g. Smircich and Stubbart, 1985).…”

“…Schendel and Hofer (1979) Strategic management is a process that deals with the entrepreneurial work of the organization, with organizational renewal and growth, and more particularly, with developing and utilizing the strategy which is to guide the organization's operations. Bracker (1980) Strategic Management entails the analysis of internal and external environments of firms to maximize the utilization of resources in relation to objectives Jemison (1981) Strategic Management is the process by which general managers of complex organizations develop and use a strategy to coalign their organization's competences and the opportunities and constraints in the environment.…”

Strategy and Strategic Management Concepts: Are They Recognised by Management Students?

“…The term derives from the Greek strategos, translated as a general in command of troops or the art of the general or plan to destroy enemies through effective use of resources [18], [76], [78]. This term in itself contained the idea of objectives to be achieved and plans of action to be performed in various scenarios, depending on the enemy's behaviour [73].…”

“…According to Mintzberg and Quinn [53], strategy was already considered as an organizational skill at the time of Pericles (450 BC), meaning management skills (administrative, leadership, public speaking, power). However, it was only after World War II that strategy fully entered into the business world, which has since grown significantly and needed guidance, lines and paths to be followed by their entire structures [18]. This growth increased organizational complexity and, together with the accelerated pace of environmental changes, 1, XVII, 2014 began requiring enterprises deploy greater capacity to create and manage strategies enabling them to meet the challenges of the market, reaching their objectives in the short, medium and long term [25].…”

Processo de criação de estratégias em pequenas empresas: elaboração de um mapa estratégico para empresas de base tecnológica do pólo de São Carlos/SP

“…Ademais, a palavra general, que também quer dizer "geral", implica, com esta conotação, que, em algum ponto da história militar, o comandante da ação deixa de atuar na linha de frente, em uma atividade específica, para ter uma visão de conjunto das batalhas. O conhecimento da evolução do significado da palavra estratégia, desde seu remoto étimo, permite concluir que, por toda a Antiguidade até o século XIII, foi entendida como uma forma de vencer o inimigo que comporta estratagemas necessários à sua concretização (BETLHEM, 1981;BRACKER, 1980;EVERED, 1983;BERTON, 2005;HAMBRICK, 1980).…”