Strategic Management, Rational Planning Essay Example

"Although the view of strategy as the product of a rational planning process driven by top management has some basis in reality, it is not the whole story" (Hill, Jones and Galvin, 2004, 6). The purpose of this essay is to verify the truth of the above statement with reference to the theories that argue for or against it by academics as well as the truth behind it in current real world corporate strategic management practices. The argument indicates that, although rational planning does indeed bear realistic importance, it is by far and away detrimental to companies who would solely focus on long-term planning by top management that would leave them inflexible to capitalize or survive on unknown factors. This will be done by first quickly looking at the rational planning process and the failures of poor planning in order to point out the irrationality of applying rational thought to certain aspects. This will then be followed by a look at the concept of emergent strategies and the scenarios under which it would benefit the planning process.

The Rational Planning Process

In Hill, Jones and Galvin (2004) it says that traditional definitions of strategy stress that an organisation's strategy is the outcome of a rational planning process. It is essential that, before we begin, we should provide a short description of the existing basic rational model. It consists of the overall traditional conception that major decisions in regards to strategy are undertaken by top management with goals being formulated, analyses being undertaken, strategies being chosen for the different functional levels within the organization, and finally the methods by which these strategies would be implemented within the organization. In other words, this is generally done with the implicit belief that the top management of the company is able to appraise and analyse the internal and external environment around them, the company's performance, and come up with a strategy with the greatest