The Evolution of Strategic Management Thought

Strategic management was developed during the 1950s by Philip Selznick, Igor Ansoff, and Peter Drucker. During this period of time, strategic planning was through a wave of popularity not too different from traditional management. There has been enough time since the introduction of strategic management concepts to observe the results of strategic planning by military leaders, city planners, state agencies, and leadership. Drucker developed such concepts as management by objectives (MBO) and intellectual capital. During the 1970s, the study of strategic management was enhanced by General Electrics and the Strategic Planning Institute.

These studies dealt with long-range planning and strategic planning based on the fact that long-range planning may be much more simply done; such operational planning extends over a period of time. During the 1980s, the following research whorled on strategic management concepts: Woo and Cooper (1983), Levenson (1984), and Traverso (2002). In contrast to the 1950s, strategic management is occupied and takes into account the environment and complex social issues that form the context in which the planning is done and in which an institution is operated.

Strategic management is considered as a means of setting strategic goals or tasks for those organizations that are responsible for the operation of an institution. While long-range planning may be done by one person or a small group, such as a staff, strategic planning often involves a much wider array of employees in the process. Where strategic management is used to set the direction or mission for an institution, long-range management should adhere to the mission established in the strategic management process (Thompson et al 2005). As a result, strategic management has much more far-reaching goals than does long-range planning. The degrees of complexity of management can be viewed by looking at what has been achieved in the organization.