Strategic Management through Adaptive and Rational Models - Coursework Example

Strategic Management through Adaptive and Rational Models By: Professor: Class: University: City: State: Date of submission: Strategic Management through Adaptive and Rational Models Introduction Strategic management is an old concept, which is management system that connects strategic planning and decision-making within the business. Strategic management is an easy systematic method although complex and iterative process that requires commitment and dedication from organizational management for implementation towards the required objective. In addition, it is a process for leading organizational members to forecast on the future and develop appropriate procedures and operations for achieving the future (Date & Darwen, 2007, 188). In most cases, it is found in high levels of management to assist the business in gathering, analyzing, and organizing important information to keep up with ever-changing industrial and competitive trends. The paper will focus on strategic management analysis through rational and adaptive models. Rational model is properly planned and more prescriptive approach on strategic selection while adaptive is the opposite. Differences between Adaptive and Rational Models Based on the design and plan in the 60s to the location of the school in the 80s to the rising of core school in the 90s, there have been emphasis on the rational characters within strategic management (Yoon & Lawler, 2011, 126). The rational model of strategic management is the role of top management. The model is deeply rooted in the traditional organizational management practices. Upon making decision on the strategic plan by the management, it is the role of the lower management to implement the strategic plan through an operating plan (Ehrentreich, 2008, 149). In addition, the rational model seems to provide a structured and sequenced approach in systematic manner. Within the rational approaches, the main elements and objectives are usually defined before starting the strategy, which makes it propitious within a stable and predictable environment. In most cases, the rational approach often focus on the ability of the business to realize its goals which are determined through establishing the overall goal, discovering the objectives for establishments, and defining various strategies for every objectives. Most researches regard the explicit objectives as the main aspect of the rational model and contribute greatly to the participation within the organization (Pirolli, 2009, 178). However, the rational model needs explicit information and consequences associated with the alternatives. It begins with taking into account the alternatives that the strategic personnel face. The determination of the alternatives need to based precisely on clear definition of the alternatives. Preferences among the alternatives often have binary relations, that is, entry X means that Y is at least suitable, as alternative X. considering the complete preordering of the alternatives, the rational model often require selection of maximally acceptable alternatives (Briffaut, 2015, 37). Moreover, the rational model needs decision theory on the preferences and choices for production of ideal but important result. Upon definition of the alternative, the alternative strategy emerges which needs to be written in details to consider the explicit evaluation. The rational model needs a systematic procedure to evaluate the strategies and monitor the system. It is important that the managers build and conserve organizational resources which customers, products, cash, and soft factors like the quality of the product, morale of the staff, and standards of the service. Such resources are intangible and interdependent (Wirtz, 2011, 127). The business can be in danger is one principal resource is in bad form. A firm is like an adaptive resource system, ordinarily. The adaptive model links directly or indirectly to the environment in which the business operates or some organizational factors influencing the choice of the strategic management. Businesses can find themselves in a steady environment within a long period without the need to change the strategy (Kirlik, 2006, 202). However, there could be turbulence in the environment that renders even the best planning method useless considering the high levels of unpredictability. The adaptive model seems to recognize that the process of making a strategic management system is dynamic, high uncertainty, complex, and large changes. One of the advanced adaptive approaches is the emergent strategy, which means that it is a strategy based on the rough and tumble of everyday activities (Van, Ghosh & Verbrugge, 2015, 142). These emergent strategies often result from the opportunities and threats within the environment. Most research think that luck is a types of the emergent strategy which determines organizational success. The adaptive model of strategy is often concerned with the development of viable matches between organizational opportunities and risks that emerge from the external environment and the capability of the organizational resources to exploit such opportunities. Business are expected to assess continually the internal and external conditions which leads to adjustments within the organization or within the relevant environment; it creates a satisfactory alignments of the environmental opportunities and risks and capabilities and resources of the organization on the other hand. Adaptive model differs from rational model in various ways (Harrington, 2009, 97). Monitoring the environment and making the adjustments are simultaneous and continuous functions within the adaptive model. Strategy adaptation recurs and overlaps in cycles with different phases: engineering, administrative, and entrepreneurial phases. The adaptive model deal emphatically with the decisions regarding the goals; however, it focuses on the attention of the manager’s means and goals represented through co-aligning the organization and the environment. Effects of Rational and Adaptive Models on Strategic Thinking The definition of the adaptive model of the strategic behaviors goes beyond the normal organizational concept of management to integrate both the main changes within the markets and products and subtle the changes in style, quality, and marketing (Van't, 2014, 134). These views follow from the relative unimportance of the advance planning within the adaptive model; therefore, as it could be expected, the strategy involved is less centralized within the top management, more multifaceted, and less integrated. Within the adaptive model, the top management play important role in influencing organizational culture since they assume the overall responsibility of guiding the strategic development. In the adaptive model, the environment is viewed as complex organizational support system (Chorafas, 2007, 125). Considering that the boundary between the business and environment is highly permeable, most organizations often focus their attentions on the environment to determine the appropriate action. Irrespective of whether proactive or reactive, the action needs to be a responsive to the nature and magnitude of what is perceived or anticipated to be the environmental pressure. The rational approach plays significant role in assisting businesses resolve complexities within the environment. However, comparatively, it seems to linear, rational, and unrealistic. It views organizational strategic planning and culture in structural manner identified as top-down approach to the strategy. On the other hand, the adaptive model is a less structured views of the organizational strategies especially the process of management (Stoichev, 2014, 103). The creative and cultural influence of organizational strategic management is an inflexible process, which is executable within a neat system; nonetheless, the quest needs to be a subversive revolution with an aim of improving organizational performance. Strategic planning and organizational cultures are important business dimensions; therefore, rational model does not offer the best way to make the future decisions. Considering the inadequate capacity to predict the future, the directions and strategies that the management makes needs to based on what the top management level think it is likely to happen (Keller, 2015, 118). This is due increasing changes in the factors such as market demands, customer preferences, new competitors, advancement in technologies, economic opportunities, downturn, and business environment. Strategic management determines organizational success; however, it is dynamic process considered to be on the receiving end to the unknown changes (Straber, 2014, 192). As a result, rational model has not capacity to solve the changes that critically threatens the organizational survival and can be a straightjacket harming organizational performance. In some cases, the rational model is a planning definite aim within a short time and seldom comes down to long-term organizational development. A strategy cannot predict what is likely to happen within the marketplace: it is a great fallacy for the business to commit itself to the predefined strategy. Rational approach seems emphasizes on the strategic planning; nonetheless, strategic planning is not a strategic making, which is quite a dynamic process (Schmidt, 2015, 252). Moreover, the rational model concentrates on the consistency rather than flexibility. Rational model holds that strategy stability can reduce the uncertainty within the environment already experiencing uncertainty and changing the strategy might contribute in unnecessary capital outlays. However, on the other hand, the strategy needs to change with the business environment (Eckert, 2016, 232). Without adequate flexibility in the strategy, the business is incompetent to adapt to the ever-changing conditions of the external environment. Others factors likely to change are information, technical resources, and capital: human and physical. Conclusion Initially, rational strategic management was based on the assumption that suppose the environment of the business face stable, small changes, and expectant; as a result, the business could forward to the market and future. Nonetheless, the current environment faced by the organization is complex and less expectant. With emphasis on the rational model, the organizations are concerned with efficiency management and excessive formation of strategic management that creates a block for strategic management. The option of adaptive approach is advanced with the times considers the entire situation and plan accordingly. Adaptive model involves evaluation of opportunities and risks present within organizational environment. Based on the model, strategy means developing the resources and capabilities that enable the business to effectively exploit the opportunities within the market environment and insure against the risk. As a result, it involves constant monitoring and adjustment of business plans and culture assuming that the environment is changing constantly. Despite the fact that rational model has a disadvantage does not mean it is less effective. Adaptive model is not useful in all strategies. 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