On 10 January 1992, a cargo vessel Evergreen Ever Laurel hit a storm. As a consequence, some 28,800 plastic ducks (and turtles, ducks, beavers and frogs) packed in a cargo container fell overboard into the mid-Pacific. According to their manufacturing label, they were named âfriendly floateesâ. The floatees did not have any holes in them, which made them more buoyant than most ordinary bath toys. The ducks took three years to circle around. East from the drop site to Alaska, then west and south to Japan before turning back north and east passing the original drop site and again landing in North America. Over the years, some intrepid ducks head North, through the Bering Straight and into the frozen waters of the Arctic. Frozen into the ice the ducks travelled slowly across the pole, moving eastward. Ducks begin reaching the North Atlantic where they began to move Southward in 2000. Soon ducks were sighted in the coasts of USA, and $100 reward was offered for the recovery of them (Nelson 2011). Scientists have been tracking the toysâ movements for information about the great ocean currents, which affect the planetâs overall climate. Oceanographers were able to make more accurate predictions of the currents of the sea based on the occurrence of ducks in shores around the globe. Some of the plastic ducks are still making their way in their endless journey in the global currents of the sea. Many of the ducks have been caught by the gyres or maelstroms, which catch the garbage that are thrown into our oceans. Some of the ducks have washed up on the shores of Hawaii, Alaska, South America, Australia and the Pacific Northwest. Still others have made their way as far as Scotland and Newfoundland in the Atlantic (see Hohn 2011).
What is the point in the story of the friendly floatees? First, it is impossible to prepare for all the unexpected occurrences even with the best of strategies. Still, there are plenty of opportunities to benefit from the unforeseeable. In the case of the plastic ducks , scientists took advantage in calibrating their calculations. Even more importantly, the public interest aroused by the journey of the cute little toys was instrumental in acquiring attention to the problem of garbage in the oceans and it also increased interest in recycling of the plastic waste.
This book is about strategic management . It seeks to present an image of strategic management as a theoretical construct consisting of three different modes. Strategic design , internal strategic scanning and strategic governance can be used to describe the strategic management performed by societyâs governing institutions and by public agencies managing internal and external demands. A strong emphasis on predetermining the future is a characteristic feature of strategic design . Internal strategic scanning emphasises the internal aspects of governmental and organisational structures. Strategic governance focuses on external interactions between polity and public agencies.
It is sometimes thought that strategic management was imported from the private business sector to the public sector through reforms based on the market. This, however, is far from the truth; in fact, strategic management has a long history in warfare. It was first used in organising military campaigns and then worked its way into the management of large corporations and the operations of governments and public agencies . Physical planning is also a significant component in the development of strategic thinking. Another thread of strategic management relates to economic planning in countries which had functional markets to orient their economic exchanges .
From one perspective, strategic management is about organising a large number of people to work towards the same goals. Strategic management has more to do with planning, organisation and coordination than with inspiring and motivating employees. However, working as a âpeople personâ is not foreign to strategic thinking. It is most often presented in strategic leadership studies. Typically, strategy is formed from the top down. Top management formulates strategies. Middle management might play a supporting role, and individual employees are asked to implement strategic directives. However, this top-down orientation is changing. First, inter-organisational networks cannot operate using exclusively hierarchical structures. Second, the most valuable assets of an organisation are the intangible skills and knowledge of its experts. It is difficult, however, for an organisation to access this talent and expertise through command and control . It is often necessary to engage employees in purposeful efforts rather than to merely ask them to comply with directives and regulations .
Strategic management is future oriented. Strategies might aim at a future that is not yet achievable, but a strategy guides the organisation towards those goals. Constructing buildings and infrastructure are concrete examples of such efforts, but this future orientation might take a more abstract form, such as trying to secure the well-being of future generations or protect the environment .
Although strategies help organisations and institutions move large groups of people in a purposeful direction, strategies also appear in the most mundane of daily activities. As a whole, these minuscule actions form broader patterns and ways of institutional life, even without any grand design or plan. Consider the following activities in the lives of individuals and institutions:
Remembering. Think of your typical experience in a supermarket. Your initial motivation is the fact that you want to buy something that you do not have. It might be only one vital ingredient for a candlelit dinner you are planning to serve to friends and family. Or perhaps you have not visited the supermarket for a long time and need to write a grocery list. It is helpful to organise this list based on the organisation of the items in the shop, placing fruit with vegetables and fish with meat and dairy products. The right organisation speeds up the process of collecting the items and bringing them back home to your refrigerator before they melt or the heavier products squash the lighter ones in your shopping bag. Things get more complicated when someone else, such as a spouse or a parent, compiles the list for you. A number of questions arise. Is this the correct brand? Does this say a âhalf a dozenâ or âsecond-class qualityâ? Do black-eyed beans qualify as white beans, or are they considered black beans? These are some of the questions I have when shopping with a list written by my wife. And this is not that different from strategic management . Strategic management begins with an idea of what you need, a list (mental or otherwise) of what to get and some type of plan for obtaining those things within a reasonable time. Organisations usually formulate their needs as plans and execute them as budgets , projects and standard operating procedures. The foundation of this process is remembering the plan, implementing it and staying focused on the expected result. A strategic plan helps you remember what you were supposed to do in the past and also what you are supposed to do in the future .
Repeating. Have you ever tried learning a new skill? Becoming an artist takes a lot of time and effort. Whether you want to learn, say, ironmongering, football or writing, you need time and practice. It is said that you must repeat a new skill 10,000 times to practise it well (Gladwell 2008, p. 38). However, practice alone is hardly going make you a master blacksmith, professional footballer or bestselling writer. In addition to repetition, you need talent and ingenuity. Organisations are not that different. Formal education provides repetitive practice that enables employees to perform their duties. This practice, along...