Question

Role of strategists in corporate management with examples

Answer 1

(1) Role of board of directors -
1. To establish and update the company mission.
2. To elect the company’s top officers, the formost of whom is the CEO.
3. To establish the compensation level of the top officers, including their salaries and bonuses.
4. To determine the amount and timing of the dividends paid to stockholders.
5. To set broad company policy on such matters as labour – management relations, product or service lines of business and employee benefit packages.
6. To set company objectives and to authorize managers to implement the long-term strategies that the top officers and the board have found agreeable.
7. To mandate company compliance with legal and ethical dictates.

(2) Role of Chief Executives

a CE performs the strategic tasks; actions which are necessary to provide a direction to the organisation so that it achieves its purpose. He plays a pivotal role in setting the mission of the organisation, deciding the objectives and goals, formulating and implementing the strategy and, in general, seeing to it that the organisation does not deviate from its predetermined path designed to move it from the position it is in to where it wants to be.

(3) Role of entrepreneurs

Entrepreneurs play a proactive role in strategic management. As initiators, they provide a sense of direction to the organisation, set objectives and formulate strategies .Strategic decision-making is quick and the entrepreneurs generate a sense of purpose among their subordinates. 

(4) Role of Senior Manager
When assigned specific responsibilities, senior managers look after modernization, technology upgradation, diversification and expansion, plan implementation, and new product development. On the whole, senior managers perform a variety of roles by assisting the board and the chief executive in the formulation, implementation and evaluation of strategy.

(5) Role of SBU-level Executive.

With regard to strategic management, the SBU-level strategy formulation and implementation are the primary responsibilities of the SBU-level executives. Many public and private sector companies have adopted the SBU concept in some or the other form.

(6) Role of Corporate Planning Staff
The corporate planning staff play a supporting role in strategic management. They assist the management in all aspects of strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation. Besides these, they are responsible for the preparation and communication of strategic plans, and for conducting special studies and research pertaining to strategic management. The corporate planning department is not 
responsible for strategic management and, usually, does not initiate the process on its own. By providing administrative support, it fulfills its functions of assisting the introduction, working and maintenance of the strategic management system

(7) Role of Consultants
Many organizations which do not have a corporate planning department owing to reasons of small size, infrequent requirements, financial constraints, etc. take the help of external consultants in strategic management. These consultants may be individuals, academicians or consultancy companies specializing in strategic management activities.

(9) Role of Executive Assistant
These ways could be to assist the chief executive in data collection and analysis, suggesting alternatives where decisions are required, preparing briefs of various proposals, projects and reports, help in public relations and liaison functions, coordinating activities with the internal staff and outsiders and acting as filters for information coming from different sources.