Abstract
Most South African organisations were historically part of a closed competitive system with little global competition and a relatively stable economy (Manning: 18, Sunter: 32). Since the political transformation, the globalisation of the world economy, the decline of world economic fundamentals and specific challenges in the South African scenario such as GEAR and employment equity, the whole playingfield has changed. With these changes, new challenges ', appear. A significant challenge for organisations within this scenario is to think, plan and manage strategically. In order to do so, the organisation must understand its relationship with its environment and establish innovative new strategies to manipulate; interact with; and ultimately survive in the environment. The legacy of the past has, in many organisations, implanted an operational short-term focus because the planning horizon was stable. It was sufficient to construct annual plans rather than strategies. These plans were typically internally focused rather than driven by the external environment. Strategic planning in this environment tended to be a form of team building through which the various members of the organisation 's management team discussed and documented the problems of the day. A case study is presented of the development of a strategic management process for a large South African Mining company. The authors believe that the approach is a new and different way of addressing a problem that exists in many organisations - the establishment of a process of strategic thinking, whilst at the same time ensuring that a formal process of strategic planning is followed in order to prompt the management of the organisation for strategic action. The lessons that were drawn from this process are applicable to a larger audience due to the homogenous nature of the management style of a large number of South African organisations.
Highlights
The net effect of changes in the business environment has been that many organisations saw a necessity for some form of transformation or renewal in order to stay relevant in its competitive environment
Many South African companies, including the mining company discussed in this case study, have in the past five years embarked on a process of reengineering with varying levels of success
Various elements of strategic management existed within the organisation but a lack of integration and a reactive mode towards strategic management inhibited the contribution that could be made through strategic management
Summary
The net effect of changes in the business environment has been that many organisations saw a necessity for some form of transformation or renewal in order to stay relevant in its competitive environment. Ackoff [1,2] suggests that various new disciplines are emerging in the world today, distinguishing themselves by having different perspectives on existing phenomena This is the result of a move towards a more systemic way of understanding and influencing the environment. Logical , they tend to create an amount of confusion in the business environment because they overlap and tend to remove the focus of organisations from thinking fundamentally about their business This confusion is aggravated by the fact that these approaches come neatly packaged and skilfully marketed by consultants from an industry that has grown considerably in the past decade. They are presented in a complex and sophisticated way, which removes the focus from their fundamentals. In business transformation , the . opposite process is forced upon organisations
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