Organizations are usually guided by their visions and missions. The missions determine the long-term goals of organizations and how they intend to achieve them. Therefore, when implementing changes, managers usually have to ensure that they fit into their organizations’ missions. Usually, there are different types of decision-making. They include tactical, operational, and strategic decisions. Tactical decisions are those that involve specific tasks. Therefore, they determine how functions will be performed (Wanjau et al., 2019). On the other hand, operational decisions concern how the organization will be run daily. Strategic decisions concern long-term changes. Hence, when implementing changes, apart from considering the tactical and operational shifts that may result, it is also important to consider the company strategy. Strategic decision-making in change management ensures that the organization remains on track toward achieving its mission and vision.
Strategic decision-making aligns changes with long-term goals. The small changes that happen in organizations should always aim towards the organization’s long-term goal. Usually, strategic goals are goals that the organization aims to achieve in the end (Wanjau et al., 2019). Each of the operations and tactics used is part of the strategy for meeting the goals. When implementing changes, it is important to consider the resources that will be employed. Resources include factors like employees who offer labor, budgeting, time, and other tools. When formulating strategies, the various resources are planned for meeting different needs that the organization expects to have. When managing changes, it is important to ensure that the resources are adequate and that budgeting considers factors like how the competing resources will be used to achieve the change and how the resource usage will enable the company to meet its goals (Wanjau et al., 2019). For instance, in a hospital, if the organization’s mission is to make itself attractive to the community through effective nursing, strategic decision-making to cause any change should ensure enough professionals achieve their roles and the change. The change should also help the organization use the professionals to become competitive in its field. Otherwise, the change should not be implemented. Usually, budgeting is done for given periods. Hence, when budgeting is done, strategic decision-making should be considered so that resources can be available (Mulwa, 2015). When strategic decision-making involves changes, it reduces the chances of losses and ensures that resources are properly used to meet companies’ goals.
Strategic decisions, especially during economic turbulence, are important for ensuring that companies retain liquidity. Usually, it is essential to make tradeoffs, especially when resources are scarce and operations still must be completed (Mulwa, 2015). The tactical decisions must consider the long-term survival of the organization and its ability to perform its functions almost as usual. Managers must ensure that companies still deliver their responsibility to all stakeholders despite facing hard times. For instance, during the COVID-19 pandemic, companies changed their operations to remain afloat. They had to find ways of delivering their responsibilities to customers while also surviving when there were barely any economic activities happening and companies were closing. Therefore, they had to consider the various tradeoffs to determine the ones that would be made. For instance, some companies had to reduce their human resource sizes to remain liquid. Liquidity in such cases is important because having money to run the basic functions of the organization may prevent companies from collapsing.
Strategic decision-making also reduces the unknown variables that may affect companies and reduces the gap between emergent and deliberate strategy. Usually, companies have to change with time. However, they must remain on course to meet long-term goals. While deliberate strategies are those that companies set out to achieve when they start, as variables take effect and companies have to adapt, they usually have to change their strategies (Mulwa, 2015). For instance, if a company has a strategy to ensure that it improves its profits by diversifying, it can only meet the objective if the market forces do not change a lot. However, external variables like technology changes and policies may force organizations to change their operations. For instance, the popularity of artificial intelligence has led to some companies having to change their operations. Despite the changes to include artificial intelligence or any other assistive technologies, managers have had to ensure that companies remain productive (Mulwa, 2015). Therefore, despite the shifts, they may have to replan and develop measures to operate and achieve their goals. Disasters may also strike and disrupt the operations of companies. In such cases, managers must usually align their organizations with external changes while considering their initial strategies. Strategic decision-making ensures that companies do not stray from their initial goal and remain true to their goals during turbulence or changes.
Strategic decision-making enables organizational learning in change management. Strategic decision-making requires that managers incorporate data in their decisions. Therefore, they have to collect and use evidence to guide their decisions. Organizations collect data from various departments to determine progress (Sumar & Karlsson, 2022). For instance, they collect data from the human resource department to know people’s job satisfaction. The data also helps determine the turnover rates and other employee-related issues that may occur. Managers also usually access data from the finance and other departments that enable the company’s operations. In production, managers must have data concerning production rates and the savings and wastage involved. Strategic changes aim to improve companies’ abilities to achieve their long-term goals. While the data can help determine whether or not changes are needed, it can also help determine the progress of changes to know whether decisions are high quality (Sumar & Karlsson, 2022). Such data can help in future decisions to ensure that mistakes are avoided. Also, before deciding, administrators must analyze past and present data to know the trends. Understanding trends will not only affect current decisions but also influence future decisions.
Strategic decision-making also improves the responses of organizations to changes. Prevention is always better than reactions. Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that decisions consider what may happen and implement measures to prevent adverse events or mitigate the effects of disasters if they happen (Sumar & Karlsson, 2022). for instance, when budgeting, strategic decision-making may help organizations prepare for possible issues that may arise. Preparing early ensures that even when events are preventable, their effects do not weaken organizations. For instance, companies that invest in technologies should consider how they may operate if disasters happen and they lose their electronic data. They should also implement effective security measures to prevent data loss or hacking (Johnson et al., 2020). Failing to consider possible issues may leave organizations vulnerable to disasters. Strategic decisions should also include how companies can recover from disasters if they happen. For instance, companies should have backup systems that they may switch to when disasters happen or lose their main systems. Such proactive preparations should be included in decisions to enable the efficiency and survival of organizations.
Strategic decision-making also enables increased efficiency. Improved efficiency happens when organizations are not disrupted, or the disruption is reduced during change implementation (Sumar & Karlsson, 2022). Usually, changes cause resources to be shifted. Therefore, they may cause some aspects of organizations to be less effective than others. When data, communication, and forward-thinking are involved, and planning is done strategically, operations are likely to continue effectively. However, poor planning and not including organizational strategies in decisions allow for failures and stoppages that affect productivity.
In conclusion, strategic decision-making involves considering long-term goals in decisions. Therefore, it requires managers to consider the available resources and how they can be committed to the proposed changes. Organizations use the available resources and consider variables that may occur and affect their companies. As a result, they effectively align resources with changes and make reasonable tradeoffs. It also enables companies to adapt to the situation during disasters and other adverse occurrences. It also enables managers and employees to learn from the available data. Usually, the process requires companies to collect and use available data to support their determinations. Strategic decisions also allow swift responses that limit disruptions and allow for optimal efficiency in companies’ operations. Therefore, while sometimes decisions may require urgent action, managers should always consider their missions and visions and use as much data as possible to ensure that the amounts of variables are reduced and that decisions align with companies’ long-term goals.
References
Johnson, J., Whittington, R., Regnér, P., Angwin, D., Johnson, G., & Scholes, K. (2020). Exploring strategy. Pearson UK.
Mulwa, F. (2015). Strategic Change Management: A Case Study of United Nations Office at Nairobi, Kenya (Unon) (Doctoral dissertation, University of Nairobi).
Sumar, A., & Karlsson, J. (2022). Exploring Strategic Decision-Making: A Qualitative Study of How Top Management Respond to Economic Turbulence.
Wanjau, P., Bloomfield, R., Bauer, J., & Rose, K. (2019, September). Bringing uncertainty to the forefront of informed decision-making in oil and gas exploration and development. In SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition. OnePetro. https://doi.org/10.2118/196094-MS
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