In this article we are going to investigate the evolution process of strategic management. There is evidence that strategic management evolved from the military. At the beginning, planning was mostly a function of the management team while the actual implementation has always been undertaken by the lower cadre in the organization.
The Art of War claimed that the highest form of leadership is to defeat the enemy using strategy.
Strategic management goes back all the way to Athens in 508 BC. During that time, the Athenian War Council was made up of a team which was referred to us Strategoi. This team was made up of prominent people at the time such as Alexander the Great, Philip of Macedonia, Aristotle and Pericles. Machiavelli wrote the book Prince where he noted that the Prince must read history as part of intellectual training. The prince here can be any leader who aspires to lead now or in future.
The history of strategy stretches to the ancient times. Organizations such as Boston Consulting Group which was established by one Bruce Henderson in 1960s has played a central role in shaping strategic management. Many modern principles of strategic management were laid down during the 1960s. Consulting companies at that time like BCG used SWOT technique as a tool of analysis for strategic management.
References
Ansoff, H. Igor. 2019. Implanting strategic management. http://public.ebookcentral.proquest.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=5628008.
McKiernan (ed.) (1996). The Historical Evolution of Strategic Management Volume I. Taylor & Francis. London & New York.
