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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY

Strategic Management is used to describe the decision process. It can also be called strategic planning. Strategic management is that set of direction and actions which leads to the development of an effective strategy to help achieve corporate objectives. It is the careful selection and correct application of tools that determine entrepreneurial success. It is felt that strategic management, a key pillar for corporate survival, may be adapted and applied to ensure better entrepreneurial performance on a more consistent basis. Strategic management materials appear to be written primarily for larger corporations. It suggests elaborate involvement, high cost and complex architecture as prerequisites. The reaction of Small-Scale Business Enterprise is naturally one of being intimidated; and therefore most small scale entrepreneurial  prefer to operate in the usual manner and mindset. Where there is no change, different results cannot be expected. Anthony Robbins (2007), the most famous Neurolinguistic Programming specialist, once remarked: To keep on doing the same thing and expect a different result is a form of insanity. For reasons stated above, a research on strategic approach to management of Small-Scale Business Enterprises is therefore examined.

1.2   STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Some Nigerian Business Organizations are without formal plans or where there are formal plans they do operate without adhering to them. Some argued that the market place changes so fast for a plan to be useful. All business organizations are heading somewhere but unfortunately some do not know where they are going, then any road will lead them there. This therefore emphasizes the need for organizations to utilize strategic planning concepts. Strategic management implementation has been challenging to many organizations. They crunch vast amounts of consumer data, hold planning sessions frequently, and use various techniques to develop strategy. Still, they  miss the mark a lot of the times. Some strategic management problems faced by organizations include; Companies tend to ignore one complication along the way: They can’t develop models of the increasingly complex environment in which they operate. As a result, contemporary strategic-planning processes don’t help enterprises cope with the big problems they face.

Several Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) admit that they are confronted with issues that cannot be resolved merely by gathering additional data, defining issues more clearly, or breaking them down into small problems. Their planning techniques don’t generate fresh ideas, and implementing the solutions those processes come up with is fraught with political peril. Most Organizations do not progress at all walloping in serious planning problems. Therefore, there is need to investigate why the above problems persist and examine ways by which strategic planning could assist.

1.3   OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

This research aims at examining the impact of strategic management on the organizational performance. The specific  objectives of the study include;

i.  To appraise the value of strategic management concepts and techniques as applied to organizations.

ii. To examine the impact of strategic management in organisation’s success.

iii. To provide some guidelines with which organisations can apply the strategic management ideas and skills, in a time-saving manner.

iv. Suggest methods that may prevent major crisis and business failures.

1.4   RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following questions are pertinent to this work;

To what extent are strategic management concepts and techniques important in an organisation?

Is there any significant relationship between organization strategic management and organizational performance?

Has Lawrenzo Cargo and Logistics Ltd been able to put in place  effectively plan on how to acquire knowledge on strategic management ideas and skills?

To what extent is Planning as a managerial function relevant to the existence of Lawrenzo Cargo and Logistics Ltd?

What are the Strategic Management concepts and techniques organizations need to make it achieve their aims and objectives?

1.5   RESEARCH HYPOTHESES

For the purpose of this study, it is necessary that working hypotheses be established. To this end, the following hypotheses were tested:

HYPOTHESIS ONE

Ho:   There is no significant relationship between Strategic management and organizational performance

H1:  There is significant relationship between Strategic management and organizational performance.

HYPOTHESIS TWO