Strategic management should not be equated with strategic planning, although it may include it. Strategic planning is related to an activity that is substantially similar to strategic management. It is periodic and includes medium terms. At the same time, strategic management focuses on delivering continuous solutions in the long term. It includes activities related to certain relationships between the organization and its environment.

Strategic management requires:

• determining the future organization;
• analyzing opportunities and threats;
• assessing existing potential;
• establishing strategic positions;
• outlining the main priorities;
• allocation of available resources;
• taking practical action.

Strategic management fully covers:

• 1.planning;
• 2. organization;
• 3. guidance;
• 4. control of strategic actions.

Strategic planning

Strategic planning enables one to identify strategic goals and objectives and, on the other, to identify specific strategies for achieving them.

Strategic organization

The strategic organization allows concentrating the human, financial, material, informational and other types of resources for the execution of the strategic tasks assigned to the designated units.

Strategic leadership enables the proper direction and management of staff work.

Strategic control allows monitoring of the development and at the same time taking the necessary corrective actions.

Strategic management affects the future development of the organization

Strategic management affects the future development of the organization. It directs efforts to achieve its goals balances the interests of different groups in the organization and directs resources to achieve greater effectiveness of action. According to Theodore Levitt, strategic management is about the future, it is for tomorrow, not for yesterday. The concept must be determined by external conditions.

What can competitors do?

Theodore Levitt: Succeeding and surviving in business requires more than ever an adaptation to a destructive and fast-paced future, which is an unpredictable future. Things change relentlessly - this creates both problems and opportunities.

Strategic management allows to identify strategic problems, determine their priorities and use appropriate strategies. It provides the necessary adaptability to environmental conditions. Its application gives a number of tangible and intangible benefits. Research shows that the most tangible benefits are greater adaptability and higher profitability. Intangible in making the necessary changes in a timely manner.

Strategic management has a strong practical and applied orientation. It allows each organization to determine the direction of its future development.

Strategic management is related to all areas of management

Strategic management is related to all areas of management. It is indispensable when the organization faces a serious problem for its survival and development. Strategic management is different from traditional management, which deals with cases related to maintaining the integrity of the organization. In traditional management, the manager makes decisions, but they are routine and tactical. always in the same dimension. Decisions that are critical are strategic, involving analysis or change of situation and other specific activities. The best functioning of the organization in time is not based on luck but depends on the choices made by the executives. They want to know what the future will bring for their organizations and what the future will look for. To respond appropriately to change, the organization is in dire need of strategy.

The creation of such a strategy is based on different approaches in strategic management:

• Approach oriented mainly to the process of strategy formation (conceptualization process)
• Planning approach, focused mainly on a specific strategic planning activity (formalization process).
• An analytical approach aimed at determining the location of the organization (positioning).
• Entrepreneurial approach (a process of orientation and defining the vision of the organization).
• A cognitive approach to strategy formation (mental process).
• Learning approach (the organization strives for continuous learning and meeting its needs (emergency approach).
• A forceful approach (negotiation process).
• Cultural approach (the process of involvement and involvement of the whole team).
• An approach that takes into account the environmental impact of a reactive approach (the organization's response process to the environment).
• Configurative approach (as a process of transformation of the organization).

These approaches serve to solve specific problems in the management of each organization. The first three approaches are suitable for formulating strategies, while the other three are for specifying the content of the strategy, determining the results and consequences of its implementation.

Strategic management is a new paradigm

Strategic management is a new paradigm based on the situational approach and the concept of strategic management. In essence, it is a renunciation of managerial rationalism that is characteristic of industrial society. The roots of rationalism lie in the paradigm of modern society. In management, it focuses on the internal structure and resources of the organization, viewing it as a closed system with unchanged goals for an extended period. Employees perform specific activities that are subject to rigorous discipline and control. In these circumstances, without clearly defined guidelines and strategy, the organization fulfills its tasks. In today's rapidly changing environment, there comes a time when the organization, despite carrying out a large amount of work, does little. It may turn out to be just moving in a closed circle, following the orders of the higher ones. The new management paradigm links the success of the organization with the creation of internal and external forms and interacts as an open system.

However, development is not always possible, although the strategy is applied and determinants are overlooked. The reason for this is the new limiting factor that determines 50% of growth is related to quality dimensions. It attaches paramount importance to human potential and new ways of managing it. At the beginning of the 21st century, many questions arose: What is changing? Work, people or school? Are people the true purpose of the organization or leadership? Attention is drawn to key areas that will have a decisive influence on the organization of the 21st century, namely: comprehensive and continuous education, timely and adequate response to external changes, direct interaction, and influence with consumers and mutual transformations. New organizations will use a new ROT, which reflects the return on investment in people.

Independent strategic actions require analysis of possible directions

Modern concepts emphasize independent strategic actions that require adequate analysis of possible directions for the development of the school organization. The orientation of the school towards society and the search for benefits through interaction with the external environment is emerging as the most important component of strategic management. Today, schools, depending on their specific conditions and environment, differ from each other and are constantly required to solve strategic problems in response to specific changes related to the external and internal environment. Changes should be analyzed by the teaching team and the directions for the future chosen by the school determined. Strategic management schools are increasingly understanding what modern education should be and what it should be. Because strategic management is first associated with a sense of direction and purpose.

Strategic Case Studies

Strategic cases and guidelines bring to the fore questions such as: What are our students? What changes and requirements will occur in the area or environment? What does the school have to offer? These questions outline where to place managerial attention that helps the school organization respond appropriately. Strategic decisions affect the long-term development of the school and aim to achieve an advantage among educational organizations or in partnership with them to attract students who prefer them. Strategic decisions can be aimed at finding the most effective and favorable position for the school. Determining this position are its strategic mission and strategic choices that will provide it with an advantage. Once it has reached the required position, the school can focus on finding appropriate tactical solutions and practical activities. The concept of the school organization is changing. In an external environment, it acquires a personality different from that of other educational organizations. Defining its focus and main tasks will be the result of adequate answers to the questions that are inherent in each particular organization: Why is there an educational organization? Who does it exist for? What are her true goals? Is there a need for your own development strategy and what should it be?

A new vision of the mission and culture of the school is being formed with the new concept of human factor and potential, and its defining role for development as a fundamental overarching process. The orientation of education towards and development of a society becomes the basis for strategic management. The school organization is oriented towards the environment, acquiring new dimensions and definitions. Education and the environment are increasingly interacting as a whole, not individually. The environment successfully supports the school organization, but it can also be a serious and difficult challenge. Strategic management in education can be reduced to solving five major and interrelated tasks:

Defining the type of activities (at all levels in the education system) and defining strategic directions in their development (it is necessary to formulate strategic goals and long-term perspectives in the development of education and relevant educational organizations).

Development of specific strategic plans for the transition of the educational organization from the current to the desired state according to the defined goals.

Choosing the right management strategy

Strategically selecting the right management strategy involves the following activities:

1. Implementation of the chosen strategy in the practical activity of the organization.
2. analysis and evaluation of the strategy, continuous guidance, and adjustments in line with the perspective objectives of the strategy.

The solution of each task is characterized by specific development of the individual components of strategic management: vision formulation of strategies and mission and priorities of the organization, goals (strategic, financial, long-term, short-term), strategies, and strategic choice, strategic compliance, strategic analysis, monitoring of strategy.

Over the last 20-30 years, we have seen many extraordinary and accompanying changes, many of which were unpredictable. Most people's feelings were related to security and strong institutions - governmental, legislative, educational, religious and more. Institutions are now undergoing unexpected transformations.

There are many reasons for failures and failures in governance at different levels. The most common reason, which is often repeated, is related to the limitations of managerial thinking. Successful organizations are navigating a new paradigm in governance, and it has taken the place of the paradigm of industrial and modern society. The place of inclusive education is undeniably and dominant. It will become a powerful strategy that involves continuous training and covers everything from the manager to every employee. Each educational program is implemented through a strategic plan, and managers manage this process. Strategic managers also become leaders in training and education at all levels in the organization.

The speed and fundamentals of change today are constantly generating opportunities for both success or failure, as well as security or uncertainty. Opportunities that, in one case, are identified as benefits, in another, can become a threat or a risk. The key to solving problems is in human potential and people's involvement in the management and development of the organization's culture. The strategic management office is not a top-down activity.

In a constantly evolving organization, all people have a sense of shared mission and purpose, as well as shared values. The organization of the 21st century takes on new dimensions - from a common structure and program to a network, teamwork and individual creativity, from working in one particular place - to different places at the same time. In it, the strategic manager should be guided by the values ​​and aspirations and analyze the ways of directing the organization towards the future.

Strategic management is characterized by its philosophy, but at the same time, it enriches and develops the philosophy of management in general. Because strategic management, combined with leadership and management, is always trying to solve some of the most complex problems in the face of contemporary developments.