Strategic Thinking and Strategic Management Practices by Boogaart Betonpompen Bv in Holland

Abstract

The background of the study was based on strategic thinking, strategic management practices, the global service industry with a special attention to the service industry in The Netherlands, and the company under study. The research problem and the objective of this research was to establish strategic thinking and strategic management practices at Boogaart Betonpompen. The literature review focused on the theoretical base of the study which involved two theories, the goal setting theory and the self-efficacy theory. These two theories complement each other in that when a manager sets higher goals for the employees it leads to higher efficacy and higher efficacy will make employees set higher goals for themselves. The literature reviewed also highlighted the conceptualization of strategic thinking and strategic management practices. The empirical studies which lead to the research gap were also reviewed with the literature. A case study research was used due to the fact that it allows for a detailed and in-depth study of the company. The data collection was done by use of an interview guide and the sample for the data collection involved only one interviewee who happened to be the CEO of the company. The study included a discussion of the finding in an attempt to answer the research question. The study established that indeed strategic thinking influence strategic management practices at the company and that the employees are very important in the strategy process. The importance of flexibility in adopting to new developments in the environment was seen in the results. Importance of emergent strategies in effective decision making was also seen. The findings established the importance of scanning the environment keenly and continuously and using real time information in decision making. A discussion of the findings of the study revealed a link between strategic thinking and strategic management practices. The discussion revealed the ambiguity that comes with organizing along core competence lines. A comparison with theory was done which showed that the two theories were in sync with the study and that they formed the relevant theoretical foundation to base the study on. It was confirmed that a manager will be guided by self-set goal and also that self-efficacy would give the manager the confidence to do more. The study revealed that employee participation in goal setting lead to high goal achievement and that seeing other similar people succeed by sustained effort raises observers belief that they too can possess capabilities to master comparable activities to succeed. The study agreed on the importance of feedback both to individuals and to the company in terms of performance. A summary of the findings of the study was highlighted leading to the conclusions and recommendations. The conclusions highlighted the many importance of strategic thinking in the success of any company. The recommendations revealed a need to pay more attention to the concept of strategic thinking and to acknowledge its importance in the success of the company. The limitations of the study involved the fact that the study was a case study done on a single manager in a single company hence the results could not be used generally or in different contexts. Another limitation was in terms of the lack of time from the CEO who was often held up in other issues. Suggestions for further research included the suggestion of a similar research done as a cross sectional survey to lead to more general results. The study also suggested on the need for further research to be done on the concept of strategic thinking. There was a suggestion of a research to challenge the importance of strategic management as a field of study and research.