Abstract
The top management team must take into account the competing desires and needs of an organization's various stakeholders, because their support is essential for successful strategy implementation. Stakeholders include not only the organization's managers and employees, but also the firm's owners (stockholders), suppliers, customers, creditors, and community members. As domestic and foreign competition intensifies, and during those periods when government's influence on business operations expands, an understanding of strategic management becomes even more essential. Employees, supervisors, and middle managers must also be familiar with strategic management. An appreciation of their organization's strategy helps them relate their work assignments more closely to the direction of the organization, thereby enhancing their job performance and opportunity for promotion, and making their organization more effective.
