Reasons Why Strategy Evaluation Becomes Difficult, Essay Example

Strategy evaluation is as important as strategy formulation. Its significance lies in its capacity to coordinate various tasks that are performed by managers, groups and departments so as to develop necessary inputs for new strategic planning, appraisal performance and rewarding. In spite of this importance, strategy evaluation can become difficult and thus fail to achieve desired efficiency and effectiveness.  There are several reasons why strategy evaluation can fail o become difficult. One such reason is that economic conditions are becoming less with passage of time than was in the past. Because of this, it is becoming difficult to make accurate prediction regarding economic conditions and factors which have a bearing on project development (Henry, 1999).

Another reason is longevity of product lifecycles which makes it difficult to achieve close monitoring and evaluation of projects. Another important reason is high frequency of change in schedule, plans and policies which impacts adversely on initial objectives. There is also the problem of increasing number of variables and environmental factors. These have the effects of enshrining ambiguities in the evaluation process (Azhdar, 2007).

Another important reason that makes evaluation of strategies a difficult task is presence of a large number of competitors. The large number of competitors means that projects have to be carried out within the shortest time possible. This way, little time is left for conducting comprehensive strategy evaluations.  This can become particularly significant when coupled with increasing difficulties of predicting future conditions with accuracy. As Henry, (1999) notes, sometimes, it can be difficult to make careful evaluations of strategy and its impacts due to the importance attached on the particular strategy. This can potentially result into important mistakes in the evaluation process.

References

Henry, M., (1999). The rise and fall of strategic planning: reconceiving roles for planning, plans, planners. Boston: Simon & Schuster

Azhdar, K., (2007). Strategy formulation in entrepreneurial firms. NY: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.