One more time: what do we mean by strategic management?

Health care executives and planners struggling to improve their organizations' ability to cope with the pace of change in today's hospital environment are advised to consider the concepts and practices of strategic management. This approach has been prescribed in other industries as a remedy to the failure of the strategic planning of the 1970s to guide American businesses in the past decade's unstable business environment successfully. Strategic management expands the domain of strategic planning beyond the traditional focus on technical, externally oriented problem solving. Strategically managed companies have excelled at execution of strategy because they are adept at building new capabilities consistent with strategy, heed behavioral aspects of planning and change, and skillfully blend the roles of line managers and planning staff. While strategically managed hospitals or hospital systems are few and far between, the nature and pace of change in the environment are propelling more in the direction of strategic management.