The growth of a business, region, or even national growth, should be strategically managed for long term sustainable economic outcomes that have positive impact. Such growth can only be actualised and recorded when active participants – traders, businessmen, and public officers – manifest the virtues of industry and diligence in every step the economic drivers and stakeholders take. They can do this by making sure that the specific corporate assignments given to them continue progressively and cumulatively, with visible results. For such growth, it doesn’t really matter whether they are actualised through dogged efforts in traditional commerce or trading and self-sufficiency, but that the main solution revolves around optimal engagement of the procedural models that strategically involve processes that will manifest important characteristics currently obtained in a digital economy. The processes may seem archaic and could equally appear nebulous, but the ultimate effect that produces eventual growth could be rewarding as a consolation to the strenuous route that had carefully been followed; even if it does not characterise high income and high influence economic mode. What really matters may not be translated into high speed performances due to the traditional analogue process, but the eventual outcome still points to managing situations strategically at all times.
Technological advancement, with the high speed innovative steps attached to achieving very fast results, is what all businesses need to strategically migrate to, in today’s world of high tech operational modes. For business operators with moderate levels of literacy, practical training programmes in the use of digital concepts to operate digitally may be necessary as an importantly acquired knowledge, otherwise such business operators would not meet up and will be dropped on the trending digital paths, based on their obsolete conservative mindsets. Strategic management therefore, demands that the ever changing world should be met by flowing along with the evolving digital schemes. This is a sustainable means of managing every system strategically, which should be made an organisational policy; unless the risk of “going under” is permissible at any point in the lifespan of the organisation, which should not be in a normal situation.
Organisational policy, which is known as an acceptable and adopted principle that influences the way the system operates, is a chosen and officially agreed course of action taken by the organisation. Policy, therefore, functions as the system’s radar, to determine and give direction to be followed. Of essence, strategic management would be meaningless if the organisational policy does not exist and/or is not functioning. Organisational policy must be functional in a system as an officially formed decision on the conceived principles that ought to guide implementation of programmes, by strictly adhering to terms and conditions. The organisational programmes in essence, are proposed organisational actions; like plan, blueprint, mapped out strategy as an approach scheme to be followed. In other words, it is the guiding decisions taken towards achieving the targeted outcomes.
At the end of the day, organisational growth is always managed through the strategic actions as scripted in a statement of intent (verbally made or written). The difference between well structured business organisations and the informally run small businesses is written and documented policies. Otherwise, both sides go through a similar procedural process on policies that attract gains and profit, for organisational growth (although the speed and rate of growth may be completely far apart, due to organisational scale and their respective operational levels). Businesses are therefore advised to up their scales through concrete transformational schemes that improve their respective corporate governance structures; with a view that significantly impacts their growth trajectory. The policies being applied in all systems are laid down rules and regulations — spelt out guiding law that controls the strategic management of the system. They form part of the governance structure that influence the performance level of all operations (be it a big or a small organisation).
For nations, such regulatory tools meant for administrative actions and establishing governance plans collectively work towards the overall actualisation of national growth. On the aspect of small businesses that generally operate at a very low level of corporate governance principles, the promoters of such businesses are to be encouraged and educated on how to manage their trading concerns, with improved knowledge of corporate management techniques that can sustain their individual marketing strategies that they always leverage on for their growth. Efforts should, therefore, be made by government agencies (like the investment promotions commission), towards supporting these small businesses through seminars, workshops and training programmes that could go a long way to improve the operational knowledge (personalised strategic management mode) of the small business operators within the economy towards recording appreciable and impressive performances in the course of their trading operations. Collectively, their respective productive contributions will manifest in the overall performance of national economic growth.
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