Meaning of strategy from employees` point of view

Abstract

Strategy is one of the most well-known concepts in business. Companies are updating their strategies to sustain position at the market and develop operations to the desired direction. Strategy has a huge task to consider as wrong strategy may have serious consequences. In the other hand, successful strategy and its implementation may revolutionize company`s position and achieve significant competitive advantage. The challenge is that strategy should always understand its environment. This will require the understanding of prevailing organizational culture. Members of organization may have different beliefs and source of motivation which should be noticed when trying to implement the desired change through the strategy.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how employees of Company X experience strategy as a phenomenon through their own experiences. Company X is operating in the field of healthcare by offering products and services to its customers. This master thesis contains theory section which contains definition of business strategy and its creation process. The study also includes theory section of strategic human resource management which has become more relevant approach in past decades. The fact is that strategy affects all of employees on some level. Strategy may also place completely new demands on personnel which should be noticed in human resource management policies.

The findings of this thesis support the fact that strategy as concept might be difficult to embrace among employees. One of the main reasons is that strategy may include difficult terms that may feel distant from the daily work. Employees of this study also highlighted the fact that strategic intentions may be difficult to understand. Goals of the strategy may remain indistinct, and strategy may conflict with what happens in everyday life. Employees would rather understand how strategic goals could be reached instead of hearing what should be done. This study also investigated vision statements relation to strategy. One of the findings was that Company X`s vision statement should be more likely to be updated. Findings of this study may provide new considerations for Company X`s management and future strategy planning process.