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The importance of organizational alignment or fit with internal and external environmental factors has received considerable attention. This is not particularly surprising considering the impact that internal and external factors have on the overall success of organizations. Despite this impact, some organizations do not conduct regular or concurrent reviews of their strategies, policies, processes, procedures, and rules to determine if these fundamental components are in alignment with salient internal and external forces. Indeed, concurrent review is certainly an essential element of alignment, with knowledge gained from the external environment serving as an essential component of organizational adjustment, as well as innovation. The key, here, is translating knowledge into action through the process of strategic thinking.
Improving alignment through enhanced strategic thinking
Strategic thinking is essential to the long-term success of organizations. The scope of strategic thinking encompasses the totality of an organization's long-term operations, including concurrent scanning of the organization's internal and external business environment. Effective management of the knowledge gleaned from these continuous reviews, in turn, then becomes a crucial factor influencing future strategic decisions related to alignment. This circular process is illustrated in Figure 1.
Astute leadership requires a constant focus by management on making certain the right internal processes are in place (i.e. aligned). The timely review and concomitant adjustments should minimize the need for quick-fixes (reactive decisions), barring some totally unforeseen event that is catastrophic in nature. Less reliance on a quick-fix approach to deal with changing circumstances should also curtail the need for radical change within the organization. Thus, top managers must strive to create an environment of learning from top to bottom within the organization, where knowledge gained through concurrent scanning and review should be conscientiously managed to enhance overall strategic thinking, as well as organizational alignment.
Possible methods for linking knowledge management to strategic thinking
The balanced scorecard
The Balanced Scorecard perspective offers valuable insight regarding how knowledge management can potentially contribute to enhanced strategic thinking. Organizations can use performance management tools such as the Balanced Scorecard to translate the executive leadership's strategy into operational terms, making it easily understood throughout the organization (Kaplan and Norton, 1996,...