International Journal of Management

In 2025, strategic planning has become an essential tool for organizations seeking to thrive in a fast-paced, technology-driven, and globally competitive environment. This article explores the critical relationship between strategic planning and organizational performance. It begins with an in-depth explanation of the strategic planning process—covering environmental analysis, goal setting, strategy formulation, implementation, and evaluation. The paper draws upon empirical research, including a meta-analysis of 31 studies, to demonstrate the statistically significant impact of formal and systematic planning on goal attainment, financial outcomes, operational efficiency, innovation capacity, and employee engagement. Key strategic planning frameworks such as the Balanced Scorecard, OKRs, SWOT, and Scenario Planning are analyzed for their practical application. The article emphasizes the integration of strategic planning with performance management systems and highlights the role of data analytics and AI in enabling dynamic strategy execution. It also addresses common implementation challenges and offers best practices for enhancing performance through strategic alignment and adaptability. Two conceptual visuals illustrate the link between planning formality and performance outcomes. The article concludes that strategic planning, when executed formally and adaptively, significantly improves organizational effectiveness and long-term sustainability.

Emerging markets have become pivotal drivers of global economic growth, innovation, and business expansion, offering enormous opportunities alongside unique challenges. This article explores the complexities of corporate strategy in emerging markets by examining their distinctive features such as economic volatility, institutional voids, social and cultural diversity, political instability, and rapid demographic change. Drawing on prominent theoretical frameworks like Institutional Theory, the Resource-Based View, and the Springboard Perspective, it analyzes strategic adaptations including local partnerships, frugal innovation, and digital transformation. The paper highlights leading corporate examples such as Tata, Embraer, Haier, and Starbucks that demonstrate successful models for navigating emerging market complexities. The article concludes with best practices and recommendations for businesses aiming to thrive by balancing global capabilities with deep local insights and sustainable, inclusive growth strategies. 

Innovation is recognized as a central driver for sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) in today’s turbulent business environment. This article investigates how different forms of innovation—product, process, and organizational—enable firms to outperform rivals over the long term. With insights from recent empirical research, the article highlights both theoretical frameworks and real-world case studies. Graphs and images are integrated to illustrate key trends, impact metrics, and company strategies. All sources follow MLA guidelines.

Strategic alliances and partnerships have become essential instruments for firms operating in the increasingly interconnected and competitive global business environment. These collaborative agreements allow independent organizations to leverage mutual strengths, share risks and costs, accelerate innovation, and access new markets without the complexities of full mergers or acquisitions. This article explores various types of strategic alliances—including joint ventures, equity alliances, and non-equity partnerships—highlighting their benefits such as market access, knowledge sharing, and risk mitigation. It also addresses common challenges like cultural differences, trust deficits, intellectual property concerns, and integration complexities. Through real-world examples from diverse industries, the article illustrates how alliances can reshape markets and drive growth. Finally, it offers best practices for effective alliance management, emphasizing partner selection, clear governance, active communication, and continuous performance evaluation to realize sustainable competitive advantages in the global economy.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are pivotal corporate strategies aimed at accelerating growth, market expansion, and value creation. However, empirical evidence reveals a persistent tension between value creation and destruction outcomes, with failure rates historically ranging between 70% and 90%. This article examines the underlying factors influencing M&A success, including synergy realization, overpayment risks, integration challenges, and cultural alignment. It highlights improvements in governance and performance post-2009 financial reforms, presenting data that indicate increasing shareholder gains in recent deals. Best practices such as strategic fit, thorough due diligence, disciplined valuation, and proactive integration planning are emphasized for enhancing value creation. The article underscores the critical role of leadership and culture in shaping outcomes and advocates for managing M&A as a repeatable, strategic capability to realize sustained shareholder returns in an evolving corporate landscape.

In an increasingly saturated and competitive global marketplace, the Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) offers a transformative approach for businesses seeking growth through innovation rather than rivalry. Introduced by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, BOS challenges traditional competition-focused paradigms by encouraging organizations to find or create uncontested market spaces—termed “blue oceans”—where competition becomes irrelevant. This strategy emphasizes simultaneous pursuit of differentiation and low cost, breaking the conventional value-cost trade-off and unlocking new demand. The article details BOS’s foundational frameworks such as the Four Actions Framework (ERRC Grid), the Strategy Canvas, and the Six Paths Framework, providing a step-by-step guide for identifying and capturing blue oceans. Through illustrative case studies—including Nintendo’s Wii, Apple’s iTunes and iPod ecosystem, Uber’s disruption of urban mobility, and [yellow tail] wine’s market redefinition—this work demonstrates how BOS drives sustainable growth by meeting unmet consumer needs while reducing costs. Additionally, the article examines the strategic benefits of BOS, such as enhanced competitive advantage, market expansion, and cost-effectiveness, while addressing challenges like imitation risks, execution hurdles, and sustaining innovation over time. Best practices for institutionalizing BOS within organizations are also highlighted to ensure continual market renewal. Ultimately, this comprehensive analysis underscores the critical importance of Blue Ocean Strategy as a mindset and methodology that enables organizations to break free from cutthroat competition, create new industries, and deliver superior customer value in the modern business landscape.

Dynamic capabilities have become a foundational concept in strategic management, describing how firms can systematically adapt, renew, and reconfigure internal and external competencies to sustain competitive advantage in volatile environments. This article explores the theoretical origins, essential components, empirical evidence, and practical strategies for leveraging dynamic capabilities to enhance firm adaptability. Through case studies, models, and visuals, the discussion demonstrates how dynamic capabilities enable resilience, innovation, and growth in turbulent markets.

Scenario planning has become an indispensable component of strategic management in today's volatile and complex business environment. Unlike traditional forecasting that predicts a single most likely future, scenario planning facilitates the exploration of multiple plausible future scenarios to prepare organizations for uncertainty and change. This method allows decision-makers to identify critical drivers, assess potential risks and opportunities, and develop flexible, resilient strategies tailored to diverse possible futures. Its benefits extend beyond risk mitigation, enhancing decision-making quality, organizational adaptability, innovation, and sustained competitive advantage. Widely applied across sectors such as energy, healthcare, automotive, financial services, and retail, scenario planning helps firms navigate rapid technological, geopolitical, and market shifts. This article outlines the theoretical foundations, methodological approaches, process stages, practical applications, and tools associated with scenario planning. It also discusses best practices and common challenges in implementation. Emphasizing continuous reassessment and leadership engagement, scenario planning equips organizations to thrive amid uncertainty and complexity by transforming unpredictability into strategic opportunity.

Corporate governance and strategic decision making are intrinsically linked aspects critical to achieving sustainable business success in an increasingly complex global environment. Effective governance frameworks, comprising board structure, transparency, accountability, and ethical conduct, provide the foundation for sound strategic choices encompassing innovation investments, risk management, and long-term growth initiatives. This article explores how board composition—particularly diversity, independence, and expertise—influences strategic agility and risk mitigation. It highlights emerging governance trends in 2025, such as digitalization, ESG integration, and the need for resilience amid geopolitical and technological challenges. Empirical evidence underlines that organizations with robust governance systems and diverse, independent boards consistently outperform peers in strategic innovation and crisis adaptation. The analysis further emphasizes governance mechanisms like executive compensation alignment, specialized committees, and transparent disclosure as vital enablers of high-quality strategic decisions. Finally, it discusses contemporary governance challenges, including AI ethics, cybersecurity, and globalization impacts, calling for continuous board evolution to meet rising stakeholder expectations. Ultimately, the article confirms that strong corporate governance is essential to guiding strategic decision making that creates sustainable value and organizational resilience in a rapidly changing landscape.

In an era of rapid globalization and diverse local markets, businesses must adeptly balance the demands of global efficiency with local responsiveness to sustain competitive advantage. This article investigates the strategic imperatives involved in harmonizing global and local business strategies, analyzing key frameworks such as multi-domestic, global, transnational, and international strategies. Through detailed case studies of leading firms like McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Apple, the article highlights practical applications of glocalization—combining standardized global operations with localized adaptations to meet diverse consumer preferences. It further explores the benefits of this balanced approach, including enhanced market penetration, operational efficiency, brand strength, and resilience, as well as the challenges faced in cultural sensitivity, communication, resource allocation, and regulatory compliance. Drawing from empirical data and best practices, the article provides actionable recommendations to optimize strategic balance, focusing on empowering local teams, fostering cultural intelligence, maintaining core brand values, and leveraging federated governance models. Ultimately, this synthesis underscores that success in contemporary business hinges not on choosing between global or local strategies, but on mastering the dynamic integration of both to navigate the complexities of a connected yet heterogeneous marketplace.

Talent management in multinational corporations (MNCs) has emerged as a critical strategic driver for organizational success amid globalization, technological advancement, and competitive labor markets. This article explores the evolution, core components, best practices, and major challenges associated with talent management in MNCs. Utilizing current data, frameworks, and case examples, it demonstrates how effective talent management attracts, develops, and retains high-potential employees, thus sustaining competitive advantage on a global scale.

Employee engagement and organizational commitment are critical drivers of individual and organizational success within contemporary workplaces. Employee engagement reflects the emotional and psychological investment employees have in their roles and organizational objectives, characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption. Organizational commitment describes employees’ emotional attachment and loyalty, often conceptualized through Meyer and Allen’s Three-Component Model: affective, continuance, and normative commitment. These constructs are closely linked, with engagement fostering higher levels of commitment, which in turn leads to numerous organizational benefits such as increased productivity, innovation, reduced absenteeism and turnover, improved customer satisfaction, and higher profitability. However, sustaining engagement and commitment involves navigating challenges like evolving work environments, economic uncertainty, generational differences, burnout, and leadership gaps. Effective measurement tools—including surveys, focus groups, and behavioral indicators—are essential for informed management. This article synthesizes research and practical insights to highlight leadership, recognition, job design, organizational culture, career development, and work-life balance as key drivers. It concludes by offering strategic best practices to enhance engagement and commitment, ultimately underpinning sustainable competitive advantage.

This collaborative research by Michael Martinez and Ariana Hill examines critical issues and emerging trends within business studies and retail management. Integrating cross-disciplinary insights, the study explores innovative strategies and best practices that drive competitive advantage, operational efficiency, and customer engagement in modern markets. The research highlights the dynamic interplay between market forces, consumer behavior, and organizational transformation, providing evidence-based recommendations for practitioners and policymakers seeking sustainable growth. Emphasizing both theoretical frameworks and empirical analysis, the work contributes to advancing understanding of business and retail management challenges in a rapidly evolving global economy.