Strategic Audit An Overview

Question: Prepare a two-page paper telling what a strategic audit is, does, and entails. Do you understand how it pulls together all of the business disciplines you have been studying to achieve a certain end? Answer: Strategic Audit: An Overview A strategic audit refers to the evaluation process of how effectively an organization incorporates business strategy along with the correct positioning of individuals to execute these. In case of small business firms, strategic audits on a periodic manner may refer to the difference amidst the path to success as well as drift towards financial struggles that result from an outdated or unstructured plan which fail to reflect on changing market situations. Any strategic audit usually answers the very basic questions regarding the business future, within both short-term and long-term future (Grundy, 2008). The processes of strategic audits initiate with the assessment of current strategy. It is important to view ones own business in relation with the marketplace. It is then followed by conducting SWOT analysis for reassessing the business strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for anchoring every internal as well as external factor that influences business success. This is then compared to the strategic vision of the company. The process generates an opportunity to track further path while at the same time assessing whether any sort of adjustment is required to enhance the chances of success of business firms(Ohta, n.d.). Business firms may decline due to the failure of anticipating strategic risks. These factors do not arise properly in traditional audits but impart great repercussions on occurrence. Some risks may involve declining of demand for the core business products or that of a manager who departs for a competitor. The process of strategic audit throws a light on these threats or risks, and allows one to assess the most critical ones ('Selfà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ audit for quality improvement', 2002). It is also said to process in a proactive acting manner to prevent all critical situations in the business processes. A strategic audit permits one to map all desirable goals to the available resources, and check where all discrepancies lie. When both the factors do not match, then it is well understood either the goals need to be readjusted or resources need change. The process of strategic audit not only needs implementation, but also needs an approach to perform, evaluate and control. In the absence of the strategic audits on a periodic basis, one may not know the entire environment has transformed and that one is heading towards the wrong path (Shannak, Obeidat Masadeh, 2012). To highlight on the importance of strategic audit, it may be inferred that internal audits can of multiple purposes. Few audits are said to assess compliance with regulations as well as laws. Some others ascertain compliance with the internal policies as well as procedures of the business firm. This strategic audit enables small firm owners to have a proper and fair knowledge about the internal organizational processes to accomplish the corporate objectives. Lastly, based on the results of this strategic audit, business management is said to adjust its operations for maximizing steady progress towards predefined objectives (Shannak, Obeidat Masadeh, 2012). Hence, it may be concluded that a strategic audit is an ongoing process and based on the audit report a business owner may implement changes within his organization. References Grundy, T. (2008). Strategic audit. Strategic Direction, 24(2). doi:10.1108/sd.2008.05624bad.008 Ohta, Y. The Role of Audit Evidence in a Strategic Audit. SSRN Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.1260643 Selfà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ audit for quality improvement. (2002). Strategic Direction, 18(5), 17-19. doi:10.1108/02580540210793527 Shannak, R., Obeidat, B., Masadeh, R. (2012). Culture and the Implementation Process of Strategic Decisions in Jordan. Jmr, 4(4). doi:10.5296/jmr.v4i4.2160