Phases of Strategy Development and Associated Tools

According to the Austrian / U.S. American economist and management consultant Drucker, P. F., strategies help to predict the impact of current decisions (and decisions not made) on the future of an organization. If one decides strategically he has always the problem to set the course, without knowing all he would need to know. The problem of knowledge deficit can never be solved completely, because strategic decisions concern the future. The relationships and interdependencies in a globally networked economy are much too complex and they change too fast. Nevertheless, the managers today have a number of tools that help them to see where the journey is heading. Relevant changes and developments should be recognized, that have already begun, but by superficial observation remain hidden and without appropriate consequences. Such changes must be systematically detected and analysed in the strategy process. Derived measures must be planned and implemented consistently.
The main objective of this paper is to describe, which tools private and public companies use to develop a strategy successfully and in which sequence of steps they should be used.