Question

Discuss in detail the role of CEO/Top Management in establishing a relationship between ‘Strategic Directions’ and ‘Vision’ of a company.

Answer 1

A CEO (Chief Executive Officer) is the senior most executive, corporate or administrative officer, having primary responsibilities of organizing the organization, making major corporate decisions, managing the overall affairs/operations of the company. CEO is the public face of the company for general public.

Strategic Directions means, a planned layout for achieving the goals of an organization. It means how things will be done, what policies are to be followed and in what direction the work must flow to achieve the goals. Strategy links the company to the vision (destination) which the company is looking forward to, with the current scenario.

Vision on the other hand reflects what you want to achieve or what you want your business to accomplish in the coming times. Vision is basically the goal which an organization has to achieve or is willing to achieve.

A CEO’s role is beyond the imagination. The functioning, decision-making and all other overall operations of a company are looked upon by the CEO. From day to day decision making to setting up strategic directions for the company to achieve its goals, all are undertaken by the CEO. Hence, he is the main person behind all the workings of a company business. CEO’s are required to lead and manage the affairs of the company in order to ensure the success of the business the company is dealing in. With having other roles to play, CEO plays an important role in establishing a relation between the strategic direction and the vision of the company.

Vision is a timeless thing. Vision the first thing which gives a sight of the company or the business. As it tells what the business wants to achieve or why this particular company has come up. Vision set out the direction on which the company will work. Strategic direction is the way that how this vision will be achieved. And deciding the strategic direction in correspondence with the vision of the company or organization is the work of the CEO.

To ensure that the strategic plan or the direction which is being formulated must be in correspondence with the Vision is where the role of CEO comes in. CEO being the head is responsible for bridging the gap between the strategic direction and the vision (the goal which is to be achieved). CEO has to make a balance between the two (strategic direction and the vision) in order to have the desired results on which the company is looking forward to.

Without the vision a company is nothing and without proper strategic direction the company cannot achieve any of its vision. Hence, working of the two together is the most important thing for a business to achieved the desired height. And all this is possible because of the CEO or the top Management taking the decisions for formulating strategic plans to achieve the goals.

A company’s strategic direction may include its mission, values, vision and overall strategy for the working of the company. It’s the CEO or the top management who has to figure out as to what piece of the puzzle will fit, which policies will be beneficial and what strategies are to be made. While focusing on all this the CEO must consider a clear and a well-defined vision which is critical to the company’s success.

A strategic plan is basically a map, approved by the board, to be followed to achieve the goals which the CEO wants, and the height’s which the CEO wants the company to achieve through the map so decided to be followed. The strategic plan however has to be in correspondence and should be consistent with the vision of the company.

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