M.Comm. / The value of Strategic Management in organisation has been realised all across the world. Strategic Management theory has been proven on all levels of organisation from corporate, through organisational and also functional areas. It is not uncommon for organisation to have well-published and effective functional strategies, such as financial, marketing and human resources. Strategy however in the engineering functions of organisations is often neglected or even non-existent. Process Automation is one of these functional areas, which is extremely seldom strategised. This study aims at addressing these shortcomings, by firstly recognising the change world economy, which illustrate the volatility of the modern economy. The study then attempt to prove that in order to have a competitive advantage, is it necessary to establish and implement a strategic plan. The chapter illustrates that operational effectiveness is a function of strategic planning but not in itself a competitive advantage. The study continues at evaluating different sources of strategic management to supply insight and background into the strategic management area. The second part of the study moves away from commercial items and address the field of process control and automation. It illustrates the scope and importance of process automation for all modern industries. Once strategic management and process automation has been adequately discussed, it is necessary to derive the Process Automation Strategy through combining the two very different fields of study. It is important to consider Process Automation Strategy not as an isolated subject field, but an integrated part of the organisation. For this reason was all influences considered on the organisation. A theoretical guideline to the establishment of a Process Automation Strategy was derived through the Strategic Management procedure discussed earlier in the study.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:9321 |
| Date | 15 August 2012 |
| Creators | Cronje, Jacobus Christiaan |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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