12 August 1992 Turbulent Times Demand Strategic Management Skills Says Lincoln Lecturer

Today's "turbulent" business environment and the new economic determinism of market forces have made skilful and strategic management absolutely essential to survival, says Lincoln University marketing lecturer Lesley Williams.

"Core competencies and capabilities in management were never before more vital.

"Sadly managers in New Zealand have until recently overlooked the importance of gaining and nurturing strategic management skills," she says.

"By strategic management I mean establishing the best match between an organisation's capabilities and the environment in which it operates."

Speaking in support of the formation of a South Island branch of the New Zealand Strategic Management Society, Ms Williams said there was great local scope for a forum which brought together the practical and theoretical sides of strategy development and implementation.

"The practitioners and the theoreticians have much to offer each other and that's the sort of interface the society provides.

"North Island branches are flourishing and now it is time for the south to take up the challenge."

The New Zealand Strategic Management Society is made up of general managers, corporate managers, chief executive officers, academics, educators and others brought together in the common cause of improving the quality of management.

Ms Williams convenes the formation of a South Island branch of the society at Lincoln University on Friday evening (14 Aug.) at 5.30.

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand