Discuss the ways in which the strategies of the functional areas of an organisation should support the other levels of strategy.
In describing how the functional strategies support the overall corporate strategy of an organisation it is helpful to think about the dissimilar levels as a hierarchy, whereby activities at the lowest level (functional) are guided by decisions at the higher level. In making the distinctions among the different levels, Hofer and Schendel distinguish among the corporate strategy (what business to be in), business strategy (what market segments to serve and how) and functional strategy (the detailed strategies of departments like as HRM, Finance, Marketing, Sales, Production etc).
Functional strategies, which are sometimes referred to as operational, are the longer term management policies that are intended to make sure that the functional areas of the company play their part in helping the organisation to achieve its overall goals. They are significant since this is the level at which corporate and business level strategies are executed in detail. This means translating the objectives of the organisation and SBUs into digestible elements.