Rational or Irrational School of Thought Approach to Strategic Management IntroductionManagers face no greater challenges than that of strategic management, leading a complex organization through a dynamic; a rapidly changing environment requires the best judgment. Strategic management is invariably ambiguous and unstructured, and how management responds to them determines whether the organization will succeed or fail. What is a strategy? Strategy refers to top management's plan to achieve results consistent with the organization's mission and objectives. Strategic management is a broader term that includes the management of not only the already identified phases but also the previous phases to determine the mission and objectives of an organization in the context of the external and internal environment, so strategic management can be seen as a series of steps that top management should take. Analysis: This report will evaluate the practice of strategic management in the organization, in light of the diverse nature of organizational forces that influence strategic decision making. The case studies will be used to evaluate the strength, limitations and implications of strategic management in the organizational context. The analysis of the role of strategic management will be conducted in light of the arguments of the rational school of thought as opposed to the irrational school of thought supported by various authors and professionals. Schools of thought Supporters of the rational school of thought strategic management in the organization is conducted in a formal process, it is a linear and efficient process. The irrational school of thought argues that organization is not rational, there are many dynamic factors that influence strategic management processes such as chaos, politics, culture, psychology, etc. (Cyert and March, 1963) sought to counter more rational models that portray organizations as profit-making entities operating in perfect knowledge. The organization is instead built as a coalition of participants, with different motivations, who choose organizational objectives through a process of continuous negotiation. Several arguments have highlighted the intrinsic limitations of the rational model and support the political vision of strategic change, the cultural vision, the psychological vision, etc. The rational school of thought appreciates the need for cultural change in the organization when desired and prescribes that step-by-step approach towards cultural change. The approach is explained by the dynamics of paradigm change in the Jenson and Scholes literature. The paradigm includes stories, symbols, rituals, control system, organizational strategies, etc. It begins with a given organizational paradigm, in which it must develop deliberate strategies and implement them. The implementation will result in a certain business performance which can be measured using various techniques such as returns on invested capital or returns on investments.