Functional Strategies

This strategy is relatively a restricted plan which spells out the specific function, for the allocation of resources among different competing operations within the functional areas. This is necessary because it fosters easy co-ordination for optimal contribution to the achievement of the business and corporate level objectives.

Functional strategies are obtained from the business and corporate strategy which are implemented through functional or operational strategy.
A very important task of strategy implementation is to align or fit the activities and capabilities of and organization with its strategies.

Strategies are operated at different levels and there has to be congruence and coordination among these strategies. Such a congruence is the Vertical fit. The congruence and coordination among the different activities taking place at the same level is the Horizontal Fit.

Vertical Fit:

Discussions on vertical fit will make it necessary to define functional strategies in terms of the capability of the functional strategies to contribute to the strategic advantage of the organization from which it is derived.

Below are some of the functional strategies.

• Strategic marketing management which implies the focusing on the alignment of marketing management within the organization alongside its corporate and business strategies to gain a strategic advantage. 
• Strategic financial management focusing on alignment of financial management within an organization with its corporate and business strategies to gain a strategic advantage. 
• Strategic operations management – This implies focusing on the alignment of operations management within an organization with its corporate and business strategies to gain a strategic advantage. 
• Strategic human resources management means focusing on the alignment of human resource management within an organization with its corporate and business strategies to gain a strategic advantage. 
• Strategic information management means focusing on the alignment of information management within an organization with its corporate and business strategies to gain a strategic advantage.

Horizontal Fit:

This means that there has to be integration of the operational activities undertaken to provide a product or service to a customer. This can only take place in the course of operational implementation.