Today it is clear to managers and entrepreneurs that the business environment can change at any given time. Strategic management is an important and ongoing process of formulating and implementing strategies that help an organisation to position itself optimally and so maintain a competitive advantage that results in profit. It creates harmony between any organisation, big or small, and its environment. All stakeholders are affected by strategic decisions. In the South African context, strategic management is crucial for all profit-seeking as well as non-profit-seeking organisations as a result of an ever-changing, turbulent and competitive environment. It is therefore important for students and practitioners of management at every level and in every organisation to understand the vital role of strategic management in the life of an organisation. The strategic management process: a South African perspective is a new South African handbook with a fresh and exciting perspective. Its four parts follow an understandable and practical approach, making use of numerous figures and "strategy in action" cases to support the theory. The strategic management process: a South African perspective should prove invaluable both to students in strategic management and to organisations, from corporate and public companies with management training programmes, to small business ventures that are trying to gain a competitive advantage in a cut-throat environment.