Nowadays organizations exist in an environment characterized by complexity, unpredictable and turbulence.

The pressure for change and adaptability is now rocking every organization; hence, organizations have become rolling stones to avoid the consequences of stagnation in one working system or operation. Due to globalization and high competition nowadays, It is clear to managers and entrepreneurs that the organization's business operations have experienced major changes and they will always continue to change. The impact of change is storming every place and anyone. Singh et axes acknowledges that similarly organizations are also not immune to economic, social, environmental and behavioral changes. Indeed, this is the fundamental importance of strategic management in organizations, for the use of strategic planning is making decisions that will help an organization to adapt to change and future directions. Strategic Management in General There are many definitions of strategic defined by various authors and according to Mintzberg et al. (1998) there is no single, universally accepted definition of strategy. The early definition of strategy was provided by the American business historian, Chandler (1962) who defined strategy as determination of the basic long-term goals and objectives of an enterprise, and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for carrying out those goals. In the context of construction, Channon (1978) defined strategy in term of the extent of diversification, international activity and acquisition policy. Mintzberg (1994) portrays strategy as a plan a direction, a guide or course of action into the future and as a pattern, that is, consistent in behavior over time. In terms of strategic management, it can be defined as a set of managerial decisions and actions that determine the long-run performance of a corporation. It includes strategy formulation, strategy implementation, and evaluation and control (Wheelen and Hunger, 1984). It also can be defined as the art and science of formulating, implementing, and evaluating cross-functional decisions that enable an organization to achieve its objectives (David, 1997). Strategic management has evolved into a more sophisticated and potentially more powerful tool (Stoney, 2001). The strategic management process requires competent individuals to ensure its success (Stahl and Grigsby, 1992).

While making decisions about the strategy the organization analyzes what are the distinctive competencies the company already possesses. Distinctive competency can be a valuable asset for the company. Distinctive competencies make the process of strategy formulation much more directional and successful. Golusin (2007) submits that strategic management is the set of managerial decisions and actions that establishes the long-term performance of an organization. It involves scanning of internal and external environment, strategy formulation, implementation, evaluation and control of performance of a corporation. Currently, the prevailing message for organizations is to cross-examine their internal and external environment in order to survive and remain competitive. In any kind of organization, top

Management should acknowledge the fact that Change will be present, because its an unavoidable phenomenon hence learning to manage and lead change, involves not only understanding human factors but also proficiency to manage and lead change effectively. If the top management does not adopt strategic planning and management, the organization is more likely to lose its competitive advantage. Susan (2000) cites Brinkerhoff (1991&1994) that strategic management is characterized as looking out, looking in, and looking ahead. Looking out refers to investigating systematically beyond the limits of an organization in order to successfully set objectives, identify key stakeholders, and build constituencies for change. Looking in refers to evaluating and reinforcing the systems and structures critically for managing employees, finances, and other necessary and useful resources. Looking ahead means merging the strategy with structures and resources in order to reach the goals of the organization, at the same time monitoring the progress and adapting the approach and methods as required. Strategic planning should encompass the vision, mission and objectives; these are the tool for strategic making tasks. Top managers should make sure that these strategies are in place and put into action for an organization to perform effectively. Moreover, the Japanese proverb states that vision without action is a daydream and action without vision are a nightmare. Furthermore, Beaver (2000: 205) argues, unless companies have clear vision about how they are going to be distinctly different and unique by adding and satisfying their customers, then they are likely to be the corporate failure statistics of tomorrow. Strategic management involves managers using different strategies to get maximum performance from workers and business processes. Managers consider the impact of each decision, and decisions that might detract from other objectives are abandoned. Before a decision is finalized, it might be considered by multiple players in the organization. Diverse perspectives help the organization adopt a well-rounded approach to managing work. Implementation models in Tanzanias Telecommunication industry Strategic implementation and management models ensure that the process of deployment and development is to be put in place with care, collaboration and coordination. The most commonly used models to cope with dynamic changes includes Change management models and Contingency Planning. With reference to Tanzania Telecommunication industry which comprises of companies such as Vodacom, Tigo, Airtel, Sasatel, Zantel and T.T.C.L, uses various strategies to gain and maintain their competitive advantages. Among the strategies used by telecoms companies includes: -

Market-share leadership strategy; As the means of earning a competive edge over competitiors. Most telecommunication industries are on the battle of becoming the market-share leaders. For instance; Vodacom Tanzania is leading the Tanzanian market, well ahead of the other telecommunication operators in the country., Vodacom has a 42% market share, followed by Airtel 29%, Tigo 22% and Zantel 6%. This illustrates that Vodacom has the best stragic management system of winning the telecom market in Tanzania Sources: April-June quarterly report issued by TCRA

Market penetration strategy: A market penetration strategy seeks to increase market share of the current product or services in the existing market. This strategy adopted by the firms such as Airtel, Tigo, Zantel, Sasatel and Zantel to raise their sales revenue without making changes in the products or services. This is implemented by offering sales, Increasing sales force, increase distribution and promotion of products, more expenditure in marketing and advertising activities will results in increasing sales. For instance; Airtel promoting its services to penetrate in the Tanzania market, and offered a g a very competitive tarrif of Tsh 2.50/sec. Namely (Robo-shillingi kwa sekunde) as to increase talk time of the customers. Overall Cost Leadership Strategy: The Overall Cost leadership strategy is aimed at gaining a competitive advantage through lower costs. The low cost leader in any market gains competitive advantage from being able to many to produce at the lowest cost. Factories are built and maintained; labor is recruited and trained to deliver the lowest possible costs of production. 'cost advantage' is the focus. For example: Tigo was a cost leader in Tanzania by offering a lowest tarrif of Tsh 1/per second made it to gains a competitive edge over its competitiors. Currently Airtel is the cost leader in the market offering only Tsh 0.25/sec. Differentiation Strategy: A firm with a differentiation strategy attempts to achieve a competitive advantage by creating a product or service that is perceived as unique. Differentiated goods and services satisfy the needs of customers through a sustainable competitive advantage. This allows companies to desensitize prices and focus on value that generates a comparatively higher price and a better margin. For example; Currently, In telecoms industries it is difficult for One company to differentiate from others in terms of airtime offered. Only a firm can differential from its competitors by the Brands and Quality of Services offered to customer. Focus on Niche Strategy:The focus strategy is also known as a 'niche' strategy. Where an organization can afford neither a wide scope cost neither leadership nor a wide scope differentiation strategy, a niche strategy could be more suitable. For instance; Vodacom Tanzania focus on large Companies and Public Sectors, Tigo focus on youth (students in particular).

Offensive Warefare Stragety; Its applicable when an organization is # 2 or 3 in the market, and it have the resources to sustain a challenge to the leader. It involves finding a weakness in the leader strength and attack at that point. For Instance; Airtel attacked all telelcom companies represented in Green (Zantel), Blue( Vodacom) and Blue (Tigo) with its HAMIA AIRTEL Adverts. The following are importance of strategic management enjoyed by the telecoms companies in Tanzania arises from using a well-formulated strategy that benefits the organization in present as well as in future. Helps organizations identify and develop a competitive advantage, A well established strategic management system helps organizations to identify and develop a competitive advantage; a significant edge over the competition in dealing with competitive forces. For instance: Vodacom Tanzania has established a competitive edge over its competitiots Provides a sense of direction to an Organization Since it incorporate vision mission of the organization, strategic management provides a sense of direction to an Organization so that organization members know where to expend their efforts. Helps to cope with uncertain environments: Strategic management plays a great a great role in the continually changing business environment with strong competition from the competitiors. Through strategic management managers can examine relevant factors before deciding their course of action, thus helping them to better cope with uncertain environments. For instance; Vodacom Tanzania changed its Tsh 1/sec hours from 5:00am to 6:00am to match with its rivals such as Tigo and Airtel. Decision-Making Most of telecommunication industries in Tanzania use strategic decisions model; whereby managers align workers, routines and resources with company goals and policies. Managers make routine decisions using a flowchart, or according to policies and procedures manuals, to ensure standardized quality of products and services. For instance; Vodacom and Airtel (Zain) decided to make a decision to low its tarrifs rate from Tsh 3/sec to Tsh 1/sec to maintain their competitive advantage against Tigo who was a market leader in tarrif rates. Resource Management Managers get input from whomever they need and they must constantly ensure that an appropriate strategy must be adopted to ensure efficiency in resources Management. For example: Most of telecommunication companies in Tanzania such as Vodacom, Tigo and Airtal has strategically adopted a Joint-tower strategy as the best way to manage the rousorces of the companies with automatically lower the maintenance and cost of acquiring Towers separately.

Flexibility Having a best and reliable strategic management system; enable a high degree of flexibility. Managers need flexibility to break from the model when business conditions demand it. For example, a customer service manager can approve a special refund for a long-time customer so that he will continue to do business with the company even when customer service reps cannot automatically issue refunds to customers. Improvements and expansion of services to customers Through efficient strategic management system, telecom companies have developed various services so as to increase their customer value by offering variety of services to customers. For instance ; Vodacom offers SMS tarrifs, Call tarrifs, Internet Budnles, M-PESA. Concentrating on Goals Strategic management enables telecom industry firms to concenctrate on their goals and monitor their contious operations if are meeting set standards. For instance: Tigo has concentrated on its goal of maximizing revenue and market share by introducing various strategies such as Bonus on Top-up by Tigopesa and TigoRusha services and changed various strategies on coping wit the dynamic needs of its customers; For example having different sms rates such as SMS 5 for 200Ths, 100 sms for 500Tsh. Community sponsorship: Many telecom companies in Tanzania use strategic management in increasing their market control and dominance by giving back to the community. For instance; Vodacom Tanzania has Vodacom Foundation Project, making it a competitive firm with good corporate social responsibility. Reputation of the organization Strategic management also adds to the reputation of the organization because of consistency that results from organizations success. For instance; Vodacom and Airtel has good reputation by having among the best strategic management systems.

REFERENCES: US Embassy (2011), Doing Business in Tanzania: 2011 Country Commercial Guide for U.S. Companies, Tanzania Article on Strategic Management available at http://gulnazahmad.hubpages.com/hub/Importance-of-Strategic-Management Importance of Strategic Management to an Organization Available at http://www.ehow.com/info_7881233_importance-strategic-management-organization.html Beaver, 2000. The significance of strategic vision, mission and values Strategic Change 9 Golusin.M, 2007 Proceedings Sardinia 2007, Eleventh International Waste Management and Landfill Symposium. CISA, Environmental Sanitary Engineering Centre, Italy MDF (2005) http://www.toolkitsportdevelopment.org/html/resources/9E/9EB316CD-083E4C09-B7A5-E22DEA312F05/06%20Strategic%20Options.pdf Phil Thomas consulting, 2009 Chalmers University of technology, Strategic management lectures. Susan Scribner, 2000. Introduction to Strategic Management. Singh Rajendra, Kumar Singh & Anil Chandra : Resistance to change in organizations (www.icwai.org) STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT - KELMATICS INNOVATION & DESIGN available at http://www.kelmatics.com/strategicmanagement.htm Vodacom Tanzania Leads the market available at http://www.biztechafrica.com/article/vodacom-leads-tanzanian-market/1623/