What is Strategic Drift?

Strategic drift is a gradual deterioration of an action by the competitor forces which causes to decrease chances of success for an organization regarding its capability to understand and respond changes occurred in the external environment of a business. Strategic drift occurs when an organization fails to deal with the requirements of the external environment. In the dynamic business world, the organization need to cope up with requirements of the targeted market in order to remain sustainable against competitive forces. When demand fluctuates and gradual demise occur in a market, organization face declining demand from the consumer market which results in the increase of competitiveness in the selected segment for the offered products and services. Most of the time, companies fail to stand against strategic drift because of poor planning system against such uncertainties. Basically, a major reason behind strategic drift is culture. Companies having a culture that focuses on past and traditional practices rather than adopting change required by a dynamic environment face strategic drift. Nokia a world-famous mobile phone manufacturing company is a common example of strategic drift. When the smartphone was the requirement of market Nokia was introducing old-styled mobiles thus strategic drift influenced organizational outcomes.