INTRODUCTION The term strategy is derived from the greek word strategos which means generalship the actual

direction of military force as distinct from the policy governing its development .The term strategy has been found to be equally useful in the business world .In the business senes strategy has been defined in many ways. There does not seem to be unanimity among the scholars regarding its scope and content.In a broader sense strategy is defined as the determination of the basic long term objectives and goals of and enterprise and the formulation of plans and the acquisistions allocation and utilization of resources necessary to accomplish these goals According to Alfred D.Chandler: Strategy is the determination of the basic long term purpose and objectives of and enterprise and the adoption of coursesof action and allocation of resources necessary for carrying out these goals According to George A,steiner :Strategy means doing the basic mission of acompany the objectives which it seeks to achieve and the policies goverming the use of resources at the disposal of the firm to achieve its objectives Example : Kotak mahindra finance Ltd is amojor non banking finance company (NBFC)that has experienced low profitability owing to the varous problems faced by the NBFCs in india it is planning to adopt a divestment strategy in wholesale corporate lending and focusing on new growth areas such as wealth management retail insurance and informanton services ELEMENTS OF STRATEGYS Any coherent strategy should have four important elements: GOLAS : A strategy invariably indicates the long term goals toward which all efforts are directed suchenduring goals help emplouees give their best in a unified manner and enable the firm to specity its competitive position very clearly to its rivals SCOPE: Astrategy defines the scope of the firm that is the kind of product the firm wiloffer the markers geographies technologies processes it will pursue and the broad areas of activity it wil undertake. It will at the same time throw light on the activities the firm will not undertake COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: A strategy also contains a clear statement of what competitive advantages the firm will pursue and sustain competitive advantage arises when a firm is ab le to perfrom and activity that is distinct or different from the of its rivals.

LOGIC : This is the most important element of strategy it is defined as the tool for distinguishing between the true and the false the science as well as the Art if reasoning and the science of the most general laws of truth for example a firms strategy is to dominate the market or inexpesvie detegents by being the low cost massmarket producer here the goal is to dominate the derergent market the scope is to produce low cost detergent power for the indian mass market the cpmpetitive advantage is the firms low cost. Yet this example doesnot explain why this strategy will work why the firm will get ahead of others by limiting its scope and by being the low cost producer competitive advantage in the detergent the why is the logic of the strategy "Strategy is the direction and scope of an organisation over the long-term: which achieves advantage for the organisation through its configuration of resources within a challenging environment, to meet the needs of markets and to fulfil stakeholder expectations". Strategy at Different Levels of a Business Strategies exist at several levels in any organisation - ranging from the overall business (or group of businesses) through to individuals working in it. Corporate Strategy - is concerned with the overall purpose and scope of the business to meet stakeholder expectations. This is a crucial level since it is heavily influenced by investors in the business and acts to guide strategic decision-making throughout the business. Corporate strategy is often stated explicitly in a "mission statement".