There are four essential phases of strategic management process. In different companies these phases may have different, nomenclatures and the phases may have a different sequences, however, the basic content remains same. The four phases can be listed as below.

1. Defining the vision, business mission, purpose, and broad objectives.
2. Formulation of strategies.
3. Implementation of strategies.
4. Evaluation of strategies.

These phases are linked to each other in a sequence. It may not be possible to draw a clear line of difference between each phase, and the change over from one phase to another is gradual. The next phase in the sequence may gradually evolve and merge into the following phase. An important linkage between the phases is established through a feedback mechanism or corrective action. The feedback mechanism results in a course of action for revising, reformulating, and redefining the past phase. The process is highly dynamic and compartmentalization of the process is difficult. The change over is not clear and boundaries of phases overlap.