Strategists collect, review, and analyze information about a company’s performance in the context of its competitors, market, customer base, and company resources and capabilities. They make recommendations to management to improve company performance (such as finding ways to prevent competitor imitation, identifying new areas of growth, increasing efficiency, or changing organizational structure) and work with management to implement these changes. Strategists work as managers, consultants, or corporate strategists.

As industry and government organizations increasingly rely on strategy expertise to improve their performance, employment of strategists is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through 2016. The growth of international businesses has also contributed to an increase in demand for strategists, particularly those with a comprehensive knowledge of international business and foreign cultures and languages.