Strategic Planning – The Key To Business Success
Strategic planning determines where an organization is going over the next year or more, how it’s going to get there and how it’ll know if it got there or not. The focus of a strategic plan is usually on the entire organization, while the focus of a business plan is usually on a particular product, service or program.
Strategic planning depends a lot on the organization involved. The culture of the organization, complexity of its environment and expertise of its planners are some of the factors in the development of a strategic plan. There are many different types of strategic planning models. Some examples of these are goals-based, issues-based, organic, and scenario, though some would claim that scenario planning is a technique, not a model. Small business marketing falls under planning as well.
The most common form of strategic planning is goals-based planning, which focuses or the organization’s mission statements, settled goals to accomplish in the pursuit of that mission, strategies to accomplish those goals, and actions by which the strategies may be implemented. First, the company needs to lay out the issues that it must confront. Then it may devise ways to deal with those issues, and plans for actions to accomplish this. Organic strategic planning, on the other hand, starts with the company’s vision and values, and focuses on how to manifest the vision while holding on to its values.
There are a variety of ways to do strategic planning for an organization. Different strategic planners like to use different methods. Some of these are 1) taking a particular approach to planning, 2) planning for a specific future time frame, 3) including only the information from top level players in the company, and 4) being more detailed or more concise.
A business’s top level of management and ownership needs to review past performance and develop plans covering several years into the future. This requires a certain frame of mind and the ability to recognize and counter biases. Before developing a strategic plan, a company’s leaders must recognize the state of their business today, its long-term objectives, and the strategies by which they may be accomplished. These can then from the basis of an appraisal of the company’s current Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats.
Entrepreneurs and business managers are often so preoccupied with immediate issues that they lose sight of their ultimate objectives. That’s why a business review or preparation of a strategic plan is a virtual necessity. This may not be a recipe for success, but without it a business is much more likely to fail.
There’s a big difference between just having a business plan, and actually having a strategic plan. Strategic planning is focused on creating the future of an organization, while business planning simply focuses on one small aspect. A goals-based planning model focuses on a stated mission and creates steps and strategies supportive of that mission. An issues-based planning model focuses on creating steps and strategies to deal with issues facing the organization. Organic planning focuses on values, and creates strategies supportive of said values. Small business marketing must be dealt with, however you choose to approach the planning steps.
- Jose DeJesus
:: Aug.23.2009 :: Health :: No Comments »
