Case Analysis : Branch Smith Inc.

| Most successful companies utilize business strategic planning to set priorities and goals for the organization's future; outcomes include short-term goals and long-term strategies.  A clearly written, well designed strategic plan can align business units, divisions and employees so that the vision of the management team and the mission of the company can be fulfilled.  As companies evolve and the environment changes it is critical for companies to maintain a disciplined execution of the strategic plan.However, if they are not

A strategic plan is a tool that delivers guidance in achieving a mission or goal with maximum proficiency and control for an organization. Strategic planning is used to transform and revitalize organizations. The plan helps provide an inclusive understanding of opportunities and challenges both internally and externally for the organization. The plan delivers an assessment of the strengths and limitations that are realistic within the company. A well-developed strategic plan will offer a comprehensive approach and empowerment for the stakeholders involved. It is an opportunity for learning and understanding priorities that will drive the business to succeed. Jones (2010), describes how in health care organizations, strategic plans

Strategic planning within a company is a tool used in companies that help mature areas in total quality management. This type of planning creates a cohesive management system for lower level employees to better adapt in. “Strategic planning determines where an organization is going over the next year or more and how it 's going to get there. Typically, the process is organization-wide, or focused on a major function such as a division, department or other major function”(McNamara, 2008). In order to plan effectively one must first make a clear assessment of the plan and have an analysis on the corporations mission statement and objective.

Strategic planning is designed to leverage the strengths of a firm while minimizing the effects of its weaknesses.  It is difficult to know the potential advantage a firm may have unless external analysis is done well.  For example, a company may have a talented marketing department or an efficient production system.  However, the organization cannot determine whether these internal characteristics are sources of competitive advantage until it knows something about how well the competitors stack up in these areas.

Strategic planning is crucial for the success of all business endeavors. Analyzing currents trends in technology, consumer markets, competition, and the workforce can play a pivotal part in whether or not the organization can survive. Overtime, strategic planning strategies must be modified in order to compensate for changes in the industry. Goals and strategic planning often necessitate change to ensure that the organization is performing at peak level, while offering the most beneficial and quality services to consumers.

In today’s highly competitive business environment, budget planning or forecast based planning methods are insufficient for business to survive. The firm must engage at strategic planning to clearly define objectives and built a strong internal structure in order to assess both the internal and external situation to formulate planning, implement the strategy, evaluate the progress, and make adjustment as necessary to stay on track. Strategic planning has a bad reputation. People think of it as a laborious process to produce a document that will just languish on a shelf. Many business managers consider strategic planning to be a waste of time. But these perceptions aren 't really accurate. A company needs a strategic plan for the same

Every organization should have a strategic plan to achieve its goals in a limited time period, the strategic plan has many variable models. The strategic planning process that we studied needs a collaboration between the organization’s staff, board members, and strategic plan committee. This strategic planning process has ten guide steps.

Strategic planning can dictate the success of any organization if properly planned as well as the failure of an organization if not implemented as planned. Strategic planning is all about making choices. It is a process designed to support leaders in being intentional about their goals and methods. Simply stated, strategic planning is a management tool, and like any management tool, it is used for one purpose only—to help an organization do a better job. This portion of the strategic plan will explain why an

Strategic Planning is the process of developing and maintaining a strategic fit between the organizations goals and capabilities as well as emerging market conditions and opportunities. This process begins with a clear company mission statement. However, this is only a small piece of a dynamic and perpetual process. Other activities involved with strategic planning also include setting supporting organizational objectives, designing a sound product mix as well as coordinating functional strategies. Strategic planning works to set the groundwork for the rest of the subsidiary planning functions in the company.

Today’s market demands organizations to have a strategic plan. The purpose of the strategic plan describes where the organization wants their organization to go. A strategic plan is a document used to communicate goals, and the actions needed to achieve those goals. In order to remain competitive every organization needs to innovate to stay ahead of the competition. They need to develop new products and services with increasing frequency. The design of these new products and services must meet, or exceed, customer expectations and at the same time, they must generate an acceptable financial return for the organization. However, any business that does not realize the importance of developing new products will not last very long as a consequence

Strategic Planning is one of the most fundamental factors in the success of an organization. This research project will discuss the importance of strategic planning as well as the different components of strategic planning. Many organizations fail to accomplish their goals and tasks due to the lacking of strategic planning. In order for their businesses to be successful, organizations need to be well informed about how the strategic planning process works.

Carlson Companies, a private company known for its existence in marketing, business, leisure travel, and the hospitality industries, has over 180,000 employees across the United States. Carlson Shared Services, the Information Technology (IT) division, provides services to its internal clients and thus must support a wide range of applications and services. In 2002, the IT division decided to implement a storage area network (SAN) that in turn would meet the six (6) goals established in order to meet the needs of a growing company.

* unity of purpose and focus under a common corporate strategy (further supporting the firm’s strategy as it relates to acquisitions and divestitures);

Read Case 1.9, "ZZZZ Best Company, Inc." in your text. Answer questions #1, 2, and 4 found at the end of the case.

Strategic planning is central to management study. It defines the long term direction for the company and all other business functions orbit around their established strategies. This article studies how a company formulates business-level strategies, optimize their competitive positioning and obtain a competitive advantage over their rivals.