Case Study: Macfarlane's Solutions

In the economy today every business has a need for a strategic plan. Strategic plans are most vital for small businesses to have a strategic plan because they comprise the majority of local businesses and are more likely not to survive. No matter if the business is small or large it is important to keep this plan updated and evaluated to the businesses current standings. Typically a plan should focus on the following two to three years when it is being created.

Strategic planning determines three things for an organization. First, it tells the organization where it is going over the next year or more. Second, it explains how it is going to get there. Finally, strategic planning allows the organization to know whether or not it has achieved its desired outcome (Banyenzaki, n.d., para. 4). 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 (High performance coaching, 2005). When Hot Topic first came to life it was not as successful as what the founder, Orv Madden, had hoped for (Hot Topic, 2006). However, with a bit of strategic planning, his company would soon be moving forward into a future of net profit rather than net loss.

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.

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

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

The decision to begin, enter, or continue with a business venture has a specific amount of risk associated with the undertaking and once begun specific goals and objectives need outlining and measurement devises put in place to confirm the future success of the entity. In a simple form, a strategic plan determines where an organization is going during the year to two years, how it will get there, and if it can reach the objective desired. There is a variety of approaches in a strategic plan but what need the most consideration is the leadership in an organization, organizational culture, and the organizational environment. One manner of ensuring the continuity and attainment of a

In his article, “The Fall and Rise of Strategic Planning,” Henry Mintzberg (1994) provides his views on the process of strategic planning. He offers that most companies and organizations start a strategic planning process with little understanding of the definition or actual purpose of planning. He tends to admonish much of the conventional understanding concerning strategic planning and proposes his interpretations. He states that “the most successful strategies are visions, not plans” (Mintzberg, 1994, p. 107).

In order for a business or corporation to grow and expand at a calculated pace, they must be able to strategize the proper business plan to get there. A strategy is a set of analytic techniques for understanding and influencing the firm 's position in the marketplace (Raimundo, 2001). Having a business

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.

Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy (Armstrong, 1986). In order to determine the direction of the organization, it is necessary to understand its current position and the possible avenues through which it can pursue a particular course of action. Generally, strategic planning deals with at least one of three key questions:

Per John M. Bryson, strategic planning, if properly conducted, can help the leaders and managers of public and non-profit organizations think, learn and act tactically. Strategic planning enables organizational leaders and managers to first identify their organization’s mission and/or purpose. Thereafter, the planning process permits these leaders to pinpoint the actions and activities that will enable the organization to achieve its mission. Finally, the planning process requires the organizational leaders to synthesize objectives and activities into a blueprint or concrete plan of action under which the organization will conduct its business.

‘Strategic Management’ is a very complex term as many eminent researchers and scholars have had different views and conclusions on strategy. According to White (2004), “Strategic Management involves both systematically developing an idea together with its implications and testing the empirical validity & usefulness of that idea against the real world.” Thus strategy is not only about planning for future but also about confirming the validity of the hypothesis considered and implementing it successfully. Strategy formation may take various forms such as implicit, explicit or emergent. Implicit strategy is a strategy formed by intuitions of an individual. As per implicit strategists, strategic management is about reading the environment

The nature of strategic thinking and strategic planning can be simplified through a comparison of strategic planning as single-loop learning and strategic thinking as double-loop learning. The relationship between the two shows them as separate factors, which are however, interrelated and complementary thought methods. (Heracleous, 1998)

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.