Critical Thinking Questions : Strategic Planning

By using Marketing strategy, organizations concentrate their resources on the greatest opportunities to increase sales and maintain a competitive advantage in its market (Wickipedia, pg1).Market segmentation is the process companies use to divide their market into groups of buyers and establish marketing tailored to individual groups. Market targeting is the process of actually choosing the market which poses the greatest profitability. Positioning involves product placement and helps marketers highlight their product over a competitor. The

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 involves taking information from the environment and deciding upon an organizational mission, and upon objectives, strategies, and a strategic architecture. There are many different ways to go about deciding on your mission. Michael Porter, a researcher from Harvard, had a few ways for developing frameworks for developing an organization’s strategy.

Strategic planning is the management activity of an organization to achieve the organization’s goals through setting priorities, focusing activities and resources, working of employees and stakeholders, agreement establishment, and evaluation of the organization’s direction (Balanced Scorecard Institute, 2015).

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.

Managing a strategic plan is about setting the underpinning aims of an organization, choosing the most appropriate goals and fulfilling them overtime (Masood et al., 1995). Furthermore, managing a strategic plan can be defined as the art of formulating, implementing and evaluating cross-functional decisions that helps as organization to achieve their objectives (Analoui & Karami, 2003, p. 5).

Strategic planning involves making decisions about the organization’s long-term goals and strategies and how the organization decides to implement their goals (Bateman, Snell, Konopaske, pg. 113). Strategies help organizations to have a clear perspective on how to go about accomplishing the goals they have in place. All organizations have a clear vision of what their mission and purpose as a company is, they know how to fulfill the mission, vision, and purpose and they know how to ensure that they accomplish all their goals. However, the route the organization takes to define these things determines how effective they will be.

Strategic planning is "a disciplined effort to produce fundamental decision and actions that shape and guide what an organization (or other entity) is, what it does, and why it does it" (Herman, The Jossey-Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management, 155)

Marketing strategy is a method of focusing an organization's energies and resources on a course of action which can lead to increased sales and dominance of a targeted market niche. A marketing strategy combines product development, promotion, distribution, pricing, relationship management and other elements; identifies the firm's marketing goals, and explains how they will be achieved, ideally within a stated timeframe. Marketing strategy determines the choice of target market segments, positioning, marketing mix, and allocation of resources. It is most effective when it is an integral component of overall firm strategy, defining how the organization will successfully engage customers, prospects, and competitors in

According to literature, strategic planning is vital for strategic management. Burgelman (1994) points that strategic planning is a process which decides how, when and who is going to plan and how the results will be implemented. Drucker (1974) identified that the planning for an organization’s future that includes setting major overall objectives, the determination of basic approaches to be used in

Strategic planning is the process of gathering information from stakeholders, market players, professional entity, and government agency. The purpose of gathering information is formulating a realistic and a workable framework that any organization can implement and work with. Evaluation of information is a key aspect in determine the kind of plans that the organization wish to a chive over certain a period. Strategic planning ensures the implementation is, crafted well, and parties involved be acquitted with it. Developing a good Strategic plan helps a company to implement its missions and visions effectively, and helps the company to evaluate

According to Blythe (2010), segmentation, targeting and positioning are fundamental to the concept of meeting customer need. This essay will outline and analyse these fundamental tools of marketing in an academic setting, in addition to, assessing how an organisation of my choice applies them in a working environment. Included in this essay, will be an academic discussion of the advantages of market segmentation, targeting and positioning drawing upon views of various scholars. Furthermore, I will provide a profile of my chosen organisation as well as an assessment of their market segmentation, targeting and positioning strategies. The essay will finish with a summary of the main points and will draw conclusions based on the evidence which has been presented.

Strategic Planning is the process of developing and maintaining a strategic fit between the organizations goals and capabilities and its changing marketing opportunities.

Strategic planning is an organizational management activity that is used to set priorities, focus energy and resources, strengthen operations, ensure that employees and other stakeholders are working toward common goals,