Discuss the Significance of Strategic Planning

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.

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 an integral process of an organization defining its strategies and direction and making decisions to allocate available resources to peruse laid strategies, which provides the organizations which a competitive edge over their competitors.

Strategic planning will show what direction the business is going to achieve its aims. The planning may last for up to 4 years and is drawn

The strategic plan is essential for the organization because it is a tool used to guide the decisions

Strategic planning is the process of taking inputs (information), organizing and making sense of that information, and producing an output (the plan) that covers a long period of time, and maps out the strategies, goals, and objectives for that period of time, that are expected to keep the organization focused, unified, and likely to succeed 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 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 a necessary process to ensure an organization understands its future, and emerging operational environment and issues. Strategic planning also develops measurable plans, processes, and procedures to prepare for that environment and the future.

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.

Because a strategy indicates what an organization’s key executives hope to accomplish in the long run, every firm, large or small, needs strategic plans for survival and as a road map for the future. Strategic planning sets the mode for the difference between survival and failure.

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).

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

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.