Objectives And Objectives Of Strategic Planning

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

“Organizational Management and Leadership” defines planning as “the development of goals, which leads to the development of an overall strategy for achieving those goals. Planning can be performed at all levels of an organization. Supervisors are planning when a weekly work schedule is put together for hourly staff. Top executives are planning when they define the mission statement of the company and determine how the organization can maintain its competitive advantage.”

Planning is the foundation of all the functions of management upon which the other three areas should be built. During planning, management must evaluate the company’s current situation and then developing strategies to achieve these goals, this is called strategic planning.

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)

Planning provides a guideline for the members of an organisation to carry out their tasks according to the set objectives. The absence of planning can create ambiguity within the organisation.

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

“Planning is a systematic process in which managers make decisions about future activities and the key goals that the organization will pursue.” Minnick, C., & (2014).

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

The 21st century business environment has become more competitive, organizations have to develop and implement the right strategy to survive. Rapid advance in technology and globalization have brought about both opportunities and challenges to all organization. The ability to survive the intense competition, gain competitive advantage and remain competitive depends on choosing and implementing the right strategy at the right time. The mission statement of an organization is also imperative in choosing the appropriate strategy. Conducting a strategic management process and implementing the strategy is a significant step towards achieving a competitive advantage. Identifying the internal, external strength and weaknesses of an organization is equally important. Applying the necessary tools to determine the resources and capabilities available to an organization that can generate competitive advantage is critical to the continued existence of an organization. Value, Rarity, Imitation and Organization (VRIO) framework are tools developed to analyze the internal resources and capabilities of an organization. The internal strength of an organization is a significant asset in gaining competitive advantage over the competitors.