DBA 822 Seminars in Strategy and International Business
Strategic Planning Theories
A Literature Review
By; Benjamin J. Shuford III
8/24/10
Introduction: Strategic planning is a broad concept that has been introduced into the main stream practices of today’s corporations. Strategic planning can be defined as an organization’s process of defining goals, direction, and decision making processes that effect the allocation of resources that include capital and people. The term “strategy” is derived from the Greek word of “strategos,” which means literally, “general of the army.” (Hart, 1965). The Greek tribes of ancient civilizations would elect a strategos to head their regiments during battles. These political rulers would follow the
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In his early work, he identified three main types of strategy processes: planning, entrepreneurial and learning-by-experience. He described planning as a philosophical approach when he classifies strategic business thinking in ten schools of thought, which he describes in their historical and ideological context. Early theorist, such as Igor Ansoff, focused on the analytical aspects of strategy formation. The first three schools in Mintzberg’s taxonomy are therefore prescriptive and focus on how strategy ought to be formulated. One of the major premises of the prescriptive schools if the performance claim, which states that the more an organization engages in systematic strategic planning, the more likely it will result in above average returns. The prescriptive schools have been influential in the discourse of strategy formulation, but have failed to explain the process of strategy execution (Mintzberg, 1990). Mintzberg's School of Strategic Thought (Mintzberg and Lampel, 1990). | | | | | | | | School | Category | Foundation | | | | Design | Prescriptive | Engineering | | | | Planning | Prescriptive | Systems Theory | | | | Positioning | Prescriptive | Economics | | | | Entrepreneurial | Descriptive | Economics | | | | Cognitive | Descriptive | Psychology | | | | Learning | Descriptive | Psychology | | | | Power | Descriptive | Political Science | | | | Cultural | Descriptive | Anthropology | | | | Environmental |
Formulate a process for undertaking strategic planning in your area of interest. What is the need for strategic planning at this time? Which actors should be involved? How do you apply the steps and procedures discussed in Berman Chapter 4 to your process? Which steps would you undertake to ensure that conditions for success are in place?
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.
Mintzberg, H. Research . (1972) On strategy-making', Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Meeting of the Academyo f Management,N Minneapolis.
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
Mintzberg (1984, pp. 69) suggests “the notion strategy is something that should happen way up there far removed from the details of running an organisation on a daily basis and is one of the great fallacies of conventional strategic
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).
The strategic planning process begins by reviewing the organizations mission, vision and values. Clarifying the mission, vision, and goals at the beginning strategic planning process can help align fragmented entities (2 p. 293). The mission statement identifies the organizations reason for existing and how it is unique in comparison to other organizations (A p. 294). It is a short, concise and clear statement that serves as a rallying point for the organization (4 p. 752). The mission provides clues about the types of services that can be expected from the organization (A). Failing to check new projects against the mission can cause an organization to get into trouble (A p. 294).
E TRADE is a great option for the active trader. The active trader is someone who makes 150 plus trades per quarter. If you make less than that, E TRADE is not cost effective. The trader would be best serviced going to Ameritrade or Schwab. E TRADE should look at Schwab and how they have maintained their customer base.
consistent identity (Ketchen, Boyd and Bergh, 2008). It is no doubt that there are still many
Innovation, creativity, and vision are crucial skills of nursing leadership and important elements to a strategic plan (Grossman & Valiga, 2012). Furthermore, a leader’s vision and the ability to energize followers to join in the effort is required if the dream is going to become a reality (Grossman & Valiga, 2012). Fortunately, strategic plans and can provide a framework in the assessment, development of priorities, and goal-setting that leads to implementing positive change (Sare & Ogilvie, 2016).
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)
‘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
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.