Thursday, April 9, 2009

Strategic Planning

strategic planning determines where an organization is going over the next year or more, how it's going to get there and how it'll know if it got there or not. 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.There are a variety of perspectives, models and approaches used in strategic planning. The way that a strategic plan is developed depends on the nature of the organization's leadership, culture of the organization, complexity of the organization's environment, size of the organization, expertise of planners, etc. For example, there are a variety of strategic planning models, including goals-based, issues-based, organic, scenario (some would assert that scenario planning is more a technique than model), etc.

The Simplified Strategic Planning process provides a solid theoretical approach that is applied in a very real world down-to-earth manner. The program does an excellent job of providing a defined framework for the planning process without turning it into a mechanistic fill out the form exercise. The framework helped us make sure that we were identifying and analyzing the key issues, it did not do our thinking for us. Finally, I felt the emphasis on the development of specific objectives and action plans are the keys to ensuring that strategic planning isn't just an interesting annual exercise that subsequently collects dust on a bookshelf. I know the strategic plan we produced will make a major difference in the performance of our business.

Goals-based planning is probably the most common and starts with focus on the organization's mission (and vision and/or values), goals to work toward the mission, strategies to achieve the goals, and action planning (who will do what and by when). Issues-based strategic planning often starts by examining issues facing the organization, strategies to address those issues, and action plans. Organic strategic planning might start by articulating the organization's vision and values and then action plans to achieve the vision while adhering to those values.

Simplified Strategic Planning provides a framework for creating direction in a manner that moves away from guesswork and toward intelligent selection. The end result: a destination of choice, not chance. The Simplified Strategic Planning provides a logical and timeless framework for analyzing our industry, our company's place in it, and the goals we need to meet in order to achieve our strategic objectives. Using this process for three years, we have doubled our sales volume and have also doubled our operating profit percentages.

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