Week 3: Mini Lecture

Planning Strategies

Think about a time you were looking forward to a special family vacation, or you were responsible for a staff celebration or you were thinking about something much bigger like starting a business. No matter what, a plan would be essential to accomplishing your goals. The same is true of any organization

The most essential of the business planning process is the strategic plan. The strategic plan incorporates all of the organization’s departmental and functional plans from which management decision-making stems. Overall, the strategic planning process drives organizations to become what it intend to be in the future with the essential steps needed to get there.

Central to the strategic planning process is conducting a situational analysis. For many organizations they conduct a SWOT Analysis revealing Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats. This helps organizations to evaluate where they stand in relation to their competition. The SWOT includes two major steps: first, collecting information in the four areas about the organization and then making decisions based on an interpretation of that information. Internally strengths and weaknesses are collected from business reports but most importantly from people throughout the organization. On the other hand, external information comes from sources such as government and environmental reports, customers, and competitors. When conducting the SWOT, organizations are encouraged only to include key points where there is evidence to back it up but still it is important to avoid being too rigid.

An organization’s strategic plan provides the path of action for achieving the desired future of an organization. A winning strategic plan is a key management tool for the staff and a performance contract between management and its stakeholders. Overall the strategic planning process anchors the staff and leadership answering the questions about the vision, mission, values, issues and specific strategies that will be used to achieve a desired standing for the business.

Week 3: Mini Lecture

Planning Strategies

Think about a time you were looking forward to a special family vacation, or you were responsible for a staff celebration or you were thinking about something much bigger like starting a business. No matter what, a plan would be essential to accomplishing your goals. The same is true of any organization

The most essential of the business planning process is the strategic plan. The strategic plan incorporates all of the organization’s departmental and functional plans from which management decision-making stems. Overall, the strategic planning process drives organizations to become what it intend to be in the future with the essential steps needed to get there.

Central to the strategic planning process is conducting a situational analysis. For many organizations they conduct a SWOT Analysis revealing Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities & Threats. This helps organizations to evaluate where they stand in relation to their competition. The SWOT includes two major steps: first, collecting information in the four areas about the organization and then making decisions based on an interpretation of that information. Internally strengths and weaknesses are collected from business reports but most importantly from people throughout the organization. On the other hand, external information comes from sources such as government and environmental reports, customers, and competitors. When conducting the SWOT, organizations are encouraged only to include key points where there is evidence to back it up but still it is important to avoid being too rigid.

An organization’s strategic plan provides the path of action for achieving the desired future of an organization. A winning strategic plan is a key management tool for the staff and a performance contract between management and its stakeholders. Overall the strategic planning process anchors the staff and leadership answering the questions about the vision, mission, values, issues and specific strategies that will be used to achieve a desired standing for the business.