What is Planning for Strategic Business?

Strategy can be seen as an on going positioning process for an organization and strategic planning can be seen as a separate activity reviewed at periodic well defined intervals. Strategy involves achieving a competitive advantage for an organization in meeting the needs of customers and fulfilling the expectations of stakeholders. Planning helps to make sure that the efforts of an organization are deliberately co-ordinates and that managers and staff are not heading in different directions. Also provides competitive advantage and improve performance.

Strategy can be seen as an on going 'positioning' process for an organization and strategic planning can be seen as a separate activity reviewed at periodic well defined intervals.  Strategy involves achieving a competitive advantage for an organization in meeting the needs of customers and fulfilling the expectations of stakeholders. A strategic plan may be 'an intended method' or a 'scheme for accomplishing a purpose' as the dictionary states, rather than "a representation projected on a flat surface".
In fact, corporate strategic plans are often "representations projected on a flat surface" in that they are written documents, with diagrams and charts, and in some cases videos and computer disks. In large companies there may be specialTeams whose role is to produce a corporate strategic plan in conjunction with senior management, and then to make sure that it is implemented through a monitoring process.
These corporate plans do, of course, attempt to reflect the strategy of the organization and may be a very useful tool in the implementation of this strategy. Strategic business planning is the key to developing a business so that it runs effectively and efficiently. This may involve developing different products, services or markets. Also involve acquiring compatible companies or changing the whole nature of the business.
The real value of Strategic Business Planning lies in the planning process: discussion, developing new understanding, generating new ideas for the business. Strategic business planning is about setting a direction for the business, a direction to which everybody, executives and employees, can become a committed. Strategic Business Planning provides competitive advantage and improve performance.
Purpose of strategic planning:
Planning helps to make sure that the efforts of an organization are deliberately co-ordinates and that managers and staff are not heading in different directions.
Advantages of planning:

• Commitment
• Long term thinking
• Co-ordination of work
• Rational management
• Control
• Key to strategic formulation 

Disadvantages of strategic planning:

• Internal and external reactions
• Assumptions
• Creates opposition to change
• Uncertainty of forecasting
• Rigidity
• May be confused with strategic plan

Incremental strategy:
The formulation of strategy by increments is a process of doing things and gradually blending together initiatives into a coherent pattern of actions. The process is one, which involves sense-making, reflecting, learning, experimenting and changing the organization.
Planning approach Incremental approach

• Long term. short term.
• Commitment. muddling through.
• Grand plan. step by step.
• Organization of activities in advance.  fire fighting.
• Control. Interpretation problem by problem.
• Top down control. flexibility.
• Co-ordination of initiatives. encourages initiatives.
• Forecasting. innovation and change.

Article Tags: Strategic Business Planning, Strategic Business, Business Planning

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