A Reflection on why your organisation should embrace Strategic Planning

12 June 2015, 12:03

One of the courses that I enjoy studying is Strategic Management. Ask any student studying
Strategic Management they will tell you that strategic management is an interesting course.
It is an interesting course which brings a live several strategic thoughts. No wander organizations
that are good at strategic management are very successful organization. This is because they
believe in success. They believe that organization should strive as long as an organization knows
how to plan.
Strategic Management is the process of formulating, implementing and evaluating business
strategies to achieve future objectives. This includes all activities leading to the organization
achievement of objectives. For this purpose the basic requirement is the development of plans,
actions and strategies to accomplish this purpose.
One of the most interesting topics in strategic management others is strategic planning. Strategic
planning makes Managers walk tall and speak proudly without fear of failure. I challenge you to
go to an organization that is good at strategic planning. I can assure you that you will find proud
Managers who will not only speak success but their organization are surely successful.
I can also say that organizations that are having operational challenges mainly suffer from poor
strategic Management. These organization lack strategic thinkers and are not good at strategic
planning. These organization usually lack strategic stamina that is vital to corporate success.
I can also ask you to visit an organization that is having operational problems. I can assure you
that you will find problems everywhere. Many of these organizations use several excuses to
justify their failure.
So is strategic planning relevant to all organizations? Strategy is a broad based formula for how
business is going to compete, what its goals should be, and what policies will be needed to carry
out these goals. The essence of formulating competitive strategy is relating a company to its
environment.
Strategic planning is concerned with deciding on strategy and planning on how that strategy is to
be put in to effect via: Strategic Analysis, Strategic Choice and Strategic execution. Strategic
planning is a continual process within an organization; the people responsible for the success of
strategic planning outline the desired future, then devise a strategy for making it happen.
Strategic planning by its very nature is adaptive and always developing to be relevant to the
future. Measures are taken so the organization can benefit from these environmental factors. Key
environmental factors are predicted and their influence on the organization looked at and then
optimum
Business planning and strategic planning are two different things. Business plans are usually for
an outside audience where the strategic plans are developed for a holistic organizational
approach to company affairs. Also strategic plans look at the 'bigger picture' where business
planning looks at certain elements of an organization. Strategic planning is to analyze the current
and expected future situation, determine the direction of the firm, and develop means of
achieving the mission.
The Composition of a Strategic Plans are generally made up of one or more interconnected
elements; Vision, mission, Values, assessment, goals, strategy and outcomes. They also
incorporate strategic management principles and models.
This is why as Zambian Society for Public Administration in partnership with CIMPAD have
created a master class during the conference in Livingstone to be held from 23-25 at Chrismar to
specifically address the best scenario in Strategic Management and its components. A number of
high flying Professors and Public Administrators have been lined up to teach at the conference.
Therefore, I wish to recommend that organization should use strategic planning as a DNA
organization for survival and success. Organization should use strategic planning as a hinge
where an organization swings for success.