REVIEW CHAPTER 4

PLANNING AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

Planning is the conscious, systematic process of making decisions abiut goals and activities that an individual, group, work unit, or organization will pursue in the future.

The basic planning process

1.      Situational analysis  

      As the contingency approach advocates, planning begins with a situational analysis. Within their         time and resource constraints,planners should ghater,interpret,and summarize all information               relevant to the planning issue in question

2.      Alternative goals and plans

Goals arethe targets or ends the wants to reach. To be effective, goalsshould have certain qualities,which are easy to remember with the acronym SMART (specific,measurable,relevant,time-bound). Plans are the actions or means managers intend to use to achieve organizational goals.

3.      Goal and plan evaluation

Evaluation might determine that newsstand sales alone wouldn’t be profitable enough to justify the launch.

4.      Goal and plan selection

Typically, a formalbplanning process leads to a written set of goals and plans that are appropriate and feasible for a particular of circumstances. In some organizations, the alternativegeneration, evaluation, and selection steps generate planning scenarios.

5.      Implementation

Successful implementation requires a plan to be linked to other systems in the organization, particularly the budget and rewards systems.

6.      Monitor and control

Managers must continually monitor theactual performance of their work units against the units goals and allow them to take corrective action when the plans are implemented improperly or when the situation changes

Strategic planning

  Strategic planning involves making decisions about organizations long-term goals and strategic.         Strategic plans have a strong external orientation and cover major portions of the organization.           Strategic goals are major targets or end results that relate to the long-term survival,value, and             growth of the organization.

Tactical and operational planning

 Tactical planning translates broad strategic goals and plans into specific goals and plans that are        relevant to a definite portion of the organization. Operational planning identifies the specific        procedures and processes required at lower levels of the organization.

Aligning tactical,operational,and strategic planning

 To be fully effective,the organization’s strategic,tactical, and operational goals and plans must be      aligned-tha is,they must be consistent,mutually supportive, and focused on achieving the common    purpose and direction.

Strategic Planning

1.      Establishment of mission, vision, and goals

The mission is a clear and concise expression of the basic purpose of the organization. The strategic vision points to the future-where the organization is headed and what it can become. Strategic goals evolve from the mission and vision of the organization.

2.      Analysis of external opportunities and threats

Successful strategic management depends on an accurate and through evaluation of the competitive environment and macroenvironment.

3.      Analysis of internal strengths and weakness

Internal resources analysis divided by ; financial analysis,marketing audit, operations analysis, other internal resources analyses, human resources assessment.

4.      SWOT Analysis and strategy formulation

SWOT Analysis is a comparison of srenghts, weakness, opportunities, and threats that helps executives formulate strategy.

5.      Strategy implantation

In general,strategy implementation involves four related steps

·         Define strategic tasks

·         Asses organization capabilities

·         Develop an implementation agenda

·         Create an implementation plan

6.      Strategic control

Strategic control is a system designed to support managers in evaluating the organization’s progress regarding its strategy and when discrepancies exist,taking corrective action.