Strategic Planning Process

The strategic planning process can be structured to in­volve representatives from every level and division of an organization, or it can be re­stricted to upper-level management. Sometimes, consultants are used to provide both an objective, external point of view and to undertake data collection and analysis. An external consulting group might conduct extensive interviews of all stakeholders, in­cluding the community and customers of the organization.

  • First steps

The first goal is to clarify a vision and a mission of the organization if none exists. If a mission already exists, then the process will undertake either validation of the current statement or revision to match current concerns. Second, strategies for the process are determined. Reaffirmation of the mission, strategy development, and wide-ranging analysis may occur simultaneously.

  • Mission

The most broadly stated objective of an organization is called its mission. The mission is the basic purpose for the organization’s existence. It may appear easy to determine a company’s mission. However, this is not always true.

Senior management of the organization determines its mission. All managers are responsible for understanding, communicating, and implementing the mission. The mission statement defines the organization by defining its activities, markets, and consumers.

  • Strategy

The term strategy, as used in planning, has both military and sports connotations. Strategy describes the plan the general or team manager or planner has for using the organization’s resources to achieve a specific objective. Tactics are specific actions taken by a manager and work group to achieve a specific goal (how a goal will be achieved). There are three levels of strategy.

Corporate-level strategy: This level involves the entire corporate organiza­tion, and usually implies that the corporation consists of several differ­ent business interests.

General Motors is an excellent example of a corporation with numerous profitable business units ranging from automobile manufacturing to loan companies. The corporate-level strategy guides what kinds of new ventures to undertake and how to distribute financial resources to existing ventures.

Business-level strategy: This strategy level involves the independent business unit of a larger company.

The Cadillac automobile is made by a division of General Motors. The strategy for Cadillac will follow specific goals of a luxury automobile manufacturer in contrast to the goals of a subcompact division.

Functional strategy: Departments within a business unit can also have goals, objectives, and mission statements.

The General Motors design engineering group may set a strategy that helps it be more responsive to internal cus­tomers, collaborate more smoothly with the stylistic design group, and ex­plore more fuel-efficient options. Department-level strategies are the point at which businesses maintain their competitive edge because they represent the point at which the customer is reached.

Strategy statements are meant to guide those organization members who have the authority to make plans for the actions of major units of the organization. Corpo­rate vice presidents and division managers are typically individuals who would be expected to make and to be directly affected by strategic decisions.