Strategic Planning
Updated: May 10, 2007
Definition: It is an organization’s process of defining its strategy and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people.
The outcome is normally a strategic plan which is used as guidance to define functional and divisional plans, including Technology, Marketing, etc
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There are many approaches to strategic planning but typically a three-step process may be used:
Situation - evaluate the current situation and how it came about.
Target - define goals and/or objectives (sometimes called ideal state)
Path - map a possible route to the goals/objectives
One alternative approach is called Draw-See-Think
Draw - what is the ideal image or the desired end state?
See - what is today's situation? What is the gap from ideal and why?
Think - what specific actions must be taken to close the gap between today's situation and the ideal state?
Plan - what resources are required to execute the activities?
In other terms strategic planning can be as follows:
Vision - Define the vision and set a mission statement with hierarchy of goals
SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) - According to the desired goals conduct analysis
Formulate - Formulate actions and processes to be taken to attain these goals
Implement - Implementation of the agreed upon processes
Control - Monitor and get feedback from implemented processes to fully control the operation
Why strategic plans fail
In general, strategic plans can fail for two types of reasons: inappropriate strategy and poor implementation.
Inappropriate strategies may arise due to:
 Poor market research or other information upon which the plan is founded
Failure to define end states (objectives) correctly
Incomplete SWOT analysis with respect to the desired end state(s)
Lack of creativity in identifying possible strategies
Strategies incapable of obtaining the desired objective
Poor fit between the external environment and organizational resources - infeasibility
Poor implementation of a strategy may happen due to:
Over-estimation of resources and abilities
Under-estimation of time, personnel, or financial requirements
Failure to coordinate
Ineffective attempts to gain the support of others or resistance
Failure to follow the plan
Loss of senior management focus and continued sponsorship
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