ALL about Strategic Planning

Summary, forum, best practices, expert tips and resources.

All about Strategic Planning and other management methods. Completely free.

12manage is a knowledge sharing platform about management with over 1 million participants. Click for more info...

What is Strategic Planning? Meaning.

Strategic Planning consists of the process of systematically developing and implementing activities and plans to reach the goals, purpose and objectives of the organization within the strategic context (environment).

SP is a continuous process of making present entrepreneurial (risk-taking) decisions systematically and with the greatest knowledge of their futurity; systematically organizing the efforts needed to carry out these decisions. It may or may not also include measuring the results of these decisions against the expectations through organized systematic feedback.

SP involves the application of thought, analysis, imagination and judgment. It is a responsibility rather than a technique. It is the analytic thinking and commitment of resources to action. It deals with the futurity of present decisions.

Strategic Planning versus Strategy

SP is more or less a synonym for Strategy, but the term "planning" has a deliberate meaning attached to it, while "Strategy" can accommodate both the emergent, flexible, dynamic vision to strategy formation as well as the traditional deliberate, intended, military, planned form. In other words, SP is one of the Ten Schools of Thought (The Planning School) as described by Mintzberg. However, In everyday parlance, SP is considered and used as a synonym of strategy.

Types of Strategic Planning

There are quite a few strategic planning types, depending on their:

LEVEL: Corporate, Division, Strategic Business Unit, Department.
TIME HORIZON: Long-term, Medium-term, Short-term.
LEVEL OF DETAIL: Strategic, Tactical, Operational.
FUNCTIONAL AREA: Marketing, Sales, Purchasing, Production, Logistics, Transportation, HR, Finance, etc.
SPECIAL TOPIC: Internet, Mobile.

Steps in a Strategic Planning Process

A strategic planning process can take many forms. For the classical steps see Armstrong's Five Strategic Planning Steps.

A strategy process can be more or less deliberate (planned) or emergent (flexible).

Strategic Planning Special Interest Group

Special Interest Group (1359 members)

Forum about Strategic Planning

Discussions about Strategic Planning.

🔥	NEW Should Top Managers be Strategists? The involvement of top managers in the strategic planning process is often too limited taking into account the increasin (...)

	The OGSM Framework What is OGSM? The OGSM Framework (Objectives - Goals - Strategies - Measures) is a strategic tool used for goals and st (...)

	How to Help a Team Carry Out Strategic Planning How can we help a team carry out a strategic planning exercise? What are tools and tips that can be employed? (...)

Best Practices about Strategic Planning

Here you find the most valuable discussions from the past.

🥇	Is Strategic Planning Passé? Is strategic planning in the traditional sense passé? It may very well be given the rapidly changing environment organiz (...)

🥈	S T R A T E G Y Acronym The word STRATEGY if you view it as an acronym is in itself is the answer. It can mean: S = status at present T = thin (...)

🥉	Strategic Planning must be Dynamic No doubt strategic planning is dynamic. Strategic planning should monitor internal and external contexts on a regular b (...)

	Strategic Thinking versus Operational Thinking? What is the difference between strategic and operational thinking? Which one has the greater impact on the success of th (...)

	Why do Most Strategic Plans Fail? According to what some people say, 8 of each 10 efforts fail in strategic planning. I think strategic planning is not (...)

	Factors in Strategic Decision Making What are the factors affecting strategic decision making? (...)

	Strategic Planning is about Elimination Strategy is about knowing what to sacrifice. It is through a process of elimination that we arrive at the right path. Of (...)

	Strategy Means Directional Initiatives to Protect And/or Improve your Current Position Today's leaders must be able to impose rapid changes within their organization in order to compete against worldwide com (...)

	Objectives of Organisation Any long term planning should clearly relate to the organisation's stated (internal) objectives and values. Changes of t (...)

	Why Strategic Planning is Essential Unused planning is a wast of time. However, I have found strategic planning to be essential and vital to the success of (...)

	Congruence Model Summary A business must have a strategy, the strategy must necessarily have parts. A strategy has five elements, providing answe (...)

	Classical Strategic Planning Process Classical strategic planning was a deliberate process in which top executives periodically would formulate the firm's st (...)

	How Leaders See Strategy Reviews Leaders often want to review their strategy annually by looking at vision, mission, values and identify projects to impl (...)

	New Strategic Planning Models Please if one of you can mention and summarize any new model(s) about strategic planning, please reply. Or maybe you ca (...)

	Markets > Vision > Strategy + Execution First, vision drives strategy and customers and markets drives vision. Know the customer well. Also, "vision" is "functi (...)

	Continuous Planning and Control Strategic planning is seen by many as a process that is performed every now and then. But beyond the formal process, the (...)

	Brand Strategy for a Start-up How critical it is to include a Brand in the Strategy for a start-up Company? How can this be carried out while the fou (...)

	Strategic Planning in an Opportunity for Involvement SP is a great opportunity for the organization to live the strategy, using such exercises of what strategy means to ever (...)

	Strategic Plans Must be Used and Executed! I know an organization were top management hired a consultant to design strategic plans for all departments. As such, SM (...)

	Strategic Planning and Power Someone said a year ago that 8 of each 10 efforts fail in strategic planning. That´s true. Despite of new models and mor (...)

	From Traditional to Innovative Strategic Planning It is high time we shift from the traditional strategic management to innovative strategic management. We need to rethin (...)

	Strategic Planning Models in Airline Industry We know every airline has a strategic plan. Why do some achieve their goals but some don't? What are the causes of the (...)

	3 Main Activities of Strategic Planning Simply put, strategic planning determines where an organization is going over the next year or more and how it's going t (...)

	Shorten the Time Window of Strategic Plans Setting goals is extremely important within the strategic framework. However, understanding that the business environmen (...)

	Overseeing Strategy and Strategic Oversight Companies find themselves in a fix in times of transformational change, when incremental changes in strategy fails to me (...)

	Goals - Part of the Plan? In practice in the strategic planning process I include not only "REACH the goals, purpose and objectives", but also SET (...)

Expert Tips about Strategic Planning

Here you will find advices by experts.

	Strategic Planning versus Strategic Thinking (Mintzberg) Strategic Planning, Strategic Thinking, Emergent Strategy, Deliberate Strategy (...)

Information Sources about Strategic Planning

Here you will find powerpoints, videos, news, etc.

	Introduction to Strategic Planning and The ABCDE Model Strategic Planning, ABCDE Model, SWOT Analysis, Corporate Mission, Strategic Vision (...)

	Top 5 Strategy Pitfalls Strategy Errors, Strategy Traps, Strategy Barriers, Strategic Planning, Strategy Process (...)

	7 Steps for Creating a Strategic Business Plan Strategic Planning, Strategic Management, Business Planning, Business Plan (...)

	Overview of a Strategic Planning Process Initial Understanding of a Strategic Planning Process (...)

	Conducting a Strategy Review (Strategic Review). Types and Tips Strategy Review, Strategic Management, Strategy Process (...)

Special Interest Group Leader

Are you an expert in this field? Sign up for free

This ends our Strategic Planning summary and forum.