Strategic planning is the business process that many companies use to determine their key success factors, which set the direction for future growth and profitability. Louis Carroll gave it a good reason in "Alice in Wonderland": "Please tell me, which way should I take from here?" Alice said. "It depends a lot on where you want to go," the cat said. "I don't care much..." Alice said. "Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the cat.
As with most business processes, the key to success is effective implementation. Companies that develop and execute strategies can create competitive advantage, provide higher market share and higher gross margins. Organizations that turn plans into "dust collectors" on the administrative bookshelf will never achieve their full growth and profit potential.
Most of the criticism of strategic planning is directed at the planning process. They question the validity of a market-based "estimation" plan, the questionable valuation of the depth and breadth of competitors, and an optimistic assessment of the company's internal strengths and weaknesses. The fact that the strategic plan is too optimistic is not the core issue. While criticism may be appropriate, it focuses on the end of the process's error - implementation tasks are critical to producing positive results, and most companies fail in strategic planning.
A poorly implemented rational strategic plan will produce limited positive results. On the other hand, an overly optimistic strategic plan, effective implementation can produce results that exceed everyone's expectations. In this case, what is the key to effective implementation? One sentence - promise!
Companies that specialize in strategic planning commit to each of the planning process and each strategy in the plan. They build commitment throughout the organization, working with people from all business functions to build commitments before, during, and after strategic planning.
The winners began to build their commitment to the strategic plan as soon as possible. Managers at all levels are encouraged to participate in the main management personnel of the planning meeting and other personnel who will be responsible for implementing the strategic objectives. Together, they demonstrate the need to change business processes and/or culture issues and identify those constraints that need to be overcome to achieve success.
During the planning meeting, key management personnel in each functional area are encouraged to participate and contribute to the program. These executives have developed strategies based on organizational strengths and considered the resources needed to implement them. They ensure that a key manager "owns" each strategy and commits to a timeline for its achievements. Key managers consider resource planning - recognizing that human resources are key to achieving positive things in difficult, complex business environments - and they make commitments accordingly.
After the plan was made, the person responsible for the implementation developed its own "tactical plan". These action plans, combined with a self-directed work team, are the primary factors in the successful implementation of strategic planning. Teams use their plans to manage, make decisions and grow their business. They regularly review their "tactical plans" to monitor and report on progress – by "modifying" the plan by modifying strategies and tactics as necessary.
Finally, in order to ensure the successful implementation of their strategic plan, they are committed to the planning process itself. The planning team continually "finely" the planning process to ensure that all business functions are properly invested and that the final plan's support and commitment are at all levels of the organization.
So why are most operations management teams not outside the strategic planning process? Why do many line managers see strategic planning as a manufacturing project that produces little or no value to customers? Perhaps this is because they are not involved in their development and have not purchased their effectiveness - not to mention the commitment to implement their strategic goals. In short, they have nothing to do with the process! To achieve the company's overall growth and profitability potential, CEOs and business owners need to ensure that operations management is actively involved in their strategic planning processes. Business Basics, LLC provides professional assistance, why not call us.
Orignal From: Strategic Planning - Strategic and Tactical Planning
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