Strategic planning must consider the organizational vision.
Strategic planning is the elaboration, development and implementation of different operational plans by companies or organizations with the intention of achieving set objectives and goals. These plans can be short, medium or long term.
Strategic plans have a certain budget available , so the correct determination of the objectives to be met is essential. Otherwise, the money may not be enough to achieve the goals and strategic planning fails.
The historical evolution
Strategic planning as a management system emerged between the '60s and '70s with changes in the strategic capabilities of companies. Management began to require planning the tasks to be accomplished, assigning a manager who analyzed how and when to execute them.
On the other hand, the time between the investment of a good and its introduction to the market began to shorten and an increasingly shorter life cycle of products was generated. For this reason, strategic planning became a fundamental facet of companies in their search for greater competitiveness .
In this way, strategic planning specialized in what to do ( strategies ) to achieve the pursued objectives based on the opportunities and threats offered by the environment. This includes developing SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis . Other studies that can be carried out are the PESTEL analysis (political, economic, social, technological, ecological, legal) and the evaluation of key performance indicators ( KPIs ).
In this sense, it is important that all people linked to management can develop their knowledge and accurately understand the needs of the company, so that strategic planning allows them to interact with a dynamic and constantly evolving world.
Tactical planning is part of strategic planning.
Types of strategic planning
A company's strategic plans can be short, medium or long term . This is associated with the magnitude of the company because planning responds to the number of activities that the various parts of the company must carry out, which are usually divided into hierarchies that range from lower to higher levels. It is essential that these plans, before being put into practice, are carefully analyzed and that the goals to be achieved have been adequately outlined in order to properly take advantage of the economic resources available for that purpose . Long-term objectives, for example, require different operational planning and action plan compared to short-term ones.
Although strategy plans are usually specific and must be made effective within a certain time, their consequences are maintained over time since changes in the business environment persist; That is why it is said that strategic planning belongs to a continuous process and must be supported by actions developed in order to enable the good performance of these plans.
In any case, it is important to point out that strategic planning does not attempt to make decisions looking into the future , but rather by responding to certain problems of the present. Therefore, it is not responsible for forecasting future sales but for solving current problems that could be related to them. Because of this, all companies must annually review their strategic planning and create new plans to resolve conflicts that could affect the present; In addition, the objectives must be reviewed annually to focus on the demands that each stage has.
Strategic planning demands adequate knowledge management.
a guide
As expressed by various specialists, strategic planning can be considered to be a set of functional plans in which a certain budget is invested and whose focus is on guiding the company in a certain time taking into account its resources and the environment in which it exists. that is developed, to achieve the planned goals .
It is important to note that before implementing a strategic planning program, it is necessary that all the parties that will be involved in it have at their disposal the goals that are expected to be achieved and the way in which they will work. Generally, they are given a written document with everything the company expects from this program and what expectations it has in each sector.
Examples of strategic planning
Suppose a company aspires to export its products to a certain country. Its strategic planning to carry out said project includes the evaluation of different market strategies and business models and the development of a competition analysis. Then carry out resource planning , examining the investment required to land abroad. Its strategic planning contemplates different future scenarios in order to carry out efficient risk management and ensure that the organizational mission can be fulfilled profitably.
Another example of strategic planning is found in a company that relies on data analysis and artificial intelligence to make marketing decisions that, in turn, contribute to increasing sales. The information obtained allows you to draw up a communication strategy , invest in advertising efficiently and improve your public relations. It is a planning that aims at strategic marketing.