STRATEGIC PLANNING

Planning had all along been a part and parcel of the business activity. All organizations, irrespective of size, had been resorting to some kind of planning. But over time, the planing task was becoming increasingly complex. A variety of new factors entered the scene at various points of time, posing new challenges in running the organization. Uncertainty,instability, and changing environment became the rule rather than exception. This in turn made new demands on the planning front. This led to the evolution of strategic planning.

The term 'strategy' has been adapted from war and is used in business to reflect the broad overall mission and goals of an organization. It refers to organization's overall plan for dealing with and existing in its environment. A strategy is a unified, comprehensive and integrated plan designed to ensure that the basic goals of the organization are achieved. It's main purpose is to search sustainable competitive advantage for the organization.

Strategic planning refers to the formulation of basic long term organizational mission, purposes, and objectives; policies and programs to achieve them; and the methods needed to achieve organizational ends. It deals with the top management function of formulating the growth strategies of the organization.

Strategic planning is the process of examining the organization's environment, establishing a mission, setting desired goals and objectives, and developing an operating plan to achieve them. In high-performance organizations strategic planning never ends. Either the organization is formulating a new strategy or it's implementing an existing one, assessing progress, and revising processes as needed. The final outcomes of strategic planning are statements of vision, mission, strategy, and policy.