Management

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Within any organization the planning process is critical to the achievement of corporate goals and objectives . Planning is the means by which management and company leaders identify what they wish to achieve and how they intend to achieve it . Planning will occur at every single level of an organization within every department and function . Four levels of planning and factors impacting them is provided in Figure One

Level of Planning Overview Factors Impacting

Strategic Long Term , Created by Top Management and Leadership Team

, The product or service market in which a business will compete

The level of investment

The functional area strategies required in to compete

Strategic assets or competencies that underlie the strategy

How resources will be allocated across the business

How different functional areas can support and add value for one another

Time available to implement the plan

Capability of employees /middle management /Lower management

Organizational strengths and weaknesses

Capability of all employees need to understand and agree on the plans

Tactical Created to Support Strategic Plans , Usually 1-3 year term , very detailed

Operational Created to support tactical plans , take into consideration factors impacting the organization at the operational level , Typically span a time period of less than one year

Contingency Creation of safety and disaster plans , requires involvement of all employees , generally revisited on an annual basis Management 's function in the strategic planning process is to ensure that plans take into account all the internal and external factors that will impact the future direction of their company . Some of the key considerations required are detailed in Figure Two

Factors Key Considerations Example Planning Tools

External : Customer Analysis Segments , Motivations and Unmet Needs Loyalty Matrix , Customer Motivation Analysis

External : Competitor Strategic Groups , Objectives , Strategies , Culture Strengths and Weaknesses Value Chain Analysis , Competitive Strength Grid

External : Market Size , Projected Growth , Profitability , Entry Barriers Cost Structures , Trends Porter 's Five Forces

External : Environmental Analysis Technological , Economic , Environmental Demographic PESTEL , Scenario Analysis

Internal : Performance Employee , Shareholder , Quality BCG Growth-Share matrix

Internal : Determents of Strategic Options Past and Current Strategies Organizational capabilities , Financial Resources , Constraints , Strengths and Weaknesses The leaders of a corporation need to ensure that they are able to develop a company culture and value system that employees understand believe in and are motivated to follow . Senior Management presence should be felt throughout the planning process and they should provide direction at every turn

Management should ensure that the strategic planning process take into account how the plans and their subsequent implementation will be controlled . Mechanisms should be put in place that allow performance against the objectives to be measured and subsequently communicated to the employees . This is critical as it allows the strategy of the company to be a fundamental ethos of the work environment and helps to ensure that the management and employees are progressing against what they set out to achieve

A further important function of management is leadership . Management need to ensure that they lead by example and...