Strategic Planning Portals

Abstract

The history of strategic planning begins in the military. According to Webster’s New World Dictionary, strategy is the science of planning and directing large-scale military operations, of maneuvering forces into the most advantageous position prior to actual engagement with the enemy (Guralnic, 1986). Although the way we conceive strategy has changed when applied to management, one element remains key: the aim to achieve competitive advantage. Strategic planning in organizations originated in the 1950s and was very popular and widespread from the mid 1960s to mid 1970s, when people believed it was the answer to all problems and corporate America was “obsessed” with strategic planning. Following that “boom,” strategic planning was cast aside and abandoned for over a decade. The 1990s brought the revival of strategic planning as a process with particular benefits in particular contexts (Mintzberg, 1994). Here is a brief account of several generations of strategic planning. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis model dominated strategic planning of the 1950s. The 1960s brought qualitative and quantitative models of strategy. During the early 1980s, the shareholder value model and the Porter model became the standard. The rest of the 1980s was dictated by strategic intent and core competencies, and market-focused organizations. Finally, business transformation became de rigueur in the 1990s (Gouillart, 1995). Deregulation and internationalization have increased competitive intensity. Together with accelerated technological change, shortening market life cycles and increasingly dynamic markets, the risk of committing strategic errors has increased considerably. Companies that neglect conscious strategic planning can expect to drift into a hopeless position. A systematic approach to strategic planning, which is firmly grounded in reality, is seen by many company leaders and management researchers as an essential requirement for long-term corporate success (Grunig & Kuhn, 2002). If one wishes to accomplish something, the chances of achieving that goal will be greatest if one uses one’s available resources and leverage to maximum effectiveness. That means having a strategic plan, which is designed to move from the present (in which the goal is not achieved) to the future (in which it is achieved). Strategy pertains to charting the course of action which makes it most likely to get from the present to the desired situation in the future. Subsequent newer models of strategic planning were focused on adaptability to change, flexibility, and importance of strategic thinking and organizational learning. “Strategic agility” is becoming more important than the strategy itself, because the organization’s ability to succeed has more to do with its ability to transform itself continuously, than whether it has the right strategy. Being strategically agile enables organizations to transform their strategy depending on the changes in their environment (Gouillart, 1995).