Strategic planning “is an organizational management activity that is used to set priorities, focus energy, and strengthen operations. It also ensures that employees and other stakeholders are working toward common goals by establishing agreement around intended outcomes/results, and by
assessing the organization’s direction in response to a changing environment.” Balance Scorecard Institute
With strategic planning, organizations can address questions such as:
- What are we doing? (Measurement)
- How well are we doing it? (Performance – Goal)
- How can we do it better? (Strategy)
Strategic planning is the umbrella under which the strategic plan and strategy management operate.
The strategic management processes include:
- Mission and Objectives
- Environmental Scanning
- Strategy Formulation
- Strategy Implementation
- Evaluation and Control
How does an organization actually address the elements outlined in strategic planning? Those including organization alignment, focus on energy and resources, measurement and control. Simply put, the strategic plan. This plan formalizes, communicates and documents the actions necessary to define, prepare and achieve the guidelines stated by strategic planning.
Recommended items to include in a strategic plan
- Performance measurement framework / Methodology
- Responsibility chart
- Areas of measurement
- Strategic Goals, Objectives, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Initiatives
- Strategy management system
Once the strategy has been approved and put into practice, the organization needs to evaluate whether or not the strategy effectively reaches the strategic goals.
How is the enterprise’s strategy managed, measured and monitored? The answer is strategy management. This component closes the gap between the strategy and the execution. It answers in discrete terms, the questions stated in strategic planning. In other words, strategy management illustrates whether or not the goals are being attained and by how much the enterprise is on or off target for each strategic goal.
Solutions available in the market which support strategy management
- SAP BusinessObjects Strategy Management
- Corporater
- Infor Performance Management
The strategic plan and strategy management complement each other. A thorough strategic plan with a well defined strategy, managed by a strategy management solution, will be a critical factor for a successful implementation of strategic planning in your organization.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us.