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Introduction
It would be very difficult to find a company CEO or a department manager who did not acknowledge the need for strategic planning when making major decisions about company policies or when contemplating large-scale directional change. However, the problem with strategic planning is that it is not always very effective. The reasons for this range from the fact that sometimes it is not strategic enough, or robust enough, to the use of strategies developed to meet the needs of very different industries.
Different strokes for different folks
[2] Reeves et al. (2012) compare the oil industry, which changes in a fairly predictable manner to the highly volatile internet software industry. They point out that very different types of strategic planning are needed in such dissimilar industries and that the mistake planners often make is to adopt strategies that are not specifically designed for their industry's requirements.
So how can businesses ensure that they have effective strategic planning in place? [1] Parke (2012) suggests that what he terms "brutal" honesty is needed before any strategies are selected. This means that companies need to clearly identify their strengths and weaknesses, and also that they make a realistic assessment of the market. A strategy that works well in times of financial ease may not be as effective during a recession, for example. Another piece of good advice is to limit areas for strategic planning. As planning on this level requires time and resources, it is not efficient use of either to attempt to fix everything at once. Therefore, companies that focus on the key areas for change and continue to manage other aspects of their business will be more likely to succeed.
Knowing your strengths and weaknesses
Identifying strengths and weaknesses will help managers to identify the type of strategy they require. [2] Reeves et al. (2012) divide strategic...