Strategic Planning

Strategic Planning
Definition and Importance

Failing to plan is planning to fail.
Planning is a vital skill that organizations must practice on a regular basis,
because it forms the basis of most other actions an organization must take.
Introduction
All things being equal, the institution that plans the best will perform the best.
Strategic planning is an ongoing process. The strategic plan may look ahead
five, ten, or even twenty years but it should be revisited yearly. It is very
important to review the strategic plan, the assumptions on which it is based, and
include new internal and external information to maintain the validity information
to maintain the validity of the plan.
The Definition and Importance of Strategic Planning
Strategic planning is the development of a competitive strategy or the planning
that sets the long-term direction of the institution. Its purpose is to guide the
administration to attain its mission and to organize the allocation of resources.
Strategic planning seeks to maintain a feasible fit between the institution and its
ever-changing environment. The objective of strategic planning is to
continuously shape and adjust the institutions operation and outputs to ensure
that they produce the desired return on invested capital.
Importance of Strategic Planning
1. Strategic planning is an ongoing process. An institution must continue to
adapt each year as the environment changes, while analyzing the validity of its
past predictions.
2. It assists institutions to adapt to the ever-changing environment, thus
increasing the stability of the relational fit between the institution and its
environment.
3. It assists institutions to identify resource allocation and allocation needs.
4. A good strategy is one that capitalizes on internal strengths and minimizes
internal weaknesses, as it utilizes institutional resources to avoid or minimize
external environmental threats and exploit environmental opportunities.
5. It determines the institutions directions and helps it to plan for contingencies;
the greater the planning, the better an institution performs. The further the
institution projects into the future, the better it will be.
Fiction Versus Fact
Myths and misconceptions usually reign in the realm of strategic planning. These
misconceptions may cause confusion about the purpose and goals of planning
and its results. To better understand what strategic planning is, it is necessary to
examine what it is all about and what it is not.
The following facts and fictions are described and stated by K.N. King (1998);
Fiction Strategic planning is a linear and smooth process.
Fact Strategic planning is not a linear process that flows seamlessly from step
to step, as many books would suggest. Rather, it proceeds in fits and starts,
revisiting earlier steps in some situations and skipping ahead in others. Strategic
planning should be considered as having a feedback loop at every stage,
whereby new information requires previous assumptions to be reviewed for
relevancy.
Fiction Strategic planning should only be developed by upper management
and selectively shared.
Fact Little the actual development of the plan can be delegated, but it must be
a product of extensive listening and the gathering of inputs from all levels of the
institution. The final plan must be shared with all levels, in varying detail
depending on their responsibilities, if it is to be implemented.
Fiction Strategic plans are the same as operational effectiveness.
Fact Improvements in operational effectiveness make institutions closer
together as they compete with other institutions using similar management
techniques, which are easily imitated. Strategic changes, by contrast, seek to
differentiate from rivals to improve sustainability and profitability.
Fiction Nonprofit institutions do not need strategic plans.
Fact At the sector level, it is clear that nonprofit institutions are vulnerable to
the same environmental changes that are having an impact on public and nonprofit institutions. At the institutional level, a strategic planning process can be a
valuable tool for demonstrating improved performance.
Fiction Every institution needs a strategic plan.
Fact Strategic planning is not for every institution. You probably dont need it if
you are satisfied that your institution is stable and yielding a satisfactory living for
you and your family. Its a lifestyle question.
Introduction
Top institutions use guidelines to streamline the strategic planning process and
produce an effective tool for better decision making. Despite the model chosen,
there are common attributes to all strategic plans. According to G. Hackett
(1998), while the best institutions update the tactical plan annually, they may
develop a strategic plan as an event-driven activity, contingent upon major shifts
in the operating environment and not just because the calendar says its
December.
What is Strategic Planning
The Strategic Plan drives all other plans (example: Evaluation Plan,
Sustainability Plan, etc.) by articulating basic concepts of vision, mission, goals,
objectives and activities.
Strategic planning determines where an organization is going over the next
several years, how it's going to get there and how it'll know if it got there or not.
Strategic planning is a systematic process through which an organization agrees
on and builds commitment to priorities that are essential to its mission and
responsive to the operating environment.
Developing a strategic plan depends on the following: leadership, organizational
culture, complexity of the organizations environment, size, expertise of planners,
etc.
Strategic planning is an organizations process of defining its strategy, or
direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this
strategy.
Characteristics of an effective strategic plan
The most effective strategic plans are:
readable
clear
well-written
well communicated
If written clearly, it will be understandable by a high school graduate; otherwise,
its probably too jargon-filled or vague.
Basic Approaches to Strategic Planning
hierarchical approach
electric approach
internal/external analysis approach
According to J. Mariotti (1998) there are three basic approaches to strategic
planning. These are the hierarchical approach, electric approach and the
internal/external analysis approach.

Hierarchical Approach
grounded by the vision
oldest approach
adds value
promoting oneness
The hierarchical approach requires all activities to be grounded by the vision, the
guiding principles, and the mission. With regards to formal planning models, the
hierarchical approach is the oldest and its roots can be traced back to ancient
history. While it is old as maybe, hierarchical approach, when effectively applied,
still adds value by creating the overarching institutional purpose for existence and
promoting oneness of purpose among its members.
Electric Approach
past and present activities
justification of past actions
The electric approach is based on past and present activities where institutions
wish to acknowledge what is working or has worked as a formal strategy. It is a
justification of past actions and not planning per se. However, any institution that
has survived utilizing this approach for a prolonged length of time has most likely
developed a system that used the successful activities and transformed them into
a kind of loose, ill-defined strategy that has provided some direction.
Internal/External Analysis Approach
requires evaluation
adaptability
SWOT analysis
The internal/external analysis approach requires that the institution be evaluated
based upon its adaptability to the external environment. This approach has most
often been identified as a SWOT analysis SWOT being an acronym for
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The SWOT analysis has
been used in industry, business, education and almost every strategic plan
includes a SWOT analysis. Further, most executives, managers, and even
students are familiar with the SWOT concept. Thus, the concept is pervasive
within the context of education and yet, it has most often been operationalized in
such a vague fashion as to become less meaningless, and the poor
operationalization may mislead the institution from using its real abilities. A
thorough knowledge of an institutions capabilities and limitations is necessary
before any event occurring in the environment can be acknowledged as being

either an opportunity or threat. An environmental event, by definition, is
institution neutral; it only becomes an opportunity or threat to a given institution
when it is perceived and evaluated by the institution, based upon the institutions
ability to respond through awareness of its strengths and weaknesses.
In summary, we should have guided with the following
Five Basic Questions:
1. Where are we now? (The Situation)
2. How did we get there? (Our Momentum)
3. Where are we going? (The Direction)
4. Where should we be going? (Desired Direction)
5. How will we get there? (The Strategic Plan)
Submitted to:
Prepared by:
Dr. Sonia Dela Cruz
Mario L. Flores II
Erwin Yancy A. Erbina

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Strategic Planning

Definition and Importance

internal/external analysis approach.

before any event occurring in the environment can be acknowledged as being

Dr. Sonia Dela Cruz

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