Strategic planning

One of the main aspects related to the business field is strategic planning which can be used in the long term . It is a tool through which a company can continue its path focused on its vision and mission in order to achieve the different objectives that have been set by the company.

Definition of strategic planning

Strategic planning is a type of tool used by companies that serves to implement a series of steps that must be followed to achieve the objectives that have been established in the long term . It is a means by which an internal and external analysis of the organization can be carried out in order to also be able to choose the objectives through the creation of different strategies.

features

Among its main characteristics are the following:

• Improves business development through the establishment of methods for the rational use of resources
• It prepares the company so that it can face the contingencies that arise.
• It makes the company able to condition itself to the environment that surrounds it.
• It reduces risks and the same time takes advantage of opportunities .
• It promotes efficiency because it eliminates improvisation .
• Establish working models on which the company will operate.
• It allows executives to evaluate various alternatives before making decisions .

Types

The types of strategic planning that exist are:

• Tactical planning : stable and forms conditions and objectives so that actions can be carried out, in other words, it gives the company the ability to carry out what it previously idealized.
• Operational planning: it is related to making decisions and actions regarding labor operations. Describe what happens in the short term and address specific problems.
• Balance Scorecard : it is one of the most used types and takes into account the financial perspective , that of the client, of internal processes and the perspective of learning and growth.

What is it for

Strategic planning is a type of management tool that is used to establish the path that a certain company must travel in order to achieve the goals that have been foreseen, always taking into account the changes and demands that arise in the environment . It is essential to make good decisions in organizations because with it objectives and action plans can be established .

Tools

In order to carry out good strategic planning, the following tools can be used:

• Mission, vision and values : these are elements that make it possible to define business strategies and are important resources for businesses to grow creatively and efficiently.
• Porter’s strengths : these are the strengths that a business has and it also implies knowing what are the aspects in which the competition can win.
• SWOT analysis : knowledge about the business can be increased and the context of the organization is better understood. It implies knowing the weaknesses that the company has to face as well as the business opportunities.
• Software and applications : they provide great efficiency when carrying out control actions to prepare strategic planning and to be able to follow up on the tasks carried out by employees.

How to do it

In order to carry out adequate strategic planning, a series of important steps or stages must be followed, which are:

• Vision statement : this is responsible for indicating where a company is heading and focusing in the long term. This statement should answer the question, what do we want to be ?
• Statement of mission and values: here the purpose of the company is analyzed and established and the question is answered: what is the reason for being ? Values ​​are all those positive qualities that are part of the company, such as the development of the community and employees.
• External analyzes : these are done in companies to be able to find and evaluate the events that occur in the company’s environment in order to understand the situation of the environment and subsequently detect opportunities and threats.
• Internal analysis : a series of studies is carried out on the elements that exist within the company to be able to know the capacity that it has and thus detect all the strengths and weaknesses .
• General objectives : the establishment of these objectives are those that are in charge of establishing the direction that the company will take and they must always be long-term in order to achieve the mission and capitalize on the opportunities.
• Design, evaluation and selection of the best strategies : after obtaining the general objectives, then it is necessary to design , evaluate and choose those strategies that can help to achieve the objectives . Information related to external analysis , mission , values and objectives must be evaluated . The strategies must be feasible in order to determine the advantages, disadvantages and costs.
• Design of strategic plans : after determining the strategies, one must proceed to design strategic plans, which are a series of documents in which the way in which the objectives will be achieved must be specified .

Strategic planning in the public sector

In the field of the public sector ‘s strategic planning should focus on the development and the implementation of decision- making related to the courses of action and the budgets that have been allocated by the State . Through strategic planning it is possible to use correctly all the resources that are already predefined or conditioned by the spending limits, identifying at the same time which may be the best alternatives to achieve the allocation of resources.Also allowing to understand and know what are the possible consequences that will occur in terms of the delivery of goods and services as well as the social impact that these can cause.

Strategic planning in education

In the field of education, those responsible for educational centers need to have a good orientation to undertake planning processes that are rational and that lead to the improvement of student results . In the educational field, the best strategic planning is presented in those centers where both principals and educators consider that the work they do is the main cause of student performance without taking into account the characteristics of the demographics of the school. population. Good planning improves teaching , learning ,leadership andstudent achievement .

Authors

Some important authors related to strategic planning are mentioned below:

• Kotler : defined it as a type of management process that is used to develop and maintain a direction that is strategic and has the ability to align the goals and resources that the organization has next to the changing opportunities found in the market.
• Heinz Weihrich and Harold Koontz : they planned that strategic planning seems to be very simple because it analyzes the current situation and the situation that is expected for the future, determining the direction that the company should take and the means that must be used to achieve the objective. But the truth is that the process is quite delicate and complex.

Importance

The strategic planning is important because through it companies are obliged to be able to develop a greater awareness regarding the current situation of it, about the opportunities that can be exploited and the different challenges that may face at a certain moment always taking into account the good understanding of the resources that exist in order to be able to get ahead. It is a way in which you can look towards the future of the company in order to achieve the objectives that have been set in a focused and successful way.