ALL ABOUT STRATEGIC
PLANNING
elenihan@ucc.ie
All About Strategic Planning
• Strategic planning determines where an organization is
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going over the next year or more
How it is going to get there
How it will know if it got there or not
The focus of a strategic plan is usually on the entire
organization
The focus of a business plan is usually on a particular
product, service or programme
Strategy
• Biographers of Napoleon Bonaparte talk about his ability
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to size up a situation with a single “stroke of the eye” or
“glance”
Napoleon was so knowledgeable about his strategic
situation
the landscape
the enemy
available technology
similar situations from the past
That he could understand and respond quickly to everchanging circumstances
Strategic Intuition
• To become a master strategist, you must develop
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strategic intuition
Consider Warren Buffett’s masterful ability to see
investment gems lying unnoticed in a huge pool of
possibilities….
Or Steve Jobs’ ability to rightly intuit the features and
qualities of technology that will bring magic to consumers
Or Oprah Winfrey’s ability to discern what her viewers
want to experience and learn about
In the end, wisdom on this scale cannot be gained
through analytical tools or logic… it is a matter of knowing
without knowing how you know.
Strategic Management Process
Seven Principles of Masterful Planning
1. Be clear on purpose
2. Start with an accurate assessment of today
3. Create a shared vision of success
4. Identify your critical successful factors and barriers
5. Define the drivers: your strategies and priorities
6. Monitor and report results
7. Have rewards and consequences to build accountability
Five Good Reasons for a Plan
1. To set direction and priorities
2. To get everyone on the same page
3. To simplify decision-making
4. To drive alignment
5. To communicate the message
Perspectives, Models and Approaches
• There are a variety of perspectives, models and
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approaches used in strategic planning
The way that a strategic plan is developed depends on
the nature of the organization's leadership
On the culture of the organization
On the complexity of the organization's environment
On the size of the organization
On the expertise of the planners
Strategic Planning Models
• There are a variety of strategic planning models
• Goals-based
• Issues-based
• Organic
• Scenario (some would assert that scenario planning is
more of a technique than model)
• etc
Goals-based
• Goals-based planning is probably the most common and
starts with focus on the organization's mission (and vision
and/or values)
• Goals to work toward the mission
• Strategies to achieve the goals
• Action planning
• who will do what and by when
Issues-based
• Issues-based strategic planning often starts by examining:
• Issues facing the organization
• Strategies to address those issues
• Action plans
Organic
• Organic strategic planning might start by articulating the
organization's vision and values
• Then action plans to achieve the vision while adhering to
those values
• Some planners prefer a particular approach to planning,
e.g., appreciative inquiry
Scope
• Some plans are scoped to one year
• Many to three years
• Some to five to ten years into the future
• Some plans include only top-level information and no
action plans
• Some plans are five to eight pages long, while others can
be considerably longer.
Plan or Process
• Quite often, an organization's strategic planners already
know much of what will go into a strategic plan (this is true
for business planning, too)
• However, development of the strategic plan greatly helps
to clarify the organization's plans and ensure that key
leaders are all "on the same script“
• Far more important than the strategic plan document, is
the strategic planning process itself
Strategic v Business Panning
• The two phrases “strategic planning” and “business
planning” are used interchangeably, much more than ever
• It is better to see the phrases as different than to
generalize them as the same.
Strategic Planning
• Strategic Planning Should Be Organisation-Wide
• Strategic planning is best viewed as clarifying the overall
purpose and priorities of the organisation
• There are many different ways to do strategic planning,
and the contents of the plan vary, depending on the
purpose of the planning
• The focus of the planning should primarily be
organisation-wide.
Business Planning
• Business Planning Should Be Product- or Service•
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Specific
Business planning is best viewed as planning for a
specific product or service
The customers and clients for a particular product or
service might be very different than for another product or
service
You would not advertise or sell racing cars the same way
you would advertise or sell minivans
Each needs a different business plan
Many Approaches to Strategic
Planning
• There is no one perfect strategic planning model for each
organization
• The approach, or model, for strategic planning depends
on:
• The purpose of strategic planning - if planning is meant to
add a new product or programme, then the process will
probably include market research to verify the need,
markets, pricing, etc., for the new product or service. .
• Whether the organization has done planning before, for
example, if the organization has not done planning before,
then extensive attention to mission, vision and values
statements is probably warranted.
The approach, or model, for strategic
planning depends on:
• The culture of the organization
• Some cultures might prefer a "linear" approach from
mission, vision, values, quantified goals, strategies, action
plans, financial analysis, etc.
• Other cultures might prefer a more organic and unfolding
approach, such as telling stories
The approach, or model, for strategic
planning depends on:
• Whether the environment of the organisation is changing
rapidly
• If the environment is changing rapidly, then planning
should probably be a shorter term than for an organisation
whose environment is fairly stable.
• Whether the organisation has had success in planning in
the past, for example, if an organisation has done
planning in the past, but planners do not believe it was
successful, then the organisation should perhaps
undertake a simple, short-term planning process for now
Vision-Based or Goals-Based Strategic
Planning
• This very basic process is typically followed by
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organisations that are extremely small, busy, and have not
done much strategic planning before
1. Identify the purpose (mission statement) - This is
the statement that describes why the organisation exists,
i.e., its basic purpose
The statement should describe what client needs are
intended to be met and with what services
The top-level management should develop and agree on
the mission statement
The statements will change somewhat over the years.
Vision-Based or Goals-Based Strategic
Planning
• 2. Establish a vision statement - This statement
describes the future state of your customers and your
organisation at some point in the future
• 3. Select the goals your organisation must reach if it
is to effectively work toward your mission and
achieve your vision
• Goals are general statements about what is needed to
accomplish to meet the purpose, or mission, and address
major issues facing the organisation
• The vision and goals might be long-range - 3-5 years
Vision-Based or Goals-Based Strategic
Planning
• 4. Identify specific approaches (or strategies) that
must be implemented to reach each goal
• The strategies are often what change the most as the
organisation eventually conducts more robust strategic
planning
• More closely examining the external and internal
environments of the organisation
• Small organizations might not refer to strategies and,
instead, go to the next step about action planning for each
goal
Vision-Based or Goals-Based Strategic
Planning
• 5. Identify specific action plans to implement each
strategy (or objectives to achieve each goal)
• These are the specific activities or objectives that each
major function (for example, department, etc.) must
undertake to ensure it is effectively implementing each
strategy (or achieving each goal)
• Objectives should be clearly worded to the extent that it
can be assessed if the objectives have been met or not
• Ideally, the top management develops specific
committees that each have a work plan, or set of
objectives
Vision-Based or Goals-Based Strategic
Planning
• 5. Compile the mission, vision, strategies and action
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plans into a Strategic Plan document
Ensure that top management approves the Plan
6. Monitor implementation of the Plan and update the
Plan as Needed
Planners regularly reflect on the extent to which the goals
are being met and whether action plans are being
implemented
An important indicator of success of the firm is positive
feedback from its customers
Issues-Based Planning
• Organisations that have:
• very limited resources
• several current, major issues
• little success with achieving future-oriented goals
• very little buy-in to strategic planning
• Might use the issues-based approach to planning instead
of the goals-based approach.
Issues-Based Planning
• 1. Identify the current, major issues facing the
organization
• Write down 3-5 major issues.
• 2. Brainstorm ideas to address each major issue
• It's not important that the ideas be the perfect ideas -- it's
important for now to identify at least a reasonable
approach to address each issue.
• The issues and ideas are usually short-range, for
example, for 9-12 months in to the future.
Issues-Based Planning
• 3. Compile the issues and ideas into a Strategic Plan
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document
Ensure that top management approves the Plan.
4. Monitor implementation of the Plan and update the
Plan as Needed
Planners regularly reflect on the extent to which the goals
are being met and whether action plans are being
implemented
Also an important indicator here of success of the
organization is positive feedback from the organization’s
customers
Alignment Model
• The overall purpose of the model is to ensure strong
alignment among the organisation’s mission and its
resources to effectively operate the organization
• This model is useful for organisations that need to finetune strategies or find out why they are not working
• An organization might also choose this model if it is
experiencing a large number of issues around internal
efficiencies.
Alignment Model
• Overall steps include:
• 1. The planning group outlines the organisation’s mission,
programmes, resources, and needed support.
• 2. Identify what’s working well and what needs
adjustment.
• 3. Identify how these adjustments should be made.
• 4. Include the adjustments as strategies in the strategic
plan.
Scenario Planning
• This approach might be used in conjunction with other
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models to ensure planners truly undertake strategic
thinking
The model may be useful, particularly in identifying
strategic issues and goals.
1. Select several external forces and imagine related
changes which might influence the organization
Change in regulations
Demographic changes, etc.
Scanning the media for key headlines often suggests
potential changes that might effect the organisation.
Scenario Planning
• 2. For each change in a force, discuss three different
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future organisational scenarios
Best case
Worst case
OK/reasonable case
- which might arise with the organisation as a result of
each change
Reviewing the worst-case scenario often provokes strong
motivation to change the organisation.
3. Suggest what the organization might do, or potential
strategies, in each of the three scenarios to respond to
each change
Scenario Planning
• 4. Planners soon detect common considerations or
strategies that must be addressed to respond to possible
external changes
• 5. Select the most likely external changes to effect the
organization, e.g., over the next three to five years, and
identify the most reasonable strategies the organisation
can undertake to respond to the change
Organic (or Self-Organising) Planning
• Traditional strategic planning processes are sometimes
considered “mechanistic” or “linear,”
• They are rather general-to-specific or cause-and-effect in
nature
• The processes often begin by conducting a broad
assessment of the external and internal environments of
the organization, conducting a strategic analysis (“SWOT”
analysis), narrowing down to identifying and prioritizing
issues, and then developing specific strategies to address
the specific issues.
Organic (or Self-Organising) Planning
• Another view of planning is similar to the development of
an organism, i.e., an “organic,” self-organising process
• Certain cultures, e.g., Native American Indians, might
prefer unfolding and naturalistic “organic” planning
processes more than the traditional mechanistic, linear
processes
• Self-organising requires continual reference to common
values, dialoguing around these values, and continued
shared reflection around the systems current processes.
Organic (or Self-Organising) Planning
• General steps include:
• 1. Clarify and articulate the organization’s cultural values
• Use dialogue and story-boarding techniques
• 2. Articulate the group’s vision for the organisation
• Use dialogue and story-boarding techniques
• 3. On an on-going basis, e.g., once every quarter,
dialogue about what processes are needed to arrive at
the vision and what the group is going to do now about
those processes
Organic (or Self-Organising) Planning
• 4. Continually consider that this type of naturalistic
planning is never really “over with,” and that, rather, the
group needs to learn to conduct its own values
clarification, dialogue/reflection, and process updates
• 5. Be very, very patient
• 6. Focus on learning and less on method
• 7. Reflect on how the organisation will portray its strategic
plans to stakeholders, etc., who often expect the
“mechanistic, linear” plan formats
Real-Time Planning
• Many experts assert that conventional strategic planning
has become rather out-dated because the world is
changing much more rapidly than before, to the extent
that conventional (especially long-range) plans quickly
become obsolete
• These experts might assert that planning be done
continuously, or in "real time"
Real-Time Planning
• The process might look like the following:
• 1. Initial discussions to clarify mission, vision and values
• Ideally, these are documented, such that changes are easily
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recognised and communicated.
2. Discussions in, for example, Board and staff meeting that
clarify current, major priorities
It is important that these discussions be based not only on
people's current opinions, but that they also be based, as much
as possible, on verified impressions from accurate data, from:
from environmental scans
market research
brainstorming or product/program evaluations
Real-Time Planning
• It is important that the updated/changed priorities also be
documented.
• A challenge in this type of planning is that many investors
and funders expect to see "stable" documented strategic
plans. Many might infer that regular changes are the
result of poor planning, rather than from a new type of
strategic planning