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Are
You Aware of What Your Competitors Are Doing?
If Not, You May Be Losing Ground!
CompetitiveVision Can Help. |
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Using Strategic Planning To Create Winning Strategies And Objectives
Strategic Planning is a critical process for understanding and setting your
overall business objectives and strategies. Having a common, established set of
goals and strategies for an organization will help ensure that all groups
operate in a coordinated manner. Without strategic planning, companies run the
risk of making uninformed decisions around investment opportunities, cost
management, resource allocation, hiring strategies, technology development,
etc. that can actually be counter productive in the end.
Basic Steps in the Strategic Planning Process
Although organizations approach strategic planning in different ways, there is
a common set of steps that most organizations do follow.
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Validate and / or create the organizations’ Vision
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Validate and / or create the organizations’ Mission
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Discuss and set Objectives
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Discuss and establish an organizations’ Values
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Discuss and establish an organizations’ Strategies
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Discuss and set the organizations’ Goals
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Discuss and establish desire Activities |
Vision
An organizations’ Vision statement essentially answers the question about what
the organization will look like in the near future (3-5 years). This includes
size, markets served, target customers, product or service lines, etc.
Mission
An organizations’ Mission statement attempts to articulate why the organization
exists and what is its’ specific purpose. The key to Missions statements is
that they be very specific. When thinking about subsequent steps in the
strategic planning process – values, strategies, goals and activities – the
more specific the Mission statement, the greater likelihood that all of the
pieces in the process will properly aligned.
Objectives
Objectives are the starting point at which organizations get specific in terms
of what it wants to accomplish in the near term. Frequently, objectives are
stated in quantitative results however there are times when it is appropriate
for objectives to be more qualitative in nature. Whether quantitative or
qualitative, it is important that the objectives are in line with the Mission
statement.
Values
An organizations’ values reflect what is important in the context of internal
and external relationships. Values might include diversity, respect,
accountability for results, etc.
Strategies
An organizations’ strategies are the general approaches by which an
organization will achieve its stated objectives and mission. They become the
guiding principles by which operational goals and programs are defined. It is
critical that the strategies align with the organizations objectives or the
overall performance of the organization will suffer.
Goals
Once an organizations’ strategies have been established, it is then time to
decide on operational goals that need to be met. Goals can be thought of as
interim milestones along the way in ultimately meeting the organizations
objectives. Goals help ensure that the desired strategies are realized.
Activities
In order for the organization to achieve its goals and realize its strategies,
specific measurable activities need to be planned at the operational level.
These should cover resources, objectives, time-scales, deadlines, budgets and
performance targets.
| Benefits of Strategic Planning
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Clearly defined purpose for the organization
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Established, realistic goals
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Objectives are consistent with the mission and vision of the organization.
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Ensure the most effective use is made of the organization’s resources by
focusing the resources on the key priorities.
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Provide a base from which progress can be measured and establish a mechanism
for informed change when needed.
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Provides clear focus for the organization, producing more efficiency and
effectiveness.
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Bridges senior executives and staff.
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Produces great satisfaction among employees via a common vision.
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Strategic Planning can be a time consuming and data intensive process.
Particularly if it involves an in-depth competitive
intelligence component. That's why we've developed an online tool to
help collect, synthesize and distribute competitive intelligence information to
support strategic planning efforts. To learn more about the benefits of this
online tool, please visit our product information
page.
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