Why Does Food Bank Need a Strategic Plan? Research Paper Example

Strategic Planning, according to FP &M World Class Journey (2012), is a step by step process with definite objectives and end products that can be implemented and evaluated, and organizations that do not embrace it will spend most of their time reacting to unexpected changes, instead of anticipating them, will consistently experience crisis management, which will render them inefficient in their bid to supply goods and services to their consumers.

Food Bank, like all other organizations, based on the demands for its goods and services, definitely needs a strategic plan, if is going to avoid the negative impact of crisis management on it operations.

The company Food System Approach system ideally position it for an effective strategic plan implementation, due to the presence in its operations of its six critical components, which include the production of animals and plants for food and related end products, the processing of animal and plant foods into food for human consumption, storage, transportation and marketing of food products to end users, the study of health and nutritional food products consumed by humans, the systemic managing of waste generated from each component, and the combination of the educational implications of all these components to ensure that adequate healthy foods are delivered to consumers.

Strategic Planning is needed in each of these components to enable the company to establish specific, consistent and attainable objectives that can later be evaluated after the emanating plans had been executed or implemented

Critically the company can make the plans for the entire operations succeed by applying a management by exception principle, which according to Barnatt (2012), is a control principle which mandates that managers should be informed of situations only if the control data shows significant deviation from the establish standards in all aspects of operations.

The company will therefore, in the absence of calls from its operational managers, be confident that its strategic plans, initiated at the beginning of its productions cycles, are working to ensure it will be able to efficiently meet expected goals and objectives, which include delivering healthy foods to its targeted consumers.

Additionally, according to Barnatt (2012), management by exception when implemented after careful planning by the Food Bank leadership, brings with it both control and motivational benefits, in that managers time are utilized only when needed, and workers will be able to exercise sound judgment which will boost morale and ensure continuing increase in productivity as the company strive to meet the needs of the consumers.

Strategic Planning therefore is a definite requirement for Food Bank operations especially due to the benefits it brings at all stages as well as the confidence that emanate in both the external and internal environments. In addition, the control the company use to develop and maintain values throughout the various components, as well as the educational application of the implications of them on the overall system, also ensure that strategic objectives remains on target in the delivery of food of the highest quality from its production centers to the shelves.

Reference

FP & M World Class Journey, (2010). Basics of Strategic Planning FP&M Strategic Plan for 2010-2015 www.fpm.iastste.edu/worldclass/strategic_planning.asp , 01/20/12

Barnatt, R. (2012). Management by Exception Strategic Management http://www.strategic-control.24xls.com/en232, 01/20/12