Why Is Strategic Planning Important to the Organization? Research Paper Example

Strategic planning is a guide that assists a department to accomplish whatever it wants to accomplish (Fire, 1996). It is a continuous process of making entrepreneurial decisions in a systematic way with the greatest knowledge of the future. Strategic planning provides a framework for both members and the management to assess strategic decisions and discuss strategic decisions.

Strategic planning can help departments to be successful by establishing priorities, clarifying future decision, and improving overall organizational performance and by dealing effectively with expertise, change and encouraging teamwork. Strategic planning acts as a blueprint for success of all types of organizations be they private, public, profit or not for profit.

Strategic plan provides clear direction and allows departmental members to have clear understanding of why their participation in the organization. It helps the organization to identify its goals and sets forth the process of achieving them. It also does help an organization evaluate itself based on its set targets and goals and the progress made towards achieving the same.

However, there are various reasons that make organizations not to use strategic planning process. This is because it is difficult to implement. The management must act as a united front and must be fully committed. The most important factor in strategic planning is unity of commitment. Furthermore, it cannot be effective unless there is considerable expenditure of both resources and time. Hence, the most common reason for not having a strategic planning process is lack of commitment and resources. There are various components to the different strategic planning models which include; Defining the departments values and missions, self-assessment or performance audits and finally, determining the need and commitment for planning. For a strategic plan to be successful, it should encompass values and missions of an organization which form vital part in understanding an organizations culture.

References

Fire, F. (1996). “Strategic planning for fire departments: An introduction. Fire Engineering, 73-82.