Aramark Strategic Plan

Running Head: STRATEGIC PLAN

Strategic Plan for Aramark

Executive Summary

In today’s highly competitive global climate it is imperative for business leaders to have a sound strategic planning process in place to help create and achieve the future vision for their companies. To be effective the strategic planning process must begin with top management and be adopted by the entire organization as a general approach or plan for the near and longer term future. The successful strategic plan should take into account market conditions, the economy, the available internal resources, the changes which would be necessary to implement the plan, and the limitations.

Strategic planning helps organizations set clear goals and define clear paths toward achieving those goals, increases the probability of achieving strategic objectives if it is implemented properly, and provides a road map for the organization allowing proper budgeting and allocation of resources. Ignoring the importance of long-term planning reduces the firm to only reacting and adapting to new forces from the surroundings. Lack of firm resources and psychological dedication to a practical strategy efficaciously blocks a firm from acquiring a leadership position in its marketplace (Pearce & Robinson, 2005).

Introduction

There are several steps involved in the strategic planning process. This paper will discuss Aramark Food Services Corporation (Aramark), scan the company’s environmental and economic factors, describe Aramark’s current situation and ultimately propose a comprehensive strategic plan. The plan will utilize the organization’s strengths to compensate for and overcome its weaknesses, and capitalize on opportunities and counter threats in an attempt to help Aramark reach its stated goal of providing positive experiences for its customers that enable the company to stay highly competitive in today’s market. The plan will include measures for Aramark to take into account and deal with...