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Category: Business and Industry
Date Submitted: 10/05/2013 02:50 AM
Steps within the Strategic Planning Process
Strategic planning can be defined as the process of proactively aligning the organisations’s resources (internal environment) with threats and opportunities caused by changes in the external environment. The Strategic Planning process consists of various parts; although framed separately in the strategic planning process, each function operates interdependently in achieving the goals of the organisation.
These strategic planning steps comprise of the:
• formulation of a vision of the organisation
• the mission statement, as guided by the vision of the organisation
• an assessment of the internal environment
• an assessment of the external environment
• translation of the mission into long-term goals, and
• the choice of a strategy
Step 1: The formulation of a Vision for the Organisation
The first step in the Strategic Planning process is the formulation of a Vision. Visions should be clear and should give a clear sense of what the organisation hopes to become. It is important that the vision should not be seen as the end: not in operations and not in prospect. The success of a clear Vision depends largely on how well it is shared with the stakeholders of the organisation. With the vision of Unisa as ‘the African University in the service of humanity’, it is clear that it portrays a dream on what the organisation has for the future, and what it promotes. It also helps to keep decision-making in contacts and provide focus and direction to the organisation, and it promotes the values of the organisation, productivity and encouragement.
Step 2: The Mission Statement
A mission statement compliments the vision and aligns the organisation with its dream in terms of its products, its market and technology. A Mission statement not only ensures unanimity of purpose within the organisation, but also set parameters within which all decisions are made. A Mission statement is usually referred to as the...