Abke Corporation

Running Head: ABLE CORPORATION

Able Corporation and Strategic Management

Beverly Ahyoung

Unit 1 IP MGT 680

April 30, 2011

American InterContinental University

Introduction

For an organization to survive and prosper in today’s highly competitive market it is not enough for them to just utilize budget planning or forecast based methods. They must also utilize strategic planning that will afford them the ability to clearly define their objectives as well as assess their situation both internally as well as externally (QuickMBA, n.d.) so that they may formulate and implement their strategy, evaluate their progress and make any necessary adjustments (QuickMBA, n.d.) so that they may stay on target with their plan or strategy.

Strategic Planning Process

According to QuickMBA (n.d.) the steps of the strategic planning process are as follows:

1. Mission and Objectives: The vision of the organization is best described thru its mission statement which includes its purpose, long term goals and pursuing future opportunities. Going hand in hand with the vision are the objectives of the organization which are both measureable financial and strategic objectives. Financial objectives include the growth of their sales target and their earnings while their strategic objectives include the company’s business position as well as their reputation and market share.

2. Environmental Scanning: An environmental scan will entail internal and analysis of the organization which can be accomplished thru the use of a SWOT analysis which will identify the company’s strengths and weaknesses (internal) and threats and opportunities (external). They must also conduct an analysis of their external macro environment as well which can be done thru a PEST analysis.

3. Strategy Formulation: Thru use of the information provided in the SWOT analysis the organization now needs to match it strengths with its opportunities and at the same time address the threats posed as well...