Management the Planner

The Strategic Manager and the Three Steps of Planning

The definition of plan- refers to any detailed method, formulated beforehand, for doing or making something (Webster’s New World Directory). With this definition in mind having a written plan in place will prevent a manger from failure. Those who fail to plan, plan to fail (Hewell, (1999). In this paper I plan to elaborate on the three steps of planning; and how it’s beneficial to managers to implement planning into their organization.

Planning and Strategy

Determining the organization’s mission and goals; by defining the business and establishing major goals: (Jones & George, 2009). The first step to planning is to develop an organizational mission statement must be developed, or if there is currently one in place you should review them regularly to assure that you are on target for meeting your goals. Assure that your goals consist of long-range and short-range plans (Jones & George, 2009). Goals have to be both obtainable and realistic. The mission statement should describe the business purpose, and what product or services the organization offers. You are also required to state who your prospective customers are and identify what their needs are. You must also recognize the strengths and weakness of your business (Gebelein, Nelson-Neuhaus, Skube, Lee, Steve, Hellervik & Davis, 2004)?

In a larger organization there are also three types and three levels of planning (Jones and George, 2009). They are similar to those used within small organizations; however instead of majority of the decision making coming from management as it is in small firms. In a larger organization the CEO’s decides and makes the determinations as to the goals, decisions and strategies that will be used within the organization. This is corporate-level planning and corporate-level strategy.

Formulating Strategy; analyzing the current situation and developing strategies (Jones & George, 2009). Requires the manger to...