10 Rules for Effective Strategic Planning Plus One More

10 rules for effective strategic planning PLUS one more

Strategic planning is becoming the corporate buzzword again. Over the past ten years companies have been obssessed with short-termism and strategic planning was largely ignored for tactical activities based around improving sales and cutting costs for the next quarter or year at most. Many critics of strategic planning suggested that the ideas of Michael Porter and other business gurus, who developed theories/models on strategic planning and strategic analysis in the 80’s and 90’s, were now obsolete. Companies dropped strategic planning in favour of short term returns. With the current economic downturn companies are clambering to rethink their 5 and even 10 year plans.

Last year we worked with The Scout Association to develop their ten year strategic plan and assist them in obtaining buy-in. They have a rolling 10 year plan that they revisit every year. We began working with them on their strategy a month before the global financial crash and I recall thinking how amazing it was that the Scouts had a ten year plan taking them to 2018, when most corporates didin’t even know what their plan was 12 months down the line.

This week we met with a large pharmaceutical company who we have recently done some work for. They have identified the importance of revising their strategic plans but their greatest challenges is convincing members of the management team not that they now need a strategy, but that the strategy needs to be flexible or what we call an emergent strategy - a strategy that is allowed to flex with changing market conditions. Back in the 1980 and 90’s companies could have a set 3-5 year strategy, but today this is no longer possible for two reasons. Volatility and pace of change. No one can clearly identify what will be happening in a year let alone 3 years time. When we asked why members of the management team wanted a set strategy it became clear that during turbulent times people want...