Strategy and Planning Paper Mgt 521

Strategy and Planning Paper

MGT/521

Strategy and Planning Paper

        For an organization to be successful, it would be prudent to adopt a planning and strategic management plan that would, providing direction, encouraging new ideas, and developing a sustainable competitive advantage. In addition, three types of goals and different types of planning will be discussed along with the elements involved to create an effective strategy.

There are three types of goals, strategic, tactical and operational, upper management sets the goals strategically as in what will be the future of the organization as a whole. The organization must be profitable in the future along with keeping the cost of running the business low, in addition, the satisfaction of future customers must be included I the strategic equation. Middle managers formulate tactical goals; they look at how to make the organization synchronize with the strategic goal that upper management has implemented. In addition, middle managers tactical expertise is to allow all forms of operation move as smooth possible, this is where middle management oversees first-line management and insures all goals implemented by upper management are coordinated properly as to allow the organization to turn a profit that is envisioned in the strategic goals.  

This leads us to the first line managers and team leaders where operational goals are set and these goals work in conjunction with the strategic and tactical goals. Also, day-to-day operations are conducted and planed by first line managers that deal with customer satisfaction, and receiving and merchandising product for sale.

Another important goal to implement is ‘SMART’ that stands for, Specific, “Goals should be stated in specific rather than vague terms.” Measurable,” Whenever possible, goals should be measurable, or quantifiable That is, there should be some way to measure the degree to which a goal has been reached.” Attainable,” Goals should be challenging, of course, but above all they should be realistic and attainable.” Results-oriented,” Only a few goals should be chosen—say, five for any work unit. And they should be results-oriented—they should support the organization’s vision.” and has Target dates” Goals should specify the target dates or deadline dates when they are to be attained.” (Chapter 5.4 Page 147)

The three types of planning are similar to the three types of goals, where it includes the three levels of management. Strategic planning sets a time frame when it is determined where the organization should be. In strategic planning, the long-term goals should be for the next one to five years and this is beneficial to the organization due to the requirement of upper management having a vision and the ability to foresee what direction the organization will be headed in the future.

For tactical planning, middle management will determine what contribution their departments can implement given their resources during six to twelve months; this can help the organization move forward by being able to coordinate the activates of first-line managers and implement innovative ideas that will help the organization generate profits.