"Strategy without action is only a daydream, but action without strategy is a nightmare" Discuss the benefits of formal corporate planning in directing organisational action
IS STRATEGIC CORPORATE PLANNING RELEVANT IN THE 21ST CENTURY?
This essay will discuss the benefits of corporate strategic planning. Firstly, we will look at what strategy is, and why strategic planning is important to an organisation. Secondly, what types of strategic models are used for planning, and finally given that organisations are increasingly complex and market dynamics are constantly changing is there a need for strategic corporate planning in the 21st century.
It is hard to get a proper definition of what strategy means today. Brian Huffman in his article "what makes strategy brilliant?" says many books offer theories of strategy and "that a popular book on strategic management does not define the word strategy until page 127". Huffman continues that the reason; generally definitions are overly complex. Simply, he says, at its highest level "it is a general statement of how a firm intends to win"
Here is an example of strategy in the make: "In 1999, his holiness, Pope John Paul II, launched a CD Abba Pater on which he raps, in a collaborative effort with techno and ambient musicians, the Pope goes pop" Funky Business (p 40).
Is it fair to say that as far as today's strategy is concerned, the Vatican certainly has their papal finger on the pulse! But where does strategy come from? We know that strategy is even older than Catholicism, as reference is often made to the strategy approaches championed by the military - Sun Tzu - more than two thousand years ago the Chinese warrior, Sun Tzu explored the issues of military strategy in his book titled the "Art of War". He details the use of strategic planning to be able to win without actually having to fight. "Sun Tzu and Machiavelli on strategy"
Johnson and Scholes (p163) differentiates between strategy and strategic planning "Strategy, is of course, not the same as 'the plan' - strategy is the long-term direction that the organisation is following, not a 'written document on an executive's shelf'
Richard
This essay will discuss the benefits of corporate strategic planning. Firstly, we will look at what strategy is, and why strategic planning is important to an organisation. Secondly, what types of strategic models are used for planning, and finally given that organisations are increasingly complex and market dynamics are constantly changing is there a need for strategic corporate planning in the 21st century.
It is hard to get a proper definition of what strategy means today. Brian Huffman in his article "what makes strategy brilliant?" says many books offer theories of strategy and "that a popular book on strategic management does not define the word strategy until page 127". Huffman continues that the reason; generally definitions are overly complex. Simply, he says, at its highest level "it is a general statement of how a firm intends to win"
Here is an example of strategy in the make: "In 1999, his holiness, Pope John Paul II, launched a CD Abba Pater on which he raps, in a collaborative effort with techno and ambient musicians, the Pope goes pop" Funky Business (p 40).
Is it fair to say that as far as today's strategy is concerned, the Vatican certainly has their papal finger on the pulse! But where does strategy come from? We know that strategy is even older than Catholicism, as reference is often made to the strategy approaches championed by the military - Sun Tzu - more than two thousand years ago the Chinese warrior, Sun Tzu explored the issues of military strategy in his book titled the "Art of War". He details the use of strategic planning to be able to win without actually having to fight. "Sun Tzu and Machiavelli on strategy"
Johnson and Scholes (p163) differentiates between strategy and strategic planning "Strategy, is of course, not the same as 'the plan' - strategy is the long-term direction that the organisation is following, not a 'written document on an executive's shelf'
Richard
Bibliography: Mark Journal of Business Strategy, July-August 2002 v23 i4 p6(4) "The future of strategy" by Richard W. Oliver. ft.com, 2000, "Funky Business" Ridderstrate J and Nordstrom K Journal of Business Strategy, Jan-Feb 1995 v16 n1 p16(3) "Sun Tzu and Machiavelli on strategy" Sloan Management Review, Spring 1999 v40 i3 p83(1) "Surfing the edge of chaos" Richard T. Pascale. Ivey Business Journal, Jan 2001 v65 i3 p64 "The failure of strategy: It 's all in the execution" Eric Beaudan, Business Horizons, July 2001 v44 i4 p13 "What Makes a Strategy Brilliant?" Brian Huffman. Journal of Business Strategy, Jan-Feb 1995 v16, p16 "Sun Tzu and Machiavelli on Strategy" Pearson Education, 2002, 6th Edition "Exploring Corporate Strategy" Gerry Johnson and Kevan Scholes Management Review, April 1997 v86 n4 p8(6) "the essence of strategy" Tom Brown