What is Strategic Planning?

Strategic planning is the articulation of company goals and finding relevant business strategies, goals, and objectives that will help the organization realize its vision. The process involves integrating all the different departments of a company to implement business strategies, evaluate their results, and ensure a steady network of employees, customers, and business partners aligned with the organization's long-term goals. Also known as strategic management, the process usually handles plans ranging from mid to long-term goals. It differs from business planning which typically moves from one short-term goal to another. Strategic planning also involves arranging the sequence of smaller goals that will culminate in the stated vision within a stipulated time frame.

Why is Strategic Planning Important?

Every business thrives on a vision. The vision anchors the different departments, while strategic planning binds the organization into one distinct narrative of development. It offers a thorough roadmap that always keeps your present everyday work in conjunction with your long-term vision. Without strategic planning, it’s difficult to opine on the relevance of everyday business practice.

There are three stages of strategic management:

Formulating Strategy: Internal and external audits are key to strategy formulation. They help company leaders assess the present situation of the organization before undertaking SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analysis. These step-by-step approaches enable managers to focus on projects with high potential and allocate resources accordingly. Ideas of expanding operations are also a crucial part of strategy formulation. It’s important to note that upper management usually deals with this part of strategic management.

Implementing Strategy: Strategy implementation involves breaking down the formulated strategy into reachable and actionable steps to implement the vision. The relationship between the upper management and the employees makes or breaks the quality of strategy implementation. Managers must clearly communicate the company goals to the rest of the hierarchy and induce the workforce to convert the strategy into functional steps.

Strategy Evaluation: Evaluating strategies involves measuring performance, calculating the factors responsible for correct strategy implementation, and taking the necessary measures to increase the effectiveness of the progress roadmap.

Can I Learn About Strategic Planning Online?

With the growing relevance of critical business strategies as predictors of success, there is a huge demand for succinct business planners. They mix their industry knowledge with the latest business analytics technologies to produce systematic, proactive goals aligned with the long-term company vision. In light of this increasing demand for strategic managers, books, multimedia tutorials, and online courses offer exhaustive resources on the subject. Innumerable reputed institutions worldwide now offer comprehensive online courses in strategic planning that prepare you for volatile market trends.

What Kind of Career Can I Get with a Background in Strategic Planning?

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, management analysts will witness an 11 per cent rise in employment opportunities between 2021 to 2031. Increasing opportunities in this field also mean the portfolio will get more nuanced, opening new employment avenues with newer challenges in the arena of business.

Some Lucrative Careers in Strategic Management

• Project Manager
• Management Consultant
• Financial Analyst
• Policy Strategist
• Consumer Insights Analyst
• Product Strategist

Why Take an Online Course at Emeritus?

Each Emeritus online course is designed keeping key learning outcomes in mind by a team of experts. We use the backward design methodology to develop instruction for learners of all ages. This enables us to craft unique, interactive, learning experiences that include a combination of assessments, hands-on activities, skill application, and more.

Emeritus also collaborates with the best universities and faculty around the world to curate the course curriculum that can effectively tackle present challenges in the industry, while preparing you for the trends and risks in the future. Our courses consist of assignments, exams, capstone projects, networking opportunities, a fine balance of practical and theoretical concepts, and the opportunity to learn from top minds in the industry. This adds to the holistic experience we try to provide for each learner.

We are also focused on providing courses that are standardized in quality. This is done by adhering to standards set by a global organization called Quality Matters which is focused on providing quality standards for online and innovative digital teaching and learning environments. The rigorous criteria ensure all our learners invest in quality education that is easily accessible and affordable.