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Strategy - Strategic Planning 

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(IT-) Strategic Planning don'ts and do's	As you write your company's next IT strategic plan, don't repeat these classic mistakes.
A Study of Strategic Planning in Federal Organizations	This dissertation explores strategic planning in federal agencies. The research seeks to uncover difficulties federal agencies experience when making strategic plans, to explore the relationship between these difficulties and the degree of publicness of the agencies, and to uncover and describe techniques used by federal agencies to overcome difficulties. pdf-file
Best Practice: Strategic Planning in a Complex Environment	What started out as a search for a new model for funding research turned into a new model for developing strategy, and not just for health-care organizations. Pdf-file 2006
Communicating Your Strategic Plan with Employees
Future Research and the Strategic Planning Process	The Rationale for Futures Research; The Stages of the Strategic Planning Process; Developing a Strategic Planning Capability; The Relevance of Environmental Scanning and Forecasting to Higher Education
Improving Strategic Planning	A McKinsey Survey from 2006. Most companies are not satisfied with the outcome of their strategic planning process. Greater satisfaction could come from improving companies' ability to align their people with their strategic plan and from monitoring progress against the plan. pdf
Intelligent Strategy	This article focuses on designing strategy as an on going process, building in adaptation, learning, and creativity. Pdf-file
Making Strategic Planning Matter	Moving from Traditional Planning to Continuous Strategy Development. Pdf-file
Planning is Dead? Long Live Planning!	This article partly refers to the dot.com industry, but is relevant not just for the New Economy. April 2002
Scenario Planning: An Innovative Approach to Strategy Development	Integrating a futures approach into traditional strategic planning models in order to develop a foresight capacity requires not only an understanding of what a futures approach is - as opposed to only using a methodology like scenario planning - but also a fundamental reconceptualisation of the strategic planning model itself.
Steps of the Strategic Planning Process	Good overview in bullit point format
Strategic Plan Outline	Word document with a general outline of a comprehensive strategic plan or business plan.
Strategic Planning	After a decade of gritty downsizing, Big Thinkers are back in corporate vogue
Strategic Planning FAQs
Strategic Planning Improves Manufacturing Performance	Formal planning was superior in 20 studies and harmful in only 3 (with 5 ties). For manufacturing firms, the score was 9 to 0. Paper by J. Scott Armstrong from 1991. Pdf-file
Strategic Planning without a Battle	Business families will reduce the potential for conflict and get better results if they use this five-step process to ensure that they're viewing the issues from a common perspective.
Strategic Planning: Sometimes a Road Less Traveled is Best
Strategizing in the Real World	Planners can make strategic planning more realistic and can use it to build healthier, more alert and responsive firms. They can make sensible forecasts and use them to foster alertness; exploit distinctive competencies, entry barriers, and proprietary information; broaden managers' horizons and help then develop more realistic beliefs; and plan in ways that make it easier to change strategies later.
The Role of a Strategic Planner	By Ruth Tearle; Depending on the focus of the organization, and the number resources available, strategic planners perform some of the roles explained in this article
Tom Peters on Strategic Planning	Article from 1994. Pdf-file
Vision and Strategic Plans: Who needs them?	Is a vision and strategic plan something you should worry about? Or is this something only for an executive team or the top leaders of your organization? You can answer these questions yourself.
When the Trend Is Not Your Friend	While we're reminded to "expect the unexpected," we continue to focus on trends and forecasts. How often are companies overtaken by unforeseen events? Anything from a food scare to a hurricane can cause a profound change in the business environment. Whether such shifts are good or bad, they all offer a lesson.

Related Information
Knowledgebase - Strategy - Scenario Planning

Posts on Eddielogic - The Blog on Strategy that are related to strategic planning

Publications
Problems and barriers to strategic planning and proposals for solutions
by Oliver Recklies
This paper analyses and summarizes existing problems and barriers related to the strategic planning process. Strategy execution and monitoring of success have been indentified by the author as characteristic problem areas in organizational practice. Based on literature review the paper also presents ideas to overcome those barriers. To analyse the topic the author uses a three step approach. The first part discusses existing problems and barriers in brief. The second part summarizes and discusses ideas to overcome these problems and barriers. The third part gives an overview about the benefits of a customized and improved strategic planning process. The author argues that in particular progress monitoring and bundling of strategic measure to “strategic campaigns” can help organizations to focus and to improve communication.

Practice of strategic planning in German retail banks
by Oliver Recklies
This paper analyses the practice of strategic planning of two major player groups within retail banking business in Germany. Both types of banks face a set of burdens to organise their strategic planning processes. To discuss strategic planning approaches within these organizations the author uses a three step framework of (1) strategic analysis, (2) strategy finding and (3) strategy assessment. Key factors influencing the planning processes will be identified. For each element of the framework the author discusses tools and methods which are employed by bank managers to overcome existing barriers. For strategy assessment two benchmarking approaches are analysed. The author argues that approaches of these banks give an example how small organisations might address the issues of strategic planning.

Practical Advice for Strategic Planning Meetings
By Dagmar Recklies
Strategic planning meetings are a very controversial thing. They have a bit of a reputation to be just another fancy management trend. Nevertheless, good preparation and follow up can improve chances that the strategy meeting becomes a success which everybody is willing to repeat after a year or two. I was involved in the organization of several strategy meetings for two completely different firms. Here is some practical advice that builds on this experience.

Sense and Nonsense of Early Indicators
By Dagmar Recklies
Early indicators are very popular in the business world. People normally like them because they see a lot of advantages. However, I am reluctant to rely on early indicators too much. There are some problems that are not easily solved. After a discussion of the advantages and problems in the use of early indicators for business decisions I propose a system for practical use in businesses.

What Makes a Good Business Plan?
by Dagmar Recklies
Whether in start-up, expansion or turnaround-situations – every business needs to write a business plan sooner or later. In the authors experience not all businesses realize that a business plan is more than the description of a company’s business model, products and services. Thus, this article will discuss functions and content of a good business plan.

The What’s Next? Process For Developing Your Strategy
By Dr. Dan Herman
The old customary procedure of strategy development has a pure and sound logic. It has been designed in order to answer the question: What is it that we should do in order to achieve our goals?
What is the alternative to the old brick road to strategy? Dan proposes that we move from wish-oriented management to opportunity-oriented management. He hereby offers a new process leading to successful strategizing

All literature recommendations:
>> themanager.org-Strategy-Bookstore
>> Strategic Planning >>

Strategy Bites Back: It Is Far More, and Less, than You Ever Imagined
by Henry Mintzberg, Bruce Ahlstrand, Joseph Lampel
"... this book has a serious intention: to take strategy less seriously and so promote better strategies. Besides, why not have a good time reading a strategy book for a change. Isn't it time for strategy to bite back?"

Downloadable pdf-file
Strategic Intent
by Gary Hamel, C.K. Prahalad
Companies that have risen to global leadership over the past 20 years invariably began with ambitions out of proportion to their resources and capabilities. This concept, fundamentally different from that which underpins Western management thought, is "strategic intent." These organizations begin with a goal that exceeds their present grasp and existing resources. They then rally the organization to close the gap by setting challenges that focus employees' efforts in the near to medium term. The result is a global leadership position and an approach to competition that has reduced larger, stronger Western rivals to an endless game of catch-up.
This article forms part of the authors' 1994-bestseller 'Competing for the Future'

Applied Strategic Planning: How to Develop a Plan That Really Works
by Leonard Goodstein, Timothy Nolan, J. William Pfeiffer
Written by three top consultants and trainers, "Applied Strategic Planning" shows managers and CEOs a clear, effective way to identify and implement strategic objectives. Their strategic planning model places emphasis on organizational culture, the integration of business and functional plans, the performance audit, and gap analysis.

Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning
by Henry Mintzberg
One of our most brilliant and original management thinkers, Mintzberg concludes that the term is an oxymoron -- that strategy cannot be planned because planning is about analysis and strategy is about synthesis. That is why, he asserts, the process has failed so often and so dramatically. Mintzberg traces the origins and history of strategic planning through its prominence and subsequent fall. He argues that we must reconceive the process by which strategies are created -- by emphasizing informal learning and personal vision -- and the roles that can be played by planners.

Book of Five Rings : The Classic Guide to Strategy
by Miyamoto Musashi
Translated by V. Harris. Japan's answer to the Harvard MBA...Written over three centuries ago by a Samurai warrior, the book has been hailed as a limitless source of psychological insight for businessmen-or anyone who relies on strategy and tactics for outwitting the competition.

The Art of the Long View: Planning for the Future in an Uncertain World
by Peter Schwartz