Strategic planning within organizations - Dissertation Example

?Introduction Strategic planning within organizations is one of the most essential aspects of both sustainability and growth. Without the ability to meet the needs of strategic planning, there is the inability to move forward with specific needs and to reach the full potential of the organization. While strategic planning is required for the development of a company, the implementation and the end goals are often not met. The problems which arise are based on the various aspects of the organization and how it associates with the needs of each of the goals. Leadership capacities, communication tools, participation and the ability to reach smaller and larger goals through various initiatives are some of the several areas in which strategic planning is not implemented in the correct manner. This is followed with complexities which arise from the organizational culture and the expectations which are associated with meeting change or resistance to the workforce that is a part of the organization (Rothwell, 2010). Defining the specific problems and understanding why end goals and implementation is not met is then shown as one which identifies levels and dimensions of difficulties that are within the work force. The purpose of this research is to define the specific reason of why strategic plans are not carried out within an organization. This is inclusive of examining the reasoning of a lack of implementation as well as the inability to meet the end goals that are a part of the organization. The research will also examine specific areas in which strategic planning can alter, specifically with associations such as getting more employees available for participation, building milestones and metrics to incorporate the strategic plans with and altering the approaches toward the vision so it becomes tangible within the company. By investigating how these can be used, there is the ability to create and develop more alternatives with the required strategic plans and how these can alter into a form of action. Problem Statement While strategic plans are developed within corporations, they are often not implemented and end goals are not met. Literature Review The approach which is taken toward strategic planning and implementation is one which is based on the understanding of taking action within a corporation. Without the correct strategies, there is the inability to provide higher amounts of sustainability and growth within a company. However, there are often problems and difficulties with creating the required changes. This literature review will examine the various aspects of strategic planning and implementation as well as how it alters according to the difficulties which are in the organizational culture. The review will examine the various dimensions that are associated with strategic planning. It will further define the obstacles that do not allow the plans to be implemented at various levels within an organization. There will also be reference to theories which are created to alter the strategic planning so it becomes one that is associated with constructive results with businesses that work in creating new plans within the organization. Dynamics of Strategic Planning There are specific dynamics with strategic planning as well as obstacles which stop the goals from being met. Defining the obstacles is the first step to altering the performance as well as the ability to finalize the strategies into action. According to a current study (Mollaoseini, Ahmadhkhani, 2012), there are diverse obstacles which create the resistance and stop the dynamics of change and strategic development. The study showed that the problem with the final strategy and implementation is inclusive of 68.09% planning consequences, 65.48% organizational obstacles, 60.40% managerial obstacles, 72% staff obstacles and 63.99% environmental obstacles. The indications of this are based on showing that the dynamics within an organizational structure carry diverse obstacles that create resistance and which lead to a lack of implementation with strategies. The combined problems then lead to a lack of overall implementation of various strategies while creating more resistance as the problems remain unresolved within the community (Mollaoseini, Ahmadhkhani, 2012). The obstacles which occur with strategic planning are not only based on obstacles that occur at various dimensions. There are also other concepts which are often not applied with the defining points of strategic planning. The corporate culture often looks at planning as a way of thinking about different options for growth and sustainability. This is combined with expectations and communication about overall ideas and concepts within the organization. However, this often does not lead into constructive actions from the vision which is defined. If the vision is too complex or if there are not actions associated with meeting goals, then the plan remains at a point of unnecessary communication. The requirement with strategic planning is to develop a synthesis with direct actions in the organizational environment. Analyzing what needs to be done, strategically planning opportunities and developing new and functional opportunities are required for the correct strategic plan. The obstacle which often occurs is based on doing more than rearranging the current options in the organization. Instead, there needs to be a synthesis of new ideas with the current culture to begin progressing forward within an organization (Mintzberg, 2000). Strategic Planning and Organizational Dynamics The organizational culture that is associated with a given company forms the basis of functioning for the different needs within a company. The culture is one which establishes the job requirements and associations with implementing and changing specific plans. More important, the culture is what creates beliefs, decisions and end actions within the environment. A difficulty which arises with strategic planning is based on the requests for change that are associated with the change. This is one which is developed specifically with the understanding that a process is required for the change that demands that employees have a sense of change with the procedures and working agreements created. The change becomes a form of resistance because of communication breakdowns, missing the implementation structure or not reaching the goals. If this continues to happen, then employees form a set of beliefs and ideologies surrounding the company that are not as constructive. It is noted that the relationships, personalities, leadership values and other concepts alter this. Dimensions which form this are developed with psychological factors, formal dimensions and social beliefs that create the levels of resistance in a company (Strebel, 1996). The resistance and organizational dynamics are not only based on the relationship dimensions which are created. The organizational environment also follows specific patterns that change the organizational culture and create anticipations and expectations each time the demands are met. If there are plans which are formally written, complex and which do not contain specific actions, then it leads to the strategic planning never being met. The employee dynamics and the organizational culture will not be able to create an understanding of the vision with realistic and tangible goals. More important, the management and those who are aware of more of the visions may not be able to work with the leadership values and implementation toward the company. The problem is one which is recognized as strategic programming, specifically which creates a plan with the requirements but is unable to move this into the realistic needs within a company. Changing the systematic efforts and approaches are then able to create and develop even more applications to the overall performance efforts of the organization while altering the efforts of the company (Mintzberg, 1994). Management and Strategic Planning The relationships and corporate culture which change the levels of resistance are examined with the development of managerial procedures. This alters the resistance to change as well as the capacity which may be reached with strategic planning. The managerial duties are based on taking specific actions and providing employees with insight of how to move forward with the given organizational structure. The actions which managers take are what determine how much the strategic plans are implemented and developed. This is combined with the future courses of action which are required, specifically because it develops various levels of commitment. The actions that are important among managers are inclusive of the communication, leadership actions and the ability to work toward the defined goals of those working with management. The commitments that change the course of action by employees are inclusive of the level of investment, public promises, assertions, relationships, contractual agreements, personal decisions and information systems. These provide different levels of communication while developing stronger relationships between employees, managers and the strategic plan which is supposed to be implemented. The approach is then able to reinforce the commitments made by employees and the expectations which are taken with the values that are built among employees (Sull, 2003). The need to alter the way in which strategic planning is approached with management is furthered with identifying various procedures and formats that lead to resistance or other alterations. The approach taken is one which currently does not have a performance management system. It is noted that the performance management is able to measure specific goals as well as alterations which are taking place in the environment through the strategies which are implemented. Measurement systems of employee changes, financial factors and the alterations within the environment are able to show the ability to move toward the strategic goals. More important, this identifies where the main obstacles are within the organization so it can be altered. The management process for the performance system is one which becomes essential specifically because of the communication which is required for the planning. The ability to measure performance assists with changing the psychological commitment among those in the organization while developing tangible goals that allow the strategic goals to easily be communicated among others (Webb, 2004). The managerial role is not only essential because of the communication which is used with the strategic goals. The managers play a primary role in the ability for the planning to be matched with employee needs. This begins with the understanding of the vision and the mission of the company as well as the expectations with the strategic plans. This furthers with defining points that are associated with the motivational impact which is created. If managers are unable to motivate the organization, then the dynamics build toward resisting the changes with the strategic planning, as opposed to creating a stronger relationship with the communication which is used. This is combined with the managers being able to create a sense of goal commitment and perceived strength of the strategy which is being implemented. If the motivation is not provided at the correct level, then a lack of motivation to meeting specific goals will be met. The perception is based on the manager carrying leadership qualities such as self – efficacy, attractiveness and commitment. This needs to occur when looking at the overall vision, financial alterations and the perceptions toward all goals which are met. Each of these traits changes the perceptions of employees and the dynamics of the organization. Through these qualities, managers are able to alter or hinder the strategic planning and development which takes place among the organization (Webb, 2004). Developing Strategic Restructuring The approach which is required with the various obstacles is to create different options for strategic restructuring. This particular process is one which is defined by finding the best approaches to organizational activity and production that result in better performance within the company. The processes which are used are able to develop different results, specifically which are noted among human resource managers. The human resource managers are able to implement these because of the relationship to obstacles and the employment and managerial skills. HR is able to look at human action, structural design, systems, training, goal – setting and assessment. The basic role with HR then creates a different understanding of what is expected within the main strategy while creating a various level of implementation that is more constructive to the needs of the company (Dalton et al, 1996). There are various processes which are used with restructuring, all which create different responses from the employees and managers. The most common is downsizing the employment and rebuilding the human resources that are within the company. The downsizing is able to change the amount of work and the timelines that are developed. It also creates the ability to reduce costs and increase services. While this has worked among companies, it is also noted that it often comes with higher levels of resistance to change. More important, the strategies are not able to remain clear after the restructuring occurs. The dynamics of the organization begin to change while leading to new strategies needing to be created. If there is not an alteration in the use of human resources, than the performance levels may not alter. At the same time, there may be difficulties with how to approach the new strategies and expectations with the company. The use of downsizing and restructuring from this manner then becomes a short term solution for longer term problems associated with the dynamics and culture of the organization (Dalton et al, 1996). Another approach which has been taken with strategic restructuring is based on the business focus. This is designed to reach strategic goals and changes by looking at the competition as well as the internal structure of the company. The analysis is inclusive of products and services, customer markets, technology, production capacity and distribution. The strategy clarification becomes defined by the dimensions which need to be changed within the organization to remain ahead of the competitors. For this to work, the vision and mission of the business need to be clarified and the expectations for the strategic goals need to be refined. Without the proper clarification or communication, there is the inability for the business focus to be achieved. The complexity of this is based on the continuous changes in the environment as well as competition that resets the values according to demands and trends in the external environment. The work then becomes restructured continuously based on the need to offer the correct format of support. The complexity with this is one which is based on overlooking the strategic plans that are associated with some of the formats while having to look at total quality management for the correct structure and implementation of the goal (Dalton et al, 1996). Altering the Planning Process The pitfalls of strategic planning have led into different approaches which are taken with the planning process. Management skills, human resource departments, employment and those which are looking at the vision are required to look at how to plan and implement strategies to work within the organizational culture. The first aspect of this is looking at the communication processes which are used. It is noted that the communication from higher managers to the employees change the approach which is taken with the strategic planning and what is required in return. Altering the communication techniques is then able to change the approaches to the strategies while allowing the sustainability and development within an organization to function at higher levels. It is noted that the more ways in which communication can be used, the easier it is to implement the specific needs that are associated with the organization. Rich channels, such as one to one communication, small group meetings, video teleconferencing and voice mail are known to provide better opportunities for implementation and growth. This is followed by lean channels for communication. These are not able to create the growth and focus of the company and often lead to difficulties among those that are working within the culture (Lettice, Brayshaw, 2007). The communication methods which are used for strategic planning are not only developed with changing the format of media which is used. The planning may still not work if the communication is not followed by looking at performance levels and indicators of obstacles that are created. It is noted that the communication is not always able to provide an overall understanding of what actions to take in relation to the strategic planning. More important, there are difficulties with aspects such as remembering information, connecting the information to the main vision or taking actions that result from the overall strategic plan. The communication format is then one which is questioned with the ability to assist and guide employees with the needed actions. Adding in more interaction and inclusiveness as well as formats that offer connections to the information are required to assist employees and managers in developing the correct approach to the implications within the business. By changing the miscommunication levels, it is able to alter the managerial associations with employees, resistance to change and the organizational culture and dynamics that often hinder or become obstacles to the implementation of strategies (Lettice, Brayshaw, 2007). Demanding Strategic Implementation The gap which is noted between strategic planning and reaching end goals is one which is based on the implementation and action which is taken among employees and managers. The gaps are based on communication, culture and the need to look at the various aspects of the strategy. The complexity which occurs is furthered by the formalities which are associated with the strategies and the performance which is required as a result. The several obstacles is one which can be altered not only by communication but also on the formatting used for strategic planning. Currently, there is an association with the strategic plans taking a formality that is a part of the strategy required. The ability to change the challenges into one which becomes an opportunity within the corporation is then based on changing the process used with the strategic planning. Options such as a demand planning process and roadmap are one of the ways which this can be altered. This is consistent with building a process roadmap, finding disconnections in the communication, building organizational awareness and commitment, defining performance indicators, implementing tools and managing change (Chidambaram, 2011). The indications of the roadmap are able to define specific goals while outlining the ways in which the processing needs to take place with the organization. Without a correct roadmap, there is the inability to create a tangible plan that can be implemented by the employees within an organization. This is followed by allowing the roadmap to be understood by the management and employees. Communication remains a strong key in assisting with the understanding and beliefs toward the strategic plan. If there are gaps in communication, then the resistance from the organizational dynamics will increase and becomes a main obstacle with the ability to create change within the organization. The awareness and commitment comes specifically from the communication as well as associations with managers in terms of motivation and development within an organization. The performance levels and the tools and management for change are followed by this. The tools are based on human resources as well as technology which work to guide those that are expected to offer the change management. Without these applications, there are gaps which are refined with strategic planning and the ability to offer growth and sustainability in an organization (Chidambaram, 2011). References Chidambaram, Krishnan. (2011). “Six Simple Steps to an Effective Demand Planning Process.” Journal of Business Forecasting (Fall). Lettice, Fiona, Karen Brayshaw. (2007). “Using Graphical Techniques to Communicate Strategy: an Exploratory Study.” Strategic Change (16). Mintzberg, Henry. (2000). “The Fall and Rise of Strategic Planning.” Harvard Business Review (January / February). Mollahoseini, Ali, Hadi Ahmadkhani. (2012). “Surveying and Identifying the Factors Affecting Successful Implementation of Business Strategies in Companies of Fars Province Industrial Towns.” International Journal of Business and Social Science 3 (1). Rothwell, WJ. (2010). Effective Succession Planning: Ensuring Leadership Continuity and Building Talent From Within. UK: Routledge. Strebel, Paul. (1996). “Why Do Employees Resist Change?” Harvard Business Review (May / June). Sull, Donald. (2003). “Managing by Commitments.” Harvard Business Review (June). Webb, Alan. (2004). “Managers’ Commitment to the Goals Contained in a Strategic Performance Measurement System.” Contemporary Accounting Research 21 (4). Read More