Strategic Plan for a company - Assignment Example

Research Approach for a Strategic Plan Overview In strategic planning, the steps include various researches in order to make assessment of the required information prior to formulating the actual strategic plan (The Research Foundation: The State University of New York, 2008). Therefore, a certain research approach is necessary in order to do or achieve the following such as: validate the organizational vision, mission and values statements; sources to be used to perform external environmental analysis; and sources to be used to perform internal environmental analysis.

How to validate organizational vision, mission and values statements In order to effectively perform this, the following steps may apply (The Research Foundation: The State University of New York, 2008). Gather information The first step is to gather information. The information should include external, internal and the market. An organization is certainly affected by both its external or internal environment so it is necessary to identify remarkable trends or changes in “politics, economy, technology, personnel, management, financial condition, needs and perceptions of the market” among many others (The Research Foundation: The State University of New York, 2008).

These are all relevant in coming up with the right vision and mission statements. Furthermore, at a higher degree, organizational culture is necessary to be understood in great detail (Silverthorne, 2005). This is prior to formulating relevant organizational values statements. Identify critical issues The next relevant step is identification of critical issues facing the organization (The Research Foundation: The State University of New York, 2008). Every organization is faced with relevant issues at present and sooner or later in the future that need to be solved.

These are integral parts of the formulation of company’s vision, mission and values statements that eventually clarify the purpose of an organization (Angelica & A. H. Wilder Foundation, 2001; Robert, 1998; Rea & Kerzner, 1997). Common sense suggests that an organization should try to look at everything that seems to have great impact on its entire operation. For instance, the economic trend would remarkably create a great impact on its operation. Furthermore, its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats would also tell a lot of information on how the vision, mission and values statements should be formulated.

In other words, it is not only important to know where the company is heading on, but what exactly are the things from internal and external sources that would mostly affect it along the way. Thus, critical issues within these areas need to be substantially analyzed. External and internal environmental analysis The identification of critical issues would further lead to a more meaningful understanding of the internal and external environment. Thus, another important research approach is to perform empirical internal environmental analysis.

This is just a continuation of the gathering of information step. All gathered information should be analyzed in great detail in this part of the research process. The sources needed under this step are the following (The Research Foundation: The State University of New York, 2008). Consolidated SWOT Analysis Documents with list of internal, external and market trends that have impact on organization Critical issues facing the organization Next is external environmental analysis. As stated earlier, there are important issues facing an organization that are sometimes outside the bound of its control.

Thus, in order to successfully implement this, the following sources are required (The Research Foundation: The State University of New York, 2008). Consolidated SWOT Analysis Documents with list of internal, external and market trends that have impact on organization Critical issues facing the organization References Angelica, E., & A. H. Wilder Foundation. (2001). The Wilder nonprofit field guide to crafting effective mission and vision statements. Minnesota: Fieldstone Alliance. Rea, P. J.

& Kerzner, H. (1997). Strategic Planning: A Practical Guide. New Jersey: John Wiley and Sons. Robert, M. (1998). Strategy pure and simple two. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional. Silverthorne, C. P. (2005). Organizational psychology in cross-cultural perspective. London: NYU Press. The Research Foundation: The State University of New York. (2008). Strategic Planning: Research Foundation Methodology. Retrieved October 14, 2011, from https://portal.rfsuny.org/portal/page/portal/The%20Research%20Foundation%20of%20SUNY/home/What_we_do/strategic_planning/strategic_planning_methodology.pdf