The Role of Strategic Planning within an Organisation - Research Paper Example

THE ROLE OF STRATEGIC PLANNING IN CRISIS MANAGEMENT Introduction Strategic planning can be described as the management activities which are aimed at ensuring effectiveness in the utilisation of available resources in achieving organisational objectives. The strategic planning aspects involves the development of different processes aimed at ensuring effective utilisation of organisational resources towards achieving specified targets. The development of an organisational strategic plan remains an element which involves consideration of numerous attributes governing the management process within an organisation(Olsen, 2012). The development of an organisational strategic plan remains essential in ensuring the stakeholders remains focused toward achievement of common goals. Through the strategic planning aspect, a guideline to fundamental decisions becomes established as organisations seek to enhance effectiveness of the organisational business process. Effective strategic planning therefore presents an articulate course of actions which are necessary in making essential progress within the organisation. The role of strategic planning within an organisation Strategic planning remains an essential aspect of management which must be effectively addressed in seeking to ensure organisational efficacy. This planning element can be defined as a fundamental determinant of the management process as it presents an evaluative communication of the organisational capabilities with objectives. Strategic planning enables organisations to match their capabilities with the anticipated outcomes, hence enhance the effectiveness in the utilisation of organisational resources. The strategic planning element provides guideline regarding the course of action to be taken under different circumstances which might face the organisation(Wheelen & Hunger, 2011). This is commonly established following an extensive analysis of the internal and external factors which might affect the effectiveness of the organisation. Organisational planning remains essential in the development of processes aimed at providing a guideline into the actions undertaken towards achieving organisational goals. The fundamental focus of strategic planning remains ensuring sustainability of business operations into the future. Strategic planning remains a critical element in different management aspects within an organisation. Crisis management Crisis management can be described as the process through which organisations deal with external threats which could potentially harm business operations. Crisis within organisations result from the necessity to transform organisational systems to ensure effective functioning following encounter of difficulties. Crisis management involves the approach of handling threats before, during and after occurring in seeking to mitigate their effects upon the organizational functions(Lewis, 2006). The mitigation of these effects remains essential in ensuring effectiveness within the organisational processes during periods of challenges. These challenges can be described as the attributes which define crisis within an organisation. The crisis can result from both internal element of external elements like technological changes within an industry. The element of crisis management remains a situation based management process which involves the development of clear roles and responsibilities, which are related to the organisational requirements. Crisis management must remain focused in ensuring delivery of the fundamental organisational objectives, through overcoming the various crisis which face the organisation. An effective crisis management system must involve the development of crisis management plan, which will be utilised in providing guidelines regarding the actions to be undertaken. The development of the plan remains based on the understanding of the fundamental concepts which are the driving forces for the organisational objectives. These objectives must be integrated into the situation based decision making aspects There are three fundamental elements which are common in development of crisis A threat to the organizational functions either internally or externally An element of surprise through occurrence of an unanticipated event, which adversely affects the organisational functioning. A short duration for making critical decisions which affect the entire organisation. The role of strategic planning in crisis management The aspect of strategic planning presents significant impact on different management aspects within an organisation. The ranges from human resource to the crisis management aspects of an organisation. While the fundamental role of strategic planning remains establishing organisational capabilities in relation to the objectives, strategic planning presents a different role in management aspects within organisation(Freeman, 2010). Crisis management remains one of the management elements which are significantly determined by strategic planning. The effectiveness of any management process remains closely associated with strategic planning as this establishes the guidelines which are utilised at different stages of the management process. Strategic planning performs numerous roles in undertaking various responsibilities related to crisis management Crisis prevention Crisis management involves undertaking analysis of the external and internal organisational aspects which could result in the occurrence of crisis within organisations. The occurrence of crisis within organisations remains an imminent experience which is almost bound to happen at one time. Understanding the organisational environment remains essential in establishing the factors which could result in crisis. Understanding the causes of crisis remains essential in implementation of preventive measures in mitigating the adverse effects of the crisis. The aspect of strategic planning becomes essential in the development of actions which must be undertake in the mitigation of the adverse effects caused by the crisis(Comfort, 2007). A crisis management strategy can be developed through the application of strategic management aspects within crisis management. This strategy becomes the point of reference in making decisions when faced with organisational crisis. The strategy planning element will involve consideration of different organisational factors which influence the occurrence of crisis. Planning ensures the development of effective strategies for preventing the effects of the crisis which occur within organisations. The development of a strategies pals begins with the analysis of the fundamental causes of crisis through evaluation of the imminent risks to the business operations. Through strategic planning courses of action become developed based on the possible causes of crisis. The strategic plan enables the organisational stakeholders to implement preventive measure aimed at ensuring sustainability of the business operations through projected crisis. The anticipation of crisis becomes the fundamental element utilised in establishing courses of action commonly drafted based on the possibility of crisis occurring. Crisis assessment The assessment of crisis involves undertaking evaluation of the organisational processes which present risks related to the functioning of the organisations. Through a risk assessment approach which is conducted during strategic planning, the organisation becomes capable of establishing the regulations which will be utilised in assessing the crisis. This element of assessment will be fundamental in the understanding the process of integrating different attributes of the organisational functions. Identification of the risks involved in the business process becomes essential in developing a strategic plan, which will serve the organisation in mitigating crisis. Possible issues which might affect the functioning of the organisation can become effectively controlled during the assessment phase, which occurs concurrently with the strategic plan development process. Risk assessment enables involved teams to accurately identify the causes of the various organisational challenges related to internal or external crisis. Strategic planning presents the organisational stakeholders with a platform for undertaking analysis of the fundamental components which will be affected by the crisis. Through this evaluation, the impending risks will be identified and possible solutions established within the context of the strategic plan. A periodic reviews of the established management strategies becomes ingrained within the plan, which enables the implementation and adoption of effective processes aimed at improving the performance of organisations. Despite the existence of crisis within the organisational environment, solutions can be presented through the strategic plan; consequently ensuring increased organisational efficiency and effectiveness. The fundamental elements of the crisis assessment process are contained within the strategic planning process, enabling crisis management teams to define the various elements which might result in occurrence of crisis. Crisis handling This is sometimes referred to as the crisis management under different aspects of organisational management. This can be defined as the process of initiating response to threatening events facing an organisation. The element of surprise in occurrence of crisis becomes a vital aspect in crisis handling. This is the process which seeks to mitigate the adverse effects of the arising crisis. This involves conducting various activities aimed at ensuring the individuals have the capacity to make decisions aimed at enhancing the management of crisis(Comfort, 2007). This occurs through ensuring effective communication channels are established in communicating organisational objectives in relation to prevailing crisis. In the handling of crisis the communication channels developed through strategic planning become essential in implementing the various attributes of crisis management. The various strategies developed during the strategic planning phase become implemented during the handling process of the crisis. The response of the management team to the crisis is undertaken during the handling phase. All the activities involved in the effective implementation of the crisis management elements become adopted and ingrained in the process of handling arsing crisis. The relevant departments which are affected by the crisis make reference to the guidelines provided in making decisions regarding the effective handling of the arising crisis. The response approaches developed by the organisation become essential in handling the crisis(Seeger, Sellnow, & Ulme, 2003). Strategic planning provides organisational stakeholders with a platform for evaluating the effectiveness of the adopted strategies. The developed strategies can be evaluated following their application in the process of handling crisis within the organisational environment. Crisis termination This becomes the ultimate outcome of the process of crisis management. Within the strategic planning element, the provision of guideline remains focused at completely ensuring effective handling of the crisis. Completion of the crisis commonly culminates in the termination of the crisis through implementation of the guidelines developed through the strategic planning process. The strategic planning process plays a fundamental role in establishing the approaches which are aimed and terminating crisis which might occur. The fundamental outcome of the strategic planning process remains ensuring the crisis become mitigated to termination. These processes commonly become essential in determining the effectiveness of the developed strategic planning in completely averting the adverse effects of the crisis upon the organisational functions. The termination of the process enable the evaluation of the strategies to be undertaken in seeking to implement essential changes for the improvement of the approaches utilised in the mitigation of the effects of the crisis Conclusion The process of strategic planning remains an essential aspect in different elements of organisational management. This process involves the establishment of approaches which can be utilised in enhancing the effectiveness of the management processes within different organisations. An effective strategic plan ensures the provision of efficient and effective guidelines which can assist in the decision-making process during period of limited time. Many crisis become characterised by decision-making process which is characterised by limited time and situation based management process. The element of strategic planning remains essential within different aspects of organisations and is critical to crisis management within organisations. Within the crisis management context, the processes involved in the management commonly require sufficient planning in seeking to enhance the effectiveness of the processes. This makes the role of strategic planning in crisis management increasingly vital to the effective crisis management within different organisations. References Comfort, L. K. (2007). Crisis management in hindsight: Cognition, communication, coordination, and control. Public Administration Review, 67(s1), 189–197. Freeman, R. E. (2010). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lewis, G. (2006). Organizational Crisis Management: The Human Factor. New York: CRC Press. Olsen, E. (2012). Strategic Planning Kit for Dummies (2nd ed.). New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Seeger, M. W., Sellnow, T. L., & Ulme, R. R. (2003). Communication and Organizational Crisis (p. 297). London: Greenwood Publishing Group. Wheelen, T. L., & Hunger, J. D. (2011). Concepts in strategic management and business policy. New Delhi: Pearson Education India.  Read More