Why Strategic Planning Is Important for FBI Investigations - Research Paper Example

?Running head: An analysis of why strategic planning is important for FBI Investigations Insert Insert Insert 4 July 2011 Strategic Planning Introduction Strategic planning is a process that defines an organization’s strategy in deciding on resources allocation. This process is usually a long-term direction of the organization’s destination in the coming years. The operating environment is a very competitive place today, thus it is important for an organization to incorporate strategic planning. An effective strategic planning process includes mission and objectives, environmental scanning, strategy formulation, as well as strategy implementation, evaluation and control. According to Beinhocker (2006 pp 2), when preparing for strategic planning, the management should make sure that decisions made are in line with the strategy of the organization; hence, the management is able to respond effectively to challenges and also opportunities when they occur. An organization should also increase its innovativeness and an open mind to allow room for creative thinking. According to Hanna (1989, pp4), in his article, he emphasizes on the importance of strategic planning being flexible, selective and responsive, such that, it should increase creative thinking and understanding. In addition, managers must embrace the strategy and must aim at meeting the customer’s needs. The author further adds that the management should incorporate a clear mission, a well thought and communicated strategy, and the management drive, in which they are expected to be communicators and motivators to the rest of the staff. The federal bureau of investigation According to FBI (2007, pp5), the federal bureau of investigation (FBI) intelligence operations include the war against terrorism. The FBI priorities vary from protecting the United States against foreign intelligence operations and attacks via cyber and high tech crimes. The FBI also protects civil rights and deals with corruption in the country; in general, it guarantees national security (FBI 2010). However, this department is faced with many challenges, among them being lack of a good training program for the analysts. Secondly, there is deficit in the number of translators especially of the Arabic origin, hence the need to recruit quality and qualified agents, and the need of more resources. Nevertheless, the threats on national security, for instance, the attempt on airline bombing during Christmas by the al Qaeda and the cyber intrusion at Google are some of the challenges that the FBI has had to deal with. Corruption cases are also numerous and so are health scams and ponzi schemes that affect the American citizens who rely on the FBI for justice. Why strategic planning is important for FBI Investigations According to Bryson (2004 pp 301), for an organization to be effective in its strategic planning, it needs to articulate the importance of strategic planning, whereby, they should highlight their competencies, changes, and the strategic issues that the organization is likely to face in the future. The organization should also be willing to commit resources such as money, time, and energy. The leaders should also emphasize that strategic planning will impact change that could be beneficial to the workforce. The management should also be to reward those participants that contribute to creative thinking, as a way of motivating them for their contributions in creative ideas. Strategic planning is very important for any organization. In addition, it requires the consideration of both internal and external factors (Simerson, 2011 pp 16). Hence, it is evident that a strategic plan can be compared to a road map of an organization. The Strategic Planning Process Mission &       Objectives         Environmental   Scanning Strategy     Formulation      Strategy  Implementation         Evaluation       & Control Source: http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/strategic-planning/ Strategic planning process involves setting goals that define the future of an organization, hence being able to achieve these set goals. The mission statement should describe the values and purpose of the firm and the anticipated goals. The environmental scan includes the internal analysis of an organization, and the external environment. It identifies the organization’s strengths and weaknesses. The external environment identifies opportunities and threats. Each organization strains to achieve a competitive advantage, which can be through cost leadership and product differentiation. Therefore, for the FBI to attain an advantage in its operations it could focus on a unique service that no other firm offers in relation to fighting of crime internally and worldwide; this is referred to as strategy formulation. Strategy implementation occurs when the selected strategy is implemented through a budget and a procedure, marking the path to success after implementation. In this case, the 2010 -2015 IT strategic plan for the FBI will prove to be successful before 2015, hence the firm can decide on whether to implement another strategy by then. The last step is evaluation and control, whereby, the implemented strategy is monitored keenly in terms of the target, objectives to be achieved, and its performance standards. If the strategy is effective, the organization is usually at a competitive advantage. Strategic planning encompasses people, processes, and resources, with money and time being a requirement for a successful strategy implementation. Fulgham Chad, the chief information officer, announced on the proposed IT strategic plan for 2010-2015 whose aim would be solely to “transport, store, display, analyze and disseminate information in support of the FBI’s mission” (Fulgham, n.d). Due to the high reliability of citizens on the FBI, it therefore wants to improve on their information technology for timely and quality results. Nevertheless, with the technological advancement, most crimes are conducted via the internet, like the cyber crimes, therefore calling for the need of enhancement of IT in the FBI. This strategy is aimed at achieving customer’s satisfaction through quality customer services. In this case, the IT strategic plan must be in line with the FBI’s mission statement. The FBI’s mission clearly focuses on upholding the law; hence, various resources are required by this organization in order to ensure that national security is not threatened. The IT strategic plan involves offering customers with outstanding services and promotion of information sharing. However, the intended technology advancement is useless without an IT workforce, as the workforce contributes greatly towards the achievements of IT solutions, which improve customers’ satisfaction and coordination. However, due to the emerging trends of technology, crime rate also increases, hence an important factor to consider for the FBI as it adopts the new technology. With such a strategy in place, the FBI is guaranteed to fight crime effectively and reduce its rates. In addition, the poor performing areas in an organization can be easily identified and thus eliminated. With a strategic plan in place, it is easy to control problems and improve growth, while opportunities and threats are identified. The world we are in is rapidly changing; hence, for FBI to easily fight crime, it must also change in the way it operates especially in technology basis. Therefore, strategic planning should not have a limit - it can be conducted twice a year or once. It is however evident that IT has contributed highly to research on crimes, for instance, in surveillance and detection and in forensics sites among others. According to FBI transformation (pp7, n.d), changes made by the FBI should be in consistent with transformation taking place technologically, therefore proving to be beneficial to its customers. The author also recognizes the effort of the FBI in involving its employees in the strategic planning; this was as a result of a research conducted in 2003 when the FBI developed a strategic human capital plan that later on proved to be a positive plan. Therefore, strategic planning requires the involvement of employees as they contribute to numerous ideas on the proposed strategy. Strategic planning will continue being of positive impact to organizations. The FBI is a complex organization and since it deals mainly in security issues, the IT strategic plan has always proved to be of importance in their investigations. For instance, it is capable of providing electric maps, detect triggers, and solve the unsolvable through DNA, hence, a strategic planning seems to be a continuous process. FBI needs to keep updating its laboratory equipment to match the latest technology. It also needs to move with the current trend in technology in terms of internet to be capable of fighting cyber crime. In cases of cold blood murders, the necessity of DNA is important to solve such crimes by finding the criminal. Conclusion Strategic planning is a very essential process in an organization as it involves creative thinking, hence creative ideas are developed. In addition, it contributes to the determination of where an organization wishes to be in future. This process compromises of both big issues and minor ones. This process has also proven to be beneficial in that, identifies both opportunities and threats, and more importantly, it serves as a channel of communication and yield to a focused work force. However, this process is accompanied with risks, as the future tends to be uncertain; it is also an expensive task, which requires resources in order to push through. References Beinhocker, E. and Kaplan, S. (2006). Tired of strategic planning? Retrieved from http://74.125.155.132/scholar?q=cache:MQ3fHt1toykJ:scholar.google.com/+what+is+strategic+planning&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5. Bryson, J. (2004). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: a guide to strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement. Edition3. NJ: John Wiley and Sons Publisher. FBI. (N.d). FBI transformation FBI continues to make progress in its efforts to transform and address priorities. NY: DIANE Publishing. Fulgham, C. (N.d). Information Technology Strategic Plan; FY 2010 – 2015. Retrieved from http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/itb/it-strategic-plan-2010-2015. Hanna, N. (1989). Strategic planning and management. A review of recent experience, paper no. 751. Retrieved from http://74.125.155.132/scholar?q=cache:BmDG8eQg4ncJ:scholar.google.com/+what+is+strategic+planning&hl=en&as_sdt=0,5 Simerson, B. (2011). Strategic Planning: A Practical Guide to Strategy Formulation and Execution. NY: ABC-CLIO Publisher. The federal bureau of investigations. (2007). strategic plan and progress on reform. Retrieved from http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:hn2-Kgeg47UJ:www.fas.org/irp/congress/2007_hr/fbi-strategic.pdf+why+strategic+planning+s+important+in+FBI+investigations&hl=en&gl=uk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShs7Pn4MzoM6xV4jUjpyyGIsVY8Be2MKbUqiEtxsvDCf6X1x1p3EUpQa_pxrB9bw2ZwwBWg5LuQCpuT6_aFNT8QPXhTcH7-ntWOx5tp9w--Kh55TWTDMWDgKD7L1o7jDQyJknB5&sig=AHIEtbRu4ypt3lFXX5GAF4JtsI0cK9xDPg United States department of justice. (2010). Federal bureau of investigation. 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