Strategies of Planning

Businesses today are constantly looking for ways to gain the competitive edge over their competition. Planning is by far one of the main ingredience to attaining that edge. The importance of formal planning in organizations has grown dramatically. Until the mid-1900s, most planning was unstructured and fragmented, and formal planning was restricted to a few large corporations (Thomas S. Bateman & Scott A Snell, 2007) this has change dramatically. “Planning is a decision process—managers will be deciding what to do and how to go about doing it” (Thomas S. Bateman & Scott A Snell, 2007) If a business is not in the habit of doing extensive planning on all levels, then that business would likely to fell. Being able to specify the goals to be achieved and deciding in advance the appropriate actions needed to achieve those goals is perhaps the key to any successful business plan. Companies must be able to use planning strategies successfully to grow the company and adjust those strategies when necessary. In order to better understand the process of planning and I will examine the various levels of planning. Strategic, Tactical, Operational and Contingency planning are necessary in order for a company to survive and must be integrated together in order to form a solid base for a successful business.

Strategic Planning

Strategic planning involves making decisions about the organizations long-term

goals and strategies. Strategic plans have a strong external orientation and cover major portions of the organization (Thomas S. Bateman & Scott A Snell, 2007) In strategic planning its important to note that this is done by the top-level managers. They are not the ones who carry out the plans and details; instead they are responsible for the development of the strategic plans. The top management would then need to set strategic goals for the company. What is important for the company’s long-term goal? How should the company grow and survive? These questions are a part of the strategic goals that are set by the strategic managers and planners.

Tactical Planning

Another strategy in planning is Tactical, which translates broad strategic goals and plans into specific goals and plans. (Thomas S. Bateman & Scott A Snell, 2007). After the top-level managers have completed the strategic planning, the middle managers are responsible for the tactical aspect. They take the big picture from the top-level manager and break down the goals and plans into more specific ideas. Tactical plans focus on the major actions a unit must take to fulfill its part of the strategic plan. Tactical is responsible for the rolling out of a need product.

Operational Planning

Next part of planning is operational. Operational identifies the specific procedures and processes required at lower levels of the organization. Frontline managers usually focus on routine tasks such as production runs, delivery schedules, and human resources requirements (Thomas S. Bateman & Scott A Snell, 2007). Frontline managers make the organization run. These are the worker bees. They take information, determine what needs to be done and them provide the human resources to accomplish the vision of the strategic goals.

Contingency Planning

Contingency planning is perhaps as important if not more important than tactical planning. If a disaster occurred and the building was on fire it would be best to have another system in place. In case of the Katrina, had the city had a contingency plan may be lives could have been saved. Not having a plan for the plan is just bad management.

Differences

These phases of planning work together however, but the differences are worth noting. First, at the top-level management or strategic planning, the top executives don’t do the work. They will not test a new product like the middle manager. They will never get into the details, as would the frontline managers. Their job is to set goals and the execution of the strategic plans. The middle managers on the other