Strategic Planning
Due to the developing technology, globalization and renewed economic systems, the competitive environment in the business world is getting hotter day by day..
Businesses that want to develop, reach wider audiences and increase their success graph also need to keep up with the competitive world. One of the most basic ways to do this is; to take strategic steps in idea generation, analysis, plan creation and decision-making processes. At this point, the concept of a strategic plan comes into play.
It is possible to describe strategic planning as the process of harmony between the strengths you have in your business and the opportunities that come your way. In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to determine the environmental conditions, to perceive them well and to adapt them to the job by analyzing them. In addition, the strengths and weaknesses of the business should be well perceived, a clear mission (...) should be acted on, and the goals should be very clear. Realizing a perception in this detail requires more intensive work than expected.
Situational analysis, “Where are we?” It is a step taken to find an answer to the question. At this stage, many factors are evaluated, from environmental threats to internal weaknesses, from opportunities to capabilities. The historical development of the enterprise, the legal obligations to which it is subject, its fields of activity, products and services are determined. Moreover; legislative, stakeholder, environmental and in-house analyzes are carried out. The steps taken by the business throughout the history are analyzed and compared with the current situation.
Strategic goals emerge when the vision and mission of businesses are expressed within the framework of consistent, realistic and solid goals. These objectives form the steps of the strategic planning process. While determining these steps, the resources, needs, preferences and priorities of the enterprise should be taken into consideration. Factors such as customer satisfaction, budget, market conditions, market share and financial returns should not be overlooked.
In the last step, the original version of the strategic plan is compared with the current state of the business. By using various performance indicators, it is determined how much the goals and objectives overlap with the point reached. You can also apply strategic planning method in order to see the future of your business more clearly, to increase your success rate by gaining an advantage over your competitors and to take the right steps.
There is no entrepreneur who has not designed in his mind where he would like to see his business in the future. However, it is inevitable to draw a consistent road plan consisting of strategic steps in order to reach the dreamed point. In order for every business in a competitive environment to survive in the long term, it must use its skills and resources to master environmental conditions and thus adapt to the ecosystem in which it is located. This is where the definition of the strategic plan comes into play: Within the framework of the created plan, it is determined which vision, mission and action plans the enterprises will act in the long term, and which opportunities and advantages they will evaluate. In short, it can be said that the concept of a strategic plan covers the goals, fields of activity, growth plans and steps to be taken against its competitors of an enterprise. Through strategic planning, businesses can build their futures more consistently. On the other hand, this process also supports companies to improve their performance, institutionalize and gain an advantage in the competitive environment.
Strategic planning is a process carried out by the top management staff of enterprises. However, it is very important for the strategic plan to be prepared not only by a single person or department, but as a result of the collective work of the senior management staff in order to obtain healthier and more consistent results. The joint work of different departments makes it easier to determine the future of businesses. The strategic planning preparation process consists of the following stages:
-Situation analysis
-Defining the mission and principles
-Creating a vision
-Determination of strategic goals
-Activity and project planning
-Process tracking
-Evaluation and performance measurement