The widely accepted framework of company strategic planning is relatively simple: with a defined time horizon, top management analyzes the company s assets and its operational processes to identify its key strengths and weaknesses, as well as its most important long-term opportunities and threats. Based on this analysis, short-term and long-term plans are developed, sometimes based on real need. These plans are often reviewed periodically to ensure that they are still appropriate and useful. At the end of the strategy review process, any remaining issues are brought to the attention of senior management. These can include but are not limited to, opportunities and threats that arose after the original strategy was developed, issues that require amendment to the strategy, and/or ways to implement the strategy that meet the organization's unique circumstances.

There are many challenges involved in executing a comprehensive strategic plan. First, there are a number of different functional areas within an organization. Often, there is no singular "strategy" or "plan" that can adequately address all the various needs and tasks faced by the organization. In order to ensure that strategic planning produces a valuable result, functional leaders must spend considerable time wrestling with difficult decision problems. Not only does this process involve identifying problem areas, it also requires the consistent observation of organizations throughout the process in order to identify and resolve issues.

Organizationally, there are many ways in which to implement strategic planning. One method of strategy implementation is to develop a "departmental strategy." Under this strategy, one or more departments within an organization are responsible for, and accountable for, specific aspects of the division or department in question. This "departmental strategy" provides a logical starting point for strategic planning and allows managers to effectively coordinate the activities of their individual departments.

For example, let's assume that you are the manager of a manufacturing department. One of your department's responsibilities might be to provide quality manufacturing services to the entire operation. In this case, you would likely need to develop a "top management strategy" - a series of strategic issues designed to accomplish several business goals - before you could take the next step towards developing a company vision statement.

In addition to a company vision statement, there may also be other objectives associated with the creation of the corporate strategic plan. These objectives are usually related to the overall strategic goals of the company. For instance, some companies may wish to become a "leading resource and technology innovation center." Other objectives might include becoming "a technology leader in every area of research and development." These objectives often represent future business goals that must be carefully monitored and adjusted along with the changing business environment. Additionally, there might be other objectives, such as "providing a comfortable work atmosphere for all employees," "making sure that everyone is happy," and "ensuring that a high percentage of our people are satisfied with their jobs."

Developing a formal planning process for these various objectives is an important part of the responsibility of the managers who are responsible for the execution of the strategic plans. The managers must establish what types of information they wish to gather from the external sources and how they wish to collect this information. Once the planning process has been established, the managers must develop a series of activities aimed at carrying out the overall strategic goal of the corporation. These activities are usually called "processes" or "managers' plans."

In summary, the major difference between strategy and planning in the corporate management context is that strategic planning tends to be much more rigid and particularized while strategy is much more flexible and allows for a more open-ended assessment of the organization's future course. While there are many similarities between the two concepts, there are also substantial differences. A company that wishes to develop a long-term competitive advantage must implement long-range planning. On the other hand, it is much more convenient and cost-effective for a diversified corporation to perform a short term strategy. Thus, the relative roles of strategy and planning in the development of a company's strategic goals and objectives often vary according to the nature of the organization.

There are three basic objectives that business planning must address: (a) to lay down the foundation for establishing the organization's longer-term goals and objectives, (b) to lay down a plan for achieving these goals and (c) to guide the organization in achieving these goals. In some cases, the planning process will focus on achieving a specific objective. In other instances, the goal may not be clear-cut and therefore the focus of the evaluation is less specific than in a situation where the purpose of the evaluation is to establish a long-range goal. To some observers, however, the difference between strategic and business planning can be easily seen as a conceptual difference and does not have a practical effect on the organization's strategic objectives. The organizational culture of any company will always be dependent on its ability to define its goals and the methods by which these goals can be achieved.