Application of strategic planning in an organization Case Study

Application of strategic planning in an organization - Case Study Example Strategic planning is an organizational process of laying out strategies and making fine-grained decisions on resource allocation towards achieving the goals of the organization. A strategically managed organization defines its prospects in the future by looking at its current position and implementing changes through perfectly structured procedures. It requires an understanding of the current position of the business and the possible ways through which it can meets the organizational goals. Most organizations use their missions and visions to determine the strategies required to achieve that its objectives and build alignment to the vision and strategic plan. The ability of organization to execute its strategic plans is therefore directly affected by its ability to understand and make a clear presentation of the strategy to the employees, shareholders and managers of the organization. For most organizations, it is important to build a successful tool for implementing and managing th e overall business strategy. This calls for the development of a balanced scorecard and applying the concept of strategic mapping in the aligning the organization's units. A balanced scorecard is a business presentation model that allows the organization to relate its financial and non-financial aspects for strategic planning of the business goals and prospects. Present day organizations find it increasingly difficult to remain competitive because the strategies used and the business issues change constantly whereas the tools for measuring the effectiveness of these strategies record very minimal change. Many organizations use tools that measure success based on tangible assets whereas constant changes in technology dictate that all business units be linked together to meet the principals of strategic management. A balanced scorecard can be used to link the intangible and the tangible assets and help eliminate most of the challenges faced by modern day organizations. The scorecard c oncept is built upon good design guidelines for the business units to describe and implement their strategies by mapping strategic objectives into performance in different perspectives which include internal processes, customers, finance and learning and growth. These perspectives provide relevant feedback on the progress of the strategic plan of any given organization so that adjustments and efficient changes can be made where necessary. In addition to measuring the current performance of the organization towards meeting its goals, a Scorecard evaluates the firm's efforts for future improvement based on its progress in terms of profit creation and provision of satisfactory service to its customers. It signifies a quantitative and qualitative performance and multidimensional balance between the firm’s short-term and long-term objectives, financial and non-financial measures, lagging and leading indicators, and the internal and external performance. Strategy maps display the q ualitative measures such as employee satisfaction, consumer loyalty and corporate mission that transform a balanced scorecard from performance measurement to a performance management tool that is strategically driven. By using strategy maps of cause and effect, intangible assets can be manipulated combined with other assets for value addition to produce goods and services that meet the consumers’ needs and demands. Strategy maps illustrate the transformation of intangible assets into tangible consumer products and provide a strategic framework to look into a value creation strategy in the internal business process. The strategy map view of a Scorecard presents the organization’s strategy with a series of linked objectives that explain the important priorities for the organization. It also holds specific measures that represent expected level of success and strategic initiatives for the organization. The concept of strategy mapping can be explained and implemented in an organization by taking into