Strategic Planning and Capital Budgets
Introduction
Strategic planning is the process that organizations use to plan and advance the process of achieving their long-term goals. Strategic planning provides information necessary for the organization to allocate resources appropriately in order to facilitate a competitive advantage (Gomera et al., 2018). The process of strategic planning involves steps that the organization goes through to determine the direction of the organization; what should be done to achieve the organizational objectives; and how to measure and guide the strategy to achieve the organizational goals. Strategic planning is the blueprint that allows an organization to move forward towards a defined direction and illustrates how the goals are to be achieved (Sadeghifar et al., 2014). Strategic Planning and Capital Budgets Essay Paper
The first step during strategic planning is identifying the organizational strategic position by setting out a clear vision. This starts by defining the organizational short-term and long-term objectives (John et al., 2018). The next step is to determine the steps the organization will take to achieve the set organizational objectives. The set of organizational goals should be realistic and measurable. This step also includes developing the organizational mission and vision statements to describe the future of the organization. this includes where the organization aims to be, the fundamental values, and what the organization wants to do (Gomera et al., 2018).
The ethical and legal considerations that should be included at this stage include instituting a code of ethics to guide the organization. The code of ethics will stipulate the expected organizational behavior that upholds sincerity, honesty, and transparency in order to promote the credibility and influence of the organization. The code of ethics will also hold the organization accountable when it comes to honoring its obligations in the spirit of fairness, justice, and honesty. The code of ethics is the central point of reference for all organizational stakeholders and should consider the concerns of all stakeholders. Moreover, during this stage, the relevant mechanisms to ensure that the organization conforms to the required state and federal law should be defined and put in place (Ouakouak, 2018). Strategic Planning and Capital Budgets Essay Paper
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The second step after establishing the strategic position is to gather people and information. The data used in strategic planning should be accurate to ensure that organizational decisions are informed by facts. Individuals involved in the planning process should be professional and competent in order to give valuable and helpful information. Once there is adequate information and individuals to do from, any internal or external factors likely to examine the organizational objectives should be examined (John et al., 2018). At this step, it is important to ask other organizational stakeholders for input for example, partners, employees, and even clients.
The relevant ethical considerations at this stage include seeking out ethics officers to hand any ethical issues. The ethical officer may solve any ethical dilemmas and determine the best organizational practices, improve organizational ethical strategy, and stipulate the relevant social responsibility for the organization. At this stage, a confidential reporting system should be created because not all ethical situations and dilemmas can be addressed through a professional setting (Ouakouak, 2018). As a result, an infrastructure that allows anonymous reporting should be created as it will help in addressing ethical issues as they arise without anyone being victimized.
The third step during strategic planning is to perform a SWOT analysis. A SWOT analysis will identify the weaknesses and strengths for the organization, and also identify any threats and opportunities likely to arise (Sadeghifar, et al., 2014). After the weaknesses, strengths, threats, and opportunities are identified, the new organizational goals that will help the organization face the weaknesses, strengths, threats, and opportunities positively are developed. A SWOT analysis also helps to lead the organization in the right direction and towards achieving the organizational goals. Strategic Planning and Capital Budgets Essay Paper
During a SWOT analysis, there are various legal issues involves. For example, the relevant employment laws and industry regulations should be taken into consideration. The SWOT analysis should also take into consideration the regulation and legal changes likely to take place as this can help the organization to leverage favorable factors and also make the appropriate adjustments to suit the evolving legal and regulatory changes (Sadeghifar, et al., 2014). In addition, the relevant legal costs should be budgeted for in order to contest any relevant legal challenges. Legal issues are likely to impact the public image of an organization and hence it is important for the organization to allocate budgets for promoting and rebuilding the organizational image (Sadeghifar, et al., 2014).
The last steps of the strategic planning process include formulating the strategic plan, executing the plan and monitoring the organizational performance. When developing the strategic plan, the initiatives likely to significantly influence the organization and help to improve the position of the organization should be considered (John et al., 2018). Strategic Planning and Capital Budgets Essay Paper
The action phase of the strategic planning process is to implement the strategic plan. It is important to involve all stakeholders in this stage. The ethical and legal considerations at this step involve while implementing the strategic plan, it is important to ensure that the required state and federal laws, the code of ethics are followed and that all stakeholders are involved (Ouakouak, 2018). Ethical training is also important where the management and the employees should be trained on how to incorporate ethics in their work in order to develop a strong ethical culture and also equip employees and managers with the necessary knowledge and skill to handle ethical issues/dilemmas within the workplace. Constant monitoring of the organizational performance after implementing the strategic plan is very important. This process involves constant monitoring and managing performance and modifying aspects that do not yield satisfactory outcomes (Sadeghifar et al., 2014). Each organizational stakeholder should be held accountable for their assigned responsibilities.
Conclusion
The strategic planning process involves developing a plan and a blueprint on how the organization will achieve its organizational goals. The first step is to identify the organizational strategic position by setting out a clear vision. The short-term and long-term goals should be defined as well as the organizational vision and mission statements. The expected code of ethics and procedures should be integrated into this process. In addition, the situational analysis proves should be done where the external and internal industry environment is analyzed in order to identify any threats, opportunities, weaknesses and strengths of the organization. It is important to factor any legal issues that may affect business operations.
References
Gomera, S., Chinyamurindi, W., & Mishi, S. (2018). Relationship between strategic planning and financial performance: The case of small, micro- and medium-scale businesses in the Buffalo City Metropolitan. South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, 21(1), 1-9.
John M, Hamilton E & David M. (2018). Getting strategic about strategic planning research, Public Management Review, 20(3), 317-339.
Ouakouak, M. L. (2018). Does a strategic planning process that combines rational and adaptive characteristics pay off? Evidence from European firms. Australian Journal of Management, 43(2), 328–349.
Sadeghifar, J., Jafari, M., Tofighi, S., Ravaghi, H., & Maleki, M. R. (2014). Strategic planning, implementation, and evaluation processes in hospital systems: a survey from Iran. Global journal of health science, 7(2), 56–65. Strategic Planning and Capital Budgets Essay Paper