PLANNING AND

STRATEGY:
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BRINGING THE VISION TO

LIFE
McKee (2010)

PLANNING AND STRATEGY

1.

How Do People Plan for the Future?

2.

What Does Planning Look Like in Organizations?

3.

How Do You Plan in Uncertain Times?

4.

What Is a Mission? Why Does Vision Matter?

5.

What Is Strategy?

6.

What Needs to Be Considered in a Strategic Planning Process?

7.

What Are the Steps in the Strategic Planning Process?

8.

What Is HRs Role in Planning and Strategy?

9.

What Can We All Do to Support Effective Strategic Planning?

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1. HOW DO PEOPLE PLAN FOR THE FUTURE?

Introduction

People think about the future in

different ways, i.e.:
Focus on outcomes
Action oriented
Focus on direction and a
meaningful vision.
Human beings are purposeful
creatures seek to identify a
noble purpose, a mission, and a
vision, as well as a way to get
there through strategies, goals,
and actions.

Planning the cognitive,

creative, and behavioral process
of developing a sequence of
activities intended to achieve a
goal or to move toward an
imagined future state.

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1. HOW DO PEOPLE PLAN FOR THE FUTURE?

Exploring How People Think About and Plan for the Future
Type
Goaloriented
planning
Directional
planning
ActionOriented
planning

Description
determining the activities and steps from an existing state to
a clearly defined end state.
may involve forward planning (devising a set of steps that
arrive at the goal) and backward planning (devising a set of
steps from the goal to the existing state), or both.
identifying a domain (general area of activity) and
direction (preferred values and activities) rather than specific
goals.
directing ones attention to the task at hand.
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1. HOW DO PEOPLE PLAN FOR THE FUTURE?

Most popular >> Discussion Questions
1.

Define planning and explain why it is both a rational process and a

creative process.

2.

What approach do you tend to use when planning for the future? Do you
focus more on goals, vision, or current activities?

3.

What effect does your approach to planning have on your success in

school? At work? In your social life?

4.

Which of the following things do you think you should learn more about
and practice: setting goals, envisioning a future that is meaningful to you,
or finding ways to be in flow when engaging in work or school activities?
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2. WHAT DOES PLANNING LOOK LIKE IN

ORGANIZATIONS?
Plans: More Than Goals and Metrics

Goal setting is often seen as the

way to plan in organizations
BUT not everyone is goal
oriented.
Overreliance on goal setting
can result in too much attention
to short-term objectives.

To move and change

organizations plans must be
both rational and creative,
and they must link mission and
purpose with goals and activities.

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2. WHAT DOES PLANNING LOOK LIKE IN

ORGANIZATIONS?
Types of Plans Used in Organizations
Short-term plan Typically created for a period of 1 year or less; has a definite end
point.
Long-term plan

Often in place for three or more years; end point not always
determined; can be complex and require substantial resources.

Single-use plan

Used once for a unique situation.

Standing plan

Designed for repeated, ongoing activities.

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2. WHAT DOES PLANNING LOOK LIKE IN

ORGANIZATIONS?
Types of Plans Used in Organizations
Operational plan

Detailed outline of how goals are to be achieved.

Strategic plan

Typically a far-reaching plan that articulates and synthesizes

mission-driven, strategic goals for a business.

Financial plan

Plan for providing financial resources to support an organizations

activities.

Contingency plan

Plan to respond to a crisis or a failed plan; a back-up plan.

Project plan

Plan that outlines specific actions, time frames, roles,

responsibilities, objectives, and outcomes for particular work
projects to be done by one or more people.

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2. WHAT DOES PLANNING LOOK LIKE IN

ORGANIZATIONS?
Most popular >> Discussion Questions
1.

Think about a sports team, club, or committee to which you belong. How
does this group plan for the future? Review the preceding section to
describe what your group does or has done in the past. What could you
and other members do to improve the planning process?

2.

It is never too early to start thinking about your plans for your life and
work after college. What short-term plans do you currently have that are
related to your life after college? What long-term plans have you created?

3.

Think of a time when a plan did not go as you expected. How did you
react? What did you do? Did you have a contingency plan? Did it work?
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3. HOW DO YOU PLAN IN UNCERTAIN TIMES?

Creating Plans That Can Change: A Modular Approach
To ensure plans are dynamic
and can be adapted when
change occurs is to:

link plans to mission

and vision, and
1.clearly

multiple sub-goals that

are discrete and individually
planned.
2.include

Goals the purpose toward

which an endeavor is directed; an
objective. (SMART)
Sub-goals a goal that is
created to help attain another,
bigger goal.
Milestones help mark
progress toward a goal or subgoal.
Action steps individual
actions that support goal or
subgoal attainment.
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3. HOW DO YOU PLAN IN UNCERTAIN TIMES?

Scenario Planning

Scenario planning a
dynamic, systematic
process in which people
envision all the what-if
scenarios for given
situations and plan for
several likely possibilities.

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3. HOW DO YOU PLAN IN UNCERTAIN TIMES?

Most popular >> Discussion Questions
1.

Why is it important to learn to planand to change plansin todays

world and work environment? Give examples from your experience.

2.

Research an industry you find interesting, or one in which you are

considering working after college. What changes have occurred in the
industry or the environment in the last five years that likely caused
leaders to change plans?

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4. WHAT IS A MISSION? WHY DOES VISION

MATTER?
Introduction

Mission statement describes

what an organization is, what it
does, and what it stands for.
articulates its competitive
advantage anything that
positively distinguishes one
organization from others
creates a rationale for
working that unifies
employees.

Vision description of what an

organization wants to become
its future identity which can be
realized through the successful
accomplishment of its mission.
often articulated as a vision
statement.

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4. WHAT IS A MISSION? WHY DOES VISION

MATTER?
Mission Clarity Leads to Better Choices

Clarity about the

organizations mission, its
fundamental purpose, and how
it is different from its
competitors can help make
choices:
easier,
more logical, and
more likely to lead to
success.
Source: Motor Sales Big Brothers Big Sisters Mission and Vision Statements;
Toyota Motor Sales mission and Vision Statements.

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4. WHAT IS A MISSION? WHY DOES VISION

MATTER?
Vision: Our Highest Aspiration
A successful vision is

clear, compelling, and

accessible.
both aspirational and
inspirational.

a future that an organization

has not yet attained, but one
that can be accomplished with
the right planning and strategies.
Employees and customers alike
can be inspired by it.

Who establishes an
organizations mission and
vision?
Small, entrepreneurial
start-ups founder/s
Larger organizations
top leaders
Sometimes employees drive
the process more directly,
with the support of
leadership and HR.
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4. WHAT IS A MISSION? WHY DOES VISION

MATTER?
Most popular >> Discussion Questions
1.

Take a look at your colleges mission statement. What does it tell you
about the institution? Do you feel it accurately describes what your
college is and does?

2.

One tactic some college seniors use to prepare for the job market is to
write their own personal mission statement. You can try this, too. Write a
personal mission statement that captures who you are and what you do.
You might start with answering these big questions: Who are you? What
do you stand for? Whats your purpose in life and in work?

3.

Choose a company that you admire. Perhaps it is one you buy from
repeatedly or one whose products you have always dreamed of buying.
What do you see as that companys competitive advantage? Were you
initially attracted to this company because of its competitive advantage?

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5. WHAT IS STRATEGY?
Introduction

Strategy (historically) to spread leadership beyond a leaders direct

reach.
Creating a strategy:
assessing the current reality, challenging assumptions, seeing things
from multiple perspectives, and creating alternatives.
means taking risks; challenging assumptions invariably means
leaving a comfort zone.

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5. WHAT IS STRATEGY?
Strategy Links Mission, Vision, Goals, and Actions

Strategy helps an organization

realize its mission and bring
its vision to life.
Most strategies are complex.
For large, multidivisional
and/or multinational
companies complexity
multiplied exponentially.

Elements
of
Strategy

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5. WHAT IS STRATEGY?
Types of Strategies: Corporate Strategies
Corporate
Strategy
Growth

Focus
Expansion into new market(s) and/or increasing
market share expanding business, acquiring or
merging with other businesses, or joint ventures.

Stability

Maintaining current market position.

Retrenchment

Defensive posture to hold off threats while turning

a company around.

Divestiture

Selling off or folding a particular division.

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5. WHAT IS STRATEGY?
Acquisition Strategy
Definition involves joining with other businesses by buying, merging
with, or taking over other companies.
may include acquiring companies in the same industry, industries
that support the core business, or altogether different businesses).

Joint Ventures
Definition a formal arrangement between two or more entities to
engage in activities together and to share risk.

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5. WHAT IS STRATEGY?
Types of Strategies: Business Strategies

support a particular division of the business, brand, product, or service

line to remain or become successful in the marketplace.

Business Strategy Focus

Differentiation

Providing unique products, services, or features.

Cost leadership

Being most competitive(lowest priced) in terms of

cost of a product or service.
Catering to a particular segment of the market or a
particular demand.
Seeking cost savings and efficiency through
operating businesses along the supply chain.

Niche
Vertical
integration

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5. WHAT IS STRATEGY?
Types of Strategies: Functional Strategies

Functional strategies departmental strategies that are developed

to help an organization achieve its goals.
Functions human resources, finance, marketing, sales, technology,
facilities, health and safety, risk management, and legal services.

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5. WHAT IS STRATEGY?
Most popular >> Discussion Questions
1.

Consider a product you see advertised on television, the Internet, or in

magazines. What business strategy do you think the company is
employing?

2.

Using the Internet, review facts about a company you know well. What is
the companys corporate strategy? What are its business strategies?
Functional strategies?

3.

For the same company, compare these strategies with the companys
mission and vision. Are these all aligned? In what ways? If not, describe
the lack of alignment.
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6. WHAT NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED IN A

STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS?
Introduction

Strategic planning the

process of examining an
organizations internal and
external environments and
determining major goals that will
help the company realize its
mission and move toward its
vision.

Addresses questions, such as:

1.

2.

3.

What is the state of the business,

both internally and in the
market?
What are the goals that will
enable the business to achieve its
mission?
What activities and tasks will
the business need to engage in to
achieve these goals?
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6. WHAT NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED IN A

STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS?
Environmental Scanning
Economic
Environment
Industry
Environmen
t

Natural
Environmen
t

Environmental
scanning process of
assessing social and
natural conditions that
have the potential to
affect an organization.

Technological
Environment

Sociocultural
Environment

Political
Environmen
t

Legal and Tax

Environment

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6. WHAT NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED IN A

STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS?
Industry Environment

Industry a collective group of

companies that provide the same
or similar products and services.

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

6.

Michael Porter, Five Forces

Model
Competitive rivalry within
the industry.
Threat of new entrants.
Threat of substitutes.
Bargaining power of
suppliers.
Bargaining power of
customers.
Optional: Complementors.
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6. WHAT NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED IN A

STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS?
Stakeholder Analysis

Stakeholder any constituent

potentially impacted by an
organizations actions, either
inside or outside the
organization.
Key stakeholders
significant influence or
importance.
Primary stakeholders
directly affected by an
organizations actions.
Secondary stakeholders
indirectly affected by an
organizations actions.

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6. WHAT NEEDS TO BE CONSIDERED IN A

STRATEGIC PLANNING PROCESS?
Most popular >> Discussion Questions
1.

How often do you think an organization should develop a strategic plan?

What might cause an organization to change strategies?

2.

Think of an organization to which you belong (school, work, community

group, social, or sports club). Does this group have a strategic plan? Who
developed it? Who is aware of it, and who is not? How has the plans
development and dissemination impacted the organization?

3.

Think about a big decision in your life. Draw a stakeholder map to

include the people or groups who will be affected by your decision. Code
them as key, primary, or secondary. Reflect on how this map can
help you in stakeholder management.
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7. WHAT ARE THE STEPS IN THE STRATEGIC

PLANNING PROCESS?
Introduction
Strategic planning process

Can be seen as a series of

sequential steps. Each step
must be completed so that the
information gained can be used
for the next step.

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7. WHAT ARE THE STEPS IN THE STRATEGIC

PLANNING PROCESS?
Step 1: Review or Evaluate Mission, Vision, Goals, and Strategies

Mission and vision critical

in engaging employees in the
difficult and exciting challenge of
implementing strategies.

1.
2.
3.

Current strategic goals

Have these goals been achieved?
If not, why not? Are these goals
still relevant in todays business
environment?

4.
5.

What strategies have we been

using?
Why did we choose these
strategies in the past?
Which strategies are providing
us with measurable success?
Which ones did not work?
Are these the strategies that we
should be using?

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7. WHAT ARE THE STEPS IN THE STRATEGIC

PLANNING PROCESS?
Step 4: Craft Strategies

BCG Matrix illustrates how a

business unit, product, service,
brand, or product portfolio is
performing in terms of market
share and market growth.
Market share percentage
of the market that a product,
service, or business unit has
captured.
Market growth rate
measure of growth in the
market for given products or
services.
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7. WHAT ARE THE STEPS IN THE STRATEGIC

PLANNING PROCESS?
Steps 5 and 6: Implement and Evaluate Strategies
Discipline of executing plans
require leaders to :
1. Make assumptions about the
business environment
2. Assess organizational capability
3. Link strategies to operations
and identify the people
4. Coordinate the efforts of people
5. Create a clear and explicit
reward system based on outcomes.
6. Develop the mechanisms for
challenging and changing
assumptions.
Source: Ram Charan

Evaluation of strategies is and

should be a continual process.
A company needs to focus
on a few must-win
battles initiatives,
programs, projects, and so
forth that are essential to the
realization of important
goals.
Source: Tom Malnight

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7. WHAT ARE THE STEPS IN THE STRATEGIC

PLANNING PROCESS?
Most popular >> Discussion Questions
1.

Discuss how each step of the strategic planning process could be used to
support launching a small business on campus.

2.

One tool to use before beginning your job search is a SWOT analysis.
Conduct a SWOT analysis on yourself. Be candid with yourself when it
comes to your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. How
can you capitalize on your strengths and opportunities while
downplaying your weaknesses and avoiding threats?

3.

Think about a company with which you have regular contact as a

customer (a restaurant or clothing store, for example). From your
perspective, what are the companys must-win battles?
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8. WHAT IS HRS ROLE IN STRATEGY AND

PLANNING?
Introduction

HRs role in strategy:

ensures that the right people
are in the right jobs and that
they
are supported by the
organization in ways that
allow them to help realize the
organizations mission, vision,
and strategy.
How? by effectively managing
processes such as recruiting,
selection, succession planning,
and overall plans for workforce
growth or reductions.

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8. WHAT IS HRS ROLE IN STRATEGY AND

PLANNING?
Recruiting Employees

Definition process of attracting qualified candidates for jobs.

HR inventory internal system that maintains information about

people within an organization, including skills, trainings needs, career
plans, and other information about employees.

Selecting the Right Employees

Selection act of choosing whom to hire from among a group of

qualified applicants.
Criteria education, years of experience, relevance of experience, and
the candidates ability to fit into the culture of the organization, etc.
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8. WHAT IS HRS ROLE IN STRATEGY AND

PLANNING?
Succession Planning

Succession plan plan for

filling management positions in
the event those positions are
suddenly vacated.
craft the size and shape of
the workforce in a way
that supports the
organizations strategy.

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8. WHAT IS HRS ROLE IN STRATEGY AND

PLANNING?
Workforce Growth and Reductions

Growth period strong

recruiting processes will rely on:
constant communication with
managers at every level of the
organization.
strong recruiting methods.

Reduction period:
Layoff termination with
the possibility of rehire once
conditions improve.
For cause termination
dismissal of an employee for
breaking a company policy,
failing to perform, or failing
to adjust to company values,
norms, or culture.

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8. WHAT IS HRS ROLE IN STRATEGY AND

PLANNING?
Most popular >> Discussion Questions
1.

Describe a selection process in which you have participated (either at

work, at school, or in a social club). Was the selection process strategic?
In what ways? Was it tied to the mission, vision, or strategic goals of the
organization? If so, in what ways?

2.

Think about an organization to which you belong, such as a sports team,

musical group, or social club. Is there a succession plan that will help
replace members as they move on? What are the characteristics of the
plan? Is it effective?

3.

Do you know anyone who has been fired or laid off from a job? How was it
done? What was the impact on the person? How would you handle firing
or laying off an employee?
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9. WHAT CAN WE ALL DO TO SUPPORT

EFFECTIVE STRATEGIC PLANNING?
Pattern Recognition

Process of taking in raw information and mentally organizing it

into a model or blueprint that helps explain a situation.
Central aspect of situational awareness ability to quickly identify
relevant patterns, integrate them into decision-making processes, and act
accordingly.
Together with systems thinking essential for effective leadership.

Developing a Personal Vision

Life plan starts with a personal mission (what you believe to be your
purpose in life) and a vision (your aspirations for yourself as a person).
Our dreams feed our personal vision and our image of our ideal self.
Hope and core identity are key elements to define a fulfilling life plan.
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9. WHAT CAN WE ALL DO TO SUPPORT

EFFECTIVE STRATEGIC PLANNING?
Most popular >> Discussion Questions
1.

Why is it important for you to create a personal vision now, while you are
in college? How might this help you choose a career or find an
organization where you will fit in well?

2.

Who in your life today can help you think about your future? What advice
do you think they might give you about your personal vision?

3.

To practice pattern recognition, think about your group of friends. What

similarities exist among them? What are some differences? How is your
group different from other groups on campus or at work?

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