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Basics of Marketing - Kotler Philip

Strategic planning

Many firms work without formal plans. In the novice companies, managers are so busy that they simply do not have time to plan. In mature firms, many managers say that so far they have done well without formal planning, and therefore, it can not be of significant significance. They do not want to waste time preparing a plan, in writing. According to them, the situation on the market is changing too rapidly, so that there is some benefit from the plan, and in the end it will simply collect dust on the shelf. It is for these and a number of other reasons that many firms do not apply formal planning.

But formal planning promises many benefits. Melville Branch lists these benefits in the following order. 1. Planning encourages executives to constantly think in advance, 2. It leads to a more precise coordination of efforts undertaken by the firm. Z. It leads to the establishment of performance indicators for follow-up control. 4. It makes the firm more clearly define its tasks and policy settings. 5. It makes the firm more prepared for sudden changes. 6. It more clearly demonstrates the interrelationship of the duties of all officials1.

Since strategic planning is a springboard for any other planning within the firm, consider it in the first place. We define strategic planning as follows:

Strategic planning - a management process of creating and maintaining a strategic fit between the goals of the company and its potential opportunities and chances in the field of marketing. It relies on a clearly formulated program statement of the firm, an outline of supporting goals and objectives, a healthy business portfolio and a growth strategy.

The stages of strategic planning are shown in Fig. 84, and their description is given below.

Fig. 84. Strategic Planning Stages