Evidence on the Value of Strategic Planning in Marketing - Term Paper Example

Introduction Recent times have experienced an increased interest in and use of the concepts and fundamentals of strategic planning in the running of profit and non-profit organizations. In fact, strategic planning has been largely embraced in both private and government organizations and agencies (Allison & Kaye, 2005). Obviously, the concept of strategic planning must have some benefits, which makes it favored by contemporary organizations. The United States’ Department of Homeland Security, mandated to ensure the internal security of the country, is one of the government agencies and departments that have designed and continue to implement strategic planning. There are several reasons for which strategic planning is implemented in the department and its many organizations. This executive paper explores the importance of strategic planning to the Department of Homeland Security and its organizations. However, it is important that the meaning of strategic planning is first understood, more so in the context of the department and its agencies. In essence, strategic planning refers to the mechanisms established to indicate the direction an organization intends to take in a specified period. In addition, strategic planning entails the processes and activities by which an organization will attain its objectives within the target period and the indicators of the attainment of the set objectives (Allison & Kaye, 2005). Unlike business plans, which focus on specific programs or products, strategic planning covers an entire organization’s vision, mission, interests, and goals. A number of models and approaches to strategic planning are used by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The determinants on the models of strategic planning to be applied by a given organization include an agency’s leadership, complexity, planner expertise, organizational culture, structure, size, and environment (Allison & Kaye, 2005). The Department’s Office of Strategic Plans Recognizing the importance of strategic planning, the department established the office of strategic plans with the mandate to express the department’s and its Secretary’s vision, mission, goals, objectives, and priorities. This role of articulating these priorities helps the department to plan for the creation of products that meet client needs using the available resources economically (Homeland Security, 2012). There are several pillars that drive the office of the strategic plans to achieve its goals. These principles include the responsibility to promote inter-departmental/organizational collaborations, even with other ministries. The office also seeks to integrate the entire department as far as its strategies are concerned. What is more, the office of strategic plans encourages the realization of the department’s strategic vision and mission by ensuring that its resources are allocated and used in line with its mandate and priorities (Homeland Security, 2012). Of greatest importance is the role of the office in championing the improvement of the department’s strategic measurement and performance. The importance of strategic planning to the department is thus shown by the many responsibilities given to the office of strategic plans. For these functions to be implemented, the office has various divisions such as the strategic studies and analysis division, and the strategic requirements, capabilities, and assessment division. While the former division has the responsibility of coordinating the department’s strategic initiatives and providing it with independent and critical assessment of its proposed strategic actions, the latter division transforms the department’s and the Secretary’s vision, mission, and priorities into planning priorities, resource allocation, decisions, and integrates the department’s operations (Homeland Security, 2012). The Importance of Strategic Planning to Homeland Security There are several reasons for which the Department of Homeland Security and its agencies have strategic plans. First, strategic planning enables the security organizations to define and clarify their purposes and objectives to their employees and the public. In the process, strategic planning ensures that the department’s agencies establish and seek to accomplish realistic goals and objectives that are consistent with their mandate, mission, and their capacity to achieve these goals (Erica, 2012). The second importance of strategic planning to the DHS is that it helps in the dissemination of its agencies’ objectives to all the stakeholders, in the process giving them a sense of ownership in the department’s operations. Importantly, strategic planning helps the security organizations in the department to effectively use the available resources in addressing their core and prioritized functions rather than waste them on non-issues. Fourthly, strategic planning provides the basis on which organizational and departmental progress may be monitored, measured, and reformed whenever necessary. Strategic planning also empowers and gives opportunity to all its stakeholders to participate in the running of the department and its agencies. That is, strategic planning is necessary for consensus building in the department. There are other minor reasons for which strategic planning is embraced by the Department of Homeland Security. For instance, strategic planning results in improved effectiveness and efficiency as it offers clear focus for the department. Additionally, the department’s management and junior officers are bridged, creating great teams and the all-important teamwork spirit needed for the realization of personal and organizational growth and empowerment. In this sense, strategic planning glues the department’s employees together, producing client and worker satisfaction and motivation respectively, given that strategic planning is done around a single vision (Armstrong & Reibstein, 1985). There is thus improved creativity and problem solution due to the teamwork spirit and the common vision and mission. The other apparent use of strategic planning is that it enables the department and its agencies to align and match their organizational and operational strengths with the available opportunities and resources so as to propel them in the direction of their goals (Armstrong & Reibstein, 1985). Strategic planning thus offers the department a roadmap to its operations, which are critical to DHS’s management, target customers, products, services, and finances. Strategic planning is also used a measuring tool, which charts an organization’s failure or success on a regular basis, for if an organization finds itself on a failure track, the right adjustments are made to ensure productivity. On the other hand, a strategic plan indicating a success path gives the stakeholders a piece of mind in the knowledge that objectives will be met. It is also important in pointing out the aspects of an organization that require attention during challenging or unforeseen hard times, rather priceless information for profit-oriented and non-profit organizations (Reuss & Burkhart, 1993). The role of improved communication created by strategic planning as employees get to understand their roles, responsibilities, and objectives cannot be overemphasized. Scheduling Strategic Planning While strategic planning has, as mentioned above, quite many benefits, it could be futile if it is not designed and implemented at the right time. It is thus of great value that the department and its security agencies identify the right times to schedule and implement strategic planning. For instance, identified among the critical factors that influence the scheduling of strategic planning are the nature, the immediate environment, and the needs of the security organizations in the department (Reuss & Burkhart, 1993). That is, frequent strategic planning is recommended for DHS’s agencies that deal in services and products that change rapidly. These organizations may have their strategic planning done once or twice a year. Notably, such strategic planning should be comprehensive and detailed, focusing on organizational and departmental mission, vision, values, strategies, budgets, time-lines, responsibilities, and any other related issues. On the other hand, a long established agency of the department with a stable mandate and job description may carry out strategic planning once in a while or only require doing so for the affected sections or operations of the organization (Monahan & Palmer, 2009). There is a proposed guideline that the department and its agencies should use in scheduling their strategic planning. First, the department should do a strategic planning for a newly started agency within its ranks and the plan should be part of the business plan for the new organization just as financial, operational, and management plans are. The second instance in which the department’s agencies should do strategic planning is when a new venture or program is to be initiated. That is, at the creation of a new division, product/service or a new organization. Strategic planning is also recommended for new fiscal years, more so for objectives that are to be realized within given fiscal year/period or using specified resources (Reuss & Burkhart, 1993). Furthermore, organizations that are undergoing a lot of changes may also find it necessary to design and implement strategic planning. Besides a continued updating of its strategic planning, the Department of Homeland Security should review the progress of its strategic plan regularly, maybe on a quarterly basis (Monahan & Palmer, 2009). However, the frequency of these reviews depends on the rate of change an agency is undergoing in a given instance. The Strategic Planning Models To realize the mentioned benefits of strategic planning, the Department of Homeland security uses various models of or approaches to strategic planning processes. First among these is the goal-based approach to strategic planning in which the department and its agencies set short- and long-term financial and non-financial objectives. This step is then followed by the mapping out of the necessary steps to achieve these objectives. The objectives should not only be realistic but also concrete and measurable so that the department knows whether they have been attained or not. The second model of strategic planning used at the Department of Homeland Security is mission-based, based on the vision, mission, and the values established when the department was formed or modified during its lifetime (Monahan & Palmer, 2009). This approach to strategic planning emphasizes the purposes and the overall reasons for which the department and its agencies were formed (Armstrong, 1986). For instance, a specific agency of the department’s may aspire to be recognized as the leader in gathering domestic intelligence for the safety and the security of the public. Its strategies and service delivery should therefore be aligned to this mission. However, there are not strict rules on the models of strategic planning and different names could refer to the same or related models. Conclusion Just like any other for-profit and non-profit organizations, the Department of Homeland Security stands to benefit a lot from strategic planning. Among the core roles of strategic planning is that it allows the DHS to identify and define its values, mission, and vision. In this regard, departmental values, mission, goals, and vision are critical components of strategic planning. Strategic planning thus shows what the department wants, how it would operate, and its idealized status in the environment it operates in. In addition, it outlines the DHS’s basic purposes of existence and the beliefs of its stakeholders such as the government, top management, and other employees. It is these values, mission, and vision, as enshrined in the department’s strategic plan, which define and drive its culture, structure, operations, and successes. References Allison, M., and Kaye, J. (2005). Strategic planning for nonprofit organizations, second edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Armstrong, J. S., and Reibstein, D. J. (1985). “Evidence on the Value of Strategic Planning in Marketing: How Much Planning Should a Marketing Planner Plan?” Retrieved on October 7, 2012 from http://www.forecastingprinciples.com/paperpdf/evidenceonthevalue.pdf Armstrong, J. S. (1986). “The Value of Formal Planning for Strategic Decisions: A Reply.” Strategic Management Journal, 7(1), 185. Retrieved October 7, 2012 from http://www.forecastingprinciples.com/paperpdf/Value%20of%20Formal%20Planning.pdf Erica, O. (2012). Strategic planning kit for dummies, second edition. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Homeland Security. (2012). “Office of Strategic Plans.” Retrieved October 7, 2012 from http://www.dhs.gov/office-strategic-plans Monahan, T. and Palmer, N.A. (2009). The Emerging Politics of DHS Fusion Centers. Security Dialogue, 40(6): 636. Reuss, S., and Burkhart, P. L. (1993). Successful strategic planning: a guide for nonprofit agencies and organizations. Newbury Park: Sage Publications. Read More