https://www.bcgperspectives.com/content/articles/strategic-planning-business-unit-strategy-four-best-practices-strategic-planning/?utm_source=201607Q2TOP&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=otr

Strategic planning is one of the least-loved organizational processes. Executives at most companies criticize it as overly bureaucratic, insufficiently insightful, and ill suited for today’s rapidly changing markets. Some even argue that strategic planning is a relic that should be relegated to the past and that organizations seeking to prosper in turbulent times should instead invest in market intelligence and agility.

In short, the problem isn’t strategic planning. It’s that most companies lack an effective strategic-planning process.

Although there is no one-size-fits-all approach to strategic planning, we have found that the companies that get the most benefit from their strategic-planning activities have four things in common:

• They explore strategy at distinct time horizons.

• They constantly reinvent and stimulate the strategic dialogue.

• They engage the broad organization.

• They invest in execution and monitoring.