Strategic planning — Stability and growth in the face of adversity

Abstract

Every industrial enterprise large or small should plan and replan to assure proper direction of effort and use of resources. This continuous planning effort assures stability and growth of the enterprise and enhances adaptation to changing environmental conditions. Increasingly, planning is required to circumvent the consequences of maturing markets, technological stagnation, and inflation. Every chief executive realizes that final responsibility for leading and directing the strategic planning effort rests on his shoulders. The owner of a small retail establishment must understand that shifting life styles migration to the suburbs or changing consumer tastes requires a change in practices or relocation of the establishment. The president of a major corporation, for example, a manufacturer of fluorocarbon aerosol propellants and explosives, knows that his company’s future is in a precarious position with the ebb and flow of concerns for environmental protection, health, and a peaceful co-existence between nations. Especially at election time, the administrator of a governmental unit awakens to the realization that the populace is demanding new and changing services, yet is in a revolt over the excessive tax burden. Outwardly these examples bear no similarity. It may seem ludicrous to think that a common solution-approach could resolve each dilemma. Yet, proponents of strategic planning demonstrate time and again that a planned resultsorientation, supported with sound operational management, can provide adaptation to changing conditions . . . with stability and growth in the face of adversity. Three premises need be observed to attain these conditions.