Time is an important consideration when top managers develop company goals and the plans to achieve them. In general, firms have two time spans that they plan for: short term and long term. A short-term strategic plan is one that can be accomplished in a year or sooner. A long-term strategic plan is developed when an objective cannot be accomplished in less than a year. Companies generally have both scales of plans in place at any given time: short-term plans might involve quarterly sales goals, Read More
The Planning Process
The planning cycle looks a lot like the previously discussed strategy cycle because they have a lot in common. In fact, the planning process is an integral part of the strategy cycle, since developing objectives, creating strategies, and implementing firm-wide activities all require extensive planning. The first step in planning is to set a goal to be accomplished. Making sure that the goal checks off all of the SMART criteria (explained in detail later in this chapter) will help make the Read More