Summary:

Strategic planning is a process in which organizations define expectations of the future, identify resources that will be needed to ensure success, and take the necessary steps to achieve expectations. There is a myriad of methods used by organizations to determine their focus, direction and measures of success.

Strategic planning strives to answer the following questions, “Who are we?”; “Where are we going?” ; and “How we will get to where we are going?”  By defining these questions, organizations leverage their focus and their resources, which leads to a greater chance of success in achieving both short and long term goals. However, the best strategic plan will fail if it is not worked into daily operations and measured for results.

Article Quote:

“Strategic thinking and business planning processes should help you create a clear sense of purpose, direction and focus for all stakeholders that is measurable, sustainable, requires involvement and drives the actions of everyone — yes, everyone — in the organization to achieve predetermined results.”

Link: http://ordsunshinepumpers.wordpress.com/2010/02/18/a-conversation-about-the-economy-strategic-planning/

There is a fourth question that needs be addressed when developing a strategic plan; “What kind of environment can we expect to encounter along the way?”

Both the internal and external environment needs to be analyzed with the use of scenario planning, to deal with these environmental factors. For example, is the internal atmosphere – the individuals in the organization – going to be resistant to the plan? Is there new processes being introduced that will cause change resistance or do some members in the organization feel the plan is fundamentally flawed and therefore will be hesitant in helping achieve results?

These questions and others need to be asked in the development process not only to identify possible conflicts, but also to have a plan in place if they are encountered.

Fore more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/

Summary:

Marketing excellence programmes have become commonplace in the pharmaceutical industry. The concept of these programmes suggests that as industries mature and it becomes harder to differentiate technologically, competitive advantage flows from the ability to segment, position and deliver extended value propositions.

Yet, after 12 years of examination, Dr. Brian Smith finds the results of this up-skilling frenzy disappointing. By and large, these firms describe their marketing excellence programmes as costing lots of money and even more time, but delivering little tangible improvement in capabilities or performance. Why this is can be summarized in seven fundamental flaws that are often embedded into the structure of marketing excellence programmes. For a complete explanation of the seven deadly sins of marketing excellence, follow the link below.

Article Quote:

“The recent blooming of a thousand marketing excellence programmes in the pharmaceutical industry has been one of the most noticeable trends in our industry, but it has not been surprising. The same phenomenon has been observed in other sectors, from consumer goods to cars, from IT to financial services, as technical innovation became a more difficult route to differentiation.”

Link: http://pharmexec.findpharma.com/pharmexec/Europe/The-Seven-Deadly-Sins-of-Marketing-Excellence/ArticleStandard/Article/detail/657777?contextCategoryId=48182

The research conducted by Dr. Brian Smith reveals that the reasons for the pharmaceutical industry’s difficulty in extracting value from marketing excellence lie mostly in the industry culture. The culture assumes that a social science-based discipline like marketing can be managed in the same way as we manage natural science disciplines.

For more on strategic planning, see http://www.performancesolutionstech.com/category/strategicplanning/