University Business Plan: Strategic Planning Literature Review

This report provides a comprehensive literature review on strategic business planning, covering its history, concepts, and importance in both public and private sectors. The introduction highlights the significance of strategic planning as a crucial tool for organizations to adapt to changing business environments. The report delves into the evolution of business planning, tracing its origins and the development of SWOT analysis. It defines business planning, outlining its components such as financial planning, goal setting, and the need for adaptability. The importance of business planning is emphasized, highlighting its role in guiding organizations, establishing competitive advantages, and responding to environmental changes. The report also touches on the strategic planning process, including the analysis of internal and external environments and the formulation of action plans to achieve desired results. The report emphasizes the need for strategic business planning in an ever-changing business environment and its role as a critical leadership activity.

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BUSINESS PLAN
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Introduction
The literature review revealed that the strategic planning is one of the most popular
practices in various private and public sector enterprises. It is one of the leadership and
management tools that are widely used by the organization to prepare itself for the future and
improve the long term performance of the organization. However, it is increasingly recognized
that the strategic planning of any organization is not enough by itself. The organizations need to
develop and implement strategic plans for an effective leadership in an organization. It implies
that the business planning and the strategic organization are not just for the development
purpose. There is another trend in the organizations to make the process briefer and more
flexible. An elaborate planning process helps to develop a comprehensive and thorough plan in
the business organization. An effective strategic plan and the management require the proper
decision and analysis as to what the business organization should do in the days to come. This
includes that the retaining the employees of the organization and developing their requisite skills
and knowledge to improve their work and productivity in the organization in an effective and in
a most efficient manner. In an increasing social, economic and political change in the business
environment of the organization, there are emerging new paradigms which suggest the business
organization to succeed in the evolving business scenario and the business environment.
Therefore it is important for the business organization to implement a strategic planning and
management which is the crucial tool in the organization for handling the changing business
scenario and its environment. There are significant amount of literature review on the subject of
strategic planning of the organization in general, especially in the private sector enterprises.
However, less has been written about the strategic planning of the public sector enterprise. This

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literature review will be selective in nature and primary focuses on the strategic planning in the
public sector and private sector enterprises.
History
According to Amir Daim and Jetter (2013), the strategic business planning has a long
history in the business organizations. The signs of the business were thought of having military,
where it was essential to develop a comprehensive plan and have a long term strategy of the
organization in order to win the ongoing war in contrast with the short term and limited tactical
planning in order to win the battles or the wars. According to Baker Addams and Davis (2013),
the SWOT analysis that is analysis the strengths, weakness, opportunity, threats of the business
was considered to be one form of strategic planning in the business organization which came out
from the Harvard Business School in the year 1950. It was considered to be their part of the
effort regarding the policy development of the business enterprises and the analysis of the
business strategies considering the internal and external environment of the organization. It was
mentioned by Bell, Bryman and Harley (2018) that for the development of any strategic and
tactical planning in the business organization, the internal and external environment were
scanned and analyzed before developing the plan. In the year 1960 and in 1970s, the parties of
strategic business planning had achieved considerable popularity in the private sector
organization. It was said by Blackburn, Hart and Wainwright (2013), that with the evolution of
time, the importance was increased and it gained popularity and much importance in the public
as well as the nonprofit organization. As mentioned by Brinckmann and Kim (2015), the
strategic planning, techniques and tactics of the business has demonstrated a staying power and

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has a broad usage in various organization in both the private and public sectors business
enterprises.
Concept of business planning
According to Bryson (2018), the strategic business planning of an organization implies a
planning in the management function which involves an organized planning of the business
organization that the business enterprise is going to achieve in the future. According to (Faludi
2013), the business planning of an organization includes a wide and descriptive plan with
specific roles, targets and subtasks, financial planning, description of the work to be executed.
The business planning that is used by the business enterprises can be defined s a detailed
proposal with the use of various planning tools. According to Honing and Samuelsson (2014),
the business planning of an organization is a kind of planning which depends on the skills of the
employees in the organization and the business situation of the organization. As mentioned by
Ibrahim and Primiana (2015), business planning is said to be a guide or instruction to the
business which helps them to provide a document and help them to outline a roadmap of the
business targets, future objectives, goals and strategy of the business organization. It is highly
believed by Jones and Soper (2015), that the business organization must have a close relationship
with the business planning as it is closely associated with competing with the competitors of the
organization in a highly competitive business environment irrespective of the size of the business
enterprises. It is strongly suggested that the business organization must introduce the
organization’s goals, targets, mission and vision. This is highly beneficial to use the action plan
in order to achieve the company’s goals and objectives in the future of the business organization
as said by Laguna and Marklund (2018). It is understood that the business planning must

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including the financial planning of the business as well in order to better implement and
efficiently utilize the resources of the business organization. According to Massa and Tucci
(2013), the business goals of the organization and its operations goals are highly essential for the
attainment of tactical goals and plans. This is highly required to address that the contingency
plan is a backup plan for the failure of the business planning.
According to Mueller and Naffziger (2015), the business planning of an organization is a
part of the company’s stability, to incorporate so; the business organization requires information
from various departments of the organization. This is incorporated by the business organization
by analyzing the organization’s strengths, weakness, opportunity and threats. As mentioned
above by Sneaker (2013), it is highly required by the business organization to analyze the
internal and the external environment of the business in order to attain company growth and
increase the effectiveness of the business organization. According to Wheelen et al. (2017), the
business organization must start off with the initial phase of the organization that is lauching a
new product of the business after analysis the internal and external business environment. It was
mentioned by Baker Addams and Davis 2013 that analyzing the external factors and the internal
factor the business organization can make the necessary changes in the business organization.
The external factors of the business include the threats and opportunity and the internal factors of
the organization include the strengths and weakness. It is clarified by Bell, Bryman and Harley
(2018) that the business planning must not succeed without having marketing and financial
plans. the financial planning of the organization must achieve the organization goals which
considering the organization’s financial stability. As stated by Blackburn, Hart and Wainwright
(2013), previously the business planning and the strategic planning of the organization were
highly lengths and they were followed by a long period of time. However, according to Honig

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and Samuelsson (2014), with the change of time and the business environment and the rapid
change in the business environment, there are new trends in the private sector and the private
sector business enterprises. According to Brinckmann and Kim (2015), there is a brief distinction
between strategic thinking and the strategic planning, the environment trends are more volatile
and the business plan must consistently look out for the business strategies and opportunities.
Importance of business planning
According to Ibrahim and Primiana (2015), the business planning is highly important to
guide the organization towards the performance of the organization with the use of establishing
competitive advantage and it acts as a tool for communicating and coordinating activities, plans
and policies within the organization. As mentioned by Khan and Khalique (2014), it is a tool
which offers significant ell for coping with the environmental organization. It helps the
organization to provide a long term direction to the business organization; it provides a
significant perspective for the various activities performed by the business organization and its
diverse activities. It was agreed by Laguna and Marklund 2018, that this enables the business
organization to perform the current activities of the business and it is also important for the
business organization to view in terms of a longer perspective and probable success of the
business organization. According to Massa and Tucci (2013), business planning is incorporated
by the business organization to cope up with change in the business environment; it needs to
respond to the changes in the business. It was mentioned by Bell, Bryman and Harley (2018),it
guides the business organization to guide the pattern of responses of the business activities to the
address the changes in the business scenario and the changes that are taking place in the business

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environment. Business planning of the organization is highly important as it help the company to
keep its focus on its resources and utilize the resources as per the planning. According to
Blackburn, Hart and Wainwright (2013), the business planning helps the organization to
indentify the critical tasks that is required to be performed and helps the business organization to
manage its activities in an effective and efficient manner. this is turn enables the business
organization to outperform and outwit the competitors in a most successful manner. According
to Brickman and Kim (2015), many business planning refers to the objectives and results in
effective strategic planning. The strategic business planning is used to determine the future
direction of the business enterprise as said by Honig and Samuelsson (2014). The ever changing
and the competitive environment of the business help to provide an impetus for the competitive
planning as a critical leadership activity. According to Baker Addams and Davis (2013), the
strategic business planning is an explicit process for determining the firm’s long term objectives
and goals. It is also a procedure for generating and evaluating the alternative strategic, it is a
system to monitor the results of the business performance with the set standards. According to
Blackburn, Hart and Wainwright (2013), it is also a planning to alter the company’s strength in
relation to its competitors in an effective and most efficient manner. According to Honig and
Samuelsson (2014), the business planning of the organization focuses on the direction of the
organization and the necessary actions to improve the performance of the organization. It is
defined by Jeston (2014), as a process that any business organization engages itself to critically
analyze the external and internal business environment. According to Snedaker (2013), it
involves formulating a business plan of action which is based on creating the best use of the
organization’s resources and assists along with the efficient utilization of the employee’s talents
and skills. According to McDONALD, M.A.L.C.O.L.M (2016), it also involves taking the

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advantage of the business environment opportunities and establishes the methods to reduce the
organization weakness along with effective mitigation of the external business threats. According
to Laguna and Marklund (2018), it identifies the appropriate tactics for implementing the plan
and establishes methods and measurement of the organization that will be applied by the
organization over time which significantly leads to the desired result of the organization.
According to Massa and Tucci (2013), the strategic planning process is undertaken by the
business organization to develop business strategies which contributes to the business
performance. It is conceptualized that the business organization observes the various activities
which takes place in the organization and its business environment as said by Mueller and
Naffziger (2015). It is a process of seeking a better match between the firm’s products and its
machinery and technology in its increasingly turbulent markets.
According to Wheelen et al. 2017, the strategic business planning involves resource
allocation, addressing the organization’s priorities and actions and reaches the goals and
objectives of the organization. According to Mueller and Naffziger (2015), it is a process of
positioning the organization while prioritizing the use of resources to identify the goals and
objectives of the organization. As mentioned by Khan and Khalique (2014), it is a guide in the
direction of the company and its development over a brief period of time. According to Mueller
and Naffziger (2015), the business planning is defined as a continuous process to make the
entrepreneurial decisions of the organization in a systematic manner. According to Mueller and
Naffziger (2015), it also involves the greatest knowledge of their futurity, and its systematic
organization of the firm’s factions and activities while carrying out the decisions and measuring
the results of the organizational performance against the expectations of the business planning
with the use of organized feedback. As mentioned by Laguna and Marklund (2018), the concept

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of strategic and business planning is considered to be one of the principal responsibilities of the
higher eleven management of the organization. According to Massa and Tucci (2013), the higher
level management decides the strategic planning of the organization which the lower level
managers implement the strategic plan through the use of operating plan.
According to Blackburn, Hart and Wainwright (2013), the business plan answer the
questions concerning the reasons for its existence, the purpose of the organization, the main
goals of the organization, it mission, vision and objectives, the resources that the required by the
particular organization for having a successful future of the organization. Further, it answers the
question regarding the customers of the organization or the potential clients and other
stakeholders of the organization. As mentioned by Bell, Bryman and Harley (2018), this concept
provides an accurate and concise clarification of the subject.
Reasons for implementing business planning
According to Ibrahim and Primiana (2015), it is noted that the strategic business planning
helps the management to understand the current situation and allows the business organization to
plan for the future of the organization. The business environment is rapidly changing and it
allows the business organization to become imperative and think strategically for the business
organization to grow. As mentioned by Honig and Samuelsson (2014), the rate of change in the
business environment seems to be escalating; therefore the importance of business planning
continues to grow at a faster rate. It has been identifies that the best managed company tends to
engage in the continuous strategic planning. It was stated by Laguna and Marklund (2018), the
strategic planning of the organization is a way of preparing the future of the business
organization while simulate its future. According to Mueller and Naffziger (2015), the busing

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planning of the organization has a tendency to enable the managers of the organization and
employees of the organization. According to Wheelen et al. (2017), business planning is
important for the business organization, especially those which are inward thinking and are
focusing on the short term. It was stated by Snedaker (2013), it has been proven that the business
firms that highly focus on the long term business plans outperform the business firms which
lacks proper long term business planning of the organization. According to Massa and Tucci
(2013), one of the major advantages of business planning is its long term growth and
performance of the organization. According to Wheelen et al. (2017), another advantage of
strategic business planning is communication; it helped to communicate the intentions of the
high level authorities of the management to the employees and other stakeholders of the
organization. However, according to Mueller and Naffziger (2015), the effectiveness of the
successful business plans depends upon the extent of the organization’s implementation of its
goals, objectives, or targets and also with the working effects and results of the organization. It
was mentioned by Lee et al. (2013); it depends on the degree to which the companies achieve the
objectives and the ability to produce the desired results.
Conclusion
Therefore it can be concluded that the business planning is a management tool that helps
the business organization to focus its resources, energy and ensure the members of the
organization towards achieving the same goals and objectives to access and adjust the
organization direction regarding the business environmental changes. The purpose of the
business planning is to establish the extent to which the leaders and managers of the organization
influences the organizational performance in respect to the business planning. Further, it aims to
establish the extent to which the organizational structure influence the organizational

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performance in respect to the strategic implementation of the business panning, goals and
objectives. It aims to effectively and efficiently utilize the resources of the organization by
implementing the business planning goals and targets. It aims to establish a standard of the
policies and procedures in respect to the strategic implementation of the organizational
performance. From the perspectives of all the authors in the literature review, implementing
business planning and strategic planning will help the business organization to positively impact
the performance of the organization provided that the plans are well implemented and the
activities of the organization are in line with the set standards that is the goals, objectives and
visions of the organization. In a study and recheach, have revealed that to built a relationship
with the business planning and the performance of the organization, adequate attention must be
given to strategic planning and its steps. The steps includes the core mission and the purpose of
the business enterprise, proper scanning of the business environment and the identification of the
firm’s strategies, its choices and setting up the implementation plan and evaluation of the
organization performance with the set standards which positively related to the performance of
the company.
Summary
The strategic business planning of the organization implies well organized planning of the
business organization in order to chive the desired goals and objectives of the business
organization and to achieve the future outcomes of the organization. It has been claimed by
various authors that it is important for the business organization to use a business plan as their
management tool as us provides a brief outline and a roadmap of the business organization’s
targets and strategy along with the future objectives of the organization. It has been determined
that in the past, the business has consistent short term business planning and had very limited

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tactical planning however, it was considered to be inefficient in the long term profitability of the
huskiness. Therefore with the evolution of time and change in the business scenario the business
organizations prioritized the long term business plan considering the SWOT analysis that is the
strengths, weakness, opportunity and threats of the organization. The strengths, weakness are
considered to be internal environment of the business and the external environment analysis
includes the threats and opportunities. This came out from the Harvard Business School. It is
considered to be an important part of the business planning by many authors. An effective and
efficient business planning involves answers to the following question regarding the purpose of
the business, the goals and objectives of the organization, its mission and vision, the resources
that the available in the firm and effective utilization of the resources and assets. It also answers
the questions regarding the potential customers and the target segments of the business
enterprise. It also answers the question regarding the other potential stakeholders of the business
enterprise. This concept of business planning is considered to highly accurate for the business
and it concisely clarifies the subject matter. For the effective and successful implementation of
the business planning, it is important for the business organization to adhere to the set policies
and procedures of the business planning and adhere to the goals, objectives and targets of the
business enterprise. Moreover, it has been identified that the business organization successful
implementation of business planning depends on the degree and the extent to which the company
achieves its goals and objectives; it also depends on the ability of the organization to achieve the
desired results. To summarize, a business plan takes part of the company’s stability and requires
adequate information from the various departments by analyzing its environment effectively.
Other competitive analysis is also important for the business and its focus on the financial
planning helps the business organization to achieve the goals and objectives considering the