Strategic Thinking, Project Management, Strategic Plan Importance

This report delves into the critical relationship between strategic thinking, project management, and the successful development and implementation of strategic plans. It begins by defining strategic thinking as a comprehensive planning process that fosters innovation and creativity, essential for creating value and adapting to a competitive global environment. The report highlights the importance of strategic thinking in decision-making, resource allocation, and utilizing internal and external data, including customer and employee insights. It then explores project management's role in executing strategic plans, emphasizing the identification and prioritization of projects, along with the need for employee engagement and commitment. The report further examines the strategic planning process, including assessment, strategy formulation, execution, and evaluation. Finally, it identifies key factors for successful implementation, such as employee engagement, effective communication, fostering innovation, and cultivating a supportive organizational culture. This report provides a comprehensive overview of these interconnected elements, offering valuable insights for effective strategic management, contributed by a student for Desklib's AI-powered study tools.

STRATEGIC THINKING, PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND THEIR
IMPORTANCE TO THE STRATEGIC PLAN DEVELOPMENT AND
IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS
1

Contents
STRATEGIC THINKING, PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND THEIR IMPORTANCE TO THE
STRATEGIC PLAN DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS......................................1
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Strategic Thinking........................................................................................................................................3
Importance of Strategic thinking.................................................................................................................3
Process of the Strategic Thinking.................................................................................................................3
Role of leaders in the Strategic Thinking.....................................................................................................4
Project Management...................................................................................................................................5
Strategic plan development and implementation.......................................................................................6
Role of strategic management.................................................................................................................6
Steps in the strategic planning................................................................................................................6
Attributes of the framework of good planning............................................................................................7
Successful implementation of the strategic plan.........................................................................................7
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................8
Bibliography...............................................................................................................................................10
2

Introduction
The present global environment is very competitive. A strategy is an urgent need for all business
organisations. The business organisation formulates strategy in order to remain as the market
leader. The need of strategic thinking has been found in the current time. Strategic thinking
refers to a planning that is made comprehensively and that covers innovation, both strategic &
operational planning. Strategic thinking is used to develop a business strategy to get success.
Strategic Thinking
The organisations have understood that the past experiences cannot always help them to
formulate strategies in the present time. It is important for the management of the organisation
to think considerably how to create value for the consumers. Strategic thinking deals with ‘what’
& ‘why’ of the process of the planning (BISK, 2017). For the successful strategic thinking
innovation & creativity are required. The strategic thinking includes a research phase that makes
an assessment of the voice of the customers, employees & the best practices of the industry. Thus
it is considered as the process of the assessment of our roles, needs of understanding the
customers; requirements and also to ensure that all have been linked together for defining
strategic imperative.
Importance of Strategic thinking
The objective of strategic thinking is to prepare a strategy that will help to make a framework for
the making of decisions to direct the business & utilise the resources of the organisation. The
internal & external data is used for the strategic thinking (Burke, 2008). Strategic thinking also
uses the qualitative combination of the opinion & perception. The outcome of the successful
strategic thinking process is a strategy.
Process of the Strategic Thinking
In the process of the research phase, three things are taken into consideration. They are the
customer’s voice, engagement of the employee and benchmarking. In the strategic phase, the
importance is given on innovation, strategic & operational planning. The measurement of the
strategic planning is made in order to make the strategy successful (Dalton, 2007).
3

Innovation creates possibilities of meeting the needs & the expectations of the customers and the
organisation. In the process of the innovation, the requirements of the customer, organisation &
the employees are incorporated. Benchmarking is also incorporated in order to ensure that the
best practices of the industry are inducted in the vision of the future.
The involvement of the employees in every stage of the process of the strategic thinking is
important. For the successful execution of the plans, the employees remain involved. The
involvement of the employees brings success to the operational planning (Duncan, 2016). The
strategies are formulated and developed into the action plan which is easily achievable. This
ensures that the expectations of the customers & the organisation are met.
Measurement plays an important role in the strategic thinking. There is always a need for
assessing the effectiveness of the on-going process. This is also important to see that the plans
are implemented successfully. For the benchmarking of the original requirements against the
actions that are implemented, it is important to make the measurement (Gates, 2010).
The strategic change is implemented successfully with the complete cooperation of the
employees and the employees should incorporate the change in every step of action. The role of
the establishment of values & principles is very important. This is required to ensure the
organisation successful and strategic goals are achieved.
Role of leaders in the Strategic Thinking
The responsibility of the leaders of the organisation is to undertake the strategic thinking in the
planning of their business. The quick decision of the leaders is always a risk and it does not have
creativity & insights. The lack of innovation makes the leader understand that the organisation is
not performing in the right way (Duncan, 2016). Thus strategic thinking is very much important
in the process of the strategic plan.
The leader of the organisation focuses on strategic planning for the whole of the organisation and
even for each department of the organisation. The objective or goal of the leader is to make a
plan that is beyond the thinking, plan and beyond the other forces of the competitors. The leader
works to pursuit fulfillment. Thus the leader requires seeing something that has not be
envisioned by the other competitors of the organisation.
4

Project Management
Project management is also an important part for the successful outcomes of the strategic plans
of the organisation. Soon after the organisation sets its strategic plan, there are two things are
taken into account. They are linked to the project management. The most important thing is to
identify the project which will ensure that the organisation will get success in the process of the
execution of the strategic plan (Gates, 2010). The organization will get success when it finds the
appropriate projects for the completion of each activity.
Project management focuses on initiation, plan, execution, control & closing a work of the team
in order to achieve the goals & meet the success criteria. The aim of the project is based on
designing unique products or services with a specific beginning & end so that it will meet the
goal & objective. The aim of the project management is to bring beneficial change or to add
value.
The different projects are initiated in order to execute the strategic plan. Each project requires
different sources and the different process to be completed so that each activity will be
completed successfully (Highsmith, 2009). The leaders of the organisation prioritize the projects
that can deliver the success. The projects that are given high priority are always taken care by the
management of the organisation. The proper resources are required to ensure the success. Thus
in this process of ensuring the success of the project the involvement of the employees is very
important. The commitment & the high involvement of the workers of the organisation can
bring success. The commitment of the employees to spend the needed amount of time on the
project can ensure success.
The involvement of the employees in the project ensures that they have understood the strategic
plan completely. The convinced employees are committed to the accomplishment of the strategy
and they want to execute it successfully. They completely realize that their involvement will
help the organisation to complete the project and the company can achieve the goals (Kouzes &
Posner, 2008).
The role of leaders in leading the people in the right direction is very much important. They
engage people in the right direction and make them realize the needs of the strategic plan for the
successful accomplishment of the goals. Thus it is very much important to formulate the plan for
the completion of the project successfully.
5

Strategic plan development and implementation
The strategic plan is defined as a document that is used to communicate all the stakeholders of
the organisation about the goals of the organisation and the required actions for the achievement
of the goals. The strategic plan also includes all critical elements that are developed during the
exercise of the planning.
Role of strategic management
It is the complete collection of the continuing activities & processes that the company or the
organisation use for the systematic coordination & alignment of the resources, actions, goals, and
objectives & also the strategy all through the organisation. The transformation of the static plan
has been made with the activities of the strategic management (Kumar, 2009). This provides
feedback on the performance so that it helps the decision-making to plan the requirements for the
growth of the project activities and it also helps the management to make necessary changes as
per the requirements of the project.
Steps in the strategic planning
The strategic planning & management have different frameworks & methodologies. These
frameworks are based on the basic phases. They are:
1. Assessment or analysis
In this phase, the project planning focuses on the development of the current internal & external
environment of the organisation.
2. Formulation of the strategy
During the formulation of the strategy, a high level of strategy is framed and the documentation
of the strategic plan is made.
3. Execution of the strategy
In this stage the plan becomes operational and action is taken.
4. Evaluation
6

In this phase, the assessment of the ongoing project is made. The reporting of data,
communication & the assessment of the issues related to the strategic management is done. This
is very crucial as it predicts the success of the project.
Attributes of the framework of good planning
The strategic plans are developed by the organisations. The creation of the future vision is made
successfully by the organisation. For the successful future vision, strategies are required to be
prepared. Due to unsuccessful plan, the organisation cannot deliver the outcomes of the
expected strategies. The organisations fail to realize their future vision and they also cannot
formulate the correct strategic plan (Wiedenbeck, 2010). The project management cannot find
out the faults in the growth of the project and they cannot make a proper assessment of the
project development. The project team goes on repeating the mistakes with an expectation that
the plan will be corrected automatically in the next phase of the project. The project cannot get
success as the assessment of the development of the project is not done successfully. The proper
assessment of the project helps the management to correct the faults (Luu, et al., 2008).
Successful implementation of the strategic plan
There are some important factors that contribute to the successful implementation of the strategic
plan. These factors are described below.
1. Engagement
It is a fact that strategic plan is not an event, it is a process. The most important element required
in the process is the engagement of all the employees of the organisation throughout the project.
The engagement of the employees gives additional benefits to the plan. This helps the plan to
build commitment of the employees in order to end the plan. Thus it is very important to engage
all the employees in the strategic planning & in the direction of the organisation. The issue,
challenge, concern & opportunity are clearly understood for the engagement of the employees.
The execution of the strategy becomes successful due to the involvement of the employees (Pree,
2008).
7

Thus it is very important for the leaders of the organisation to encourage the employees to
involve in the execution of the strategic planning. This will ensure the success in the process of
the execution of the plan.
2. Communication
The processes of strategic planning will be successful if communication is made appropriately to
all levels of employees. The proper communication will help the employees to get involved in
the process (Qureshi & Warraich, 2009). The employees can give feedback about the growth of
strategic plan if communication is made appropriately.
The leaders of the organisation play an important role in communicating the employees the
strategic plan for the success of the goals.
3. Innovation
Innovation is very important for the success of the strategic plan. The leader of the organisation
uses innovation for the success of the strategy. The leaders inspire people to work with
innovative strategy.
4. Culture
The culture of the organisation is based on the attitude value, belief & behaviour of the
employees. There is diversity in the culture of the organisation. The employees become
responsible and committed when they believe that change in the organisation is necessary
(Velsor, et al., 2010).
In this context, the role of leaders is to motivate people to understand the need of the change.
The leaders will communicate the value of change and how it will help in the growth of the
organisation.
Conclusion
There is always a need of establishing a clear & appropriate process of the strategic planning.
The engagement of all level of workers is important to ensure the success. The communication is
8

also very important for the success of the strategy. Innovation is very vital for a successful
process of strategy. Projects are important to be created so that all the resources of the
organisations will be monitored easily. The stakeholders are required to be conveyed the
importance of the strategic plan for the growth of the organisation.
Bibliography
9

balancedscorecard.org, 2017. Strategic Planning Basics. [Online]
Available at: http://www.balancedscorecard.org/BSC-Basics/Strategic-Planning-Basics
[Accessed 20 09 2017].
BISK, 2017. Understanding the Value of Strategic Planning. [Online]
Available at: https://essentialsofbusiness.ufexec.ufl.edu/resources/general/understanding-the-value-of-
strategic-planning/#.WcKIVfMjEdU
[Accessed 20 09 2017].
Burke, R., 2008. Project Management, Planningand Control Techniques. s.l.:John Wiley and Somns.
Dalton, F., 2007. Oivotal Decision Making. Contract Management, 47(2).
Duncan, H., 2016. PROJECT PLANNING A STEP BY STEP GUIDE. [Online]
Available at: https://www.projectsmart.co.uk/project-planning-step-by-step.php
[Accessed 20 09 2017].
Gates, L. P., 2010. Strategic Planning with Critical Success Factors and Future Scenarios: An Integrated
Strategic Planning Framework. [Online]
Available at: https://www.sei.cmu.edu/reports/10tr037.pdf
[Accessed 20 09 2017].
Highsmith, J., 2009. Agile Project Management: Creating Innovative Products,. s.l.:Addison-Wesley.
Kouzes, J. & Posner, B., 2008. The Leadership Challenge: The Leadership Practcies Inventory. San
Francisco: CA: Jossey- Bass.
Kumar, A., 2009. General Principles Management Principles. [Online]
Available at: http://www.practical-management.com/Project-Management/General-Project-
Management-Principles.html
[Accessed 20 09 2017].
Luu, V. T., Kim, S. Y. & Huynh, T. A., 2008. “Improving project management performance of large
contractors using. International Journal of Project Management,, 256(7), pp. 758-769.
Mintzberg, H., 2009. Managing. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.
Pree, M. D., 2008. Leadership Jazz: The Essential Elements of a Great Leader. New York: Doubledday.
Qureshi, T. M. & Warraich, A. S., 2009. “Significance of project management performance assessment.
International Journal of Project Management, Volume 27, pp. 378-388.
Stanleigh, M., 2017. Role of Strategic Thinking in Business Planning | Business .... [Online]
Available at: https://bia.ca/the-role-of-strategic-thinking-in-business-planning/
[Accessed 20 09 2017].
10

Velsor, V., McCuley & Ruderman, 2010. Developing of Leaders. In: The Center for Creative Leadership
handbook of leadership development. San Francisco,: Jossey Bass.
Wiedenbeck, J. a. P. J., 2010. Digital Technology Use by Companies in the Furniture, Cabinet,
Architectural Millwork, and Related Industries. Forest Products Journal,, 60(1), pp. 78-85.
11