Strategy & Planning

Goal setting is one of the most important tools used by organizations to guide them towards achieving their plans. Organizations are guided by their mission statement as their overall purpose for being. Vision statements are planned after the mission statement is established to help guide the company towards the kind of company they want to become.
There are three types of goals an organization can use to start planning how they are going to execute their plan. Starting at the top with executive leadership, they have strategic goal for the company that includes their long term goals. The strategic plan is then set for up to a period of 5 years. From there, middle management sets the tactical goals. Tactical goals range from establishing policies and procedures to coordinating the work of first-line managers (Kinicki & Williams, 2016). Tactical plans are set for up to a period of 24 months. Lastly, first-line managers are set to facilitate the operational goals. First-line managers plan how to accomplish the goals of middle and upper management efficiently over the next 52 weeks.
It is important that middle management and first-line management are part of the strategy process from the beginning (Christian-Liviu, 2013). It is important to bring them in because there will be significant change in the organization that needs to be accepted by all parties involved to guarantee participation by all the workers (Karnani, 2008, p. 515).
Now that the organizational goals are established, plans need to be made to put the plans into action. As stated above, each level of management is responsible for establishing their specific goals and then making plans on how they are to be implemented. The action plan of each group states what they need to do to attain their goal. The operating plan of each group states how the business will run based on the action plans.
Standing plans are important because they establish policy and procedures for the company in order to...