Pursuing organizational clarity and alignment towards a common strategic direction, which has preoccupied researchers and practitioners for several decades, is still a challenging battle despite all the social and economic advancements the business environment has achieved. Nowadays, most corporations even have a dedicated department, such as the Office of Strategy Management (Strategy Office), to ensure rigorous planning. However, Strategic planning is only the initial step in coordinating an entire organization toward achieving common goals.

Strategic planning should be regarded as a recurrent process that sets the entity on the right track and recalibrates "what I want to do" with "what I am doing." Most commonly, this process takes place every six or twelve months, but depending on the maturity of the organization, its needs, and the context, it can be structured differently.

1. Forming or restructuring an organization – in this scenario, strategic planning includes the following stages: a. define organizational identity, b. environmental scan and internal analysis, c. identify value drivers, d. formulate objectives, e. establish the KPIs and targets associated, f. communicate strategy.

2. Regular strategic planning – biannually or annually, the process can be reiterated only from the objectives formulation stage. Organizational identity (vision, mission, values) can be reviewed every 3 to 5 years if no need has been outlined in this concern to require an unexpected reassessment. Environmental scans and internal analysis (e.g., SWOT analysis) can occur annually, even twice a year, if there is sufficient agility to perform these activities cost-effectively. The in-depth study may differ, given the frequency with which it is deployed.

In many organizations, the strategy fails to deliver on its promises. Although there may be other various reasons for this, a common trap is a misalignment between the strategic plan and the key performance indicators or metrics the company tracks. Strategic planning and performance management rely heavily on each other, as no matter how good the planning is, without the direct feedback provided by KPIs, the company fails to adapt to market demands.

Many executives are questioning whether strategic planning still makes sense in the modern business environment, which is so dynamic and constantly changing. Does strategic planning improve company performance? A traditional and rigid strategic planning process will not improve the organization's bottom line. As organizations and markets become more complex, executives must adapt management processes creatively. Critical characteristics of modern strategic planning processes include:

• · Increased review frequency - Annual strategic planning may be ineffective if it does not include intermediary strategy review sessions (quarterly, biannually). Adapting to change is vital; without frequent review, adjusting in due time is not possible.


• · Improved strategy focus – the agenda of top management is filled with meetings, and executives spend tens of hours in meetings every month, but how much of the talks are actually about strategy matters? Most concerns relate to operational stuff, making managers lose sight of the medium and long-term perspective. Strategy should appear more often on the agenda of meetings. Moreover, establishing a dedicated team, such as the Office of Strategy Management (Strategy Office), contributes significantly to focusing on strategic matters and recalibrating the tools and processes in this area.


• · Simplified strategy - Simple but not simplistic, the strategic plan should indicate the organization's goals, how they are measured, and the specific actions required to achieve the targets. A well-structured strategy can easily be captured in one-page documents such as Strategy Maps.


• · Improved strategy communication - one of the most common causes of strategy failure is poor communication. Employees are not fully aware or they do not understand what the company wants to achieve, therefore all the small decisions taken daily, but in opposite directions are creating inefficiencies and value losses. Better communication will firstly rely on the aspect previously mentioned: simplifying strategy and creativity in terms of interacting with employees. Examples of suitable communication practices include the usage of strategy map posters, videos, posting on internal online platforms, social media interactions on strategic matters (e.g., informing on the progress of strategic initiatives), internal awareness sessions, workshops (for top management), even active engagement of internal and external stakeholders in strategy formulation can be seen as a communication technique.


• · Make strategy everyone's job. Concerns about what can be done to achieve strategic objectives should not be limited to the Strategy Office, previously mentioned, or to top management. Each individual should keep medium—and long-term business perspectives in mind. In this manner, opportunities can be better spotted, attitudes and decisions are more aligned with organizational goals, and personal satisfaction increases when the employee sees his contribution to a greater purpose.


• · Focus on people, not on tools – a 2015 research study published by Harvard Business Review indicates that 80% of managers claim their objectives are clear, limited in numbers, specific, and measurable and have the needed tools and funds to achieve them. Despite this favorable scenario, the desired results are not delivered, and the leading cause is the inability to coordinate human efforts and different departments. This reveals the imperious need to work more on the social aspect, impacting both strategy planning and execution. If we don't engage properly managers from the beginning in strategy formulation, they will not be committed. If they do not work well as a team despite coordinating different functional areas, all the investment in tools and technology is useless. Engaging executives nowadays means investing in developing teamwork skills, leadership abilities, system thinking, nurturing their talents, and effective succession management.

Strategy planning tools should enable fast data collection to inform strategy formulation, clear structuring of the strategy message, and effective communication of organizational priorities and targets. Below are some of the most popular and effective tools used in practice.

SWOT Analysis - the origins of this instrument date back to the '60s - '70s, when this 4 perspective matrix (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) emerged as a framework to analyze various companies and identify root causes for corporate planning failure. Nowadays, still widely used, the SWOT analysis enables organizations to identify their strong points to build on and favorable trends to exploit, as well as weak areas and potential risks. It brings together two essential perspectives for strategy formulation – internal and external.

Value Drivers Map - value drivers are crucial elements that must be considered for the organization's relevance to its customers/stakeholders. They represent features of the service/product offered or characteristics of internal processes and resources that are essential so for the competitiveness of a company. Identifying value drivers is vital in formulating the strategy plan and key performance indicators because it enables the strategy to focus on what generates added value for the company. Mapping value drivers refers to identifying potential correlations between different added-value elements and the level at which they occur.

Strategy Plan - The planning usually includes the following key components: strategic directions/goals, strategic objectives, KPIs, targets, and the strategic initiatives or actions that need to be implemented. The strategy plan is the reference document depicting the desired state of evolution of the organization.

Strategy Map - As strategy plans can be extensive in content, a strategy map can facilitate stakeholder communication. This one-page document provides a comprehensive overview of the organizational strategy by highlighting the strategic directions/goals and objectives and their interdependencies. It is designed well to create a strong visual impact, and strategy can be grasped in seconds.

Performance Scorecard - This tool is used for strategic planning and performance management. It combines the strategic objectives, key performance indicators, and the targets established with the actual performance results. It enables performance management by indicating the extent to which the targets were achieved monthly, quarterly, or annually (depending on the KPIs included). Scorecards are not only used at corporate level, they are also valuable instruments which translated strategy at operational levels.

Strategy Communication Plan - the level of employees' awareness and understanding of strategy and their role in strategy execution is vital. To ensure that awareness levels are high, a communication plan should include all stakeholders (internal and external - in some cases), identify the type of information needed to reach them, and identify the communication channels and initiatives. For improved effectiveness in communication, the messages should be tailored to the stakeholders' interests and informational needs, and a variety of transmission channels (email, printed materials, videos, etc.) should be used.