Center for Strategic Planning (CSP)

Strategic planning determines the long-term direction and goals of an organization; the processes that will move it in that direction and towards those goals; and how the organization will determine whether it has achieved the goal. A Strategic Plan and a Business Plan are tightly coupled. Whereas a strategic plan covers the entire organization, a business plan focuses on a specific project, program, service, or product of the organization. In today’s environment, successful business plans are used as vehicles to move the most promising technologies from the laboratory into products and services and mission operations.

The most important tool used in strategic planning is the development of the Strategic Plan itself. There are several models used in developing strategic plans for an organization. These models range from plans developed by senior and middle managers to models that include all organizational employees. A variety of tools and techniques to faciliate strategic planning include “SWOT” analysis (assessments to identify Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats); six pillars of negotiation; and industry analyses guided by Porter’s Five Forces Analysis.

The development of a strategic plan is beneficial in many ways. However, it is extremely important that standard models and methods are not indiscriminately imposed on organizations of different types and sizes. A strategic plan should take into account the organization’s culture, core competencies and capabilities, technological complexity, location, and commercial, political, and geographic enviroment.

Different viewpoints, models, and approaches are employed in strategic planning. These include, for example, goal-based strategic planning, issue-based planning, and organic planning. Some plans are meant to cover a year, some three years, and others five to ten years into the future. The strategic planning process itself must be customized for the organization’s size, industry, culture, and vision. The Center for Strategic Planning takes into account your organization’s specific needs and tailors the learning environment to those requirements. The Center specializes in research and teaching of variables in international cultures andnorms the mastery of which determine the success or failure of for-profit and non-profit organizations in a global marketplace. The Center has expert facilitators who have participated in and conducted strategic planning exercises for major organizations.

CSP Chairman:

TBA

CSP Council of Advisors (COA)

TBA