STRATEGIC VISION ABOUT FUTURE strategic vision DEFINITION Ideas for the direction and activities of business development.

Generally included in a document or statement so all company managers can share the same vision for the company and make decisions according to the shared principles and company mission. Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy. In order to determine the future direction of the organization, it is necessary to understand its current position and the possible avenues through which it can pursue particular courses of action. Generally, strategic planning deals with at least one of three key questions: 1. "What do we do?" 2. "For whom do we do it?" 3. "How do we excel?" George Friedman in The Next 100 Years summarises "the fundamental principle of strategic planning: hope for the best, plan for the worst". TOOLS & APPROACHES: Tools include: Balanced Scorecards, which creates a systematic framework for strategic planning; Scenario planning, which was originally used in the military and recently used by large corporations to analyze future scenarios. SWOT analysis (Strengths. Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) PEST analysis (Political, Economic, Social, and Technological) EPISTEL (Environment, Political, Informatic, Social, Technological, Economic and Legal). ATM Approach (Antecedent Conditions, Target Strategies, Measure Progress and Impact) How Do I Develop Strategic Planning Vision Statements? by Malik Sharrieff, Demand Media One of the most important efforts a new business can undertake is developing a strategic planning vision statement. This statement provides the corporate body and its leadership with the image of what business success will be for the company. The vision statement offers clear direction regarding how the company will progress toward the vision. It also serves as the foundation for the corporate mission, strategies and tactics for achieving success. Free Lab Management Tools Manage Order Requests, Inventory Protocols & Facilities. Join today! Step 1 Write down a brief list of the products your business provides. List the attributes that make your business the best in the industry or differentiate you from your closest competitors. Note what characteristics give your business a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Step 2

Record the real value the customer receives from your business. This could include positive feelings or tangible solutions to problems. Remember that real value does not come from the features of your product or service, but from the benefits those features provide. Related Reading: How Do Companies Come Up With Vision Statements? Step 3 Write down your corporate philosophy. Detail what ethical standards your company should maintain and what its social responsibilities should be. Step 4 Identify what you want your company to achieve in the marketplace within five to 10 years. Express these in succinct sentences such as Our Brand, Inc. will be a dominant force in the widget marketplace or Our Brand and Co. will possess the controlling market share of the widget industry within the entire state of Texas. Step 5 Research the vision statements of at least five publicly traded companies; find at least two successful firms from your industry, if possible. Analyze the structure, length and style of the examples you find and use them to help generate more ideas on how to format your vision statement. Step 6 Use the information you generated in Step 4 to write what your companys end state will be in one sentence of 20 words or less. Write one brief statement of less than 20 words on how your company will do business using the ideas you listed in Step 3. State in fewer than 20 words what real value your business efforts will provide to your customer. Step 7 Revise the statements you wrote in Step 6 by limiting yourself to a maximum of two sentences and a total of 45 words. Focus your revision on capturing the substance of the draft of your vision statement. Leave out any fluff or verbiage aimed at marketing your business. Keep your strategic planning vision statement centered on how your company will achieve its longterm goals.