Strategic Thinking and Strategic Planning: Two Pieces of the Same Puzzle

Abstract

An organization’s strategy consists of many factors that form a formula or road map to provide guidance concerning the organization’s goals, how it will go about attaining these goals, and the tactics and policies that are needed to attain those goals Porter (1980). Thus, one can ascertain that there are many components of strategy. Management’s understanding and use of strategy as a tool to ensure business success has been an important issue for many decades. This paper’s purpose is to determine establish the critical components of strategic management. To accomplish this purpose, the analysis first compares and contrasts the relationship between strategic planning and strategic thinking and their relationship to strategic management. Second, the paper evaluates the strategic management process within the framework of its strategic planning and strategic thinking components. Third and last, the analysis makes conclusions as to the critical role of strategic management in organizational success.

Keywords: Strategy, Management, Strategic, Planning, Thinking, Organization, Organizational, Structure, Strategies, Innovation, Success, Leadership, Goals, Strategist