Dimensions of Strategic Planning
Ali Fouad Ksheish
Under the supervision of Asst. Lect. Zainab Muslim Al-Moussawi
1- Strategic Vision: This represents the mental image of what the organization should be in the future, in the minds and thoughts of clients and customers. The vision clarifies the general framework that defines the organization’s anticipated future hopes. This vision is carefully and carefully formulated and achieved in light of numerous variables that are typically extrapolated by the organization. It typically represents the organization’s goal, but it is achievable. It defines the organization’s future path, the destination it wishes to reach, the position it wishes to lead, the goals it intends to achieve, and the capabilities and potential it plans to develop. The vision should not conflict with the organization’s mission statement and purpose. It focuses on its image, what it wishes to achieve, and what the organization will look like when it achieves its goals. 2- Strategic Mission: The existence of any organization is linked to a specific mission it seeks to achieve. The mission derives its basic components from the values held by its founders, the environment in which the organization operates, and the society to which it belongs. The mission is the purpose or reason for the organization’s existence in a particular environment. It is a written document that represents the organization’s constitution and the primary guide for all decisions and efforts. It usually covers a long period of time and can be defined as: “The framework that distinguishes the organization from other institutions in terms of its field of activity, products, customers, and markets. It aims to clarify the fundamental reason for the organization’s existence, its identity, operations, and practices.” The importance of the mission lies in its role as an element of cohesion and clarity of purpose for each organization. It also serves as a reference point for decision-makers. The mission must be concise and general, as it is considered a general guide and guide for strategic planning. 3- Strategic Analysis: This is the process through which a strategic environmental analysis is conducted. This involves reviewing both the external environment to identify the most important challenges facing the organization, in addition to analyzing the internal environment to identify the organization’s most important strengths and weaknesses. Strategic analysis is defined as: “The necessity of environmental analysis is essential for strategic planning and not relying on the past, because variables are rapidly evolving dynamically. What is an opportunity now may disappear tomorrow, and what is a strength may turn into a weakness and vice versa. This analysis may lead to a change in the organization’s mission, one of its objectives, or some of its activities and strategies. It may also reinforce the organization’s existing strategy while maintaining the same mission.”
4- Strategic Choice: This is the stage following the environmental analysis process. It is the reference in the sequential and interconnected process, in which strategic alternatives are presented and the best among them are selected according to criteria determined by the choice process itself, which relies primarily on the results of the environmental analysis included in the previous steps. Based on the information obtained from the environmental analysis, a strategy is determined that achieves alignment between the organization’s resources and internal capabilities on the one hand, and the requirements of the external environment on the other. The organization conducts a SWOT analysis, in which it attempts to leverage strengths to exploit opportunities, reduce or control weaknesses, and confro
