Answer:

Section 1. 

1. STRATEGIC PLANNING 

• Definition:
  a) Strategic planning is the method of recording and defining a small business's trajectory by evaluating both where you are and where you want to go. The strategic plan is a place where you can write down your purpose, vision, and principles, as well as your long-term objectives and action plans for achieving them. Since it tells you and your staff how to adapt to opportunities and challenges, a well-written strategic plan will play a critical role in the growth and success of your small business.
  b)Strategic planning is the process of developing strategic business plans, putting them into action, and analyzing the outcomes in terms of a company's overall long-term objectives or desires. It's a philosophy that focuses on a company's strategic objectives being met by combining different departments (such as accounting and finance, marketing, and human resources). The terms "strategic planning" and "strategic management" are almost interchangeable.
• Purpose: The aim of strategic planning is to establish general business goals and create a strategy to achieve them. It entails taking a step back from day-to-day activities to consider where the company is going and what its goals should be.
  a) Strategic planning and growing businesses - Choosing to expand a company means accepting the risks that come with it. Spending time figuring out just where you want to take your company - and how you'll get there - will help you handle risks and take control of the growth process.
  b) The difference between strategic planning and writing a business plan - The goal of strategic planning is to figure out which direction you want to take your business. The object of the business plan, on the other hand, is to include a comprehensive route map that will lead you in the right direction. A change in emphasis from day-to-day issues to the wider and longer-term business choices is needed for effective strategy growth.
• Functions: Strategic planning analyzes a company's strengths and weaknesses as well as existing and future prospects in order to prepare it for long-term growth and development in a number of markets. The business develops its own strategy based on this knowledge. The approach is then used to develop supporting strategies for the company's different departments. Any organization's strategic planning functions are made up of many tasks carried out by management. They're geared toward long-term planning and decision-making. Several tasks are included in management functions and responsibilities for strategic planning:
  a) decision-making process in critical business areas,
  b) strategic programming,
  c) developing strategies on corporate level,
  d) developing strategies for company business units (SBU)
  e) developing of functional strategies,
  f) developing business plans,
  g) selecting business objectives, primarily regarding the specification of products (services), calculation of prices, marketing functions, costs, quality, production, technological parameters, etc.
  h) creating innovation and adapting to changes in environment,
  i) developing ways to meet the needs and expectations of customers as well as to improve position of the company in a competitive environment,
  j) long-term planning and forecasting,
  k)integrating and coordinating factor for other functional programs, investment projects and operating plans.
   
• Benefits: Strategic planning enables businesses to plan ahead of time and solve challenges in a more long-term manner. They allow a business to exert control rather than simply reacting to events.
  
  a)Helps formulate better strategies using a logical, systematic approach - This is frequently the most major benefit. According to some reports, regardless of the effectiveness of a particular strategy, the strategic planning process itself contributes significantly to enhancing a company's overall results.
  b)Enhanced communication between employers and employees - Communication is critical to the strategic planning process's success. It begins with engagement and dialogue between managers and workers, demonstrating their commitment to achieving organizational objectives.
  c)Empowers individuals working in the organization - Employees' sense of effectiveness and significance in the company's overall performance is bolstered by improved dialogue and coordination at all levels of the method. As a result, decentralizing the strategic planning process by including lower-level managers and staff in the company is critical.

2. Why should an organization engage in strategic planning?

• Strategic planning is critical to an organization's success because it gives it a sense of direction and establishes concrete objectives. Strategic planning is a technique that can be used to guide day-to-day decisions as well as to evaluate success and change strategies as you move forward.
• A strategic plan functions like a road map, clearly outlining the best path for the company to follow in the coming years. A strategic plan, whether it spans one, three, or five years in the future, will assist the company in meeting the obstacles that lie ahead.
• A strategic plan will help the company sharpen its attention in order to get there since it provides a direction for it to go in. As a result, strategic planning will assist the company in establishing the appropriate objectives and priorities, as well as directing everyone's efforts toward achieving them.
• By taking the time to develop a detailed strategic plan, your company would have a greater understanding of its strengths and weaknesses, as well as its position in the market, both personally and in relation to competitors.
• Strategic planning is beneficial to everyone in the company, not just those at the top of the management ladder. It gives everyone a sense of purpose. Your employees would be inspired to do their jobs if they have a clear vision and clear targets and priorities to work toward.
   

3. ABCs of strategic planning

• Alignment - Taking the time to collect insightful data, analyze it together, and encourage open dialogue is a great way to get everyone on the same page and help you appreciate your team's real opportunities and challenges.
• Buy-In - When the core stakeholders have a common vision, it's much easier to communicate the vision to their employees. Clear and consistent reasons for the company's strategic path will go a long way toward bringing your team together around a common objective.
• Collaboration - It's all about managing your assets in strategic planning, and no asset is more valuable than your team's diversity of talents and perspectives.
  Cross-departmental perspectives will be brought into the space by robust conversations, and some healthy debate, to make the planning work better.
• Data - Great data is the starting point for strategic planning, but it isn't the end. The true value of data lies in how your team gathers, analyzes, and uses it to achieve success. You will make all of those data points work together for the benefit of the company by gathering stakeholders to evaluate and examine the same data in a safe, collaborative atmosphere.
• Energy - Your company can be revitalized by having a clear vision, data-backed and actionable goals, and buy-in from the entire team. It could be just what you need to break down the walls that have been holding you back.
• Follow-through - The perpetual motion machine that drives the most fruitful strategic planning outcomes is follow-through. Here's how it works: make a strategy on how you'll keep your employees engaged, check in regularly, and celebrate your wins. This type of deliberate follow-through lets you maintain momentum and build on every achievement before you eventually achieve (or exceed) your objectives.
• Goals - Begin with the end in mind, set realistic and attainable goals, and then take the time to break those goals down into actionable steps that will help you get there. When you combine those objectives with a plan for deliberate follow-through and celebration along the way, you'll see how strategic planning pays off.
   

4. When would strategic planning not be advisable?

• Lack of focus
• Lack of energy/resources.
• Lack of understanding
• Lack of accountability
• Lack of follow up.
• Lack of flexibility.
   

5. What strategic planning is NOT?

• Strategic planning does not attempt to make decisions about the future. Anticipating the future world is a part of strategic planning, but decisions are taken in the present.
• Over time, the company must remain open to change in order to make the best choices possible at any given time. It must both control and plan strategically. Strategic preparation is not a replacement for leadership decision-making.
• While strategic planning is regimented in many ways, it does not always flow smoothly from one stage to the next. It's a creative process, and the new perspective you get today could make you reconsider the decision you made yesterday.
   

SECTION 2.

ARTICLE: https://www.strategy-business.com/article/00058?gko=15878

• What does the article say? Every organization's success depends on effective strategic planning. In order to overcome the challenges of today's dynamic business environment, you should adapt the strategic planning process to the company's specific requirements such as creating a process that is exclusive to your business, allowing for external viewpoints, creating a culture of excellence, be focused on getting things done and enhancing performance. You'll want to provide the basis for your decisions during the planning phase by defining the factors that set your company apart from the competition. This will involve a thorough and precise evaluation of the limited number of skills that enable you to do certain things better than anyone else, as well as a deliberate choice of the markets you most want to enter. A successful planning process will help the company become more coherent, and more coherence means more value. Furthermore, while all companies will take various paths to their destination, the five best strategic planning strategies outlined above will apply to all.
• Outcome of the strategic planning process: Until you start investing extra time on tasks and initiatives that could have a negative net effect on your goals, the strategic planning process helps you evaluate and design your next strategic thinking session. Strategic thinking should be carefully planned at work and in life to inspire, consider, and reward effort. They should also make it simple for those involved to identify areas where they could (if they so choose) put in extra effort that would stand out throughout the process. You can turn the current planning process into one that is more personalized, more respectful to external viewpoints, more aligned with a success culture, more execution focused, and more effective with careful attention and commitment. The effort would be well worth it.