Discussion Board Question

Present to the group reasons why strategic plans often fail and who is responsible in the organization to lead the effort and who should be involved. Support your position thoroughly from published sources (scholarly).

Class references:

• Hines & Bishop. Thinking About the Future. (Chapters: 5, 6)
• Video: How to Perform a SWOT Analysis - Olson - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_6AVRGLXGA
• Video: What is Strategic Planning - Narver - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXzmAou_UUA
• 
  
• Respond to, challenge, and assess critically the posts of at least two other students with the focus being to expand the understanding of the whole group.
• Post 1:
• “A good strategic plan incorporates four distinguishing features: (1) an external orientation; (2) a process for stating the strategies; (3) methods to analyze the strategic situations and alternatives; and (4) a commitment to action”( Puiu, Stanciu, Sirbu, 2009). Strategic plans fail because organizations scope of planning is too narrow, only looking internally and not externally at the factors needed to go into the planning process. “In terms of innovation, it is necessary to take up internal and external signals as unfiltered as possible to produce a common vision for future innovations in general and BMI in particular” (Friedrich von den Eichen, et al., 2015, p. 32). Additional reasoning for strategic planning failure includes plans that are too rigid and overly hierarchal. Such structure eliminates the opportunity for inter departmental collaboration in creating solutions.Shamis & Nisberg (2016) identified six reasons strategic plans fail, one in particular states that change is hard and some people in the organization may prefer to keep things just as they are. Strategic planning involves moving the organization forward and organizational members that are not aboard for such movement should not be involved in the planning process. Organizations must include its vested members, across hierarchies, to contribute to the planning process. “These are the people worth listening to and if they feel they are being heard that they are actually contributing to the company's future and have a role to play in it, then implementing the strategic plan is likely to go a lot more smoothly” (Shamis & Nisberg, 2016, p. 37). When approached in this manner, senior leadership is still responsible for seeing the project to completion however the responsibility of success or failure is distributed amongst members and not siloed to one entity creating cooperation amongst members.

Post 2: One reason strategic plans often fail is a lack of communication before executing the plan. Organizational leaders are responsible for organizing, developing, and implementing the strategic plan, but the most vital component is having the stakeholders involved once the strategic plan is developed. Barksdale and Lund (2006) stated that one of the significant reasons that plans fail is the lack of communication with stakeholders. Stakeholders are those with a vested interest in the company (Who are stakeholders in a business? 2021). There can be internal stakeholders such as employees, owners, and managers. Alternatively, external stakeholders are customers, shareholders, competitors, and the government (Who are stakeholders in a business? 2021). It can fail if these key players are not aware or involved in the strategic plan implementation. Burke (2018) noted that not only do leaders need to communicate, but they also need to understand the importance of timing of communication and the amount of communication.

Additionally, the failure to document the strategic plan will influence its success. When the strategic plan is not written down, components are often forgotten, employees and leaders are not held accountable, and things are left open to misinterpretation and miscommunication. Having a Strategic Plan Document is defined as a "written record of a strategic plan, usually consisting of an overview, strategy charter, description of the current environment, research findings, tactics, roles and accountabilities, key performance indicators, and recommended next steps" (Barksdale & Lund, 2006). This document will provide the organization's measurement system, accountability, and written communication. It is up to leaders to properly distribute and follow through with the document so that there is a diffusion of innovation and allows stakeholders to process and ask questions about the strategic plan. Burke (2018) talks about the framework for change – prelaunch, launch, postlaunch, and sustaining the change – and how this is essential for change leaders. This can be applied to strategic plans. Following this framework, leaders can work through each phase to help the stakeholders understand, unify, and work towards the strategic plan.