Planning process

Planning is everything. Planners role is to define product’s distinctive identify and purpose. Careful planning enables a firm to speak in a clear voice in the marketplace so that customers understand what the firm is and what it has to offer that competitors don’t – especially as it decides how to create value for customers, shareholders, employees and society.

Whether a firm is well-established industrial company like Electrolux or a service-based group like Hilton Hotels, planning for the future is key to prosperity. Sure, a firm can be successful even if it makes some mistakes in planning and there are times when even the best planning cannot anticipate the future accurately. It’s also true that some relaxed businesses are successful. But without good planning for the future, firms will be less successful than they could be. In the worst-case scenario, a lack of planning can be fatal for both large and small businesses.

Best planning is an ongoing process of making decisions that guide the firm both in the short term and in the long term. Planning identifies and builds on a firm’s strengths, and it helps managers at all levels make informed decisions in a changing business environment. Planning means that an organisation develops objective before it takes action. In large firms like Samsung or Apple that operate in many markets, planning is a complex process involving many people from different areas like company’s operations. At a small business, planning is quite different. With entrepreneurial firms like Rude Health, the planning process falls somewhere in between, depending on the size of the firm and the complexity of its operations.

Adapted from

Chaffey, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F., 2012. Digital marketing: strategy, implementation and practice (Vol. 5). Harlow: Pearson.

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