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Strategic Planning In Challenging Times

More than 80 percent of executives responding to a recent McKinsey Quarterly survey say their strategic planning process looks different this year compared to last. Major changes include more rigorous scrutiny of capital projects and spending, wider adoption of scenario planning and more frequent monitoring of performance against plan.

The article ends on a cautionary note:
"In short, many strategists seem to be rapidly adjusting their planning processes to cope with the changed economic environment. Important as these adjustments may be, their nature also raise a major question in the minds of many strategists: is the crisis atmosphere undermining focus on all but the immediate future? More than 50 percent of executives, in fact, express worry about not striking the right balance between near-term challenges and long-term strategic priorities."
I would ask the question slightly differently: if a strategic planning process changes year-to-year according to external influences and economic conditions, is it really strategic?



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