Planning - Compare & Contrast between Strategic and Tactical Plans

Compare and contrast between strategic and tactical plans.

Answer:

Strategic plans are longer-term plans that set broad and comprehensive directions for an organization and create a framework for allocating resources for maximum long term performance impact. Strategic planning begins with a vision that clarifies the purpose of the organization and expresses what it hopes to be in the future. It involves determining the goals and objectives that will be pursued in order to accomplish that vision. Also, it specifies how the organization will be positioned for competitive advantage in its external environment to accomplish those goals and objectives.

Tactical plans are developed and used to implement strategic plans. They tend to be intermediate term plans that specify step-by-step means for using the organization’s resources to put strategies into action. In business, tactical plans often take the form of functional plans that indicate how different components of the enterprise will contribute to the overall strategy. Such functional plans might include:

•       Production plans—dealing with the methods and technologies needed bypeople in their work;

•       Financial plans—dealing with money and capital investments;

•       Facilities plans—dealing with facilities and work layouts;

•       Logistics plans—dealing with suppliers and the flow of raw materials and other product inputs.

Source: Management, 11th Edition - John R. Schermerhorn