Strategic planning
Organizations normally exist with a specific mandate which is anchored in its vision, mission and values and as such there must be clear steps set in achieving the desired objectives of the firm. It’s therefore important that organizations set out long term plans on how to achieve its objectives. These plans are normally referred to as strategic plans which clearly give the organization a future direction and the steps to be taken to reach its goals. Strategic planning therefore applies to both profit and nonprofit organizations (Olsen, 2007).
Nokia is one of the companies with a long standing history in the mobile telephone industry and since its inception the firm has made a mark in the world of communication through its mission of connecting people across the world by building the best mobile products. The firm has been a leader in the mobile telephone industry since 1980s.In view of the increasing competition and challenging business environment, Nokia has recently announced a change in its strategy to meet the current market demands. The new strategic plan has mainly focused on operation structure and leadership of the company. In the new plans the firm intends to foster partnerships with Microsoft to develop mobile products that are friendly to the ecosystem, investment in next generation technologies and new organizational structure to offer a fresh leadership to the organization. All these strategies are aimed at enhancing volume of sales and create value for the mobile phone users (nokia.com).The firm therefore stands out to be one of the key users of strategic planning in their business processes and will therefore benefit in the following ways:
Benefits
As Nokia embarks on strategic planning the firm will be able to engage in realistic, challenging but attainable objectives within the firm. As the company sets attainable goals it’s going to remain competitive in the market. During the planning stage the organization is able to determine the possible opportunities and threats to its success and hence it can use the opportunities to counter possible threats. Strategic planning also provides the organization with a whole range of information that is useful in the decision making process. Strategic plans will assist the organization to make a road map on the future direction and allow it to explore the possible actions to achieve the future objectives. It therefore leads to proper internal coordination of organizational activities (Bryson, 2004).
Costs
Organizations that fails to plan will have to contend with costs such as low success rate in implementation of its objectives and hence it will not be able to achieve high levels of competitiveness.The business environment is quite dynamic and hence organizations that fails to carry out strategic planning may suffer from high rates of unsuccessful projects and this affect the overall performance of the business.
Role of 3Cs in organizations
Organizations exist to make use of the available resources to achieve the desired goals and enhance their competitiveness in the market and hence the management and all members of the organization put their acts together and influence core component of the organization in a particular direction (Allison & Kaye, 2005). The sense of togetherness will however work best under specific conditions. Strategies are set by the human resources and hence it’s important that all the parties within the organization works together to attain the objectives to be met. The ability to work together in organizations is normally summarized by the three Cs which stands for Collaboration, Coordination, and Cooperation (Drezner, 2009).All three Cs are normally supported by communication which is also a major aspect that drives understanding among the parties within the organization. Collaboration is the ability of all the parties within the organization to create a common goal and live up to it. It therefore shows a sense of ownership to all decisions that are made within the organization. Coordination is also another pillar to successful implementation organization activities and shows the level of commitment that all parties within the organization have on the tasks to be performed. It’s the process of putting together all the departments and agencies within the organization and aligns them towards a single direction. The organization is able to achieve its goals maximally through the input of all departments. Cooperation is a paramount requirement for organizational success creates meaning for the other two variables. Cooperation is a cultural aspect that compels all members of the organization to move within the set framework and hence it allows people to work in a group but achieve the same result (Denise, 1999).
Coca Cola is one of the companies that have successfully applied the three Cs in its management of its activities especially in it’s the US region where the staff works together to achieve the organizational objectives. The three Cs are therefore an important ingredient in the success of the strategic plans.
References
Bryson, M. J. (2004). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A Guide to Strengthening and Sustaining Organizational Achievement. San Francisco, Calif.: Jossey-Bass.
Nokia.com. (2011). ”Vision and Strategy.” Nokia.om. Web.
Olsen, E. (2007). Strategic Planning for Dummies. Hoboken, NJ. : Wiley.
Allison, J. M. & Kaye, J. (2005). Strategic planning for nonprofit organizations: A Practical guide and workbook. 2nd ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Denise, L. (1999). ” Collaboration vs. C-Three (Cooperation, Coordination, and Communication).” Innovating. 7(3). New York: The Rensselaerville Institute.
Drezner, W. D. (2009). Avoiding trivia: The role of strategic planning in American foreign Policy. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution Press.