Strategic Planning (SP) was born in the 50′s and 60′s but failed to produce competitive advantage in the turbulent markets of the 80′s and 90′s. This failure was thought to be the death of SP, but it wasn’t a failure of the concept, but rather a failure of implementation by managers who did not realise that SP is always in flux. They also failed to recognise that SP was not one process but many.
Managers who abandoned SP did not understand that it provides focus on what the company does best, while providing the flexibility to quickly explore and exploit opportunities through creative entrepreneurial solutions. Competitive Intelligence (CI) failed as a replacement for SP due to its normally underfunded tactical nature and led many businesses into poor decisions regarding the direction of their marketing efforts. CI must be fully integrated with strategic planning, but unfortunately, this rarely occurs. CI and Market Research are the different sides of the same coin and should be combined into one endeavour to serve strategic goals. In turbulent markets, SP may be the only clear beacon by which to navigate through the chaos. Continue reading ‘Strategic Research’