Strategic planning

Strategic Planning Concepts Implemented in an Organization Affiliation Strategic planning is defined as the organization’s methods and processes that are implemented in order to come up with the direction and the decision making procedures to attain the specific strategies that the company aims to attain. There are different strategies that a company may implement in order to offer the organization a competitive advantage over the competitors and also to maximize its profits in the specific period. An organization should either explore the input strategies, the activities strategies or the output strategies. These strategies are essential in improving the performance of the company and also in improving the level of profits and growth of the company that are the main aspects that every company aims to improve. There are however, divisions in the specific decisions that a specific department within the company dedicates its efforts towards changing such as marketing, management, SWOT analysis, PEST analysis, Porter analysis, Balanced Scorecards and the strategy maps among others (Barney, 2010). This paper looks at the marketing and the SOWT analysis strategies that may make the organization realize its targets and the projected profits within a specific period of time. Marketing strategies are aimed at improving the image of the company and also attracting more customers to ensure that the company has as many customers as many customers possible purchasing their products. One of the main strategies is through targeted advertisements that are meant to reach out to the target customers (Hioll & Westbrook, 2007). The advertisement techniques adapted by the company should target the consumers of the product that the organization aims to sell to its consumers. For instance, if an organization sells teenage products the advertisement should be packaged in a way that it should attract the interests of the teens. Secondly, the branding of the products is also another marketing strategy that a company should consider when marketing a product. Branding the products to offer the products a competitive advantage through competing with other products and meeting consumer preferences is also critical in marketing. A product should be attractive in the market and should be appealing to the target customers through the packaging and branding techniques that have been used by the organization (Bryson, 2009). The discounting and sales promotions are also other methods that can be used by the organization to attract customers (Kotler & Andreasen, 2009). The organization ought to come up with the best deals for individual products and ensure that the product remains competitive and also profitable through the methods it uses to attract its consumers through regulating the prices of products and also the discounting techniques implemented. SWOT analysis is also an effective method in strategic planning since it measures the strengths weaknesses, opportunities and threats that the company faces. The strengths of the company help it against the competition and also ensure that the company can be able to improve on the strengths to improve its overall advantage in the marke (Christiansen, 1012). The weakness shed light on the parts that the company needs to improve and the best methods to use to ensure it remains competitive in the market (Helms & Nixon, 2010). The weaknesses and threats are the main parts of strategic planning since they help in coming up with ways to mitigate the effects of these problems through the use of company’s measures and strategies. The two tools of strategic planning are essential in ensuring the expansion and sustainability of the organization as a going concern. ReferencesBarney, J. B. (2010). Strategic Factor Markets: Expectations, Luck, and Business Strategy. Bryson, J. M. (2009). Strategic Planning for Public and Nonprofit Organizations. Christiansen, T. (2012). A SWOT analysis of the organization and financing of the Danish health care system. Health Policy. doi: 10. 1016/S0168-8510(01)00200-7Helms, M. M., & Nixon, J. (2010). Exploring SWOT analysis – where are we now? : A review of academic research from the last decade. Journal of Strategy and Management. doi: 10. 1108/17554251011064837Hill, T., & Westbrook, R. (2007). SWOT analysis: Its time for a product recall. Long Range Planning. doi: 10. 1016/S0024-6301(96)00095-7Kotler, P., & Andreasen, A. (2009). Strategic Marketing for Non-Profit Organizations.