3 Strategic, tactical and operational planning levels in the organisation

　　3.1 Different levels of planning

　　§ Strategic planning is long-term, looks at the whole organisation and defines resource requirements.

　　§ Tactical planning is medium-term , looks at the department/divisional level and specifies how to use resources.

　　§ Operational planning is very short-term, very detailed and is mainly concerned with control.

　　Strategic plans will have to be translated into medium-term tactical plans, which in turn need to be converted into detailed performance targets and budgets.

　　Illustration 6 – strategic, tactical and operational planning

　　The above planning levels could be applied to a farmer as follows:

　　§ Strategic planning would look at deciding which crops should be grown and how much land should be allocated for crops, livestock, etc. These decisions would be based on consumer trends, the actions of competitors, changes in EU Common Agricultural Policy, etc.

　　§ Tactical planning would then look at how best to use specified resources such as fields. This would include issues such as crop rotation.

　　§ Operational planning would include organizing extra staff for harvesting etc.

　　Test your understanding 9

　　A hospital is considering whether to have specialist wards or multi-disciplinary wards.

　　At which planning level is this decision being made?

　　3.2 The nature of strategic planning

　　Strategic planning is characterised by the following:

　　§ Long-term perspective.

　　§ Looks at the whole organisation as well as individual products and markets.

　　§ Sets the direction of the whole organisation and integrates its activities.

　　§ Considers the views of all stakeholders, not just the shareholders’ perspective.

　　§ Analyses the organisation’s resources and defines resource requirements.

　　§ Relates the organisation to its environments.

　　§ Looks at gaining a sustainable competitive advantage.