Strategic Planning MNG301A

The strategic planning module is presented in both the first and second semesters. The purpose of this module is to introduce students to the challenges faced by top management in ensuring that the organisation survives in a volatile business environment.Strategic planning is about surviving in a very volatile business environment. The strategic planner has to craft strategies that will enable the organisation to reconcile its resources with the threats and opportunities created by new technological breakthroughs, an increasingly borderless world, virtual businesses, e-commerce, fierce competition, changing work ethics and mobile managers – to mention but a few. In order to survive, strategic planners have to outwit their competitors to realise above-average returns for the organisation. This should be done in a way that satisfies the conflicting claims of different stakeholders – shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, the government and society. Wealth maximisation (that is, maximising the wealth of all stakeholders) has replaced profit maximisation as the ultimate goal.In order to realise above-average returns for the organisation, the strategic planner should see the organisation as a whole and understand its complexities and how it affects (and is affected by) its volatile environment. This module, MNG301A, is the only part of the course that offers students this understanding. MNG301A initiates students into the study of business problems which are not presupposed financial problems, marketing problems, et cetera. It affords them the opportunity to consider problems which emanate from a wide range of substantive areas in business: students will be given opportunities to analyse the political, economic, social, technological, international and ecological environments. It challenges then to assess the competencies of their competitors and of their own organisations. It integrates and builds on what they have already learned in other modules. The module deals with the strategic planning process. More specifically, it deals with the• nature and value of strategic planning• reason why the organisation exists • environment in which it has to survive • strategies for survivalWhen integrated, these components form a logical process which can be followed to craft a strategy for an organisation that enables it to survive in the turbulent business environment.