Strategic planning relates to the development of strategic thinking, strategic decision-making as well as the identification of organizational goals and resources. This enables the conversion of organizational goals into results. The process integrates the planning function with the ongoing management. The strategic planning process often begins with the analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats which help to develop an understanding of the internal and external positions of the organization. In the SWOT analysis, the strengths of the company will be identified as well as how they can be used to achieve the business goals. The weaknesses will also be identified and the leaders can engage the staff in seeking ways to eliminate them. The opportunities and the ways to take advantage of them will also be identified. The threats, how they can be assessed, managed, and responded to will also be identified. The analysis includes a range of data collection methods that may provide information concerning stakeholders, issues, competitors, the environment and the business scenario. The SWOT analysis thus helps in developing and adopting a strategy that will result in a good fit between internal and external factors (Osman, Anouze, & Emrouznejad, 2013). This acts as a useful way to develop a shared perspective on the capabilities of the organization and in goal planning.
According to Heldman (2016), projects should always be weighed against the strategic plan and this should help to inform decisions that concern project selection. IT projects often incorporate technical, operational, and financial requirements. The most common approach in IT project selection is the benefits measurement method. The method is based on cost-benefit analysis. The cost-benefit analysis calculates the cost of the project, projected revenues, and the projected savings to understand the project investment that will be recouped from the project selection. The cost-benefit analysis also gives room for managers to make good use of limited budgets and human resources through a criterion informed by expert judgment and organizational knowledge in which they engage the staff. This helps to further understand the financial aspects of the project, training needs, and how it suits or will help the business. This means that the project will be selected based on its capability to support the organizational strategic goals.
References
Heldman, K. (2016). PMP: Project Management Professional Exam Study Guide: Updated for the 2015 Exam (8th ed.). Indianapolis, Indiana: John Wiley & Sons.
Osman, I. H., Anouze, A. L., & Emrouznejad, A. (Eds.). (2013). Handbook of Research on Strategic Performance Management and Measurement Using data Envelopment Analysis. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
