Processual Strategic Planning
Long term planning is pretty much a waste of time but all is not lost if you do not have your own evolutionary niche. Classical planning will not work because people will never implement the plan as put forward. They bring to the plan their own agenda, their objectives will be different to those of senior management, their understanding of the plan will not be perfect, they will get side tracked and there will be personality issues within the team that will have knock-on effects.
Also the plan may well be abandoned if circumstances are seen to change.
No one really knows the optimum way forward, no one would stick to it if they did so lets not spend a lot of time trying to get a perfect solution lets just get a plan and change it as we go along to fit the new circumstances. Work with the world as it is.
When we come up with a plan we will only consider some of the data available, we are biased in the way we interpret it and having found a solution will often not make sure it is the best one ('boundedly rational' - Cyert & March, 1963). This means that classic strategies will always be flawed and incomplete because of human nature.
Firms do not work as one, the production group will have different (personal) objectives to the finance group. In order for them to get one thing they might have to give ground on another issue - politics is obviously a factor within the company.
We selectively use the information available to us, we then allow trade-offs to achieve what we feel is most important, are slow to recognize when change is required and have a general fear of it. This means firms do not have to evolve quickly but can adapt their strategies and procedures slowly without the need to maximize profits.
Crafting strategy is a continuous and adaptive process, a company need to exploit and renew distinctive resources (internally) rather than just searching (externally) for the right markets. A 'successful' product is not produced by simply placing it in the market correctly, the company needed the internal skills to conceive and produce the product in the first place.
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