Long-range planning is generally considered to mean the development of a plan for accomplishing a goal or set of goals over a period of several years, with the assumption that current knowledge about future conditions is sufficiently reliable to ensure the plan's reliability over the duration of its implementation. Certainly a common assumption has emerged in the nonprofit sector that the environment is indeed changeable, often in unpredictable ways. Strategic planning, then, stresses the importance of making decisions that will ensure the organization's ability to successfully respond to changes in the environment. Strategic Thinking and Strategic Management Strategic planning is only useful if it supports strategic thinking and leads to strategic management - the basis for an effective organization. It follows, then, that strategic management is the application of strategic thinking to the job of leading an organization.
Strategic management is adaptive and keeps an organization relevant.
Strategic Planning Is Not Everything said above to describe what strategic planning is can also provide an understanding of what it is not. Strategic planning involves anticipating the future environment, but the decisions are made in the present. This means that over time, the organization must stay abreast of changes in order to make the best decisions it can at any given point - it must manage, as well as plan, strategically. Strategic planning has also been described as a tool - but it is not a substitute for the exercise of judgment by leadership. Finally, strategic planning, though described as disciplined, does not typically flow smoothly from one step to the next.