Strategic planning history

The strategic approach to management is a process and it is originated from the military warfare. The strategic planning history starts evaluated from the ancient Greek origins through early 20th century and modern corporate practices, to recent public sector efforts.Th below concepts are taken place in the history and evaluation of Strategic Planning.

Strategies and the Big Picture

The term "strategy" derives from the Greek "strategies," which means, literally, "general of the army." Every year, each of the ten ancient Greek tribes selects strategies as a leader of their regiment. At the battle of Marathon (490 BC), the strategic advised the political ruler as a council. At theta time they advice the leaders about managing battles to win wars, rather than "tactical" advice about managing troops to win battle. From these military roots, strategic planning originated and evaluated as a "big picture." Strategic planning is less concerned with how to achieve outcomes than with defining what those outcomes should be.

Modern Strategic Planning

In the decade of 1920s, Harvard Business School developed a business model called the Harvard Policy Model which is the first strategic planning methodologies for private businesses. This model defines "strategy" as a pattern of purposes and policies defining the company and its business. A strategy is the common string to hold a business together. The organization combines the company purposes with company resources, senior management, market information, and social obligations to improved economic performance. In the year late 1950's strategic planning's focus were shifted from organizational policy and structure to the management of risk, industry growth, and market share. The next evolutionary phases spread to the industrial economics model, which analyses the company competitive power relationships. After 1960s, strategic planning became a standard management tool in for the big as well as smaller companies.

Emergence of Public Sector Strategic Planning

Up to the mid-1980s strategic planning was adopted by the private sectors only. After that, former Ford Motor Corporation President and Defense Secretary Robert S. McNamara started a new trend by linking planning activities to the budget through the planning, programming, budgeting system (PPBS). Eighteen years later, President Carter brought to the federal government the related concepts of zero base budgeting (ZBB), invented at Xerox Corporation.

Recent State Government Strategic Planning Efforts

The enhanced results turn the government takes strategic approach to public sector planning. In Texas, the 1991 Legislature passed House Bill 2009, requiring all state agencies to submit a strategic plan every other year, coinciding with Texas' two-year budget cycle. Texas' was implemented first legislative law with strategic planning and performance budgeting was in the spring of 1993.

Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990

The Chief Financial Officers Act of 1990 (P.L. 101-576) was passed to balance the inputs with the outputs.

Government Performance and Results Act of 1993

A major milestone is the passing of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993. The bill states the a strategic planning should have the mission statement, outcome-based goals and objectives, descriptions of how goals will be achieved, resource needs and a list of external influences on goals.

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