THE RISING IMPORTANCE OF STRATEGI PLANNING

  strategic planning has been around for a long time.What is not so obvios is the shifting of managerial attention from the technicalities of the planning process to the subtantive issues affacting long term performance.This a result of rapidly changing economic,social,and political enviroments,all of which affect every organization whether it be a small grocery store,an international conglomerate,or a social welfare agency.

   prior to 1940 most business firms concentrated  on a single product or group of related product and having it available to meet demand profitaby.Thus,Many business managers were preoccupied with day-to-day problems,rather than with appraising current performance and assessing long-term needs and prospect of the business.if any long-range planning was undertaken,it generally deal with expending the product line or the goegrapical sales area.

   With world war II,business firms had to make massive oprational and managerial changes.Since 1950,new markets have appread view invesment in firms with long range profil growth,technology has accelerated at an even greater pace,and social vakues have changes,traditional planning is inadequate.Top level managers must shift their concerns from short term problem to long range oppurtunities by constantly analyzing varios courses of action.This type of anlaysis involves recognition of changing enviroments and strenghts and weaknesses of organizational resouces.

  To illustrate this pont,Eagle Picher Industries was principally a lead and zinc mining and processing company

prior to 1950.In the 1970,the company decided to expand into a balanced diversity of manufacturing operations.This decision requred managers to define the company's business philosopy and overall directional purpose.Social,political,and economic trends affecting the business had to be assesed to determine if each diversification decison was internally consistent with overal goals.Also,the new strategy requred an evaluation of management capabilites and skills so that these resourse could be faused on product and markets with similiar characteristics to those in which the company already exelled.Such a strategic change increased managerial complexity of the organization and forced management to replace spordic diagnoses of cyclical swings in metal prices and the nonferrous metal market with continous market curveillance.