Q1. How has modern strategic planning changed? In what ways has strategic planning
stayed the same? How do firms use mission and vision statements within a modern
organization?
According to the textbook, strategic planning was established as a way of outperforming
competitors due to the various advancements and changes in business environments.
(Maijanen, 2020) In its beginnings, strategic planning was focused on the internal resources
of a company as a way of getting ahead of the competition. Then, strategic planning shifted
from focusing on a company’s internal strengths and weaknesses to a company’s external
opportunities and threats within its competitive environment, which meant that the main
focus of strategic planning at the time was on the economy. (Maijanen, 2020) Later on,
strategic planning kept on changing towards a resource-based view, then towards a
dynamic capability view. (Maijanen, 2020) In addition to that, modern strategic planning has
encountered many changes, which is due to factors including technological advancements
and increased globalization. As for strategic planning staying the same, some aspects
remained throughout its continuous changes, including the importance of both the vision
and mission statements as a way of setting a pathway for the company, as well as the
importance of market research in order to gain insight on what actions need to be taken to
succeed.
Q2. Research the vision and mission statement of an organization you’re familiar with and
share it with the class. How might you improve on the statements?
As an example, my organization of choice would be Apple. According to the Business Model
Analyst’s website, Apple’s vision statement is “to make the best products on earth and to
leave the world better than we found it” (Pereira, 2023, pp. 1), whereas its mission
statement is “to bring the best user experience to customers through innovative hardware,
software, and services” (Pereira, 2023, pp. 1). In my opinion, these statements seem to be
fine and in alignment with the values of the company. However, Apple can benefit from
slight changes to its statements that would cater to the current state of the world. For
example, the vision statement can be changed into “to make the best products in the tech
industry globally, that would also contribute to the improvement and protection of the
environment”, whereas the mission statement can be changed as well to “to provide the
best user experience through continuous innovation in design and hardware, which will
provide customers on a global scale with accessibility and the means to create, all while
enjoying a variety of environment-friendly and user-friendly devices and services”.
Word count: 372
References
Maijanen, P. (2020). Teaching Strategic Management. Edward Elgar
Publishing.
https://www.elgaronline.com/downloadpdf/edcoll/9781788978354/97817889783
54.00009.pdf
Pereira, D. (2023, April 8). Apple Mission and Vision Statement. Business Model
Analyst.
https://businessmodelanalyst.com/apple-mission-and-vision-statement/
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