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Top1. Introduction
Marketing and strategic planning are essentially inter-linked mechanisms designed to allow organizations (i.e., profit-oriented and non-profit- oriented) to react to new opportunities. Economic planning requires a disciplined approach to the creation of a framework that influences how the organization operates (Bryson, 1988), including those contexts associated with risk (Galli & Batt, 2019). This strategically constructed framework includes organizational mission and objectives, products and services, financial operations, and control and administrative management (Aspara et al., 2013).
Existing research on this topic shows that strategic planning and marketing exhibit a relationship such that strategies can be employed to achieve short and long-term goals (Galli, 2018). This relationship ought to encourage cooperation and coordination so that strategic planners can discover and address marketers’ concerns while addressing all organizational objectives (Gummesson, 1987; Andersen, 2014). It should be designed in a way that seamless communication between strategic planners and marketers is facilitated. As such, useful marketing feedback for planners to accomplish their tasks is instigated (Bansard et al., 1993). Camilleri (2018) added that in the context of marketing, strategic planning enables the organization to forecast systematically through examining marketing environments to better understand the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. The strategic planning process is linked with short-term marketing and operation plans with its capacity to determine and maximizing the organization’s strengths in marketing (Camilleri, 2018).
Also, the relationship between strategic planning and marketing should support forums to formalize procedures between the two stakeholders. Thus, the relationship should be informal to guarantee the smoother flow of communication from start to finish. There should also be a formal infrastructure to establish procedures for the exchange and flow of data and information such as information technology that collaborates business units to address dynamic customer requirements (Schindlholzer et al., 2011). All these relationship design points are intended to help strategic planning managers predict anticipated marketing objectives. With such a relationship, it is advantageous for marketing management as forecasted data can be absorbed and translated into effective marketing practices (Atkinson, 1999).
The original rationale behind the need for strategic planning was to aid corporate and non-corporate organizations to achieve accountability to shareholders, owners, and stakeholders. Strategic planning requires a forum or mechanism for discussion and decision-making by key management personnel. This management personnel in critical positions must prioritize issues and objectives according to their level of importance. Ideally, this prioritization should be based on innovative thinking and planning. Unfortunately, personnel often waste time by attending scheduled meetings designed to maintain functionality rather than target strategic marketing, planning, and idea prioritization (Bryson, 1988 as cited by Bakker, 2010 and Boehm, 2003).
Strategic initiatives should be constructed to enable a measure of sustainability to achieve long-term objectives rather than short-term ones. According to Bryson and Einsweiler (1988), sustainable strategic planning requires essential decision-makers to operate within an infrastructure, hence the need for a formal infrastructure. This infrastructure would help key management personnel to implement a pre-determined process, which possesses the capability to identify problematic organizational issues (Bryson, 1988; Bazeley, 2007). Such decision-making infrastructure requires the identification and implementation of strategies via designated procedures as follows: (1) reach an agreement based on majority consensus on how the strategic effort should be instituted, (2) clarify the approved management mandates in order to adapt both informal and formal procedures, (3) develop and clarify organization’s mission and values, (4) ascertain external environment, (5) conduct internal analyses, and (6) identify strategic issue. Also, this infrastructure must incorporate the rationale and purpose for the effort, definition of the steps in the process, the role and functions of the planning committee, timing and form of the reports, and role, membership, and function of the strategic planning team. (Bryson 1988, Bradley, 2010).