Benefits of Strategic Planning: Ethical Benefits: Ethics is considered as the moral principles that governs a person’s or groups’ behavior, separating what is good from what is considered bad, or right from wrong. It is essentially a system of moral principles or philosophy concerned with “what is  good for individuals and society” (BBC, nd). The following are some of the ethical benefits that an organization may derive from strategic planning: 1. An organization can derive ethical benefits by ensuring that  the goals and visions are developed in consideration not only of its own corporate interest but also of the interests of the public it serves or the stakeholders.  In other words, the goals the organizations have set for itself must be good for both the individuals and for the society. Given that the satisfaction of the stakeholders is essential to the success of the organization, it means that ethical dimension of strategic planning results in a convergence of both corporate and stakeholder interests. In other words it is a win-win situation. According to Hosmer (1994), ethics builds trust commitment between the organization and stakeholders, and it is “essential for organizational success” (p. 17). It is this trust and commitment that are the most important elements of collaboration between the organization and the stakeholders in achieving its strategic goals. 2. Another ethical benefit of strategic planning is  the promotion of ethical organizational culture:  According to Business Dictionary.com, an organizations culture may be defined as “the values and behaviours that contribute to the unique social and psychological environment of an organization”. The incorporation of ethical reflections into strategic planning can cultivate and strengthen the positive values and behaviors or conduct of the organization. In essence, strategic planning, by promoting ethical organizational culture encourages ethical conduct, ensuring that the ‘right’, ‘good’, and ‘proper’ values, belief systems, concepts etc., are practiced in the organization, even in the absence of rules and monitoring. Financial Benefits: Through strategic planning and management, managers are able to review operating processes and make necessary and desired changes that will improve revenue- generating ideas. Strategic planning may involve various work streams, including marketing, research and development, human resources management, sales and financial management (Codjia, nd), which enables a firm to develop the best  strategies and tactics to beat the competition . This will ensure improved productivity and revenues.   It can be used to  gauge and manage profitability  using corporate income statements. Strategic planning enables an organization  monitor its liquidity  by tracking its cash flow and ensuring that it meets its financial obligations. It provides the opportunity for the organization to  maintain solvency  by reviewing the components of its balance sheets- asse.

1. Benefits of Strategic Planning:
Ethical Benefits:
Ethics is considered as the moral principles that governs a
person’s or groups’ behavior, separating what is good from what
is considered bad, or right from wrong. It is essentially a system
of moral principles or philosophy concerned with “what is
good for individuals and society” (BBC, nd). The following are
some of the ethical benefits that an organization may derive
from strategic planning:
1.
An organization can derive ethical benefits by ensuring that
the goals and visions are developed in consideration not only of
its own corporate interest but also of the interests of the public
it serves or the stakeholders.
In other words, the goals the organizations have set for itself
must be good for both the individuals and for the society. Given
that the satisfaction of the stakeholders is essential to the
success of the organization, it means that ethical dimension of
strategic planning results in a convergence of both corporate
and stakeholder interests. In other words it is a win-win
situation. According to Hosmer (1994), ethics builds trust
commitment between the organization and stakeholders, and it
is “essential for organizational success” (p. 17). It is this trust
and commitment that are the most important elements of
collaboration between the organization and the stakeholders in
achieving its strategic goals.
2.
Another ethical benefit of strategic planning is
the promotion of ethical organizational culture:
According to Business Dictionary.com, an organizations culture
may be defined as “the values and behaviours that contribute to
the unique social and psychological environment of an
organization”. The incorporation of ethical reflections into

2. strategic planning can cultivate and strengthen the positive
values and behaviors or conduct of the organization. In essence,
strategic planning, by promoting ethical organizational culture
encourages ethical conduct, ensuring that the ‘right’, ‘good’,
and ‘proper’ values, belief systems, concepts etc., are practiced
in the organization, even in the absence of rules and monitoring.
Financial Benefits:
Through strategic planning and management, managers are able
to review operating processes and make necessary and desired
changes that will improve revenue- generating ideas.
Strategic planning may involve various work streams, including
marketing, research and development, human resources
management, sales and financial management (Codjia, nd),
which enables a firm to develop the best
strategies and tactics to beat the competition
. This will ensure improved productivity and revenues.
It can be used to
gauge and manage profitability
using corporate income statements.
Strategic planning enables an organization
monitor its liquidity
by tracking its cash flow and ensuring that it meets its financial
obligations.
It provides the opportunity for the organization to
maintain solvency
by reviewing the components of its balance sheets- assets,
liability, and net worth.
Cultural Benefits:
Strategic planning can
promote a desired culture
, or set of collective attitudes, perspectives and social norms of
a society or an organization by driving policy and regulations in
a positively pre-determined way that creates equitable benefits.
Strategic Planning
promotes cross-cultural-competencies

3. , the
ability to effectively work in cross-cultural situations, which is
a critical aspect of organizational behavior. This skill is an
essential ingredient in the success of any organization through
the process of developing collaborative support as well as in
stakeholder engagement. This is more so given the increasingly
cultural-diversity prevalent in the work place today.
Organizations must therefore develop sensitivity to cultural
diversity in order to thrive and succeed in a very competitive
global business environment. Strategic planning is the vehicle
through which organizations can derive such cultural benefits.
The incorporation of culture into strategic planning can result in
the creation of
positive social change
desired in the organization to its benefit.
Limitations of Strategic
Planning (SP)
Suppresses creativity and flexibility:
While strict adherence to a strategic plan is important in
providing a sense of direction for the organization, it tends to
limit flexibility and creativity. According to Kahn (January 17,
2010), in an uncertain and ambiguous world, flexibility and
creativity are more important than the rigidity of a strategic
compass like a strategic plan.
Leads to Group think
: The internalization of strategic planning, essential for its
success, could result into a corporate culture and lead to group
think. This can cause an organization to define itself narrowly
(Kahn, January 17, 2010).
Lack of Knowledge
: SP requires considerable knowledge, skills and training.
Specifically, managers should have conceptual skills. If these
are lacking, the desired results will not be achieved.
Financial/Resource Considerations
: SP requires huge amount of resources of time, energy and
money. Managers may be constrained by these considerations in

4. developing effective strategic plans.
Cooperation and Coordination
: To be effective, SP requires the interdependence, integration
and coordination of units as well as the cooperation amongst
staff. If these are lacking, effective implementation of the plan
can be stymied.
Leadership Values and Attitudes
: The support and commitment of senior leaders in an
organization is important for the success of a strategic plan. The
attitudes and values of these leaders to risk are crucial in
developing and implementing strategic plan. According to
UKEssays (nd), leaders would choose strategic programs with
high-yield if they are willing to risk, on the contrary, they
would chose lower yield with low risk.
The Future is Unknown:
Planners create goals and plans based on what has happened in
the past, and on a vision of the immediate future based also on
current trends. However, neither the vision nor the trends can
adequately predict the socio-economic and political context
within which an organization will operate. In effect, future
changes in the social and political environment are relatively
unknown and unpredictable. According to Powell (1992), “the
more unpredictable the operating environment is for an
organization, the less benefit the organization will achieve
through strategic planning” (p.551).
Potential Pitfalls
As the name “planning” indicates, one major pitfall is that
strategic planning is not designed to get the company out of a
crisis if it finds itself in one. The plan itself may be weakened
by a number of internal factors such as a failure of middle
managers to implement the plan effectively, or if their values
are at variance with the organization’s goals, objects or cultural
change in the plan.
Impact of
Changing Stakeholders on Strategic Planning
Finally, as stakeholders change, so also does the stakeholder

5. interests, views and perspectives that must be incorporated into
the strategic plan also change. As previously noted, the
satisfaction of key stakeholders is essential for the success of
the organization, hence the requirement for continual
assessment and revision of the strategic plan in order to
continually create value for the stakeholders as observed by
Bryson, (2011).
REFERENCES
BBC (nd): Ethics Guide. Retrieved on January 26, 2016 from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/intro_1.shtml
Bryson, J. M. (2011). Strategic planning for public and non-
profit organizations
: A guide to strengthening and sustaining organizational
achievement
(4th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Codjia, M. (nd): Financial Benefits of Strategic Management. In
Workplace Health and Wellness Study. Retrieved on January 26,
2016 from:
http://www.ehow.com/info_7983789_financial-benefits-
strategic-management.html
Hosmer, L. T. (1994). Strategic planning as if ethics mattered.
Strategic Management Journal (1986-1998)
,
15
(SPECIAL ISSUE), 17.
Kahn, J. (January 17, 2010): Reasons why Strategic Planning
Fail and Limitations of Strategic Management: Business
Articles. Retrieved on January 26, 2016 from:
http://www.articlesfactory.com/articles/business/reasons-why-
strategic-plans-fail-and-limitations-of-strategic-
management.html
Powell, T. C. (1992): Strategic Planning as Competitive
Advantage.
Strategic Management Journal
,

6. 13
(7), 551.
UKEssays (nd): Benefits and Limitations of Strategic
Management. Retrieved on January 26, 2016 from:
http://www.ukessays.com/essays/management/benefits-and-
limitations-of-strategic-management-management-essay.php