Strategic planning helps law enforcement agencies achieve growth and success. Organizations facing numerous challenges and competing priorities must strategically plan to create a future that encompasses the vision they desire. Full text "We must plan for the future because people who stay in the present will remain in the past. '' -Abraham Lincoln Often considered a daunting task filled with such complicated procedures and terms that it makes some want to ignore the activity altogether, strategic planning need not be an overly complicated process. Instead, managers can view it as simply considering where their organizations are-or should be-going over the next year or more and how they will get there. As it relates to law enforcement agencies, a strategic plan is the product of a leadership process that helps departments better focus their energies and resources to ensure that all members work toward the same goal. The entire strategic planning process may take many forms and follow a variety of paths. At some point in the process, however, planners will identify or update the strategic philosophy. This may include a mission, vision, or value statement-or some combination. While each has similarities, some general distinctions exist. Typically, a mission statement is a brief description of the intent of the organization, an expression of the agency's unique reason for existence usually contained in a formal statement of purpose. A vision statement, which many agencies increasingly use, offers a vivid image of the desired future. It compellingly describes how the department will or should operate at some point in the future and how customers benefit from its services. A value statement often lists the overall priorities of how the organization will operate. It may focus on moral values, such as integrity, honesty, and respect, or operational values, such as efficiency or effectiveness. This also may include an agency's core values or principles that describe how it should conduct itself in carrying out its mission. THE PROCESS Four basic questions comprise the essence of the strategic planning process: 1) Where is the organization now? 2) Where does it want to be? 3) How will it get there? and 4) How does it measure its progress? While a number of terms are associated with this process, departments should focus only on what works for them. Some agencies have separate mission, vision, and value statements; others combine them. Some organizations create strategic goals, strategies, objectives, and tactics; others merely offer an identified goal and the objectives to reach it. Some review and update their current mission or vision statements before doing an analysis of their environments; others examine their mission statements after completing an assessment. More important than any particular order is examining all aspects of the agency and the environment it operates in while remaining flexible enough to make adjustments as needed. Regardless ...

1. Strategic planning helps law enforcement agencies achieve
growth and success. Organizations facing numerous challenges
and competing priorities must strategically plan to create a
future that encompasses the vision they desire.
Full text
"We must plan for the future because people who stay in the
present will remain in the past. ''
-Abraham Lincoln
Often considered a daunting task filled with such complicated
procedures and terms that it makes some want to ignore the
activity altogether, strategic planning need not be an overly
complicated process. Instead, managers can view it as simply
considering where their organizations are-or should be-going
over the next year or more and how they will get there. As it
relates to law enforcement agencies, a strategic plan is the
product of a leadership process that helps departments better
focus their energies and resources to ensure that all members
work toward the same goal.
The entire strategic planning process may take many forms and
follow a variety of paths. At some point in the process,
however, planners will identify or update the strategic
philosophy. This may include a mission, vision, or value
statement-or some combination. While each has similarities,
some general distinctions exist. Typically, a mission statement
is a brief description of the intent of the organization, an
expression of the agency's unique reason for existence usually
contained in a formal statement of purpose. A vision statement,
which many agencies increasingly use, offers a vivid image of
the desired future. It compellingly describes how the department
will or should operate at some point in the future and how
customers benefit from its services. A value statement often
lists the overall priorities of how the organization will operate.
It may focus on moral values, such as integrity, honesty, and

2. respect, or operational values, such as efficiency or
effectiveness. This also may include an agency's core values or
principles that describe how it should conduct itself in carrying
out its mission.
THE PROCESS
Four basic questions comprise the essence of the strategic
planning process: 1) Where is the organization now? 2) Where
does it want to be? 3) How will it get there? and 4) How does it
measure its progress? While a number of terms are associated
with this process, departments should focus only on what works
for them. Some agencies have separate mission, vision, and
value statements; others combine them. Some organizations
create strategic goals, strategies, objectives, and tactics; others
merely offer an identified goal and the objectives to reach it.
Some review and update their current mission or vision
statements before doing an analysis of their environments;
others examine their mission statements after completing an
assessment. More important than any particular order is
examining all aspects of the agency and the environment it
operates in while remaining flexible enough to make
adjustments as needed.
Regardless of the terms or order used, getting started remains
one of the most important parts of the strategic planning
process. It is akin to pushing a car: the greatest difficulty lies in
getting it rolling; after that, the task becomes easier.
Departments should not get lost in the search for the perfect
method or approach; it does not exist. Rather, they should start
with the basic questions and move forward, not getting
sidetracked by "analysis paralysis" wherein they overly obsess
about getting everything just right or worrying about "neatness"
in the beginning. They should concentrate on just getting the
process started.
Generally, agencies should consider three main tasks when
working on a strategic plan. The first, strategic analysis, is a
review of the organization's environment, both internal and
external. The next, strategic direction, involves what the

3. department must do as a result of the major issues and
opportunities that it may face. Finally, action planning deals
with explaining how the agency will accomplish its strategic
goals. Each component is important in creating the overall plan.
Strategic Analysis: "SWOT" Tactics
Not surpri singly, for an organization to determine where it
wants to go in the future, it must assess where it is now. In this
part of the strategic planning process, law enforcement
administrators can call on the "SWOT" team for help. Simply
put, this acronym stands for assessing an agency's strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, a critical phase in the
general planning process as it helps determine exactly where the
agency is and what resources it may or may not have. Strength
assessment identifies what the department tends to do well and
can include a skilled, professional staff and a modern, well -
equipped facility. Weaknesses denote what the agency may not
do so well or what diminishes its effectiveness. Inadequate
financial resources may fit into this category. Opportunities
reflect what the organization might seize upon to do better. This
area could include increasing community interactions and taking
advantage of particular grants. Finally, threats are
environmental factors that may hinder performance. Examples
could include a rising demand for service or increased
legislative mandates that can impact resources. Managers should
consider "SWOT" analysis for issues both external to the
agency, such as population growth and increased
industrialization, and internal to it, such as an aging workforce
that might result in excessive turnover or competing priorities
for resources. "SWOT" analysis constitutes one of the most
important aspects in the overall strategic planning process.
Strategic Direction: SMARTER Goals
To move from an assessment of where it is to a plan for where it
wants to be, a law enforcement agency must articulate particular
strategies and identify strategic goals. When consideri ng goals,
a department can use the acronym SMARTER to create specific,
measurable, acceptable, realistic, and timely goals that extend

4. the capabilities of those working to achieve them while being
rewarding for the organization and its members. An
organization should make its goals as specific as possible so as
not to cover too broad an area or to require completing a large
number of steps or satisfying a vast array of objectives. Usually
easier to assess for success, specific goals lend themselves to
helping an agency determine if it has accomplished them. Those
charged with carrying out the goals must find them acceptable
and realistic in scope. "Pie in the sky" ideas or goals that have
no reasonable chance of success do not help the organization or
the individuals who must work toward a goal's completion.
Some, believing that they are providing challenging direction to
an agency, may set such lofty or demanding goals that no one
possibly can satisfy them and, thus, predestine the organization
to fail-exactly the opposite of the intended effect.
Timely goals identify a specific issue that a department can
accomplish in a reasonably appropriate time frame.
Additionally, an agency should avoid overly simplistic, easy, or
obvious goals. Instead, goals should challenge the organization
within its limits and extend the capabilities of those working to
achieve them. Careful consideration in goal creation can lead to
renewed enthusiasm for the agency and its mission.
Strategic Success: Action Planning
Once a department has assessed the environment ("SWOT"
tactics) and arrived at a set of (SMARTER) goals, it must place
the strategic plan into action. One of the biggest problems in
strategic planning (after giving up on trying to find the "perfect
way") is not following the steps to implement the plan. It does
little good to spend the time and energy identifying where the
organization is and determining where it wants to be to then let
the whole thing stagnate for a lack of action. In fact, strong
leadership at this critical stage often proves key to successfully
implementing a strategic plan. An action plan simply sets forth
the goals, specifies the set of objectives needed to reach them,
and identifies the responsible entity for accomplishing each one
and in what time frame. This process ensures that the hard work

5. of developing the strategic plan will become more than an
exercise of enumerating "dreams." The difference between a
wish and a goal is the initiation of an action plan that
specifically outlines the responsibilities for success.
CONCLUSION
The purpose of strategic planning is to help a law enforcement
agency better recognize where it is, where it wants to go, and
how it can best get there. Although different departments use
varying terms, they should focus on the creation of a thoughtful
plan to achieve growth and success. This need not be an overly
difficult task. As the saying goes, "if you fail to plan, you plan
to fail." This proves particularly true in organizations that may
face numerous challenges and competing priorities. The law
enforcement profession cannot afford to practice "pinball
leadership," getting bounced around by every unexpected event.
Instead, leaders must plan proactively to create a future that
encompasses the vision they desire and the plan required to
achieve its success.
Sidebar
Simply put, this acronym stands for assessing an agency's
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats....
Sidebar
The Essence of the Strategic Planning Process
* Where is the organization now?
* Where does it want to be?
* How will it get there?
* How does it measure its progress?
AuthorAffiliation
By Randy Garner, Ph.D.
AuthorAffiliation
Dr. Gamer, a former police chief and executive director of the
Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas and the Texas
Regional Community Policing Institute, currently is the
associate dean of the College of Criminal Justice at Sam
Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas.
Copyright United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation Nov

6. 2005
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Page 977
SWOT Analysis
Organizational strategies are the means through which
companies accomplish their missions and goals. Successful
strategies address four elements of the setting within which the
company operates: (1) the company's strengths (S), (2) its
weaknesses (W), (3) the opportunities in its competitive
environment (O), and (4) the threats in its competitive
environment (T). This set of four elements—strengths,
Page 978 | Top of Article
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats—when used by a firm to
gain competitive advantage, is often referred to as a SWOT
analysis. SWOT was developed by Kenneth Andrews in the
early 1970s, and it continues to be used with only minor
modification and development into the twenty-first century. In
2008, the Harvard Business School Press published two digital
guides to performing SWOT analysis, and investment analysts
regularly publish guides that perform a SWOT analysis on a
wide variety of corporations and financial institutions.
An assessment of strengths and weaknesses occurs as a part of
organizational analysis. It is an audit of the company's internal
workings, which are relatively easier to control than outside
factors. Conversely, examining opportunities and threats is a
part of environmental analysis—the company must look outside
of the organization to determine opportunities and threats, over

7. which it has lesser control.
Andrews's original conception of the strategy model that
preceded the SWOT asked four basic questions about a company
and its environment: (1) What can we do? (2) What do we want
to do? (3) What might we do? and (4) What do others expect us
to do?
The answers to these questions provide the input for an
effective strategic management process. While Andrews'
original conception of this analysis has been developed and
changed to the more streamlined SWOT analysis that is known
today, his work is the foundation of this activity.
STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, OPPORTUNITIES, AND
THREATS
Strengths, in the SWOT analysis, are a company's capabilities
and resources that allow it to engage in activities to generate
economic value and perhaps competitive advantage. A
company's strengths may be in its ability to create unique
products, to provide high-level customer service, or to have a
presence in multiple retail markets. Strengths may also be
things such as the company's culture, its staffing and training,
or the quality of its managers. Whatever capability a company
has can be regarded as a strength.
A company's weaknesses are a lack of resources or capabilities
that can prevent it from generating economic value or gaining a
competitive advantage if used to enact the company's strategy.
There are many examples of organizational weaknesses. For
example, a firm may have a large, bureaucratic structure that
limits its ability to compete with smaller, more dynamic
companies. Another weakness may occur if a company has
higher labor costs than a competitor who can have similar
productivity from a lower labor cost. The characteristics of an
organization that can be a strength, as listed above, can also be
a weakness if the company does not do them well.
Opportunities provide the organization with a chance to improve
its performance and its competitive advantage. Some
opportunities may be anticipated, others arise unexpectedly.

8. Opportunities may arise when there are niches for new products
or services, or when these products and services can be offered
at different times and in different locations. For instance, the
increased use of the Internet has provided numerous
opportunities for companies to expand their product sales.
Threats can be an individual, group, or organization outside the
company that aims to reduce the level of the company's
performance. Every company faces threats in its environment.
Often the more successful companies have stronger threats,
because there is a desire on the part of other companies to take
some of that success for their own. Threats may come from new
products or services from other companies that aim to take away
a company's competitive advantage. Threats may also come
from government regulation or even consumer groups.
A strong company strategy that shows how to gain competitive
advantage should address all four elements of the SWOT
analysis. It should help the organization determine how to use
its strengths to take advantage of opportunities and neutralize
threats. Finally, a strong strategy should help an organization
avoid or fix its weaknesses. If a company can develop a strategy
that makes use of the information from SWOT analysis, it is
more likely to have high levels of performance.
Nearly every company can benefit from SWOT analysis. Larger
organizations may have strategic-planning procedures in place
that incorporate SWOT analysis, but smaller firms (particularly
entrepreneurial firms) may have to start the analysis from
scratch. Additionally, depending on the size or the degree of
diversification of the company, it may be necessary to conduct
more than one SWOT analysis. If the company has a wide
variety of products and services, particularly if it operates in
different markets, one SWOT analysis will not capture all of the
relevant strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that
exist across the span of the company's operations.
LIMITATIONS OF SWOT ANALYSIS
One major problem with the SWOT analysis is that while it
emphasizes the importance of the four elements associated with

9. the organizational and environmental analysis, it does not
address how the company can identify those elements within
itself. Many organizational executives may not be able to
determine what these elements are, and the SWOT framework
provides no guidance. For example, what if a strength identified
by the company is not truly a strength? While a company might
believe its customer service is strong, it may be unaware of
problems with employees or the capabilities of other companies
to
Page 979 | Top of Article
Figure 1
provide a higher level of customer service. Weaknesses are
often easier to determine, but typically after it is too late to
create a new strategy to offset them. A company may also have
difficulty identifying opportunities. Depending on the
organization, what may seem like an opportunity to some may
appear to be a threat to others. Opportunities may be easy to
overlook or may be identified long after they can be exploited.
Similarly, a company may have difficulty anticipating possible
threats in order to effectively deal with them.
While the SWOT framework does not provide managers with the
guidance to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and
threats, it does tell them what questions to ask during the
strategy development process. Managers know they must
determine a strategy that will take advantage of a company's
strengths, minimize its weaknesses, exploit opportunities, or
neutralize threats.
Some experts argue that making strategic choices for the firm is
less important than asking the right questions in choosing the
strategy. A company may think it has solved a problem whereas
in fact it may only have provided the correct answer to the
wrong question.
USING SWOT ANALYSIS TO DEVELOP ORGANIZATIONAL
STRATEGY
SWOT analysis is just the first step in developing and

10. implementing an effective organizational strategy. After a
thorough SWOT analysis, the next step is to rank the strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats and to document the
criteria for ranking. The company must then determine its
strategic fit given its internal capabilities and external
environment in a two-by-two grid (see Figure 1 ). This fit, as
determined in the grid, will indicate what strategic changes
need to be made. The quadrants in this grid are as follows:
· Quadrant 1—internal strengths matched with external
opportunities
· Quadrant 2—internal weaknesses relative to external
opportunities
· Quadrant 3—internal strengths matched with external threats
· Quadrant 4—internal weaknesses relative to external threats
Quadrant 1 lists the strategies associated with a match between
the company's strengths and its perceived external
opportunities. It represents the best fit between the company's
resources and the options available in the external market. A
strategy from this quadrant would be to protect the company's
strengths by shoring up resources and extending competitive
advantage. If a strategy in this quadrant can additionally bolster
weaknesses in other areas, such as in Quadrant 2, this would be
advantageous.
Quadrant 2 lists the strategies associated with a match between
the company's weaknesses with external opportunities.
Strategies in this quadrant would address the choice of either
improving upon weaknesses to turn them into strengths, or
allowing competitors to take advantage of opportunities in the
marketplace.
Quadrant 3 matches the company's strengths and external
threats. Strategies in this quadrant may aim to transform
external threats into opportunities by changing the company's
competitive position through use of its resources or strengths.
Another strategic option in this quadrant is for the company to
maintain a defensive strategy to focus on more promising
opportunities in other quadrants.

11. Quadrant 4 matches a company's weaknesses and the threats in
the environment. These are the worst possible scenarios for an
organization. However, because of the competitive nature of the
marketplace, any company is likely to have information in this
quadrant. Strategies in this quadrant may involve using
resources in other quadrants to exploit opportunities to the point
that other threats are minimized. Additionally, some issues may
be moved out of this quadrant by otherwise neutralizing the
threat or by bolstering a perceived weakness.
Once a strategy is decided on in each quadrant for the issues
facing the company, these strategies require frequent
monitoring and periodic updates. An organization is best
Page 980 | Top of Article
served by proactively determining strategies to address issues
before they become crises.
An example of how a firm can develop strategies using these
quadrants is as follows. Generic Corporation produces high-
quality, high-priced specialty kitchen items in a catalog and in
stores and is known for its excellent customer service. This
strength has been able to offset its major weaknesses, which are
having few stores and no current capabilities for Internet sales.
Its major opportunities come from the explosion of Internet
shopping, and its threats are other more high-profile
competitors, operating primarily on the Internet, and the
concerns of identity theft in Internet sales that many customers
have. Matching Generic's strengths to its opportunities
(Quadrant 1), the firm may choose to enhance its Internet site to
allow online purchases, still providing its excellent 24-hour
telephone customer service. Ideally, this strategy will offset the
weakness of not having an Internet presence, which addresses
the concerns of Quadrant 2. Additionally, by bolstering the
strength of excellent customer service by applying it to the
online shopping site, the company may be able to alleviate
customer concerns about identity theft (Quadrant 3). A strategy
for Quadrant 4, which matches the company's weaknesses and
threats, is that Generic may consider selling its online business

12. to a competitor. Certainly, the Quadrant 4 strategy is the least
preferred, but a proactive strategy that plans for managing such
a situation is favored over a crisis situation in which the
company is forced to sell with no planning.
SWOT ANALYSIS IN OTHER FIELDS
SWOT analysis has such a wide range of applicability that it
can be used in virtually any context. As Lawrence Fine noted in
his 2009 book, The SWOT Analysis, “Many people wrongly
assume a SWOT analysis is only relevent for businesses, but it
can be invaluable for individuals, organizations, and even team
building.” A quick survey of both popular and scholarly articles
from 2010 and beyond with the term “SWOT Analysis” in the
title yields such results as “The SWOT Strategic Planning of
Quantitative Analysis for Service Robot Development in
Taiwan,” “Strategic SWOT Analysis of Public, Private and Not-
for-Profit Festival Organisations,” “An Application of SWOT-
AHP to Develop A Strategic Planning for a Tourist
Destination,” and “A SWOT Analysis of the Protecting
Pedestrians on the Move Project.” As a business tool, SWOT
analysis is a first but critical step in developing an
organizational strategy. Examining a company's internal
capabilities (its strengths and weaknesses), and external
environment (its opportunities and threats), helps to create
strategies that can proactively contend with organizational
challenges.