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Strategic planning

A solid strategic planning process delivers valid planning content, applies relevant methodologies, integrates the individual planning steps and tracks implementation. Drawing on our project experience, we have developed a benchmark process for strategic planning that satisfies all these requirements.

In brief

The strategic planning process – a success factor for sustainable corporate development

Strategic decisions prepare the ground for long-term growth that creates value. Top managers accordingly see such decisions as one of their top priorities. Corporate strategy defines the company's vision, sets targets for the long term and outlines the nature and scope of its business. Effective strategies can give a company a decisive competitive edge.

Review your strategic planning process

Existing strategic planning practices often involve inadequate quantitative frameworks; and they fail to state the specific actions that must be taken. Worse still, they frequently do nothing at all to inject innovation into the business system.
There is of course no such thing as the right process for strategic planning. Many existing planning processes do, however, clearly contain avoidable weaknesses. Our crossindustry study of this issue revealed the seven strategic planning pitfalls and a benchmark strategic planning process that are outlined.

Pitfalls in the strategic planning process

How effective is your early warning system?
Do you pay sufficient attention to what your competitors are doing?
Do you underpin your strategic alternatives with quantitative data?
Is value-based management established firmly enough?
Is your strategic planning linked to your medium-term and operational planning?
How effective is your strategy implementation tracking system?
Are your people sufficiently well informed? Have you secured their active commitment?

A solid strategic planning process delivers valid planning content, applies relevant methodologies, integrates the individual planning steps and tracks implementation. Drawing on our project experience, we have developed a benchmark process for strategic planning that satisfies all these requirements.

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Benchmarking process for strategic planning

Our experts

Austria

Roland Falb

Managing Partner

Vienna, Austria
Phone: +43 1 53602-201
E-mail:

Bahrain

Razmig Boladian

Razmig Boladian

Partner

Manama, Bahrain
Phone: +973 17 567-952
E-mail:

Principal

Manama, Bahrain
Phone: +973 17 567-950
E-mail:

Partner

Manama, Bahrain
Phone: +973 17 567-976
E-mail:

Christian von Tschirschky

Christian von Tschirschky

Partner

Manama, Bahrain
Phone: +973 17 567-978
E-mail:

Michael Wette

Partner

Manama, Bahrain
Phone: +973 17 567-951
E-mail:

Belgium

Eric Baart

Partner

Brussels, Belgium
Phone: +32 2 66103-25
E-mail:

Brazil

Marcelo Aude

Principal

São Paulo, Brazil
Phone: +55 11 3046-7111
E-mail:

António Farinha

António Farinha

Partner

São Paulo, Brazil
Phone: +55 11 3046-7111
E-mail:

Thomas Kunze

Partner

São Paulo, Brazil
Phone: +55 11 3046-7111
E-mail:

Marcos Salla

Principal

São Paulo, Brazil
Phone: +55 11 3046-7111
E-mail:

China

Charles-Edouard Bouée

Charles-Edouard Bouée

Partner and Member of the Global Executive Committee

Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 53670-965
E-mail:

Linus Hildebrandt

Linus Hildebrandt

Principal

Shanghai, China
Phone: +86 21 5298 6677 - 887
E-mail:

Watson Liu

Partner

Beijing, China
Phone: +86 10 84400088-618
E-mail:

Yi Peng

Principal

Beijing, China
Phone: +86 10 84400088-659
E-mail:

Qi Wu

Partner and Member of the Supervisory Board

Beijing, China
Phone: +86 10 84400088-608
E-mail:

Guoqiang Ren

Partner

Shanghai, China
Phone: +86 21 52986677 - 806
E-mail:

Ping Yi

Principal

Shanghai, China
Phone: +86 21 52986677 - 833
E-mail:

Fanny Zhang

Principal

Beijing, China
Phone: +86 10 84400088
E-mail:

Czech Republic

Roland Zsilinszky

Roland Zsilinszky

Principal

Prague, Czech Republic
Phone: +420 2 10 219-524
E-mail:

France

Sebastien Amichi

Sebastien Amichi

Principal

Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 70394-282
E-mail:

Laurent Benarousse

Laurent Benarousse

Partner

Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 53670-384
E-mail:

Charles-Edouard Bouée

Charles-Edouard Bouée

Partner and Member of the Global Executive Committee

Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 53670-965
E-mail:

Sébastien Cailliau

Sébastien Cailliau

Principal

Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 53670-323
E-mail:

Dominique Gautier

Partner

Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 53670-341
E-mail:

Fabrice Kahn

Partner

Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 53670-324
E-mail:

Iannis Mardell

Principal

Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 53670-960
E-mail:

Vincent Mercier

Vincent Mercier

Vice President of the Supervisory Board

Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 53670-326
E-mail:

Bertrand Mouly-Aigrot

Bertrand Mouly-Aigrot

Principal

Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 53670-987
E-mail:

Philippe Plouvier

Philippe Plouvier

Partner

Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 53670-935
E-mail:

Nicolas Teisseyre

Nicolas Teisseyre

Partner

Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 53670-973
E-mail:

Germany

Andreas Bonnard

Andreas Bonnard

Principal

Frankfurt, Germany
Phone: +49 69 299 24-6223
E-mail:

Andreas Bauer

Partner

Munich, Germany
Phone: +49 89 9230-8316
E-mail:

Partner

Munich, Germany
Phone: +49 89 9230-8790
E-mail:

Albrecht Crux

Partner

Munich, Germany
Phone: +49 89 9230-8208
E-mail:

René Fischer

Principal

Frankfurt, Germany
Phone: +49 69 29924-6587
E-mail:

Rudolf Gröger

Partner

Munich, Germany
Phone: +49 89 9230 - 8036
E-mail:

Manfred Hader

Partner

Hamburg, Germany
Phone: +49 40 37631-4327
E-mail:

Joji Hattori

Principal

Düsseldorf, Germany
Phone: +49 211 4389 2248
E-mail:

Marcus Hoffmann

Marcus Hoffmann

Principal

Munich, Germany
Phone: +49 89 9230-8060
E-mail:

Matthias Hübner

Matthias Hübner

Principal

Munich, Germany
Phone: +49 89 9230-8910
E-mail:

Timo Kamp

Partner

Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49 30 39927-3493
E-mail:

Johannes Klein

Principal

Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49 30 39927-3488
E-mail:

Thomas Knecht

Partner

Munich, Germany
Phone: +49 89 9230-8959
E-mail:

Dirk Kohlen

Principal

Munich, Germany
Phone: +49 89 9230-8478
E-mail:

Astrid Latzel

Principal

Berlin, Germany
Phone: +49 30 39927-3591
E-mail:

Patrick Mannsperger

Patrick Mannsperger

Partner

Munich, Germany
Phone: +49 89 9230-8798
E-mail:

Carsten Rossbach

Carsten Rossbach

Partner

Frankfurt, Germany
Phone: +49 69 29924-6318
E-mail:

Regina Schmidt

Partner

Munich, Germany
Phone: +49 89 9230-8747
E-mail:

Burkhard Schwenker

Burkhard Schwenker

Chairman of the Supervisory Board

Hamburg, Germany
Phone: +49 40 37631-4100
E-mail:

Andreas Schwilling

Andreas Schwilling

Partner

Munich, Germany
Phone: +49 89 9230-8364
E-mail:

Martin Streichfuss

Martin Streichfuss

Partner and Head of Transportation

Düsseldorf, Germany
Phone: +49 211 4389-2193
E-mail:

Jörg Stäglich

Jörg Stäglich

Partner

Düsseldorf, Germany
Phone: +49 211 4389-2902
E-mail:

Christian Wessels

Christian Wessels

Partner

Frankfurt, Germany
Phone: +49 69 29924-6390
E-mail:

Italy

Maxime Charbonnel

Maxime Charbonnel

Principal

Milan, Italy
Phone: +39 02 29501-227
E-mail:

Roberto Crapelli

Roberto Crapelli

Partner and Managing Director

Milan, Italy
Phone: +39 02 29501-257
E-mail:

Mariano Frey

Partner and President of the Italian offices

Milan, Italy
Phone: +39 02 295 01-230
E-mail:

Andrea Marinoni

Andrea Marinoni

Principal

Milan, Italy
Phone: +39 02 29501-291
E-mail:

Paolo Massardi

Partner

Milan, Italy
Phone: +39 02 29501-218
E-mail:

Japan

Isao Endo

Partner

Tokyo, Japan
Phone: +81 3 358 76-660
E-mail:

Joji Hattori

Principal

Düsseldorf, Germany
Phone: +49 211 4389 2248
E-mail:

Takashi Hirai

Partner

Tokyo, Japan
Phone: +81 3 35876-660
E-mail:

Takayuki Kito

Partner

Tokyo, Japan
Phone: +81 3 35876-660
E-mail:

Ken Mori

Partner

Tokyo, Japan
Phone: +81 3 35876-660
E-mail:

Satoshi Nagashima

Satoshi Nagashima

Partner

Tokyo, Japan
Phone: +81 3 35876-660
E-mail:

Takashi Watanabe

Takashi Watanabe

Principal

Tokyo, Japan
Phone: +81 3 358 76-660
E-mail:

Latvia

Uwe Kumm

Partner

Moscow, Russia
Phone: +7 495 287 92 46
E-mail:

Lebanon

Michael Wette

Partner

Manama, Bahrain
Phone: +973 17 567-951
E-mail:

Morocco

Laurent Benarousse

Laurent Benarousse

Partner

Paris, France
Phone: +33 1 53670-384
E-mail:

Netherlands

Benno van Dongen

Benno van Dongen

Partner

Amsterdam, Netherlands
Phone: +31 20 7960-630
E-mail:

René Seyger

Partner

Amsterdam, Netherlands
Phone: +31 20 7960-620
E-mail:

Nigeria

Christian Wessels

Christian Wessels

Partner

Frankfurt, Germany
Phone: +49 69 29924-6390
E-mail:

Poland

Przemyslaw Vonau

Przemysław Vonau

Principal

Warsaw, Poland
Phone: +48 22 32374-24
E-mail:

Portugal

António Bernardo

António Bernardo

Partner and Member of the Supervisory Board

Lisbon, Portugal
Phone: +351 21 3567-601
E-mail:

Gustavo Adolfo Silva

Gustavo Adolfo Silva

Partner

Lisbon, Portugal
Phone: +351 21 3567-605
E-mail:

Qatar

Michael Wette

Partner

Manama, Bahrain
Phone: +973 17 567-951
E-mail:

Russia

Georgy Babilashvily

Georgy Babilashvily

Principal

Moscow, Russia
Phone: +7 495 287 92 46
E-mail:

Nikolay Grachev

Nikolay Grachev

Partner

Moscow, Russia
Phone: +7 495 287 92 46
E-mail:

Uwe Kumm

Partner

Moscow, Russia
Phone: +7 495 287 92 46
E-mail:

Nadezhda Larina

Nadezhda Larina

Partner

Moscow, Russia
Phone: +7 495 287 92 46
E-mail:

Dmitri Zaitsev

Partner

Moscow, Russia
Phone: +7 495 287 92 46
E-mail:

Singapore

Damien Dujacquier

Damien Dujacquier

Principal

Singapore, Singapore
Phone: +65 6622-5482
E-mail:

Jihong He

Principal

Singapore, Singapore
Phone: +65 6622-5764
E-mail:

Spain

António Bernardo

António Bernardo

Partner and Member of the Supervisory Board

Lisbon, Portugal
Phone: +351 21 3567-601
E-mail:

Ricardo Wehrhahn

Ricardo Wehrhahn

Partner

Madrid, Spain
Phone: +34 91 5647361
E-mail:

Sweden

Jan Beckeman

Partner

Stockholm, Sweden
Phone: +46 8 410438 - 91
E-mail:

Switzerland

Carsten Henkel

Partner

Zurich, Switzerland
Phone: +41 43 336-8610
E-mail:

Björn Maul

Partner

Zurich, Switzerland
Phone: +41 43 336-8640
E-mail:

Beatrix Morath

Managing Partner

Zurich, Switzerland
Phone: +41 43 336-8630
E-mail:

Lukas Weber

Partner

Zurich, Switzerland
Phone: +41 43 336-8690
E-mail:

Ukraine

Uwe Kumm

Partner

Moscow, Russia
Phone: +7 495 287 92 46
E-mail:

United Arab Emirates

Michael Wette

Partner

Manama, Bahrain
Phone: +973 17 567-951
E-mail:

United Kingdom

Anand Raghavan

Principal

London, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 20 30751 - 100
E-mail:

Jonathan Rowan

Principal

London, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 20 30751-121
E-mail:

Robert Thomson

Partner

London, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 20 30751-120
E-mail:

USA

Antonio Benecchi

Antonio Benecchi

Partner

Chicago, USA
Phone: +1 312 662 - 5510
E-mail:

Tim Manasseh

Partner

Chicago, USA
Phone: +1 312 662-5515
E-mail:

Further reading

Management between Strategy and Finance

Management between Strategy and Finance

Book (in German) by Burkhard Schwenker and Klaus Spremann, 2008

Companies' decision-making and planning systems find themselves in a constant tug of war between strategic and financial considerations. The authors analyze these two opposing currents in business thinking, dissecting their differences and identifying their best practices. … >>

NEW GAME

NEW GAME - New businesses achieve success against the odds with their own assets

Study, 2007

What do Caterpillar, Apple and the Süddeutsche Zeitung have in common? All three have successfully fought the dominating business trends and used their existing assets to penetrate new business sectors … >>

Our approach strategic planning process

Brochure, 2005

Read more about our approach to a strategic planning process – a success factor for growth strategies … (PDF, 355 KB)

Your expert contact

Andreas Bonnard

Andreas Bonnard