Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Summary
This article was taken from Business Strategy Series, Volume 12, Issue No.
The focus of the article is about the continuity of strategic plan designed by
employment last three to five years, but strategic plans normally run from five to
ten by years. Higher positions are on a contract basis, contracts are often shorter
than the strategic plans, and sometimes contracts are not renewed. The new
executive director who takes over the strategic plan might condemn the previous
executive director and formulate its own strategic plan, in which performance will
The author then defines the definition of strategic plan. The author quoted from
David, F. that a strategic plan is a document that outlines the overall direction of
top management does that is important to the organization; David goes on further
should not exceed three years without shareholder approval. In general practice,
it does not take into account the length of the strategic plan which the executive
The article then gives guidelines for effective strategic plans. Executive directors
are crucial for the success of organisations, and therefore it is vital for the board
executives who have visions and dream beyond everybody in the organisation
and are driven by results. Most executives do not share their vision with other
organisational members. The vision should cascade from top management to the
lowest employee in the organisation. There are two types of executives. First,
those who are not in touch with the visions of their organization. The other group
is those who know about the vision of their organisation but are unwilling to share
it with the rest of the organisation. There is need for boards of directors to match
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the lengths of the strategic plans of organisations with the length of executives’
contracts.
Most executives interviewed by the author pointed out that their positions last for
a fixed period of time. There are situations where organizations have collapsed
because of executives who have looted literally everything from the organization.
etc. In Southern Africa, research has shown that people with experience from
lack experience.
Next, the author have discussed regarding the leadership where he explained
becomes a servant of the people and of the company vision, he puts the interests
of the organization first, allowing the flow of information, which helps the
The author noted that it is high time that we redefined or adjusted our
to do it all. They cannot take credit for the dramatic success or blame for all
of the importance of a leader and their role in the team. In this case the writer
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quotes Collins and Porras that the leaders are at the top of their trade as far as
the leadership development is concerned. Leaders are people who are humble
and women who understand their contribution to the team. The result of this is an
that facilitates continuity. The current situation needs global leaders who accept
failure and quit, leaving others to take over when they fail to serve the interests of
the organisation: leaders who are not narrow minded, who do not concentrate on
their contracts and accumulation of wealth before the end of the contract; a new
Critical Reaction
This article went in sequential order and was easy to follow. I managed to
understand clearly as it used easy English and that was one of the reasons why I
chose this article. The other reason was the subject is very close to me as I
the application for the employment of contracts. I also chose this article because
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The article began with a clear defined problem of the employment contracts and
the impact on the strategic plan. From that problem, it went on to give definition
of strategic plan and guidelines for effective strategic plans. Lastly, the author
discussed regarding the leadership aspect which was very important in the
understand and was very applicable. In conclusion, the article was presented
access the strength of internal and external forces in dealing with organizational
challenges. With these plans, goals and objectives of the organization would be
clearer and easier for managers to make decisions to achieve those goals.
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If strategic planning is not implemented in an organization, then the effect is that
managers will face problems in determining the objectives and setting goals to be
to be achieved, then the operation that exists in these organizations do not follow
managers to make early preparations to tackle the problem. Managers will make
decisions based on the current situation for the future. For example, if the
situation of the organization in a relatively slow, the manager can set the
The Strategists
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The article emphasized on the importance of the leader in the organization which
are consist of the top management level. They can be called strategists. They
are important because they are responsible for the success and failure of an
analyse and organise information. In this case, leaders in the organization are
very important. They should have clear vision for the organization and share it
Leadership
Effective leadership and strategic planning skills are keys to success for any
manager. Leaders must communicate the strategic plan to the rest of the
plan and most importantly, know how they support the plan's mission and goals.
The plans might as well not exist as the leaders have failed in their responsibility
to make sure their subordinates know why they are important to the overall
mission. Often they don't even know the mission. How do leaders expect their
subordinates to implement a plan they aren't familiar with? How will leaders excel
if they don't completely understand the plan? Leadership can happen with or
Conclusion
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Organisations need boards of directors who function effectively, helping top
management with advice and moral support. There is a need for corporate
boards to be revitalised and reformed so that they function effectively for the
success factor for every organisation. The service contract of executive directors
needs a major revamp versus the length of the strategic plan. There should be a
synchronisation of the length of the strategic plan and the executive’s contract of
through the strategic plans that they contributed to the formation of for the
where the strategic plan continues after the executive has left and the document
organisations.