Executive Briefing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Executive Briefing - Essay Example Strategic planning is about what the organization does; whom it does it to; and how it excels. This paper seeks to analyze the importance of strategic planning to homeland security organizations. Strategic planning, in most organizations, is basically a process used to determine where the organization is headed to over a year or more. Strategic planning therefore includes the mastery of the organization’s mission, vision, strategies, and values (Ahrenfelt, 2006). Strategic planning is therefore important for homeland security organizations in that the process will enable them understand, where they are currently with their services, the people they are serving, where they want to be in the near future, and strategies and courses of action they need to get to the destination of their choice. According to strategic planning, various approaches can be used to achieve components of strategic management. However, to homeland security organizations, it will be vital for them to appl y approaches such as: the Situation Target Proposal Approach, which evaluates the currently existing condition and how it resulted, defines objectives and goals of the organization, and maps the most probable path or route to achieving those objectives and goals; and the Draw See Think Plan Approach, which defines the desired end state or the ideal organization’s image, defines the situation today and determines the existing gap from the idea and the reason for that gap, determine the specific courses of action that must be undertaken in order to seal the gap existing between the ideal state and the current condition, and plans the required resources that will facilitate the execution of strategy activities (Donald, 2004). These approaches describe strategic planning importance to homeland security organizations. Through strategic planning, the homeland security organization is able to train its employees and take positive steps towards establishing a department wide approach which is effective in executing its duties. Strategic planning is important to homeland security organizations, because it helps the department to address the challenge of cultural change and transformation, and aid it ensuring that the workforce possesses the skills and knowledge that is required to respond effectively to both the current and future threats to the organization. Some of the actions already taken by the homeland security organization because of the importance of strategic planning include; issuing the strategic plan for training, establishing training groups and councils in order to increase communication across the components, and providing directly training for particular departmental need (Fridson, 2001). However, without effective strategic planning, homeland security organizations are likely to be impeded by several challenges. This is because without strategic planning, there would be lack of compatible or common information management systems as well as a tra ining terminology commonly understood, hence making sharing of information on training difficult (Donald, 2004). Lack of strategic planning will also lead to unclear relationships of accountability and authority between the components of organization and the office of the human capital. In the absence of strategic planning, planning by the homeland security organization will be insufficiently detailed in ensuring coordination and effective implementation of training efforts. Strategic planning is also important to the homeland secu