1. WAHID’S JUDGMENT - DIFFERENCE STRATEGIC PLAN AS OPPOSED TO AN
OPERATIONAL PLAN
Summary: Wahid’s judgment I have explained the great strategic planning will use expertise
and judgment to explore multiple possible futures, and then set an action plan for future. On
the other hand, operational planning aligns with the business operation plan and generally
forms a basis for operational decisions to address short-term planning needs affecting daily
operations,
Strategic Planning leads to develop a future profile that allows designing talent management
strategies with a defined goal, and with measurable targets. Once those are in place, an
operational plan allows refining the details of headcount,
Author statement: Earlier through one of my personal finance article( WAHID’S VIEW) I
have describe about the strategic plan and operational plan, how by this two plan a financial
take an organization business decision also setting the organizational business plan, in this
article” WAHID’S JUDGMENT “ I have present the difference of this two plan in details,
INTRODUCTION: Strategic planning and operational planning involve two different types
of thinking. Strategic plans and operational (or operating) plans. The two will actually look
reasonably different and be written in a different style, because they are intended to be read
by different people for different reasons.
Strategic decisions are fundamental and directional, and over-arching. Operational decisions,
on the other hand, primarily affect the day-to-day implementation of strategic decisions.
While strategic decisions usually have longer-term implications, operational decisions usually
have immediate (less than one year) implications.
I would like to explanation my judgment or definition about the Strategic planning and
operational planning I believe that this definition will help to readers for clear understand my
article,
PLANNING CONCEPTS
Business planning is a systematic and formalized approach to accomplishing the planning,
coordinating, and control responsibilities of management. It involves the development and
application of: long-range objectives for the project; specific goals to be attained; long-range
profits plans stated in broad terms; adequate directions for formulating annual, detailed
budgets, defining responsibility centers, and establishing control mechanisms; and evaluative
methods and procedures for making changes when necessary.
DEFINITION OF STRATEGIC PLAN:
Strategic planning decides where an organization is going over the next year or more, how it's
going to get there and how it'll know if it got there or not. The focal point of a strategic plan is
usually on the entire organization, while the focal point of a business plan is usually on a
particular product, service or program
DEFINITION OF OPERATIONAL PLAN

2. Operating plan A detailed description of what the company will do to pursue the objectives of
its strategic plan for the next operating period, usually one year. It will contain enough detail
that the operating managers of the company can use it to guide their daily and monthly
activities.
Difference between strategic plan & Operational plan is below
STRATEGIC PLAN:
The scheduling for the strategic planning process depends on the nature and needs of the
organization and the it’s immediate external environment.. For example, planning should be
carried out frequently in an organization whose products and services are in an industry that is
changing rapidly. On the other hand, if the organization has been around for many years and
is in a fairly stable marketplace, then planning might be carried out once a year and only
certain parts of the planning process, for example, actions planning (objectives,
responsibilities, time lines, budgets, etc) are updated each year. Consider the following
procedure:
01. The purpose of a strategic plan is to guide the overall direction of an organization, to
define its grand purpose, what it ultimately wants to achieve, and the general strategies it will
use to get there. This might include the definition of its market and its product categories and
the ways in which it will change the lives of the buyers in its intended market. It will also
define the long-range goals of the organization and provide to the shorter-term and more
detailed activities that will be laid out in the operational plans
02. The strategic plan typically doesn’t contain a lot of details about implementation. Rather,
it talks in global terms about the strategies the company will pursue, the benefits that will be
achieved when the implementation has been completed, and how that will enable the
company to move closer to achieving its fundamental purpose
03. Strategic planning should be done when an organization is just getting started. (The
strategic plan is usually part of an overall business plan, along with a marketing plan,
financial plan and operational/management plan.)
04. Strategic planning should also be done in preparation for a new major venture, for
example, developing a new department, division, major new product or line of products, etc.
05. Strategic planning should also be conducted at least once a year in order to be ready for
the coming fiscal year (the financial management of an organization is usually based on a
year-to-year, or fiscal year, basis). In this case, strategic planning should be conducted in time
to identify the organizational goals to be achieved at least over the coming monetary year,
06. Each year, action plans should be updated
07. During implementation of the plan, the progress of the implementation should be
reviewed at least on a quarterly basis by the board. Again, the frequency of review depends
on the extent of the rate of change in and around the organization.
OPERATIONAL PLAN:
The operational planning is a subset of strategic work plan. It describes short-term ways of
achieving milestones and explains how, or what portion of, a strategic plan will be put into

3. operation during a given operational period, in the case of commercial application, a fiscal
year or another given budgetary term. An operational plan is the basis for, and justification of
an annual operating budget request.
01. The operating plan, by difference, is mainly intended to be a short-term manual (usually
one year) for the executive managers and staff who have the responsibility for carrying out
the plan. It contains details they need to do their work, milestones, action steps, detailed
budgets and timetables, and so on. .
02. The operating plan would make unexciting reading for the analyst, who is studying the
company’s strategic direction, yet its contents are essential to the manager who is charged
with delivering the assigned sales goal, upgrading the computer network to Windows XP, or
finding out how much money is budgeted to build the new trade show booth or hire the new
engineer.
03. The operational part of the enterprise, in which operational plans are translated into
action. Despite its importance, analytical practice in this area often tends to be the least
developed, because the pressure of daily activities foreshortens the time for reflective thinking
about operational issues and trade-offs.
04. Such seat-of-the-pants decision-making can become the ingrained way of doing things,
unless the company has instilled a basic sense of decisional discipline and provided guidance
through simple but useful decision rules and processes. The successful company will have an
integrated set of metrics and criteria, and provide information that clearly supports intelligent
decision-making.
05. Operational effectiveness should be a function of sound trade-offs, with careful cost
management and close attention paid to the quality and efficiency of production or services
rendered, and with constant vigilance in serving customers through sustainable pricing, credit,
and support actions
07. An organizational climate, in which managers and all employees are encouraged, indeed
challenged, to approach their jobs and the daily decisions they make with a rational trade-off
mentality. Before making a decision, answers to questions such as “Is this really a necessary
outlay and will it bring in more cash than I will spend?” Such thinking might run counter to a
corporate culture which does not encourage employee initiative and “thinking outside the
box,” but will be a natural consequence of the leadership of the economic manager we
discussed earlier. It’s reinforced by a combination of training and specific decision support,
and clearly communicated expectations at all levels
AT A GLANCE: DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STRATEGIC PLAN & OPERATIONAL PLAN
Need:
1. Strategic: Develop the best talent strategies for longer-term success
1. Operational: Accurately forecast hiring and/or training needs
Timeline/ Planning Horizon
2. Strategic: Usually 3 years or longer matches the organizational strategic plan
3. Operational: Usually 12 months with a quarterly focus – matches the yearly business plan
Inputs

4. 4. Strategic: Wide range of internal and external information including demographics,
business strategies, global trends, etc.
4. Operational: Mostly internal data, some management decisions
Skills
5. Strategic: Strategic Capabilities analyzed and gathered at the group level
5. Operational: Competencies may be audited or gathered at an individual level
Performed By
6. Strategic: Business, facilitated by HR
6. Operational HR or staffing organization with input from the business
Aligns to
7. Strategic: Strategic Plan
7. Operational: Business Plan
CONCLUSION:
Strategic Planning improves the decision-making process from enterprise to regional/local
levels, and enables organizations to craft inclusive, embattled talent management strategies.
This degree of decision support and analysis also enables organizations to determinedly
monitor and improve results as they anticipate their future workforce. Strategic planning
should not be an afterthought or an add-on to existing HR deliverables. It should be a key part
of the business strategy itself as globalization, skills shortages, educational Trends and other
factors significantly alter the labor market.