How to plan for long term success

A business needs a long-term strategy in order to be successful. This plan should outline how the business will accomplish its goals. The creation of significant tasks that are crucial to every stage of business growth as well as to the success of any endeavor is one of the most important components of long-term planning. The need for businesses to have a better grasp of organizational growth management and the capacity to create long-term transitional gains has grown. In their attempts to make their investments effective, organizations have faced numerous difficulties. The attainment of organizational success depends on six key dimensions.
The first objective is the identification of the firm’s market segments and feasibility of market niche, which is the most fundamental aspect of a successful organization (Cummins, 2017). Market segments consist of the potential customers while market niche refers to the competitive advantage of the company and its ability to sustain the strategic fitness. Various disadvantages are associated with this task as many businesses are unable to identify market needs and come up with ways that will help fill those gaps. For a firm to be successful, it must be able to identify a potential market and opportunities as well coming up with strategies that will enable them to capture the market niche. For instance, Apple Company has managed to expand its business due to its ability to identify a market for its products such as computers and phones.
The second task is the analysis process of the expectations customers place on products and services. Organizations face a lot of challenges in the process of developing its products and services based on the customers’ preferences. The production process involves all those steps that are included in the design and manufacture of goods and services as well as delivery of a quality package. The whole process depends on the ability of a firm to strategically plan on how to identify potential customers, detect their needs as well as their preferred quality of those goods and services (Cummins, 2017). Companies like General Motors have achieved success in the industry since they deal with products that meet the expectations of customers and are offered at affordable costs.
The third assignment is the acquiring and developing resources that will help meet the anticipated growth of a firm. A company may have identified a potential market and the products to fill that gap, but lack the required resources. The ability of a corporation to acquire both the financial and physical resources places an added advantage in the competitive industry (Cummins, 2017). These resources include capital to purchase equipment as well as financial capabilities to acquire human resources. A company has a vital role in ensuring that it has a good management team that will help in the realization of the set goals and objectives.
The fourth task is the development of operational systems. For companies to be successful, they must be able to manage their day to day operations. This would enable them to develop the strategic plan for the long-term achievements. Short-term commitments include managing costs that arise from advertising, billing, training, payment of salaries and wages as well as the production of goods and services. Firms are likely to experience fluctuations in their profits if they neglect their responsibilities of maintaining their short-term expenditures that help them to run their day to day operations.
Fifth is the creation and development of management systems that enhance the long-term growth. The process requires the organization to execute a planning process which includes strategic planning, planning for contingency as well as operational planning. A strategic plan helps the company design an organizational structure that is well coordinated and one that enables it to have control process on the budget and also implement mechanisms for appraising its performance.
The last task is the development of a corporate culture based on beliefs, norms and shared values. This helps in the management of employees as well as the customers. According to Cummins, (2017), a firm develops specific values in the products and services where quality becomes the core aspect of the production process. On the other hand, beliefs are the various ideas that the business community develops and holds about themselves and the business as a whole. Additionally, norms are the documented rules and regulations that are applied to the daily activities of the company.
The different organization stages include Stage I and Stage II and Stage III. The first and second steps represent the entrepreneurial phase. Stage I organizations primarily deal with business ventures and are dependent on development keys which include defining the market need, provision and development of products, and building the ability to meet daily targets. On the other hand, Stage II involves the rapid growth in the organizational development. In this stage, there are two keys to success. They include the ability to access resources as well as the aptitude to integrate operation systems in the firm. Stage III represents the professional management phase (Cummins, 2017).
There are differences between the entrepreneurship and professionally managed organization. According to Cummins, (2017), planning in Stage III is done as a way of life where managers motivate their employees and also providing incentives. Secondly, unlike the entrepreneurship form of business, professionally managed organizations are planned rather than being residual. They have a formal organizational culture. The other difference is that in professionally managed agencies, the firms have structured control of operations, unlike the entrepreneurship firms. The last difference identified in Stage III organizations is that in the professionally managed organizations, the management does its budgeting through variance and standards.
The key to success in developing Stage III organization is that firms’ objectives and goals should incorporate respective departments, people and the company as a whole. The other answer to success is that corporations should plan through strategic and development approaches as well as define the roles and responsibilities of the employees (Cummins, 2017). The challenge faced during the transition from entrepreneurship to professionally managed organization is that various departmental operations require a comprehensive coordination by the respective management teams.

References

Cummins, J. (2017). Planning for long-term success in your business. Retrieved from http://gigarelifestyle.com/business-and-finance/planning-for-long-term-success-in-your-business