The Advantage Over Its Competitors by Studying the SWOT Free Essay Example, 2500 words

Strategic planning in the company provides a framework to conduct business in the rapidly changing and competitive global market and provides a vision for the future. Large companies like Thomas Cook have more products in the market and the greater is the need to have an effective planning process and to understand any future fluctuations in the market. The recent years of growth in the travel and tourism industry obscure the perceived need for strategic planning, though the unpredicted economic recessions and discontinuities in the market have brought the matters of planning into focus. The recent developments surrounding mergers, strategic alliances, globalization and investments have also heightened the focus into strategic planning (Middleton et al. , 2009). The strategic decisions should focus on long-run decisions that involve the development of new technology and major investments. This is because Thomas Cook has multiple markets and requires strategic planning to attain effe ctive allocation of resources between all components of the business and efficient relationships. Strategic planning is an effective part of the process through which organizations convince the stakeholders and investors about the vision of the business and the direction they wish to take. We will write a custom essay sample on The Advantage Over Its Competitors by Studying the SWOT or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now It comprises of a statement of objectives and goals, a program activity to attain the goals and an outline of resources needed. Middleton et al. (2009) stipulate that it requires market research and analysis and programs undertaken are analyzed and constantly monitored to assess how well targets are being achieved. It is conducted on the assumption that the effort in resources and time is required to produce quantifiable results and an increasing recognition that future development must be considered. Effective strategic planning involves an analysis of the industry and the current market position occupied by the company, the emerging opportunities in the dynamic world, future prospects of the organization and the measures to be undertaken to achieve set goals and objectives.