Strategic planning is a process to provide direction and meaning to day-to-day activities. It examines an organization's values, status, environment, and relates those factors to the organization's desired future state, usually expressed in five- to ten-year time periods. Strategic planning is both a reaction to, and a tool for adapting to, those changes, and creating an organization's future within the context of change. Strategic planning provides the means for an organization to adapt its services and activities to meet changing needs in its environment. It provides a framework not only for the improvement of programs but also for the restructuring of programs, management, and for evaluation of the organization's progress in these efforts.
             The vision or mission identifies the organization's purpose and its desired future state. The process of internal assessment and future visioning may uncover, with in an organization, differing views of its purpose, its current level of effective ness, and its potential for the future.
             Specific goals, what is to be achieved, are identified to help move the organization from its current state to the desired future state. Goals may be sequential over, for example, a five-year strategic plan, with a completion date specified for each goal. The objectives may be considered action steps, the accumulation of achievements necessary for attaining each goal. Objectives answer the questions of who is responsible, what specifically will be done, how and where it will be done, and when it will be completed. The goals and objectives must convey at all times a sense of movement toward the desired end state.
             The best portfolio is the one that best fits the company's strengths and weaknesses to the opportunities in the environment. The company must analyze its current business portfolio and decide which areas should receive more, less or no investment. They should develop growth strategies for addi...