Understanding differences between tactical and strategic planning in an organizational context is critical for the effective management of resources and the development of a competitive advantage. As a rule, tactical planning offers strategies for meeting short-term goals and emergent issues, whereas strategic planning leads to the creation of long-term strategies. Both frameworks have their distinctive benefits and disadvantages, which is why applying them situationally makes most sense from a business perspective. Overall, the application of tactical and strategic planning hinges significantly on the type of objectives that a company strives to achieve. However, both frameworks are widely used in tandem in most organizations in order to align long- and short-term goals, which is why reconciling the two approaches and aligning them to meet the established SMART goals is critical.
Planning is a crucial component of management in an organization. Allowing a company to allocate its resources in the most beneficial manner possible, planning invites multiple opportunities for identifying and avoiding risks, as well as locating and using the existing advantages. Traditionally, two types of planning are identified in relation to business management. These are tactical and strategic planning, which address quite different types of objectives. Although tactical planning is usually juxtaposed to the strategic one, the two should be seen as the components of a single whole rather than the exact opposites of each other.
The phenomenon of tactical planning is usually perceived as a tool for providing an immediate response to specific issues that have occurred unplanned. According to Bettinger, Boston, Siry, and Grebner (2016), tactical planning in management is the process in which key elements of the planning process are represented by “discrete integer values” (p. 283). Therefore, the phenomenon of tactical planning is applicable to immediate actions as a response to recent concerns.
In its turn, the concept of strategic planning is traditionally referred to as the process that involves setting and addressing long-term goals in the corporate setting. Specifically, Bryson, Edwards, and Van Slyke define strategic planning as a “rational-comprehensive approach to strategy formulation that uses a systematic process with specific steps such as external and internal assessments” (p. 327). Overall, strategic planning complements the tactical one by offering a long-term perspective on the key risks represented in the target market.
Remarkably, the perceived dichotomy of tactical and strategic planning does not quite correlate with the actual organizational context. In addition to the specified two components, the notion of operational-based planning is often added (Bouchard, D’Amours, Rönnqvist, Azouzi, & Gunn, 2017). However, the specified concept can also be regarded as a characteristic of either of the two, which is why the dichotomy of strategic and tactical planning is typically seen as such. By acknowledging the fact that tactical and strategic approaches to planning play equally important, although entirely different, roles in the corporate context, one will be able to manage some of the critical risks that a company is likely to face in the market environment. Namely, a combination of tactical and strategic planning allows one to develop SMART goals and key milestones for a company to strive to reach. As a result, a more effective assessment of the company’s progress can be performed.
Despite the common misconception of pinning tactical planning against strategic as the opposing concept, the two need to be used in tandem in the corporate setting in order to develop SMART goals and strategies that will allow meeting short- and long-term objectives. In the managerial context, the application of the tactical framework allows handling the scenarios that require an immediate action, such as a conflict between staff members or an issue in the provision of benefits. In turn, the strategic approach toward planning helps to set the key milestones for long-term goals and serves as a tool for building an assessment technique for the company’s performance.
References
Bettinger, P., Boston, K., Siry, J. P., & Grebner, D. L. (2016). Forest management and planning. Academic Press.
Bouchard, M., D’Amours, S., Rönnqvist, M., Azouzi, R., & Gunn, E. (2017). Integrated optimization of strategic and tactical planning decisions in forestry. European Journal of Operational Research, 259(3), 1132-1143. Web.
Bryson, J. M., Edwards, L. H., & Van Slyke, D. M. (2018). Getting strategic about strategic planning research. Public Management Review, 20(3), 317-339. Web.