Lesson 11 Discussion with students

1st students discussion

Strategic planning is a broad plan, focused on the company overall. This type of planning is handled at the senior management level, with input from other leads and professionals. It is typically a long-range plan, taking at least five years to execute completely.

Operational planning, on the other hand, is a narrow plan, focused on specific departments. These plans are short-term, lasting a year at most, and are planned by mid-level management.

As stated in the reading operational planning is an action plan for the bigger strategic plan, so I don't know that they "overlap" as much as they complement one another. Organizational planning is just a piece of the puzzle in completing the strategic plan.

2nd student discussion

A strategic plan outlines the vision, mission, and high level goals of the company. It focuses in long term goals. Strategic plans come from strategic budget. Organizations can implement a start-ex budget which aligns a part of their budget onto their initiatives. An operational plan focuses on what our department can specialize in for the near future. Operational plans focus on short term goals. The cost of operational plans come from our department annual budget. If our annual department budget must be cut, we have to think about all components first.Strategic and operational planning do not overlap each other just like leadership and management. The goal of an operational set up is focusing on each department. There may be overlap between departments but that’s the exception instead of the rule.