Strategic Planning vs Strategic Management - Which is Best

There has always been some confusion between the two terms and they have often been used interchangeably but there is a world of difference between the two. This article will make you understand the two terms separately and will make it clear the steps involved in the two terms.

Strategic Planning

The process of predicting the future of the company and defining it into the goals and objectives in order to be able to fulfill the future envisioned is broadly categorized in the strategic planning process. Unlike the conventional way of long-term planning, the strategic planning works its way backwards i.e., first defining the end result and then chalking the strategic planning steps to be undertaken in order to achieve the end result. For example, at the time of long term planning, the planner plans out the steps to reach the next level but in case of strategic planning, the planner reaches the stage and then thinks what must be done to reach here. In other words, long term planning is a prospective planning and strategic planning is a retrospective planning process.