Fitting the strategic planning process to organization: A clinical study of Burroughs Wellcome Co.

Strategic planning is art as well as science. Clinical analysis of Burroughs Wellcome Co. provides us with insight and understanding of the process. A number of themes are developed in this paper, with implementation as the first order of concern, since it is the driving mechanism for success. To begin at the end is mandatory if strategic planning is to be real for the organization ; questions are more important than answers. Rhetorically, good answers require good questions. This paper demonstrates that appropriate questions are necessary to keep the planning process on track. Initially, queries on strengths and weaknesses generated little response. However, questions such as "What do we do well?" and "What can we do better?" led to substantive issues. Later, the questions were refined to make stakeholders of the major organizational players. Some suggestions for strategic planning: the questions and the procedures must fit the organizational style; balance and cohesion must be considered and maintained at each step; and finally, strategic planning must be serious business, and the chief executive officer's leadership is mandatory. © 1988.

Duke Scholars

Author Richard M. Burton Fuqua School of Business