Discussion: Strategic and Financial Planning
Discussion: Strategic and Financial Planning
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Strategic Planning and Financial Planning: Prior to completing this discussion, read Chapter 13 from your course text. Select a health care organization and answer the following questions as they relate to your selected organization:
- What is your understanding of strategic planning and financial planning?
- What if financial planning is not aligned with strategic planning? What are the consequences?
Your initial post must be 300 to 350 words.
Guided Response: Challenge your peers to think about how often the plans should be reviewed and by whom. Are there health care organizations that are exempt from the planning process for various reasons? Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts.
Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Refer to the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric under the Settings icon above for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.
MHA 612 Week 4 Discussion: Strategic Planning and Financial Planning
Strategic Planning does not have one specific definition, but the concepts of what strategic planning is are similar (Cleverley & Cleverley, 2011). Strategic planning is essentially the process of using strategy to meet an organization’s common goals. It’s the process of planning, assigning goals and direction, allocating resources, and ultimately making decisions that will bring the group closer to its goals and objectives. Agreements are also made between the parties are centered-around common goals and the possible outcomes of the planning process. Ultimately, a business cannot function properly without some form of strategy and a strategic planning process in place.
Financial planning and strategic planning go hand-in-hand as it relates to business endeavors. Once the strategic goals are mapped out by the company, the financial planning comes into play to help the organization achieve those goals. Financial planning is the monetary roadmap to conquering the strategic goals. A financial plan is typically established after the strategic goals have been set. Within financial planning, there are typically six primary steps: Establish the goal, gather the data, analyze the data, develop the plan, implement the plan, and monitor the plan (Thune, 2018).
Strategic and financial planning are two separate types of strategy that must follow one another in a successful business model. However, if the two are not aligned there are some consequences. Since financial planning directly follows strategic planning, it would be impossible to carry-out successful strategic goals without a solid financial plan. For example, if a household does not have a budget, the household may find themselves in a situation where certain bills are not paid, and thus, there are consequences for that. If household bills are not paid accordingly, the vendor will terminate services. Similarly with financial planning, if there is not budget, the plan cannot carry out successfully the goals set forth in the strategic plan.
Reference:
Cleverley, W. O., Song, P. H., & Cleverley, J. O. (2011). Essentials of health care finance (7th ed). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Retrieved from https://www.vitalsource.com
Thune, K. (2018). The 6 steps of financial planning. Retrieved from https://www.thebalance.com/the-6-steps-of-financial-planning-2466498
