Strategic planning for rapid profitable growth

The strategic planning process has been used and appreciated for many years, and there is a well‐established body of knowledge regarding how this process supports conventional business operations. Little attention, however, has been given in the literature or in practice to what planning activities support business‐creating efforts—the initial stages required for developing new, embryonic businesses. In addition, very little has been said about what specific planning processes would be most appropriate in supporting business activities that have exceptional opportunity for growth, given their positive results in the early experimentation phase. Ideally, innovative business activities, followed by the rapid expansion of successful experiments, will strengthen the core business of the firm. While the classical strategy process can do an adequate job within the context of an established business, different strategic planning processes are required in the early stages of development and rapid expansion. Each of these business contexts requires a strategy process tailored to its unique environment and issues.