To achieve this it developed and operationalized its strategic planning framework, which is detailed in this practical guide.
Although no corporation with over 10,000 world-wide employees can effectively deploy a strategic planning process where all voices are heard, MassMutual’s framework supports a culture of knowledge sharing, transparency and communication to help the organisation to become more strategically agile and aligned.
The step-by-step implementation process shows how MassMutual operationalized its framework:
- Step one: Evaluate business intelligence
- Step two: Refine strategic purpose and vision
- Step three: Define goals and aspirations
- Step four: Determine strategic priorities
- Step five: Identify critical initiatives
- Step six: Integrate projects, plans, budgets
- Step seven: Monitor critical initiatives
- Step eight: Assess strategic performance
Regardless of the approach an organisation takes to provide effective governance in today’s complex global economy, management accountants have an important role to play – by looking at external factors; aligning functions to smooth the planning process; and ensuring the strategic planning framework has the resilience and flexibility to deal with change.