Tactical Planning - Definition & Meaning
What is Tactical Planning?
Tactical planning is done for setting short term goals and action plan in order to achieve the long term goals set by the strategic planning in a company. The horizon is hence shorter than the strategic plans and this type of planning is generally executed by independent departments or company functions. Thus the tactical planning is the prerogative of Middle/departmental level managers in an organization.
Tactics are generally flexible in nature according to the strategy of the company and less risk is associated with the failures of the tactical plans. Unlike the strategic plans which when fail, do great harm to the company, the tactical plans are changeable from time to time and thus do less harm to the company if gone wrong. If the strategic plan of a company is for 5 years then the tactical plan may be for one year or may be for a few months, depending on the type of business and the required pace of change. They are also different from the operational plans which are made by front line managers to show the direction to small teams to contribute towards strategic and tactical objectives of the company.
Flexibility is the main characteristic of the tactical plans. They should be adaptable to the changing needs and emergencies or contingencies faced by a company. Also the market conditions like change in prices, economic slowdowns, changes in interest rates and inflation are common things. Tactics need to be flexible enough to bear these changes.
Example: If a company is a manufacturer of automobiles and company makes a strategy of increasing its production level in the coming year, then it will make tactical plans for each of the manufacturing plants. Now those tactical plans should be able to accommodate the uncertainties like failure of machinery, strike by employees, cut in supplies, electricity failures etc.
Hence, this concludes the definition of Tactical Planning along with its overview.
This article has been researched & authored by the Business Concepts Team. It has been reviewed & published by the MBA Skool Team. The content on MBA Skool has been created for educational & academic purpose only.
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