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Running Head: STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Strategic Planning for Defense Department
Courtnie Walker
Walden University
December 15, 2018
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STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR DEFESE DEPARTMENT
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Department of Defense Description
Department of Defense is a public organization mandated to provide security. It is the
largest government employer in the US. Department of Defense is mandated to provide military
forces required in for the provision of defense against external aggression and peacekeeping
outside the United States as the US may deem necessary. The defense department uses the Army
and the military body at sea and on the air to execute its responsibility. It comprises of over one
million men on duty (Gholz & Sapolsky, 2018). The mission of the defense department is to
provide military forces and offer all elements necessary to prevent the occurrence of war and
enhance security in the country. In line with people’s security, the defense department protects
people’s interest and offers a defense to all the U.s strategies.
The relevance of strategic planning in the department of defense
Strategic planning is relevant in the defense department to clarify the goals and missions
of the defense department. This implies that strategic planning assists in clarifying the mission of
the defense department to allocate sufficient resources to accomplish the task. Budget required in
running all the military forces is included in the plan. This calls for adherence to the budget to
achieve the mission. The budget also illustrates salaries for the men on duty so as not to have goslows in security sector (McHatton et al., 2011). This implies that for the defense department to
achieve its mission, resources are crucial. Reviews are necessary for the expenditure on the
budget. The strategic plan ensures that funds are used according to their allocation.
Strategic planning in the defense department is also relevant in ensuring that the
stakeholders’ analysis is clearly defined. This clear definition implies that no conflicts may arise
during the process. Hence the department’s duties are collectively achieved. Conflicts between
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stakeholders may lead to the defense department deviating from its goal. Due to involvement
with many parties, stakeholder’s analysis is crucial to enhance collaboration of the department’s
interest by all (Bryson, 2018). Deviations would, however, lead to security threats consequently
alter the US economy. Strategic planning in the defense department addresses the need to invest
in different capabilities. This implies a critical analysis of existing capabilities to achieve the
mission effectively. Capability analyses lead to the effective attainment of the defense mission.
Critical components in the Defense strategic planning process
Department of Defense logistics plan is critical in the planning process. This is because
there is a full wide range of changing needs in the military operations. These changing needs
need to be articulated in the plan for the future. For the requirements to be articulated in the plan,
defense mission and objectives spearhead the formulation of the logistics plan. Logistic planning
is essential since it gives ways that enhance successive achievement of the missions. The success
of the defense department is indicated by how well the security is. The logistics plan should be
able to ensure the durability of the logistics objective all (Bryson, 2018). This implies that there
are meaningful performance measures that can be predicted to the future. Thus in defense
strategic plan logistics are crucial since cost is reduced and improves support for future success
in the department. Future geared logistics foresee the future success of the department hence safe
military forces.
The other critical component in the planning process within the Department of defense is the
accountability. Matters relating to accountability are critical in preventing fraud activities in the
department. In the strategic planning process accountability of stakeholders is crucial on who is
assigned with specific responsibilities. This is because misuse of resources would translate to
STRATEGIC PLANNING FOR DEFESE DEPARTMENT
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ineffectiveness in achieving department`s mission. Huge budgets to facilitate the efficiency of
the military force if mishandled would result in conflicts and insecurity in the future. This is so
because there will be faulty military equipment’s bought hence formulation of strategic defense
plan is critical in future they can’t be used. This is because objective prioritizing would translate
to achieving the mission and goal of the department. This means that prioritizing by urgency and
need is crucial since security impacts all developments in the US (Bryson, 2018). Prioritizing on
resource allocation to the various forces can be determined on present threats, and that may arise
in future.
Budget allocation in the strategic defense planning is critical. This is because it involves value
approximations in executing the mandate. Huge budgets are required for the military service;
however, determining sufficient resource is complex. This means that in the process of deciding
on the budget much considerations are necessary. This is because insufficient funds would
inhibit effectiveness and on the other hand misuse of resources can be paramount. Therefore,
critical evaluation is needed for assigning budgets. In strategic planning of the department of
defense requires more in-depth analysis that is objective to achieve the mission of preventing the
occurrence of war and provide security to the public.
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References
McHatton, P. A., Bradshaw, W., Gallagher, P. A., & Reeves, R. (2011). Results from a strategic
planning process: Benefits for a nonprofit organization. Nonprofit Management and
Leadership, 22(2), 233–249.
Bryson, J. M. (2018). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A guide to
strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement (5th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John
Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Gholz, E., & Sapolsky, H. M. (2018). The Very Healthy US Defense Innovation System.
Running head: DISCUSSION
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Discussion
Name
Institution
Instructor
Date
DISCUSSION
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Discussion
Strategic planning is a critical concept in the process of delivering successful results
within the scope of delivering organizational goals and objectives. Ideally strategic planning is a
systematic process of analyzing the needs of the organization against the availability of resource
that an organization is in possession of. In order to deliver the required results, strategic
planning involves a number of tools and activities. These include collaboration, cooperation and
coordination. Collaboration plays a very critical role in strategic management. It provides the
stakeholders with a room to share the knowledge, experiences and skills they have with the
management for effective strategic development (Gulati, Wohlgezogen, & Zhelyazkov, 2012).
Collaboration assists members with ability to have a wider spectrum of perception of ideas by
giving a variety of options of angles from which ideas may be modified in order to achieve the
set goals and objectives.
Similarly, cooperation also plays an important role in strategic planning. Cooperation
allows stakeholders to work with the management as partners with direct input in the
development of strategies. Cooperation allows the stakeholders to have input in resource
distribution, personnel deployment and supervision of execution of duties. Cooperation allows
stakeholders to have mutual relationship with the management thereby giving them an
opportunity to work hand in hand with the management to set goals and objectives as
shareholders. For effective, objective and rational development of organizational goals,
objectives and resource management, it is prudent that there should be a close knit between the
management and stakeholders through close cooperation in all activities (Gulati, Wohlgezogen,
& Zhelyazkov, 2012).
DISCUSSION
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Coordination ensures that all sorts of activities that is carried out within an organization
from various points and in different sectors with the aim of achieving the set goals is
disseminated to all relevant players. Coordination plays a critical role in ensuring that inform
nation is monitored and action points communicated to all parties involved in real time. This not
only assists the stakeholders in being aware of the progress but also helps in clearing the air that
would otherwise lead to suspicion and negative reactions. Coordination helps in developing team
cohesion between the stakeholders and the management of the organization. This leads to a
peaceful coexistence that fosters good understanding hence team work in every aspect of
developing strategies, goals and objectives (Freeman, 2010). Generally speaking, it prudent to
point out that the three pillars work hand in hand in ensuring sanity, and peaceful coexistence
among stakeholders and the management of the organization.
In conclusion, it is imperative for all organizations and managements of various
institutions to embrace the power of collaboration, cooperation and coordination since they not
only help in breeding sanity and tolerance between stakeholders and management but also ensure
that an elaborate, compressive and all round strategy is developed that helps in delivering quality
results that meet or even superseded the set goals and objectives. Management will put emphasis
in areas that are of more significance in light with the set objectives of the organization. In this
regard, no particular aspect may be predominantly significant than others.
DISCUSSION
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References
Freeman, R. E. (2010). Strategic management: A stakeholder approach. Cambridge University
Press.
Gulati, R., Wohlgezogen, F., & Zhelyazkov, P. (2012). The two facets of collaboration:
Cooperation and coordination in strategic alliances. Academy of Management Annals,
6(1), 531-583.
Running head: STRATEGIC GOALS FOR THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
Strategic Goals For The Defense Department
Courtnie Walker
Walden University
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STRATEGIC GOALS FOR THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
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Strategic Goals For The Defense Department
Depending on the activities and intensity found in a particular organization, it becomes of
the essence to have strategic goals which ought to be arrived at within a specific time. In that case,
long term and short term goals should be outlined and differentiated to make sure the most critical
and urgent issues are addressed. In this case, these goals will be demonstrated in the defense
department which plays a crucial role in a state’s security and the existence of peace among citizens
and various societies. Therefore identifying both the short term and long term goals will be
essential to ensure that the intended population is served efficiently with the expectation of
improved services over time. According to Poister (2010), strategic planning when it comes to
goals is essential as they change over the years as the priorities are altered as well as the demand
and pressure to deliver the expected services. With a proper plan, it becomes easy to transition to
another great plan that is likely to accommodate such changes effectively.
Short term goals
In this case, the short term goals refer to the ideas that need to be implemented within a
span of one to four years based on their urgency and priority to facilitate efficiency. These goals
comprise of providing security at all times for everyone and ensure that peace becomes maintained
at any cost. Additionally providing protection against external hostility as well provide enough
personnel for those purposes is of the essence. For these goals to become realized on time, their
essence should be emphasized, and their implementation hastened while following the right
procedures. According to Bryson (2018), all the relevant entities such as the government and other
stakeholders who comprise the community at large should be involved in creating these goals.
Lack of proper planning is likely to lead to the failure in maintenance and implementation of these
goals which ought to be prioritized based on their urgency.
STRATEGIC GOALS FOR THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
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Long term goals
Regarding these goals, they do not necessarily have to be realized in the near future and
therefore take time. In that case, it means that they are not urgent and can be planned for with no
hurry as the important work gets done on a daily basis without being interfered with by these goals
(Weigand, Flanagan, Dye & Jones, 2014). Some of these goals include digitalizing the defense
department and using robots and other machines to maintain peace and creating sustainability in
the kind of energy that gets applied to run defense facilities. Further, reducing on the budget for
the department’s activities should be considered. According to Wulf and Meissner (2010), when
strategizing on these kinds of goals, it is important to consider future scenarios that may affect the
expected outcome. Either way, having a clear purpose for creating these goals can be helpful in
seeing them come to pass within the anticipated time.
STRATEGIC GOALS FOR THE DEFENSE DEPARTMENT
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References
Bryson, J. M. (2018). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A guide to
strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement (5th ed.) (pp. 281-319).
Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Poister, T. H. (2010). The future of strategic planning in the public sector: Linking strategic
management and performance. Public Administration Review, 70(s1), s246–s254.
Weigand, K., Flanagan, T., Dye, K., & Jones, P. (2014). Collaborative foresight: Complementing
long-horizon strategic planning. Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 85, 134–
152.
Wulf, T., Brands, C., & Meissner, P. (2010). A scenario-based approach to strategic planning:
Tool description—Scenario matrix. Retrieved
from http://www.scenarioplanning.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/Tool_Description_Scenario
_Matrix.pdf
Running head: STRATEGIC GOALS AND POTENTIAL CHALLENGES
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Strategic Goals and Potential Challenges
Courtnie Walker
MMPA 6465
Walden University
STRATEGIC GOALS AND POTENTIAL CHALLENGES
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Strategic Goals and Potential Challenges
(The Department of Defense)
Every organization that desire to become successful must ensure that there are wellwritten goals that when communicated to stakeholders can result in a positive impact on the
organization (Bryson, 2018). An organization such as the Department of Defense (DoD) has
desired goals that it aims to achieve. The Department of Defense has both short term and long
term goals that it wishes to achieve. However, the DoD might face a series of challenged in the
process of trying to accomplish these goals. It is thus essential that the Department of Defense
understand how to overcome the challenges.
The short term goal for the Department of Defense includes prioritizing on the
acquisition process reforms (Wulf, Brands & Meissner, 2010). The DoD aims to achieve a
median growth for the Major Defense Acquisition Programs. The organization also seeks to
increase the certification requirements and the percentage of obligations of contracts awarded to
serve the citizens and the military better. However, the DoD faces the challenge of budget
uncertainty. Uncertainties and volatility of the budget make the organization not to procure
essential goods and services for the U.S military hence might not be able to plan to avoid the
increasing budget (Poister, 2010). To overcome this problem, the DoD must provide that for
every budget plan, the number of items required matches the number of allocated resources to
avoid working with a deficit budget.
Another short term goal for the DoD is to end the sexual assault cases by imposing a
culture of motivating the military men and women to intervene in case one identifies
STRATEGIC GOALS AND POTENTIAL CHALLENGES
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inappropriate behavior. The organization, however, face the challenge while trying to achieve
this goal since victims of sexual assault always face blaming hence might not prefer to report the
incidence but will prefer to suffer in silence thus affecting their performance in their military
services (Weigand, Flanagan, Dye & Jones, 2014). The organization should, therefore, ensure
that it provides training on sexual assault prevention and response to every staff in the
organization.
In the long run, the DoD aims to build strong alliances and partnerships to pool resources
hence reduce the security burden. However, the challenge might be that some partnership might
not last and some might have many requirements that make it more expensive than if the DoD
was to operate independently. It, therefore becomes necessary that the organization carefully
analyze the different partnership opportunities before signing the contract hence continue
working for the benefit of the citizens and the military.
The DoD also aim to create a lethal force than it already has hence prepared to win the
war. The organization, therefore, intends to modernize its nuclear forces which entail the
command control, communications and the supporting infrastructure (Weigand et al., 2014). The
organization also prioritizes in strengthening its missile defense thus prepares for the North
Korean missile threats. The DoD might, however, face the problems that result from the critiques
of conservation of the environment. The launching of missile attack has been known to affect the
ozone layer and leave behind traces of soot and aluminum oxide particles that will eventually
contribute to adverse effects of climate change to the country (Weigand et al., 2014). It is thus
essential that the DoD implement other methods such as autonomous systems like artificial
STRATEGIC GOALS AND POTENTIAL CHALLENGES
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intelligence, therefore, have powerful individuals who can carry out successful negotiations in
case of threat of attack.
Defining short and long term goals is essential as it motivates the management and the
employees to work towards a specific goal. It enables the diverse workforce to form a unity as
they understand they have a common goal to achieve hence will always want to become
successful in both personal and professional areas (Bryson, 2018).
Goal setting is crucial for any organization that wants to be successful. Once the
organization defines their goals, it is also necessary that it provides a list of resources that will be
helpful in achieving the goals (Weigand et al., 2014). The essential resources that might be
helpful in defining the DoD’s goals include the capital needed to purchase relevant items for the
military and to offer quality services to the public. The organization should also have a solid
human resource team that coordinates all the activities and allocates adequate time and support in
the activities carried out to achieve the success of the set goals thus the organization becomes
successful.
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References
Bryson, J. M. (2018). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A guide to
strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement. John Wiley & Sons.
Poister, T. H. (2010). The future of strategic planning in the public sector: Linking strategic
management and performance. Public Administration Review, 70, s246-s254.
Weigand, K., Flanagan, T., Dye, K., & Jones, P. (2014). Collaborative foresight: Complementing
long-horizon strategic planning. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 85, 134152.
Wulf, T., Brands, C., & Meissner, P. (2010). A scenario-based approach to strategic planning:
Tool description—Scenario matrix. Retrieved from
http://www.scenarioplanning.eu/fileadmin/user_upload/Tool_Description_Scenario_Matr
ix.pdf

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